And The Award Goes To... An Oscar-Winning Films Quiz!

By: Isadora Teich
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
And The Award Goes To... An Oscar-Winning Films Quiz!
Image: tmdb

About This Quiz

Every year filmmakers, writers, actors and artists are awarded for their work on the best of the best at the Oscars. How well do you know your Oscar winners? Unleash your inner film snob and feast your eyes on this HowStuffWorks quiz!
Which film features a rat desperate to become a chef?
"The Departed"
"Moonlight"
"Ratatouille"
"Frozen"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This high grossing 2007 film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was adapted into a game for Nintendo DS.

Which film won Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony, which honored the best films of 2016?
"Moonlight"
"La La Land"
"Silence of the Lambs"
"The Great Gatsby"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Moonlight," got eight Academy Award nominations and took home three, including Best Picture. It was the first LGBT film with an all-black cast to win this award.

Which film, a part of a global phenomenon, was nominated for 11 Oscars and won all of them?
"Million Dollar Baby"
"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"
"The Great Gatsby"
"The Hateful Eight"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The last of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, this film was the highest-grossing film of 2003 and, as of 2017, within the Top 20 highest-grossing films of all time. It is the only fantasy film to ever win Best Picture.

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What Oscar did the 2016 film "The Jungle Book" win?
"Best Visual Effects"
"Best Actor"
"Best Picture"
"Best Original Score"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This live action/CGI film had a budget of $175 million. All of the animal characters were brought to life using key frame computer animation.

Which Oscar winner is considered one of the best action films of all time?
"Frozen"
"Feast"
"Spectre"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Set in a post-apocalyptic world following a nuclear holocaust, "Mad Max" is truly a wild ride. It won six Academy Awards, including awards for costumes and editing.

Which of these Oscar-winning films did not star Leonardo DiCaprio?
"Titanic"
"The Great Gatsby"
"Her"
"The Revenant"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Her" is a 2013 film starring Joaquin Phoenix as a man who has a romantic relationship with an intelligent computer operating system. It won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

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Which Bond film nabbed two Oscars?
"Casino Royale"
"Skyfall"
"Die Another Day"
"Dr. No"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2012 Bond film is one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It won Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Sound Editing.

Which film followed a group of young people through adolescence, literally filming them year by year as they grew up.
"Boyhood"
"The Great Gatsby"
"Whiplash"
"Django Unchained"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2014 film was written and directed by Richard Linklater. It was shot year-by-year from 2002-2013. The script changed to reflect changes in the actors as they grew up.

Which is the only horror film to ever win Best Picture?
"The Silence of the Lambs"
"Scream"
"Hostel"
"The Last House on the Left"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 1991 horror thriller film was the first, and so far only, film to win Best Picture. It was the third film ever to win Academy Awards in all top 5 categories.

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Which film-musical is thought to be partially responsible for reviving the modern film musical?
"Chicago"
"La La Land"
"Les Miserables"
"The Artist"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

2002's film adaptation of the musical "Chicago" took the Oscars by storm. It won six Academy Awards and its popularity is thought to be partially responsible for getting audiences interested in film musicals for the first time in decades.

Who wrote and directed "The Matrix"?
Quentin Tarantino
Paul Thomas Anderson
The Wachowskis
Sam Mendes
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Wachowskis, Lana and Lilly, are a sibling filmmaking team. "The Matrix" was a critical and commercial success that nabbed several Academy Awards.

Which film focuses on the voting rights marches Martin Luther King Jr. helped to lead?
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"Rocky"
"Selma"
"Les Miserables"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2014 film was nominated for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards. It also won Best Original Song.

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Which recent Oscar-winner starred Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey?
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Suicide Squad"
"Interstellar"
"Blue Jasmine"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This film -- about those living in Texas with HIV/AIDs in the 1980s when the disease was highly stigmatized and under researched -- was a critical smash. It was the fifth film ever to win Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Which Oscar-winning film was criticized for casting Chinese actresses to play Japanese roles?
"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"Inglorious Basterds"
"Ray"
"Mystic River"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2005 drama received mixed reviews but did well at the box office. It won Oscars for cinematography, art direction and costume design. It was filmed in both California and Japan.

Director Ang Lee was behind Oscar-winners "Brokeback Mountain and:
"Life of Pi"
"Moonlight"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Lincoln"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Life of Pi" was nominated for 11 Oscars, won for and was a massive commercial success. Despite its success, controversy surrounded it. The visual effects company which created its stunning effects filed for bankruptcy after working on the movie and a tiger was allegedly almost drowned on set.

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Which film stars Jessica Chastain as a CIA intelligence analyst hunting for Bin Laden?
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Midnight In Paris"
"The Fighter"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2012 film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards and won one. It was controversial among critics, some even calling it pro-torture propaganda.

Which of these Oscar-winners was directed by Wes Anderson?
"Birdman"
"The Great Beauty"
"Hugo"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2014 ensemble film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four. It was both written and directed by Wes Anderson.

Which film stars Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking?
"The Theory of Everything"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"The Help"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In this 2014 film, Eddie Redmayne delivers an Academy Award-winning performance as Stephen Hawking. The film explores his relationship with his ex-wife, success in physics and life with ALS.

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Which 2016 Oscar-winning musical film broke Golden Globe records?
"The Artist"
"The Wolf Of Wall Street"
"La La Land"
"The Danish Girl"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"La La Land" was a commercial and critical success, grossing over $400 million worldwide and raking in countless awards. It won six Oscars and a record-breaking seven Golden Globe Awards.

Actor Daniel Day-Lewis plays which president in an Oscar-winning perfomance?
Harry S. Truman
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Steven Spielberg directed the 2012 film "Lincoln," which was both a critical and commercial success. The film made $275 million worldwide, earned 12 Oscar nominations and won for Best Production Design and Best Actor.

Jennifer Lawrence nabbed an Oscar for her role in which film?
"Her"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Beginners"
"Hugo"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jennifer Lawrence gave an Oscar-winning performance as Tiffany Maxwell, a recently widowed woman in "Silver Linings Playbook." It was nominated for eight Academy Awards.

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Which film stars Kevin Spacey as a man having a mid-life crisis?
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"American Beauty"
"Spectre"
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"American Beauty" is a 1999 drama film starring Kevin Spacey as a man obsessed with his teen daughter's best friend. It grossed over $350 million worldwide and won five Academy Awards.

Which of these films is the only movie made by a female director to nab Best Picture?
"Django Unchained"
"The Life of Pi"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Star Trek"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2008 war thriller film set in Iraq was directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It won six Academy Awards in total.

Who directed "There Will Be Blood"?
Quentin Tarantino
Paul Thomas Anderson
Martin Scorsese
Angelina Jolie
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2007 film was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. "There Will Be Blood" nabbed Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis. His portrayal as a ruthlessly greedy oil tycoon cemented his status as one of the greatest actors today. It was scored by Jonny Greenwood, the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Radiohead.

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"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" stars Kate Winslet and:
Viggo Mortensen
Daniel Day-Lewis
Jim Carrey
Daniel Craig
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2004 film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as an estranged couple who choose to erase each other from their memories. This highly acclaimed film nabbed an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, has a cult following and is widely considered one of the best modern films ever made.

This animated feature tells the tale of a father trying to rescue his plucky young son.
"Finding Nemo"
"Mystic River"
"Frozen"
"Chicago"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Finding Nemo" is a much-loved and critically acclaimed film that was also box office gold. It earned over $800 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run and took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Which film, in which Nicole Kidman gives an Oscar-winning performance, features a book by Virginia Woolf?
"The Hours"
"Gladiator"
"Million Dollar Baby"
"The Hurt Locker"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2002 drama shows how the book "Mrs Dalloway" connects three women of different generations, one of them author Virginia Woolf herself. It was nominated for Best Picture, with Nicole Kidman winning Best Actress for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf.

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In which Oscar-winning film did actress Lupita Nyong'o have her breakthrough role?
"Gravity"
"12 Years A Slave"
"Moonlight"
"The Silence of the Lambs"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2013 period piece was adapted from an 1853 slave narrative memoir. Lupita Nyong'o earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role.

Which film won the first Best Animated Feature award?
"Frozen"
"Ratatouille"
"Shrek"
"The Jungle Book"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Shrek" made history at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony by being the first film to ever take home this award. It spawned an entire franchise and grossed over $480 million worldwide.

Which Disney film won an Oscar for Best Original Song?
"Pocahontas"
"Lady and the Tramp"
"Pirates of the Caribbean"
"Freaky Friday"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Pocahontas" was a commercial success, even though it got mixed reviews due to its historical inaccuracy. "Colors of the Wind" won Best Original Song and its score also nabbed an Academy Award.

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Which of these films was not written and directed by Quentin Tarantino?
"Pulp Fiction"
"Django Unchained"
"Mystic River"
"Inglorious Basterds"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All of these award-winning films were written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, except "Mystic River." That's a 2003 mystery film directed and scored by Clint Eastwood.

Anne Hathaway won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in which film?
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Birdman"
"La La Land"
"Les Miserables"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2012 musical epic is based on the famous Broadway musical, which is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Anne Hathaway won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Fantine, a poor factory worker struggling to support the daughter she gave birth to while unmarried.

Which full-length Oscar-winner appears to have been filmed almost in only one shot.
"The Great Gatsby"
"The Network"
"Birdman"
"Frozen"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 2014 black comedy was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four. It's unique nearly single shot approach to cinematography earned it an Oscar for Best Cinematography.

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Who directed "Schindler's List"?
Steven Soderbergh
Sam Mendes
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Spielberg directed and produced this film. It won seven Academy Awards and grossed over $300 million worldwide.

Who wrote and directed "Titanic"?
Wes Anderson
Sophie Coppola
Spike Jonze
James Cameron
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The 1997 film "Titanic" was a commercial monster that took the Academy Awards by storm. It won 11 Oscars and was the first film to ever make $1 billion at the box office.

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