Prince Caspian Quiz 8

15. What do the Telmarines do after Susan fires her warning shot into their boat?
A. Start rowing frantically away from Cair Paravel
B. Drop Trumpkin in the river and attempt to shoot back
C. Panic. Susan fires a second arrow and they both abandon ship
D. Break out into a song and dance number

16. What instrument is used to cut Trumpkin’s bonds?
A. Peter’s sword
B. Edmund’s pocket knife
C. One of Susan’s arrowheads
D. Lucy’s dagger

Prince Caspian Quiz 7

13. What time of day is it when the Pevensies go down into their old treasure vault at Cair Paravel?
A. Day
B. Night
C. Sunrise
D. Sunset

14. How many Telmarines does Susan kill when the Pevensies rescue Trumpkin?
A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3

Rant: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Last night, I went along with a couple of friends to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I normally don't see many movies in the theater, nor do I usually review them, but I need to get my feelings about this one out of my system. One caveat: I am not a huge movie person, nor a movie expert like some of my friends. So, don't expect me to provide an expert-style review.
Button, very loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, follows the titular character's adventures as he ages backwards. The idea holds quite a bit of potential. This movie could have successfully and intelligently dealt with issues such as death, the meaning of life, the value of relationships, and the dignity of human beings.
[rant]Instead, however, it deals with none of them, at least, not well. It mentions death as "a frequent visitor" and implies that it's normal and okay, but that's far as it goes in dealing with the issue. It never makes any deep statements about the issue.
Likewise, the meaning of life gets short shrift. The meaning of life, according to the movie, is to live hedonistically, drinking a lot and sleeping around.
Relationships also take a hit. Hardly any relationship is seen as having any value, especially marriage, as none of the main characters in the movie ever even bother to marry. Living together is fine and seen as completely acceptable, even though the movie starts out in the 1920s, an era where such things were not looked on kindly.
On top of being shallow, the movie also is insanely long, nearly 3 hours. It seems to me that the editors fell in love with every aspect of the movie and couldn't figure out how to cut the material that wasn't essential to the plot. Speaking of plot, there really wasn't much of one. There really isn't a central conflict. Instead, it's more of a "Forrest Gump" style following of one man's life.[/rant]
The only positive I found in this movie was the acting. Brad Pitt, the make-up team, and the special effects guys did an excellent job of portraying this man who ages backwards. That is not an easy task to pull off.
[rant]Obviously, I did not enjoy this movie. After it was over, I thought about going to the box office and asking if I could get a partial refund. After all, if I'm going to spend nearly 3 hours of my time and over $9, I'd like to enjoy, at least partially, what I purchased.[/rant]

Prince Caspian Quiz 6

11. What is Miraz’s title when the story begins?
A. Duke
B. Earl
C. King
D. Lord Protector

12. How do the Telmarine lords react to seeing Trumpkin?
A. Fear
B. Shock
C. Amusement
D. They don’t ever see Trumpkin

Phrase Origin and Prince Caspian Quiz 5

I was pondering the phrase "confirmed bachelor" the other day. No, it's not because I'm afraid that I'm going to become one (at least, not most of the time). Rather, it's just an unusual phrase. Confirmed by whom? Is there a "bachelor confirmation entity?" Does one receive a certificate in the mail? Is there a "marriage confirmation agency?" Who has ever heard of a "confirmed married man?" And a serious question: at what age does one cease to be a single man and become a "confirmed bachelor?" My answer to that last question: at least 55. Maybe older.

Prince Caspian Quiz
9. Which of the four Pevensies first realizes that they have arrived at Cair Paravel?
A. Peter
B. Susan
C. Edmund
D. Lucy

10. When does Trumpkin get captured by Miraz’s men?
A. While defending Caspian in the old forest as Caspian is initially fleeing for his life
B. While fighting against the Telmarines to steal arms from them while the Telmarines are encamped next to the River Beruna
C. He doesn’t
D. When he sneaks through enemy lines to see if the Pevensies have arrived at Cair Paravel in response to Caspian blowing the horn

Prince Capsian Quiz 4

7. How well are the Pevensie children adapting to life back in England?
A. Everyone is fine, except Lucy who just cries and cries
B. Fine. They have sold their story to a tabloid for millions of pounds.
C. Very well, thank you
D. Not well. Lucy nearly gets run over by a car, Susan lies to a boy about her name, and Peter and Edmund get into fights.

8. The Pevensies find themselves magically transported to Narnia. What is the nature of the terrain immediately around them?
A. Blank plains
B. A cave by the beach
C. A forest
D. A tall mound known as Aslan’s How

Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing & Caspian Quiz 3

In just a few days, this country will experience a changeover from a Congress controlled by one party and the Presidency by another to a government fully in the hands of one party. This one party has promised large amounts of change to the way that the country works, in everything from energy policy to economic policy to health care. How much of this change is merely rhetoric? I suspect quite a bit. First of all, it's important to note that the President-elect has changed his position at least once on just about every significant issue, as have many other politicians on both sides of the aisle (although isle might be a better word to describe a government that seems increasingly disconnected from reality). Second, many of the ideas being proposed simply are impractical or quite obviously have negative consequences. Surely the politicians in our nation's capital have not yet reached the point of being so disconnected from reality that they will fail to realize that "green energy" and "universal health care" are ideas that sound great in theory but fail in practice. Third, there's the tendency of the party not in power to exercise every parliamentary tactic to obstruct the agenda of the majority. It happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It could well happen again. For the sake of America, I do indeed hope that this new government in Washington, D.C., accomplishes far less than they have promised. Many of the promises have the potential to backfire on America and hurt this country more than it helps. On that, of course, only time will tell.

Prince Caspian Quiz 3
How does Caspian wind up getting knocked unconscious during his flight?
A. His horse gets spooked by a thunderstorm, and in its panicked run, Capsian hits his forehead on a tree
B. He doesn’t
C. He gets hit on the head by one of the dwarfs
D. Little Bunny Foo Foo mistakes him for a field mouse and bops him on the head

6. When does Caspian blow the horn of Narnia?
A. As soon as he enters the forest
B. Right before the Dwarfs knock him unconscious
C. He doesn’t
D. At dawn a few days before a major battle with Miraz at Aslan’s How

Prince Caspian Quiz 2

3. How does Capsian escape his bedroom?
A. He draws his sword and kills the guards sent to kill him
B. He sneaks out through a secret passage in the wardrobe
C. He and Dr. Cornelius leave through the antechamber because Cornelius has put the guards to sleep using a magic potion
D. He climbs out the window using a sheet for a rope

4. How many guards try to stop Caspian as he escapes?
A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3

Narnia Movies & Prince Caspian Quiz 1

I just found out a couple of days ago that Walt Disney Co. has pulled its support of making the movie adaptation of the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. More details, although they are scant, can be found at IMDB. I'm disappointed to see Disney pulling the plug on what hopefully was going to be one of the most movie-friendly books in the series, one that could generate quite a bit of income. Of course, one of the possibilities is that Disney execs saw that the script was as unfaithful to the book as Prince Caspian's and backed out because they knew that they wouldn't make enough money with another poor adaptation. On the other hand, no one knows exactly what happened. All we know is that Walden Media is shopping the Dawn Treader around. Hopefully, they find someone to help with production while also having a script that stays closer to the book than Prince Caspian.
Speaking of Caspian, I've had the chance to go back and watch the movie, again. I've already written my opinions about Prince Caspian in a previous post, so I won't rehash that review. Instead, I've made a series of quiz questions that highlight the differences between the movie and the book. The point of this quiz is simply to have a little fun with the changes that occurred between the book and the movie. At times, I will still post blog entries on other topics and tag the quiz questions on the end.
The rules for the quiz are as follows: you will be given two or three multiple choice questions that deal with some aspect of the story. Answer either according to the movie, the book, or both. I’ll post the answers as a comment. Because of the vast differences between the book and the movie, give yourself 5 points for answering correctly according to the movie and 10 points for answering correctly according to the book. Give yourself 20 points if you get both right. Read on to try the first two questions. (Note: I am following the movie’s chronology.)

1. How does the story begin?
A. At a train station somewhere in the English countryside, where the Pevensie children are headed back to school
B. At Aslan’s How, with a counsel called by the red dwarf Nikabrik
C. In Trufflehunter’s cave
D. With a son being born to Miraz and Caspian fleeing for his life

2. Upon being wakened by Dr. Cornelius in order to flee for his life, what are Prince Caspian’s first words?
A. “Five more minutes…”
B. “Are we going to do a little Astronomy, Doctor?”
C. “What time is it?”
D. “My, but you look a lot like Dumbledore!”