AMC Movie Blog

Darth Vader and the Terminator Duke It Out in This Tourney of SciFi Bad Boys

2010-03-22T04:01:00Z

In honor of college basketball's wildest month and the new season of Breaking Bad (Sundays, 10PM | 9C), we bring you AMC's March Badness -- a four-part tournament series that celebrates the baddest of the bad from your favorite movies. This week, we're going to the dark side, as the big screen's baddest scifi boys battle for galactic domination. From evil computer programs (2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL, The Matrix's Agent Smith) to a certain lightsaber-wiedling Dark Lord of the Sith, they're all here. But which one has the badness to subjugate the rest? You decide, then defend your picks in the comments.

Cheesy Character Names Movie Quiz

2010-03-22T04:00:30Z

Which is a cornier character name: Prince Humperdinck or Jar Jar Binks? It's a tough call. Which spy comedy features a comely vixen named Alotta Fagina? Who is the oddly named hero at the center of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? How well do you know cinema's goofiest character names? Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Flashback Five - The Best Movies of Michael Douglas

2010-03-19T04:01:00Z

Michael Douglas had a lot to live up to -- his father, Kirk Douglas, is one of the greatest actors of all time. But, lucky for Michael, he's somehow managed to create a legacy all his own. Though he's virtually disappeared in recent years, we're left with an impressive string of hits that stand the test of time -- and hopefully hint at more to come.

1. Falling Down (1993)
Possibly the most underrated Douglas movie -- and also quite possibly the best -- Falling Down casts Douglas as a cubicle jockey at the end of his rope who takes to shooting up the highway when he can't order a McDonald's-type breakfast after 10:30 a.m. It's not an easy flick to watch, but given that Douglas often plays variations on himself, his restrained performance here is an all-time high.

2. The Game (1997)
In David Fincher's tricky, fun thriller, Douglas plays a man in over his head, as the birthday present his brother gives him goes horribly, horribly wrong. Or does it? Douglas makes all the unlikely twists and turns believable, right up until (and including) the surprise ending. Without his central performance, the movie would never have worked.

Martin Scorsese Ultimate Fan Quiz

2010-03-19T04:00:30Z

Most directors would be happy to turn out one masterpiece. Martin Scorsese seems to churn one out every few years. How many movies have Scorsese and De Niro made together? What about Scorsese and DiCaprio? Which of his flicks is the basis for a hit sitcom? How well do you know Martin's greatest hits and misses?Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Peter Sagal - Aristotle, Quentin Tarantino, and The Signature Stand-Off

2010-03-18T04:01:00Z

Aristotle, in his Poetics, tried to reveal the underlying structure of narrative art as it was known in his day. It's just a shame he died 2,300 years before Quentin Tarantino started making movies, because I'm sure he'd have a lot to say about it. So even though the Academy chose to snub his latest oeuvre, I present my own clumsy attempt at a Tarantinian (Tarantinoian?) "Poetics:"

In general, the simulations of human beings that populate Quentin Tarantino flicks, for all their snappy dialogue, communicate meaningfully only through violence and the threat of violence. The paradigmatic Tarantino Scene proceeds this way: Character A implicitly threatens Character B with a fatal assault. But instead of carrying out that threat immediately, A toys with B, discussing theories of cinema, superheroes or hamburgers, which serves not to charm B but to further terrify him or her. Then, just as maximum tension is reached, the threat is fulfilled, and A does great violence to B, unless of course great violence is done to A first.

Druggie Quotes in the Movies Quiz

2010-03-18T04:00:15Z

Not that we're romanticizing the lifestyle or anything -- but potheads and dope fiends have a way with words in the movies. "The best thing for a hangover is weed," advises which lovable movie stoner? Whose trunk looks like a "mobile police-narcotics lab"? Think highly enough of yourself to ace this druggie-quotes quiz?Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Catch Pulp Fiction, playing on AMC tonight, at 8PM | 7C.

Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver Do More Than Explore Space...They Own It!

2010-03-17T04:01:00Z

Just because you can fight on the stable surface of Earth doesn't mean you can fight in space. It takes grit; it takes the right stuff. And only a select few action stars have what it takes to head into zero gravity and stay standing. Sylvester Stallone? Tom Cruise? In their dreams! The following tough guys (and gals) have the stomach to leave the atmosphere, conquer the cosmos, and never look back.

Korben Dallas and Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), The Fifth Element and Armageddon
The first time Willis went extraterrestrial it was as a rough-and-tumble cabdriving ex-soldier who saves the entire galaxy, in The Fifth Element. He stuck to the formula for Armageddon, his second deep-space mission: as an oil driller who saves Earth, he manages to conquer the nightmarish environment of an asteroid, staying alive only long enough to sacrifice himself and unleash a pretty cool space explosion. Willis is proof enough that once you go space, you never come back.

James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Star Trek
With apologies to William Shatner, Chris Pine is the Captain Kirk who does the most serious action damage in space. It's not really Shatner's fault: the original Star Trek came way before the modern action movie and special effects. Pine's version of the young captain has all of the swagger, but is also skilled in choreographed fighting and making things explode. If you're looking for someone to blow up a bad guy's ship, you could do a lot worse than this guy.

Name That Movie Planet Photo Quiz

2010-03-17T04:00:15Z

Do you know the planets of Star Trek, Star Wars, Spaceballs, and Planet of the Apes as well as our own little blue-and-green ball? Think you can tell, by sight alone, which planet the crew from Serenity is seeking? Prove you know sci-fi's planetary outposts by acing this photo quiz.

Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Check out Red Planet, playing tonight on AMC, at 8PM | 7C.

Predicting Tomorrow Is Easy. Getting It Right? Just Ask These Future-Minded Flicks

2010-03-16T04:01:00Z

Hollywood loves to come up with outlandish prophesies. In The Terminator, assassin cyborgs from a nuclear wasteland travel through time. Escape From New York transforms Manhattan into a maximum-security prison, while The Day After Tomorrow casts the planet into an ice age virtually overnight. If these fortune-peddling flicks were accurate, most of us would either be dead, fighting zombies, or zooming around on hover boards. Which movie do you think predicted the most unrealistic future?

Obscure Bruce Willis Movies Photo Quiz

2010-03-16T04:00:15Z

You'd recognize Bruce Willis's balding head and wisecracks in any movie, right? Or maybe just Die Hard? There's more to his career: are you familiar with his early role as a Vietnam vet? In which recent flick is he seduced by Halle Berry? Prove your allegiance to Willis by identifying his lesser-known roles.Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Catch Twelve Monkeys, playing on AMC tonight, at 8PM | 7C, and tomorrow, at 5:30PM | 4:30C.

Lady-killers Tournament Finds Bale and Clooney Competing for Your Heart

2010-03-15T04:01:00Z

Hollywood's leading men certainly have a way with the ladies. Whether they're mind readers (Mel Gibson) or caped crusaders (Christian Bale), these guys have a distinct advantage over the rest of us when it comes to the art of seduction. But how do they fare against each other? Can Brad Pitt outfox his Ocean's co-star George Clooney? Does Tom Cruise's grin outshine Jon Hamm's pomade? For once, the ball is in your court. Vote in our tournament and help decide which leading man is truly God's gift to women!

Cheaters in the Movies Quiz

2010-03-15T04:00:15Z

Cheaters never prosper, but they sure are fun to watch in the movies. Where do Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson meet for their afternoon trysts, in The Graduate? In which movie does Kate Winslet's married mom have torrid sex on a washing machine? Test your extramarital-affairs knowledge with this quiz. Just don't get caught.Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Check out Something to Talk About, playing tonight on AMC, at 8PM | 7C, and tomorrow, at 1PM | Noon.

Ireland in the Movies Quiz (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)

2010-03-14T04:00:15Z

St. Patrick's Day is a great excuse to drink in excess, wear green, and watch great movies about Ireland. In Far and Away, why do Joseph Donnelly and Shannon Christie leave the country? In Michael Collins, the title character (Liam Neeson) dies in which Irish disturbance? How well do you know the Emerald Isle in the movies?Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Can the Jets or the Sharks Beat The Gangs of New York?

2010-03-13T04:01:00Z

They say it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog -- or dogs. Whether they're fighting over control of Manhattan's Five Points, like Bill the Butcher's men in Gangs of New York, or for the title of Number One Newscasters, like Ron Burgundy's crackerjack team in Anchorman, gangs can put up one hell of a fight. They can also put on one hell of a show, which is why movie history is replete with gang-on-gang action: Jets vs. Sharks, Socials vs. Greasers, Bloods vs. Doughboys. Which rumble is the rowdiest? Vote in our movie list!

Flashback Five - Leonardo DiCaprio's Early Years

2010-03-12T04:01:00Z

Leonardo DiCaprio may have starred in some of the biggest movies of all time, but before Titanic, before Gangs of New York, and way before Shutter Island, he was a young lad, working on building an impressive body of work. Let's take a look at his early years.

1. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Would it be fair to say that Baz Luhrmann's modern, surreal reworking of Shakespeare's classic was what first ignited Leo fever? Casting the young actor as the most romantic lead of all time in a youth-oriented flick certainly didn't hurt him. It also didn't hurt that he was as comfortable spitting the bard's words as he was holding a gun.

2. Marvin's Room (1996)
Starring beside Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, and Robert De Niro ain't too shabby for a young actor. Based on a play by Scott McPherson, the movie stars DiCaprio as Hank, Streep's disturbed son who starts off by burning down a house and ends up bringing his family together.