It’s no secret that some of us on the ‘Pods trivia team LOVE the 1980s! It was a decade where you got to see two movies in the Star Wars franchise, learned about the care and feeding of gremlins and if you were lucky, maybe you were one of a handful of people who saw “that” movie that featured Jamie Lee Curtis as an aerobics instructor (who didn’t love those high-cut aerobics outfits from the 1980s besides the women wearing them, LOL)!

Then of course some ’80s movies had their controversy, like Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. I honestly can’t recall what the controversy was even about…but there was also a little bit of controversy in last night’s game (it will be in the question about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure). All of that being said, a few of us parlayed our love of the ’80s (specifically its movies) and signed up for a Sporcle Live virtual trivia game about…’80s movies Tuesday night. Some of the questions were definitely stumpers! Who knew that powerhouse actor Michael Douglas was ever, ever in a movie that didn’t make a lot of money (especially in the 80s)?

Apparently, we didn’t! Oop, I TOTALLY buried the lede…WE GOT FIRST PLACE! It was the first time we’ve ever gotten first place in a virtual game, so that was as exciting as a Zoom meeting could possibly be while we were hanging out in my husband’s work from home office!!!Read on to see our hits and misses…

1. Cars – In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Cameron’s father owns a vehicle made by what manufacturer?

2. Actors – David Moscow plays the 12-year-old version of Josh Baskin in what film that focuses on that character as a 30-year-old?

3. Don’t – As explained in the 1984 film Gremlins, what three things must one NEVER do when taking care of a Mogwai? Kimberly called on her husband Brent for a lifeline here – he helped us come up with the third thing, woot!

4. Families – Sarah and Toby are family members prominently featured in what 1986 film? Even though I know very few details about this movie other than the tight outfit worn by one of the lead actors (cough…moose knuckle), we managed to get this…

5. Music in Film – We had an audio question here, so I’ll do my best to do an equivalent question in word form…let’s see, let’s see…In what 1984 film does Tom Hulce, playing a musician, make fun of F. Murray Abraham, whom is playing another musician?

6. Countries – In Stripes, what country is Stillman’s platoon accidentally in when its truck is captured by the Soviet Army? We leaned on my hubby Mike for this one, and he came close, but sadly, no cigar…Miss.

7. Bands – What is the correct spelling of the name of Bill and Ted’s band in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Initially, the answers the host was accepting as correct were NOT correct, we had to speak up from the virtual “peanut gallery” and point out the mistake. So yes, we got credit (seriously if I ever get a question about Bill and Ted wrong, I should probably quit trivia games permanently).

8. Characters – What is the name of Jeff Bridges’ character in the 1982 film TRON? Yay Mike! He knew the last name, and strangely, the host – whom did not say first and last names were required (also the written question did not specify that), she said she would accept the correct last name and didn’t require both names. Uh, OK? Weird.

9. Titles – What 1981 film has a title inspired by a British hymn that is adapted from a William Blake poem that uses a phrase that originally appears in 2 Kings (second kings) in the Bible? This one is really, really tough – so I’ll give the hint that this film also won the Academy Award for best picture. And a more obscure hint that this hymn is frequently sung in episodes of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and is considered a popular patriotic song in Great Britain. Yes, we missed this (we guessed Heaven Can Wait).

10. Names – What is the name of the demonic spirit that haunts Dana Barrett’s apartment in Ghostbusters?

Mystery – Box Office Flops

Identify the following 1980s movies that were box office flops based on the clues:

M1. (1985) John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marilu Henner, and Laraine Newman

M2. (1988) Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Patty D’Arbanville, and Ben Stiller

M3. (1986) Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, and Chip Zien

M4. (1985) Michael Douglas, Alyson Reed, Terrence Mann, and Janet Jones

We got two of these correct (question 1 was a repeat from a 80s movies game we played in 2018 back when you could go to trivia games in bars…anyone remember what that was like)? We missed #2 (incorrectly guessed She’s Having a Baby) and missed #4. Total blank stares there…off all of our collective radars.

Scores heading into the final (highest to lowest our score is in bold) Stay Puft Marshmallow Men/Spader’s Smirk, 59; Arthur Digby Sellers, 56; Fast Times at Miskatonic High, 54; Trivia Newton John/3 Men and 3 Little Ladies, 52; ddm, 51; well anyway, 49; 80s ladies, 22

Final Category: Actresses

In 1987, the 5th highest-grossing and 11th highest-grossing films at the domestic box office featured the same lead actress.Discounting voice roles, these films were the highest grossing of this actress’ career for over 20 years.Name that actress.

This question was also a repeat from the final we had in the 2018 game. So we got this right, and moved up from fourth to FIRST (we also got first place in the 2018 game). Well, that was a whirlwind few days of trivia, time to take a bit of a break until another hot trivia topic grabs us. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, the Witches of Eastwick!