This year will mark my 25th anniversary watching the Academy Awards. I’ve been enthralled with the Oscars since I was a child. I can still remember the first person I ever saw win an Oscar: Geena Davis. She won the Oscar for best supporting actress at the 1989 Oscars for her performance in The Accidental Tourist, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan’s big screen adaptation of the Anne Tyler novel of the same name. I loved the movie and was overjoyed that she had won. A lifelong love affair was born.

To commemorate my 25th year watching the award show of all award shows, I’d like to challenge you all to a game of Oscar trivia. What follows is a quiz devised of 25 questions that are all related to this year’s roster of nominees in one way or another.

See how many you can answer without consulting Internet Movie Database (IMDb) or Wikipedia first. Good luck!

1. Three-time winner Meryl Streep received her 18th Academy Award nomination this year for her turn as the pill-poppin', acid-tongued matriarch in August: Osage County. Fifteen of her nominations have been in the best actress category. Name the three films she landed best supporting actress nominations for, and the film for which she won the supporting actress prize.

A: The Deer Hunter (1978, nomination), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, win), and Adaptation (2002, nomination)

2. American Hustle best actor nominee Christian Bale previously won the best supporting actor Oscar for his work in The Fighter (2010). Name the filmmaker who made both films.

A: David O. Russell

3. Best Actress contender Amy Adams (American Hustle) has been nominated four previous times for best supporting actress. In two of those instances, she was nominated alongside one of her co-stars. Who are they, and what films were they nominated for?

A: Viola Davis, who was nominated opposite Adams for 2008’s Doubt; and Melissa Leo, who won the supporting actress prize when she and Adams were both in the running for 2010’s The Fighter.

4. 84-year-old character actress June Squibb is nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Bruce Dern’s blunt, outspoken wife in Nebraska. If she wins, she’ll be the oldest actress to win an Oscar for performance. Who presently holds that title?

A: Jessica Tandy. Tandy was 80-years-old when she won the best actress Oscar for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy (1989).

5. The Croods, Despicable Me 2 and Frozen are among the films nominated for best animated feature this year. The category was added in 2001 in an attempt to appease increasingly pointed claims of bias within the Academy after several critically acclaimed animated features failed to land best picture nominations. What was the first film to win the best animated feature Oscar?

A: Shrek (2001)

6. Leonardo DiCaprio is a double nominee this year for his work on director Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. He’s up for best actor as well as best picture (he’s one of the film’s four nominated producers). Which of the following films was he NOT nominated for:

a. The Aviator (2004)

b. Titanic (1997)

c. Blood Diamond (2006)

d. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

A: The answer is b. Titanic (1997). As hard as it is to believe, DiCaprio was overlooked for his star-making turn opposite Kate Winslet, who did land one of that film’s 14 nominations.

7. Best Actress nominees Judi Dench (Philomena) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) both landed Oscar nominations for co-starring in what 2006 hot-button thriller?

A: Notes on a Scandal. Dench was nominated for best actress, and Blanchett was nominated for best supporting actress.

8. Oscar nominees Sandra Bullock (Gravity) and Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) both have held the title of “America’s Sweetheart,” and their movie careers have intersected on more than one occasion. Name the two films that Roberts was offered first, but turned down, that proved to be game changing vehicles for Bullock.

A: Roberts was first offered the role of “Annie” in Speed (1994) which would go onto make Bullock a star; Roberts also turned down the role that netted Bullock her best actress Oscar in 2009’s The Blind Side.

9. Last year’s best actress champ Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) is in the running this year for her supporting turn as Christian Bale’s erratic wife in David O. Russell’s American Hustle. With her win, at the ripe age of 22, she became the second youngest actress to win the best actress Oscar. Who still holds the record as being the youngest winner?

A: Marlee Matlin. Matlin was 21-years-old when she won the best actress Oscar for her film debut in 1986’s Children of a Lesser God opposite William Hurt.

10. This year the Academy gave an Honorary Oscar to actor-comedian-writer Steve Martin, who incredibly enough had never been nominated for an Oscar prior despite a long, distinguished film career. Which of his fellow big screen veterans also holds the distinction of having never been nominated?

a. Richard Gere

b. Harrison Ford

c. Kurt Russell

d. Sylvester Stallone

A:  Gere and Russell have yet to receive any love from the Academy in the form of a nomination despite being highly-respected among their peers. Ford received his sole Oscar nod-to-date for Witness (1985) in the best actor category, and Stallone received dual nominations for best actor and best original screenplay for Rocky (1976). However, neither man won.

11. Brad Pitt is nominated alongside four other credited producers for 12 Years a Slave in the best picture category. This marks his second best picture nomination. Pitt was previously nominated for best supporting actor for Twelve Monkeys (1995), best actor for The Curious of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2011). Name the other film he landed a best picture nod for.

A: Moneyball (2011)

12. Supporting actress nominee Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) landed her role in the film shortly before graduating from what Ivy League college?

A: Yale. Nyong’o earned her MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Drama.

13. Supporting actor nominee Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) has collaborated with British artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen on a number of films in recent years. Name the two other films on which they collaborated.

A: Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011)

14. Matthew McConaughey made his film acting debut in writer-director Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993). Linklater is nominated this year for his work on the film Before Midnight. What category is he nominated in?

A: Linklater is nominated alongside Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (the film’s stars) for best adapted screenplay.

15. John Ridley is nominated for best adapted screenplay for 12 Years a Slave. He received a “Story by” credit for what 1999 Gulf War-set film directed by David O. Russell?

A: Three Kings (1999)

16. Woody Allen is nominated for best original screenplay for Blue Jasmine. It marks his 16^th nomination in the category. Name the three films for which he’s won in the category.

A: Allen has won for Annie Hall (1977), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Midnight in Paris (2011)

17. Double nominee Spike Jonze (Her) is the ex-son-in-law of what Oscar-winning filmmaker?

A: Jonze was married to Oscar winner Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, 2003), daughter of  Oscar- winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, 1972 & The Godfather, Part II, 1974).

18. This year, acclaimed director of photography Roger Deakins is up for his 11th Academy Award in the best cinematography category. How many Oscars has Deakins won to date for his work?

A: Zero. Deakins, one of the film industry’s top-tier cinematographers working today, has yet to win an Oscar. In 2008, he landed Oscar nominations for both No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and still didn’t win.

19. Prolific film composer Thomas Newman landed his 12^th Academy Award nomination overall, and his 11th for best original score this year for his work on Saving Mr. Banks. How many Oscar wins has Newman logged for his work to date?

A: Zero. Though highly respected among his peers, like Deakins, Newman has yet to win an Oscar for his work. And he’s been a dual nominee on two occasions, in 1995 (for 1994’s Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption) and 2009 (for 2008’s WALL·E).

20. Name the one Woody Allen film in which Meryl Streep co-starred.

A: Manhattan (1979)

21. Nebraska’s Bruce Dern was previously Oscar-nominated alongside Jane Fonda and Jon Voight for what Vietnam-era set drama?

A: Coming Home (1978)

22. Best supporting actor nominee Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) won his role over thousands of other actors. What did Abdi do for a living prior to being cast in his breakout role?

A: Abdi worked as a chauffeur and had no prior acting experience.

23. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence have co-starred in three films with one another in as many years. Name the films.

A: Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle (2013), and the forthcoming Serena (2014)

24. Best Director nominee Alexander Payne received his first Oscar nomination for which high school set comedy starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon?

A: Election (1999). He and Jim Taylor were nominated for best adapted screenplay.

25. Dual nominee Martin Scorsese (best director and best picture for The Wolf of Wall Street) has collaborated with Leonardo DiCaprio on four other films. Name those films.

A: Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), and Shutter Island (2010)

(PHOTO:  film critic Mack Bates)