Final Jeopardy: Movie Directors (5-8-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (5/8/2025) in the category “Movie Directors” was:
As of 2025, this director has made just 4 feature films; 3 were Oscar nominated for Best Picture
New champ Dan Moren, a writer & podcaster from Somerville, MA, won $17,200 yesterday. In Game 2, his opponents are: Christen Aragoni, a writer & editor from Washington, D.C.; and Michael Mungin, a librarian from Kirkland, WA.
Round 1 Categories: Unofficial State Nicknames – How Do You Like Your Eggs? – Calendar Grooves – Breaking, the News – Women in the Bible – 4, 4
Dan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Unofficial State Nicknames” under the $1,000 clue on the 19th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $6,400, $4,000 more than Michael in second place. Dan bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
“The Rainbow State” show
Dan finished in the lead with $10,800. Michael was second with $3,800 and Christen was last with $1,600. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: May Days! May Days! – Empty Words – Eye on Asia – Initialed Writers – TV Characters – Old MacDonald Had a Wind Farm
Dan found the first Daily Double in “May Days!” under the $1,600 clue on the 18th pick. He was in the lead with $20,000 now, $13,400 more than Michael in second place. Dan bet $2,000 and came up with E-Z. That was WRONG.
A union & a company, they fought the “Battle of the Overpass” on May 26, 1937 show
Dan got the last Daily Double in “Eye on Asia” under the $1,600 clue, with 6 clues left after it. In the lead with $18,400, he had $11,800 more than Michael in second place. Dan bet $2,000 and guessed Papua New Guinea. That was WRONG.
The only Asian country with Portuguese as an official language, it gained full independence from Indonesia in 2002 show
Dan finished in the lead with a runaway $18,800. Michael was next with $7,400 and Christen was in third place with $800. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS GRETA GERWIG?
Greta Gerwig began her career in the entertainment industry as an actress. She co-directed “Nights and Weekends” (2008) with Joe Swanberg. Then she hit it big with “Lady Bird” (2017), her solo directorial debut. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Gerwig got a best director nomination.
Gerwig then directed “Little Women” (2019) and “Barbie” (2023), both nominated for Best Picture. She is the first female director with 3 Best Picture nominations. She is currently working on her 4th feature film, “Narnia” (2026).
Christen drew a blank. She didn’t bet anything so her score remained $800.
Michael went with Damien Chazelle. He lost $2,600 and finished with $4,800.
Dan had Chloe Zhao. He lost $2,500 but won the game with the remaining $16,300. His 2-day total is $33,500.
2 triple stumpers from MAY DAYS! MAY DAYS!:
($1200) This nation declared its independence May 14, 1948
($2000) On May 15, 1972 this largest of the Ryukyu Islands was returned to Japanese control
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “HISTORY”
His epitaph, in a church in England, reads, “Sometime general in the army of George Washington” show
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Not much of a game. Michael had a chance to prevent a lock game but couldn’t get over the hump. Christen was a non-entity who waltzes back to DC with $2K. Tough but fair final. Just couldn’t think of the right one. I did see 2 of her 3 nominated films. First DD super-easy, others not so much. Thought the 2nd might involve the UAW but really didn’t know.
They left a number of gettable clues on the table. The largest Ryukyu island; Apache state; eggs & broth dish; wind measurement device; Tehachapi Mountains state; Stairway to Heaven queen’s month. $7600 right there for the taking.
It looks like Christen is the second contestant to have synesthesia. The first contestant to have that condition was Jessica Dell’Era from 2/16/2012 in the Winter Teachers Tournament.
It was another exciting game with Dan again emerging as the champion. In fact, the only way Dan was going to lose was if he had bet the store in FJ. Well, I performed a tad above average in the game, but was clueless in FJ.