HeadScratcher No. 23: What's in a name?

So what do Adaptation, Catwoman, Charlie’s Angels, and The Players Club have in common?

"What person with eyes and a brain saw Catwoman?" griped PopWatcher Michael Golde. "Totally unfair." Meow, Mike! To answer your question, we did. We see everything — expressly for an occassion like this one.

The correct answer is that each of the directors of these films uses a pseudonym when working. Spike Jonze (born Adam Spiegel) directed Adaptation. Pitof, a.k.a. Jean-Christophe Comar, held Halle Berry’s leash for Catwoman. Joseph McGinty Nichol (the irrepressible McG, left with Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, and Cameron Diaz) rounded up Charlie’s Angels‘ trio of hotties. And Ice Cube (né O’Shea Jackson) oversaw the strip-club movie The Players’ Club.

Only 12 of you got the correct answer: Ryan Burkett (who has the coolest email handle ever: Black B. Jonz — think about it); Shannon Cheng; Connie L. Chilton; Rod Ganske; Matt LaPierre; Kerin Lou; Gina Marie; Heidi Nelson; Kate Royce; Sebastian Tabany; Kim Tan; and Patrick A. Yearout. As a reward, they all get to sit in the front seat all week. No whining!

But then there were the rest of you…

Interesting theories this week. And by "interesting" I mean "wrong."

Question: How can someone named Ron Mwangaguhunga(a real contender in past weeks) get this one wrong? Because my parentsblessed me with the name Mickey, I tend to be sensitive to namingconventions, but not Mr. M (if he was a high school teacher, his kidswould totally call him that). Ron, like a bunch of you, knewthat Jonze, Cube, McG, and Pitof have directed music videos in thepast, and thought that was the connection. Well, I suppose it couldbe, but it wasn’t what I was looking for. So, partial credit to Ron and his fellowbrave souls for taking a stab at it: Guy Bertuzzi, Steven Frank, Maggie Morgan, Ryan L. Opahle, Courtney Smith, Jamie Smith, Mike Tank, Danny Williams, and Dave Wilson (FYI: Smarties Nelson and Chiltonmade this connection as well — show-offs!).

Maribeth Macaisa thought the connection had to do with alter-egos, and Jack Volpi (who made me laugh out loud by closing his email with the charming greeting "Boo-yah!") talked about people being left to die, but surviving. To paraphrase Vince Vaughn in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I love where your heads are at. You guys always surprise me. Come back Friday for a new question!