• 2011 News Junkies Grilled
• Making Movies for Kim Jong Il
• Should I Read It: Gift Books
• 9/11 and Bad Movies
• Win Malcolm Gladwell Books
• Remembering Holiday Awesomeness
• Bob and Doug and The Beer Hunter

It's almost over.

2011 was a year of financial meltdown, economic uncertainty and violence in the Middle East. But then there were the big questions like:

Who designed Kate Middleton's wedding dress?

If you just shouted out "Sarah Burton" do we have a quiz for you!

It's our year-end news quiz with three sporting journalists facing off: Jeffrey Simpson is The Globe and Mail's national affairs columnist; Jennifer Ditchburn, parliamentary reporter with the Canadian Press; and Bruce Headlam, New York Times media editor.

Politics, culture and trivia, something for everyone... and three hard-nosed journalists with killer instincts gunning for the title. See how you measure up.

Making Movies for the Dear Leader

In 1978 an acclaimed Korean film director and his wife were kidnapped by henchmen for the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and pressed into making movies that followed the guidelines of his bizarre regime.

Kim, a reputed fan of Hollywood, had ambitions for North Korean movies as cultural exports that would be admired in other countries. Shin Sang-Ok made seven films with Kim Jong Il as executive producer.

After spending eight years in North Korea, three of them imprisoned, Shin and his wife escaped.

John Gorenfield tells the bizarre story on Day 6.

Should I Read It: The Last Minute Edition

What kind of self-defeating monster hasn't finished their Christmas shopping? Uhhh well... OK, that's most of us.

Don't worry. We have a solution. It's called the bookstore.

Becky Toyne, our guide to Should I Read It, has a pile of books that fill the void on any list including the hard-to-buy-for types. Grab a pencil and start making that list.

Bob and Doug and The Beer Hunter

Thirty year ago thousands of Canadian kids- teen boys mostly- woke up to find Bob and Doug McKenzie's record under the Christmas tree, the vinyl lp of course, best known for the Geddy Lee helmed single "Take Off".

It was more of a novelty record than a comedy disc, songs mostly, but with a few sketches and no live audience whatsoever.

One of the sketches, The Beer Hunter, was a goof on the harrowing Russian Roulette scene in The Deer Hunter with a 6 pack of beer standing in for a gun. This had a profound effect on Day 6 contributor Andrew Clark. He explains.

9/11 on Film

On Christmas Day the movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close opens in limited release. It's an adaptation of a well-received novel about a boy whose father dies in the attacks of 9/11, but the movie didn't hit any sweet spots for Nathan Rabin of The Onion's AV Club.

Nathan joins us to talk about why most of the movies about 9/11 have fizzled.

News Quiz Part 2

Your turn. It's the annual Day 6 Voices of the Year Challenge. Listen to the clip, name the people speaking and you could win a really great prize: one of two Malcolm Gladwell box sets of books.

Go here and replay the clip as many times as you want. If your entry is correct it will be entered into a draw. There might even be a few runners-up eligible for the newly minted Day 6 tote bags. It's not easy, but you're up to it.

Awesome

Happy holidays.

If you're not feeling the holiday spirit, that's OK too. Neil Pasricha - author of The Book of Holiday Awesome - says that's normal at this time of the year but he clearly thinks it's better to be on the good side of the line of cheer.

And listening to his advice might help you get there.

We're back next week with The Big 6.

It's the top stories of 2011 selected by you. And then we're gonna watch 2012 unfold together on Day 6.

Hope the coming year is every bit as great as 2011.

All the Best!

Brent Bambury @CBCDay6 

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