Thursday 12 April 2012

Cinematic Degrees Of Separation

The problem with the era of Lovefilm, Netflix et al, is that it opens up a universe of film possibilities, resulting in users suffering from "option paralysis". You can watch anything in the world, now what will it be?

Many an agonising (usually hungover) hour on a Sunday afternoon is spent with me and Sam making our heads ache even more by trying to decide which might be the optimal film to watch at that precise second. You know the drill, "what do you want to watch?" "NO NO NO, what do YOU want to watch?" Repeat until skull implodes.

So the weekend before last, we came up with a game. You have to link the last film you watched to the next with a common actor. A mild diversion which has now turned into something of an obsession.

It got us from:


(which is possibly THE perfect hangover film) via M. Emmett Walsh - bit-part actor because I was being wilfully obscure, as usual - to:

Then via John Goodman to:

Although being a Coen brothers film, we could have gone round and round with the same actors all day. So I opted out using Philip Seymour Hoffman (a trump card in this game - gives you a passport to many places) and on to:

I had forgotten how amazing this film is. Anyway, by this time it started to get really interesting/nerdy, as we decided we wanted to go and see the new Joss Whedon film The Cabin In The Woods this weekend, and that to make it more interesting we should make a path there with our connections, in the fewest possible moves, before we could go. Tough, as TCITW has loads of TV actors and very few big stars. I managed it in three hops though. Kate Hudson got us here:

Yeah so now we see the down-side to this game, you do have to watch some shite. But that makes the end point all the more rewarding, right? It gives me an excuse to rewatch this too (via Luke Wilson):


...as I was on a flight to Kuala Lumpur and doped up on valium last time I saw it. Natalie Portman will then take us to a film I've wanted to see for ages:


And from there, Chris Hemsworth brings us neatly to our destination:



And hopefully we'll get there before plot spoilers RUIN the whole thing for us (apparently there are lots doing the round in reviews - be warned if you're interested in seeing it).

So. Is this the saddest thing you've ever heard? Doesn't it sort of make you want to join in a bit though? OH GO ON....

15 comments:

  1. On the rare occasion we are both alive enough at the end of the day to stay awake for something film-length, we have a tower of unwatched DVDs sitting on the windowledge for a similar purpose. I generally read out the titles in a monotone and we fail to choose one for half an hour. "No, What do you want to watch?" is a common saying in our house too. The other day we watched Rain Man, fresh out of the cellophane, having patiently waited its turn for 2 years.

    This related actors game sounds like a great idea, but I'm going to have to swerve it as it will inevitably lead to me buying towers of DVDs. My girlfriend's brother and his wife have a system where they pull the DVDs they fancy that night half off the shelf and then take turns pushing them back in until only one victor remains. It's good because you eliminate the ones you really don't want to watch early on and by the end you both get something you're happy with. The only problem is you can easily eliminate films you think look rubbish but might love if you ever gave them the chance.

    I really liked Thor but think Captain America is the best comic book film for ages. Not even heard of the new Joss Whedon, but him + Chris Hemsworth (who I loved in the aforementioned hammer-swinger) add up to a must watch, I think. Avengers is going to be bonertastic.

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    1. I agree on skipping good films just because youre playing it safe, we'be had The Machinist on lend for ages and still not watched it, mainly because neither of us ever opt fir films that look like hard work. Goddamn commenting on phones sucks, i can see all my typos but the cursor won't go where i want to correct them. Scream.

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  2. Abi Lady HarHar12 April 2012 at 08:51

    I love this game - Might never leave the house again though :)

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    1. I must admit we have neglected Breaking Bad lately just to get through enough films so we can go to the cinema....

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  3. Totally with you on the 'no what do you want to watch?' conversation. Loving the idea of linking the films may try it today as off work poorly and only have to please myself and not the other half :) Howver I just watched the trailer for Cabin in the Woods and am now freaked out!! Horror films scare me a lot!! x

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    1. Would be a PERFECT game for a duvet day!!

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  4. Good work on the amount of films you've watched in one week. Very impressive.

    We never have the 'what do you want to watch?' conversation. I say 'let's watch xxx', and generally we do. I'm mean.

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    1. You are mean. We are only up to the darjeeling ltd!

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  5. Got to add - I don't mean 'let's watch xxx, the presumably dreadful film staring that bloke - Vin Diesel'

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  6. The Big Lebowski - HELLO QUOTATION CENTRAL!

    "Dude, I've got a beverage here!"
    "This is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are RULES."
    "Nice marmot."

    Ah, and then list goes on. Jesus, I'm a saddo.

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  7. I love this idea! I am going to implement it next time we have the "what to watch" debate, which usually ends in us watching nothing and reading on the sofa instead because we couldn't make a decision.

    K x

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  8. ha ha amazing game! I will try and introduce this to my life somehow!!

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  9. oh my god. Just watched trailer for tcitw. Terrified.

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    1. I just had to watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQOZHEYhVtU to calm me down.

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    2. Ahhhh I still haven't seen Tucker & Dale Vs Evil! It looks amazing!

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