Game Time: Name the Movie!

Some of us at the Café thought it might be fun to try a movie-guessing game. So we’ve devised this slight variation of a game played at several film blogs (and during long trips in my family). Basically, it’s a thinly-disguised version of 20 Questions—but, hey, some remakes are pretty good!

The game will start each Tuesday in November and end the following Saturday. Here are the rules:

1. A Café patron—whom we’ll call the “Film Selector”-- will choose a movie made between 1920 and 1985. His or her selection must be a feature-length, English-language film that’s pretty well-known (no obscure titles like The Snorkel). It cannot be a documentary. The Film Selector must know the chosen movie well, so he or she can answer detailed questions.

2. The Film Selector will start the game on Tuesday by providing: (1) a clue about the film (an actor, an award, a song, a plot point, etc.); (2) the decade the film was released originally (e.g., the 1940s).

3. Each Café patron may then ask up to five “yes or no” questions about the film each day. Phrase your questions wisely. Instead of asking “Is Cary Grant in this movie?”, it may be better to pose “Is Cary Grant, James Stewart, or Clark Gable in this movie?” (Keep in mind, though, that your questions and their answers may help other players, too.)

4. Number your questions when you ask them. For example: “1. Does this film take place in the 20th century?” That will make it easier for the Film Selector to answer your questions.

5. The Film Selector must answer all questions by the end of the day in which they were asked.

6. The first player who guesses the film correctly wins the game and gets to pick the film for the next week. Since all comments have a date/time stamp, that will be used to determine the winner if two or more people guess the film correctly on the same day.

7. If no one guesses the film correctly, the game ends on Saturday night and the Film Selector picks someone to assume his or her role for the next week.

8. If the Film Selector inadvertently answers a question incorrectly, then, well, that’s just the way it goes! We want to minimize that naturally, but there will be no filing of complaints if it happens. Remember, we’re a Café…not a court.

If you have any questions about the rules, please leave a comment. I'll kick the game off with an easy movie tomorrow evening.