Announcing a New ABCs Game: ABCs at the Movies!
Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of life, we forget that what brought us together was a story and
a movie. In the spirit of celebration, this new ABCs game has been created and I hope that many Bettermostians will participate! The more the merrier I always say.
The rules are pretty straightforward:
1) It follows the pattern of the other ABC games: go through the alphabet in order. What will be posted in this game will be
movie names. In case that's not clear, here's an example: "B" is Brokeback Mountain.
2) Each round is a year. We'll start in 2007 and work backwards so the first round of the game will be Round 2007. In that round, every movie posted must have come out in 2007. The second round will be 2006 and each movie in that round must be from 2006...and so on. Each round will be 26 movies from that particular year. Let's see how far in history back we can get!
NOTE: Since it is only 26 movies per year, let's try to stick to theatrical releases (no made for TV movies). I realize we may have to get a little bit obscure for letters like X and Q but I think there are enough movies out there that we can come up with titles that people have, by and large, heard of. I would also prefer to not use obvious porn titles such as "A$$ Fanatics" and the like.
3) To play, in the subject line post the letter and movie name, ie: "B" is Brokeback Mountain. In the message box, post
something about the movie. It could be a picture, a piece of trivia, an interesting fact, a quote, box office stats, awards, or even a personal experience or comment. The sky's the limit is my take on this!
4) IMDb (the Internet Movie Database) will be the final source for verifying dates and any facts or other information that might be in dispute.
5) "The," "A" and "An" and their foreign equivalents -- e.g., "Un," "Les," "Los," "Il," and "Das" -- don't count. So, for example, "The Apartment" could be posted as "Apartment, The" and count as an A. Likewise, "A Night to Remember" could count as a N.
6) English language titles will be preferred UNLESS a movie has a foreign language title and country listed on IMDb. For example, "Lust, Caution" is listed as "Se, jie" on IMDb so the latter would be acceptable as a "S" entry. However, if someone played it as "L" (which I would allow, since it is also listed that way on IMDb) then it would be ineligible as the "S" entry. "Il Postino" (The Postman) is another example that comes to mind and could be played as an "I" entry with its Italian title. In that case, it couldn't be played as a "P" in English.
NOTE: Effective 9/11/08, the foreign equivalents of the words "The," "A," and "An" -- words like "Das," "Un," "Il," "Les," etc. -- are handled the same way as "The," "A," and "An." In other words, they no longer count. (See Rule 5.) "Il Postino" is now a "P" title, not an "I" title as indicated above.
7) One you have played a letter, two additional letters must be played before you can take another turn. For example, if you played an A, you'd have to wait until D to play again. It is permissible to "hold a space" by posting a letter while you dash off to find the perfect piece of trivia for the perfect movie you have in mind. This is helpful if the game is moving really fast.
Of course, we reserve the right to add or modify the rules as circumstances might require, once the game gets going. I've tried to think of everything but there is no guarantee I have!
9) Wildcard X Rule (added in Round 1983): Since people have gotten tired of "the obligatory Chinese Movie" being played for X, I have come up with a variation....For the letter
X, any movie (from the current year) can be played. So, if you missed your chance to play your favorite movie for letter "whatever"....here's your chance. In other words, X is a wildcard. There will also be a suspension of the "two turns" rule. Anyone can play a wildcard X, even if they played V or W. Just remember....the wildcard movie MUST come from the year (round) we are currently playing.
10) Wildcard Q and Z Rule (added on 9/11/08): Since unplayed Q and Z movies are becomingly increasingly difficult to find, these letters are now wildcards, but the movies played must fit the theme of the round being played. There is no suspension of the "two turns" rule with regard to Q and Z, only with X.
Please feel free to PM me with any questions or comments!
Leslie (MaineWriter)
Game Mistress with the support of
Sandy and Fran
ABCs Moderators
