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Show WASATCH “Dead Meat” and “Six Degrees MOUNTAIN TIMES of Kevin Bacon” Or How to Entertain Your Party Guests By Rick Brough ccording to a study by the National Institutes of Health, the most terminally uncool thing you could say at a New Year’s Eve party is: “Hey, everybody! Who’s up for Charades?” Yes, it’s fashionable to put down the common parlor games — especially among those “sophisticated” types whose idea of fun is to dally with mem- Instantly, a friend of mine said, “I just know that guy is gonna get killed.” Did you have the same reaction? If so, you're probably ready to play Dead Meat - the game where you use your knowledge of Hollywood cliches to predict what characters are undeniably, unmistakenly doomed. Players get points by yelling out, “Dead Meat,” as soon as they’ve figured out that a character is toast. (Note: bers of the opposite sex, get drunk and please don’t play this in an actual movie wind up French-kissing a bicycle pump. Nevertheless, an energetic round of show “21. Questions” accumulated knowledge, mental agility, the ability to think on your feet — and it also kills time, since nobody wants to makeout with you, anyway. Charades though? I'd rather play “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” This is the newest fad among movie buffs. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. The game title comes from the play, “Six Degrees of Separation,” which suggested that any one of us is connected within six steps to anybody else in the world. That is, you know somebody, who knows another person, who knows somebody else, until eventually you get to Mother Teresa. The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon postulates that Bacon has had such a busy resume in the past 15 years, that any actor in Hollywood can be connected to him in six steps Let's take, say, Jim Nabors: Jim Nabors appeared in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” with Burt Reynolds; who appeared in “Rent-aCop” with Liza Minnelli; who appeared in “Cabaret” with Joel Grey; who appeared in “Remo Williams” with Fred Ward; who appeared in the movie “Tremors” with — ta da — Kevin Bacon! You'd be surprised how easy it can be sometimes. Boris Karloff? He appeared in the movie “The Terror” with Jack Nicholson; who appeared in “A Few Good Men” with - Kevin Bacon! And I’ve got four degrees to spare! theater, unless you whisper.) Just to give you a few clues, Dead Meat characters can be easily spotted if they say any of the following: e “T've gathered all you moneyhungry leaches here at my estate for the weekend to let you know that I’m changing my will.” e “Don’t worry, it’s just a cough. And besides, you don’t have anybody else to take the F-57 up for that altitude test.” e “Ooh, is little Angie afraid of those stories about big, bad Jason? C'mon, let’s go in the woods and have lots of sex.” e FOR FIFTIES SCI-FI FANS: “Headquarters, tell Madge I'll be home in half an hour. I’m just gonna check out that strange purple glow old Pete saw over in Maggot Canyon.” e FOR STAR TREK FANS: “Captain Kirk, I just wanted to thank you for taking me on the Away mission. You don’t know me, I’m Ensign Schwartzkopf.” e “T feel confident there is room for a Pro-Choice candidate in the Republican presidential race.” (Whoops! That ‘Political Dead Meat.’ How’d that get in there?) In some cases, the Dead Meat characters are just too, too obvious. For instance, I don’t think you should get points for spotting any of the following: e “Hi, I’m General Custer.” e “My, but it's roomy here on the Titanic.” e “Hi, I’m Merrill Cook, and I want your vote.” Dead Meat I've got a few ideas of my own to liven up your average dull holiday or weekend party. This is just for starters: Let’s say your crowd aren’t movie experts but do like to sit around and watch a good video triple feature. Here’s a way to be entertained and sharpen your wits at the same time: I first thought of this game when a bunch of us were watching the classic western “Red River” — specifically, the scene where John Wayne is talking to the young, apple-cheeked cowpuncher, _ who says: “When this drive is over, I got a hankerin’ to buy my gal a pair of red slippers.” random pieces of paper and see if you can combine the films into a High Concept. For instance: e “Home Alone” meets “Psycho.” Ten-year-old Kevin is delighted to be left Home Alone. But the audience gradually discovers his psychotic delusion. He’s not a little boy, he’s Norman Bates; he’s not in suburbia, but in the Bates Motel; and he’s Home Alone because he’s killed his entire family and they're mummified in the basement! e “My Left Foot” and “9 1/2 Weeks.” Kim Basinger embarks on a strange journey of self-discovery when she begins an affair with kinky paraplegic Mickey Rourke. In the movie's highlight, she allows herself to be blindfolded, while her lover feeds her from the refrigerator with his big toe e “Honeymoon in Vegas” meets “Indecent Proposal.” Sorry. That’s already the same movie e “Showgirls” meets “Groundhog Day.” A rich Hollywood screenwriter who pens a piece-of-crap movie about Las Vegas showgirls finds that he is forced to watch the movie over and over and over and . G MAYBE IT’S TIME YOU SHIPPED OUT. ~ ~ \ LENT IT Vay ~ fl (ALTE ~ (octal © UVIGLOBE. ASG a Sal Peregrine Travel YD) _ 800-950-0460 649-0460 / 534-0460 Park City Plaza Park City | High Concept OK, here’s one more idea. It’s a great game for four or five people to play in virtually any setting. With the Sundance Film Festival coming up, this is especially good to play while you’re sitting around, waiting for the next film. i: called “High Concept” and its based on the idea that 90 percent of the movie ideas in Hollywood are attempts to copy a previous success. A lot of the time, they're trying to find two hits and cross-breed them. Remember in “The Player” when someone pitched an idea like “Ghost” meets “Pretty Woman?” To play the game, have everyone write down the names of five hit movies on slips of paper. Put the slips in a hat, then take turns pulling out two PAGE 9 So’s the PTY Call The Matthews Team oo ithe 801-64-REMAX REMAX Network @ Park City MatTTHews David Working For You & Jane 14 Days A Week 1500 Kearns Blvyd., Suite E-200 Office: 64-REMAX Fax: 647-0023 Home: 649-3556 . |
