# The IMDB Now Playing game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 22, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342 "2009-08-22T22:01:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/1 "2009-08-22T22:01:31Z")
OK, here is a game I play with myself when I’m bored. Pick a famous person. Go to IMDB Now Playing. By only clicking on links, find that person’s IMDB page. Easy Example: Uma Thurman. IMDB Now Playing-\>Inglorious Basterds-\>Quenten Tarntino-\>Kill Bill-\>Uma Thurman. Challenge: Michael J. Fox Add your own challenges, but please be sure that a chain exists - no FAKE challenges! ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/2 "2009-08-22T23:26:45Z")
Now Playing \> My One And Only \> Renee Zellweger \> Jerry Maguire \> Jonathan Lipnicki \> Stuart Little \> Michael J. Fox Challenge: Billy Crystal ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/3 "2009-08-23T03:13:53Z")
> [@KennerTheGreat](#): > > Now Playing \> My One And Only \> Renee Zellweger \> Jerry Maguire \> Jonathan Lipnicki \> Stuart Little \> Michael J. Fox > > Challenge: Billy Crystal Nice! A different chain than I had. Mine was: Now Playing \>G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra-\>Dennis Quaid-\>Wyatt Earp-\>Joanna Going-\>Spin City-\>Michael J. Fox. I confess, I’m a little too drunk to try yours, but I’ll try it in the morning if no one else plays. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/4 "2009-08-23T03:20:48Z")
> [@KennerTheGreat](#): > > Challenge: Billy Crystal Now Playing \> Post Grad \> Michael Keaton \> Cars \> Billy Crystal Like buttah. Here’s one that might take you a while. There’s at least one quick route, but I only know it because it involves a character actor I like. Challenge: Jack Klugman ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/5 "2009-08-23T03:37:25Z")
Now Playing-\>The Ugly Truth-\>Entourage-\>Kevin Connolly-\>When Do We Eat?-\>Jack Klugman Challange: Marisa Tomei ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/6 "2009-08-23T04:05:28Z")
Now Playing-\>Funny People-\>Adam Sandler-\>Anger Management-\>Marisa Tomei Easier than I thought! At first, I thought of doing a roundabout one through various _Star Trek_ connections to Jason Alexander, whose George Constanza had a thang for her on _Seinfeld_ and who also appeared on a _Star Trek: Voyager_ episode, but that was 'waaaay too long and roundabout. Challenge: Lillian Gish ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/7 "2009-08-23T06:11:52Z")
Now Playing-\>Post Grad-\>Carol Burnett-\>A Wedding-\>Lillian Gish Challenge: Elsa Lanchester ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/8 "2009-08-23T15:17:38Z")
Now Playing-\>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-\>Maggie Smith-\>Murder by Death-\>Elsa Lanchester That was nice, **Robot Arm** , and more efficient than what I had in mind: Now Playing-\>Funny People-\>Adam Sandler-\>Anger Management-\>Marisa Tomei-\>My Cousin Vinny-\>Fred Gwynne-\>Arsenic and Old Lace-\>Lillian Gish Challenge: Buster Keaton ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/9 "2009-08-23T15:23:56Z")
Now Playing-\>G-Force-\>Nick Cage-\>Next-\>Peter Falk-\>Murder by Death-\>Elsa Lanchester Challenge: C. Thomas Howell ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/10 "2009-08-23T18:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Add your own challenges, but please be sure that a chain exists - no FAKE challenges! Isn’t this basically just the Kevin Bacon game? Any actor anyone’s ever heard of is going to have a Kevin Bacon number, and therefore a Now Playing chain. If nothing else, you could pick a current movie at random, pick an actor at random from that movie, trace that actor to Kevin Bacon, and then trace from Kevin Bacon to the target actor (though shorter chains will doubtless exist, that’s enough to prove that there is a chain). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/11 "2009-08-23T18:40:48Z")
Well, we haven’t used Kevin Bacon yet. Still undone: Buster Keaton ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/12 "2009-08-23T19:29:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Now Playing-\>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-\>Maggie Smith-\>Murder by Death-\>Elsa Lanchester Excellent. I knew Now Playing-\>Post Grad-\>Michael Keaton-\>Batman-\>Jack Nicholson-\>The Terror-\>Boris Karloff-\>Bride of Frankenstein-\>Elsa Lanchester would work, but figured there was probably a shorter one. > [@](#): > > That was nice, **Robot Arm** , and more efficient than what I had in mind: Strictly speaking, I could cut out one link by not going to _Post Grad_; there’s a direct Carol Burnett link in the section for _Post Grad_. So conditioned are we by The Oracle of Bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/13 "2009-08-23T19:39:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Still undone: Buster Keaton Now Playing-\>Meryl Streep[sup]1[/sup]-\>Oscar’s Greatest Moments[sup]2[/sup]-\>William Holden-\>Sunset Blvd.-\>Buster Keaton Challenge: Gene Roddenberry (too easy?) 1. In the section for _Julie & Julia_ 2. Under “Archive Footage”, the full entry is “Oscar’s Greatest Moments (1992) (V) … Herself” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/14 "2009-08-23T19:49:59Z")
Now Playing-\>Post Grad-\>Jane Lynch-\>Boston Legal-\>William Shatner-\>Star Trek-\>Gene Roddenberry C. Thomas Howell ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-imdb-now-playing-game/507342/15 "2009-08-24T03:27:02Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Now Playing-\>Post Grad-\>Jane Lynch-\>Boston Legal-\>William Shatner-\>Star Trek-\>Gene Roddenberry I was thinking of Five Minutes of Heaven-\>Liam Neeson-\>Excalibur-\>Patrick Stewart