IFC will be holding tryouts for Ultimate Film Fanatic in the coming weeks, here are the locations:
Boston - Sept. 13 - Loews Boston Common 175 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02111
Austin - Sept. 15 - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 409B Colorado St., Austin, TX 78701
Chicago - Sept. 17 - Loews Gardens at Old Orchard 7-13 175 Old Orchard St., Skokie, IL 60077
San Francisco - Sept. 20 - Loews Metreon Theatre 101 Fourth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Seattle - Sept. 22 - Cineplex Odeon Meridian 1501 7th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101
Los Angeles Sept. 28 - Universal Cineplex Theatre 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608
The format of the show, if you haven't seen it, is pretty straightforward. Round 1 is general movie trivia, where you are grilled on genres you know little to nothing about. Round 2 is the debate round, where you take a topic given to you by the host and try to convince the panel that it sucks or rules. And Round 3 is your chance to demonstrate your true geekery by displaying the cream of your movie memorabilia crop.
Finally, a chance to show off those misspelled Star Wars patches.
I'm not eligible for this, as Film Threat publisher Chris Gore is the host and the IFC is so wary of a Charles Van Doren-like scenario it's saying you're ineligible if you ever shook Chris' hand at the Anchorage Film Festival in 2000. I fared pretty well against the contestants on the episodes I watched at home, though.
Except for Round 3, that is. I have a handful of decent collectibles, but my seven varieties of lightsaber would pale in comparison to what some of these guys show up with. By the end of the first season, I half expected someone to trot out Doris Wishman's bones.
Who's Doris Wishman?