Six degrees of dinner conversation...

The discussions around our dinner table are never dull. We are constantly trying to stump each other with questions. Sometimes we play "Twenty Questions" or "World's Worst." But we always get back to movies.

We love movies.

We (by choice) don't have cable, so we don't watch tv. (although, I admit we do have some tv on dvds)
But we love movies.
Old movies. New movies. Animated. (and yes, I do admit to bowing down to the Animation Gods of Pixar. =D) Action-Adventure. Drama. Sci-Fi. Musicals. Comedy. (pretty much anything but Horror, unless it involves Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi -who are, to me, the most deeply terrifying actors of all time, but that's not important right now - in fact, I should really save that discussion for my therapist).

By default to all this movie love, we also seem to talk a lot in movie lines, or at least whenever we are witty enough to do so.
One of our many favorites, when one of us makes the "uh-oh" sound:
"What did you do, Ray?" (Ghostbusters)

We love playing movie trivia games, too.  Like Celebrity Taboo.

But our very favorite movie-related pastime is The Kevin Bacon Game.  Or Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
The premise is that Kevin Bacon is at the center of the entertainment universe and you can link actors from movie to movie and always get back to Kevin Bacon.

For example:  I was quite proud of linking Marilyn Monroe back to Kevin Bacon.
It goes like this:
Marilyn Monroe was in "Some Like it Hot" with Jack Lemmon (1) ,
who was in "Grumpy Old Men" with Darryl Hannah (2),
who was in "Splash" with Tom Hanks (3) 
who was in "Apollo 13" with Kevin Bacon (4).

Pretty good considering we started in the 1930's. But then I remembered Eli Wallach.  Marilyn Monroe was in "The Misfits" with Eli Wallach (1), who was in "Mystic River" with Kevin Bacon (2). Bringing the Kevin Bacon rating on that one down to a two.  I RULE THIS GAME! - (Partly because I have seen tons of movies, but partly because of my age.) =D

So that's the game. I get phone calls from some of Adam's friends randomly. I answer the phone: "hello?" The voice at the other end says: "Johnny Depp" and I'm off...
"Johnny Depp was in "Edward Scissorhands" with Dianne Wiest (1),
who was in "Footloose" with Kevin Bacon (2).  Oooh - 2 points!

And then, because he has been on my mind..... I wonder about Andy Garcia.
Andy Garcia...
was in "The Air I Breath" WITH KEVIN BACON (1!!)
It is just as I suspected.... it is actually Andy Garcia who is at the center of the entertainment universe.
Hmm... so that means that to get from Marilyn Monroe - "The Misfits" , you could still go through Eli Wallach (1)  (bless his character actor's heart), who was in  "Godfather III" with Andy Garcia (2).

That's it! I am so inspired now. 
A Cuban at the very center of the entertainment universe.
It is as God intended.  ;-)

You're welcome to play with me if you like.
Try these:

1) John Lithgow
2) Robin Williams
3) Rene Russo
4) Pierce Brosnan
5) Mary Stuart Masterson
6) Gene Hackman
7) Dolph Lundgren
8) Michael Keaton
9) Will Smith
10) Chevy Chase

(hint - www.imdb.com has all the information you need and want)

We're having some fun now, aren't we? =D