It seems impossible that we’ve already gotten a year’s worth of Cinematrix grids under our collective belt. One year of trying to remember if that one Kirsten Dunst movie came out in 1994 or 1995. One year of guessing which Ben Stiller movies were 80% approved on Rotten Tomatoes. One year of trying to remember if it’s Cate Blanchett or Tilda Swinton who’s in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. (Great news: It’s both!)
We’ve accomplished a lot in that year: refined our approach, expanded to weekends, heard from celebrities who enjoy playing (and designing) the game. Along the way, we continued reading and responding to every email we received from our wonderful (if occasionally snippy) players. It’s been a number of months since we last weighed in on the related questions and recurring themes that crop up in our mailbox, so we figured: When better than on the game’s birthday to resolve grievances and offer mea culpas?
Every item you’ll find below is a response, in one way or another, to actual emails we got from players. Here’s to another great year of open dialogue.
➼ Clarification: That’s not Jon Lovitz in You’ve Got Mail
Here’s to a brief moment of recognition for actor Howard Spiegel, who played ornery Zabar’s customer Henry in that famous scene from You’ve Got Mail. The actor, who does bear something of a resemblance to Jon Lovitz, sadly died in 2011.
➼ Correction(s): Yes, that actor did do an English dub for a Studio Ghibli movie
Our database isn’t great with catching voice-over work in English dubs. We do our best to fact-check those details before a game is published, but sometimes they slip through the cracks. Apologies to Anne Hathaway (The Cat Returns), Geena Davis (When Marnie Was There), and Dan Stevens (The Boy and the Heron), presumably among others whom we didn’t hear about.
New Rules: Count ’Em
An Update on Character Names
There’s something it’s important for you to know about programming Cinematrix: There are two different types of categories we use. One is automatic, which uses an API to pull correct answers from our database provider, TMDB. To keep the game manageable for us, we try to rely heavily on automatic categories. But because there are other, more specific categories we’re excited to incorporate — Muppet Movie, Football Movie, Anyone Who’s Played Dracula, etc. — we have a subset of manual ones. For those categories, we go through and collect the correct answers by hand.
No category demonstrates the precariousness of this approach better than “Character Name in Title.” From the onset, this was a category we were keen to use, for the simple reason that it’s very fun. It seems straightforward: What are the characters’ names? Do any of those names appear in the title?
And yet, you’d be surprised at the havoc this one category has wreaked at Cinematrix HQ. It’s a manual category, one that involves two specific challenges. The first is that as we put together the answer key, we need to be able to recognize when a title contains a character’s name. The day I learned that Racing Stripes is about a zebra named “Stripes,” I needed to take a walk around the block to collect myself. So there’s a basic fact-check element that can be time consuming and occasionally confounding. (A discerning player also wrote in to tell us that the title of the John Goodman movie Alabama Moon refers to a kid from Alabama named Moon. Go figure.)
The larger issue, which we are frankly still reckoning with, is that a sneaky amount of subjectivity comes into play when thinking about what constitutes a character’s “name” — especially when we initially tried to account for the names people associate with those characters. This comes up a lot with superheroes: Superman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Black Widow — these are all movies with character “names” in title, since those individuals are referred to by their aliases in the films. (And, more critically, are typically credited as such in the databases we consult.) We had initially extended that “alias” rationale to nicknames such as the “Dark Knight” and “Man of Steel” because most players are going to think of the “Dark Knight” as a name commonly used to refer to Batman, and we didn’t want to create a frustrating experience (or have to spend a lot of time answering emails).
But then came the case of The Godfather, which isn’t so much a moniker (and it’s certainly not an alias) as it is an honorific. Yes, the guy in the opening scene who believes in America calls Don Vito Corleone “Godfather,” but that feels akin to calling someone “General” or “Captain” or even “sir.” The only reason to count The Godfather was due to the slippery slope we’d created with the “Dark Knight.” It’s impossible for us to account for all the ways a character may be addressed.
Subsequently, we’ve decided to return to our original literalist roots: When we have a grid featuring “Character Name in Title,” we will accept only the official names of the characters. Batman counts (as does Bruce Wayne). The Dark Knight does not count. Superman counts (as does Clark Kent). Man of Steel does not count. Movies in which a character doesn’t technically have a name and appears in the credits as a moniker do count (Michael Fassbender in The Counselor), but if a character has an actual name in the movie, a titular moniker won’t count. (Ben Affleck in The Accountant).
In other words, do NOT go by Beanie Feldstein’s line in Lady Bird*: Just because someone has the titular role doesn’t mean their name is in the title.
*Lady Bird would count as a character name in title because she goes by “Lady Bird” even if her name is Christine.
➼ Clarification: The Pink Panther has never counted for character name in title.
The Pink Panther in the Inspector Clouseau movies is, famously, a diamond and not a character. Yes, there is a cartoon panther in the opening-credits sequences, but we don’t count that as a proper character in the movie and neither should you.
➼ Clarification: Numerals Don’t Count for Starts With a Vowel
A few of you wrote in that you think the Starts With a Vowel category should count numbers that are spelled with a vowel. We here at Cinematrix HQ disagree. 101 Dalmatians, 28 Days Later, 300 — these are all movies whose official titles begin with a numeral. Numerals are, by definition, not letters, and thus cannot be either consonants or vowels. Certain movies, however, do spell out those numbers in full, so for example the schlocky 2002 movie about giant spiders called Eight Legged Freaks would count for beginning with a vowel, even as 8 Mile would not.
Genre Spotlight
What Even Is a Rom-Com?
Our definition for the category “Genre: Romantic Comedy” reads as follows:
Any film that is primarily humorous in tone and/or structure while also concerning itself with a romance that is central to the film’s plot. We will consider films classified as romance and comedy by IMDb, TMDB, or Wikipedia while also exercising our best judgment. Rom-com trappings without an actual romantic story line, like Legally Blonde 2, will not count.
Obviously, any area where we are free to exercise our judgment is going to lead to some argument, so here’s an idea of some recent debates and where we landed on them:
➼ Girls Trip (2017): While there are subplots dealing with these women’s love and sex lives, neither the movie’s plot nor major themes have to do with romance. NOT A ROM-COM.
➼ Bringing Down the House (2003): Again, there are subplots having to do with relationships, but the main plot of this film is not a romance. NOT A ROM-COM.
➼ About Time (2013): While Domhnall Gleeson’s character goes back in time for lots of non-romantic reasons (to help his sister; to visit his dad), one of the big reasons is his romance with Rachel McAdams. Also, Richard Curtis doesn’t not make rom-coms. ROM-COM.
➼ The Vow (2012): Romantic: yes. Comedy: no! NOT A ROM-COM.
➼ Old School (2003): Much like Girls Trip, the romantic angles on this one are secondary to the frat stuff. NOT A ROM-COM.
➼ Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020): Yes, the Song Contest is the primary plot driver there, but Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’s song-contest aspirations are inextricably intertwined with their romantic relationship. ROM-COM.
➼ Rushmore (1998): A genuinely tough call, and we appreciate those who emailed us about it politely instead of yelling at us. Yes, the love triangle between Max, Rosemary, and Herman is a major part of the plot, but the Max-Herman rivalry is about so much more! To call it a romantic comedy feels a bit like missing the point. But after consideration, we ruled that it does meet our criteria, so: ROM-COM.
Just know that even internally here at Vox Media, there are Sotomayor levels of strenuous dissent.
➼ Clarification: 2001: A Space Odyssey is not based on a book
Here’s a thing I didn’t know: Arthur C. Clarke’s novel 2001: A Space Odyssey was developed in tandem with the movie, not written before it. Stanley Kubrick and Clarke are both credited with the screenplay, which is “inspired” by two of Clarke’s short stories, but not officially adapted from either.
Into the woods
Title Trouble
Hollywood has been around for over a century; duplicate titles are an inevitability. But it causes some difficulty for our game, in various ways.
➼ The Identical-Titles Problem
We talked about this in Clarifications and Corrections, Vol. 2, but it’s a recurring issue — all the more so every time we get a remake or reboot that re-uses the original’s title (Ghostbusters, Scream, Mean Girls). Here’s what we said then, which still applies:
If there are multiple movies called Into the Woods (and there are), the title will only appear once in the drop-down, but the game knows to apply the correct version of Into the Woods to the square for which you’re guessing. And then there are the cases where the same actor is in two separate movies of the same title. Jamie Lee Curtis is in two movies called Halloween. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts are all in two movies called Ghostbusters. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are in two movies called Scream. Whoopi Goldberg is in two movies called The Color Purple. Again, the system will know which version of The Color Purple you want to use in a box that says “1985–1994.”
But you will only be able to use that title once in a grid, which will prevent you from playing both The Color Purple (1985) and The Color Purple (2023) in the same grid. To account for how annoying that would be, we try not to create grids where a title would be eligible more than once. That does mean, though, that the poster for, say, Mean Girls (2004) might come up when you intended to play Mean Girls (2024) in a square in which they’re both eligible. It won’t affect your rarity score, so don’t worry about it.
➼ The Similar-Titles Problem
The most interesting problem comes with having two movies that share a title but differ slightly on punctuation. Kicking and Screaming is an early Noah Baumbach movie about post-college rootlessness. Kicking & Screaming with the ampersand is the Will Ferrell movie about youth soccer. Our drop-down menu isn’t going to give you any indication which is which, so we suggest you come up with some kind of mnemonic device (ampersand … sand dollar … dollar bill … Bill = Will), or, honestly, if you take a quick peek at IMDb to get confirmation, we won’t tell.
Other punctuation landmines to keep an eye out for:
➼ Hide and Seek: Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning in a horror movie. Hide & Seek: early Josh O’Connor movie about building a utopia.
➼ National Lampoon’s Vacation: 1983 Chevy Chase comedy. Vacation: 2015 reboot of National Lampoon’s Vacation.
➼ Face/Off: John Travolta and Nicolas Cage swap faces. Face-Off: a Canadian hockey movie also known as Winter Comes Early.
➼ Emma: 1996 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Emma. (with a period): a 2020 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel starring Anya Taylor-Joy
➼ About Last Night … (with the ellipses): a 1986 relationship drama starring Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. About Last Night (no ellipses): a remake of the 1986 film, starring Kevin Hart.
It’s annoying, but here’s a tip: These are good movies to remember for our new category, Punctuation in Title.
➼ Clarification: Composer counts even if they contributed just one song (but it has to be an original song for the movie)
Every so often we’ll mix things up with a “composer” category, so it’s valuable to lay out what counts as a composer’s contribution to a film: They either have to have written or co-written the film’s original score or at least one of the film’s original songs. (Original songs, not needle drops.) So for Composer: Danny Elfman we’d accept Army of Darkness, because he composed the theme song for the film, but not The Simpsons Movie, since his Simpsons theme was written for the TV show.
➼ Clarification: Only the Star Wars prequels officially have a number in the title
Surprising but true! Despite the fact that right around the late 1990s, everybody started referring to every Star Wars movie with the “Star Wars, Episode __: [Subtitle]” naming convention, in terms of these film’s official titles, only the three prequels follow that format. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi retain those titles officially, while the sequel trilogy go by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: The One Where the Emperor Is Alive. (One easy way to know whether the Star Wars movie you want to guess has a number in the title or not is to look at how the title is written in the drop-down menu before you guess.)
It should be noted that the Star Wars spinoffs like Rogue One and Solo are officially “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
Category Spotlight
What Even Is an Oscar-Winning Director?
The category “Directed by an Oscar Winner” seems pretty straightforward, right? But in order to be as inclusive as possible — and to encourage your creativity — we actively specified that it didn’t have to be an Oscar for directing. That means acting, writing, and short-film awards are all eligible.
These directors all count as Oscar winners, even though that Best Director statue has eluded them:
• Kenneth Branagh (screenplay)
• Emerald Fennell (screenplay)
• Jordan Peele (screenplay)
• Spike Jonze (screenplay)
• Quentin Tarantino (screenplay)
• Sofia Coppola (screenplay)
• Cameron Crowe (screenplay)
• Taika Waititi (screenplay)
• Barry Jenkins (screenplay)
• Wes Anderson (short film)
• Martin McDonagh (short film)
• Andrea Arnold (short film)
• David Frankel (short film)
• Taylor Hackford (short film)
• Barbra Streisand (acting and song)
• George Clooney (acting)
• Denzel Washington (acting)
• Regina King (acting)
• Jodie Foster (acting)
But then there are the awards that seem like they’d count as a win for the director, but the Academy Award technically goes to someone else. The two main places this shows up are for Best International Feature and Best Picture.
Let’s start with the big one: Best Picture is awarded to the producers of the film, not the director. But because directors are frequently producers on their own movies, sometimes they’ll still count. (For example, 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen is an Oscar winner for producing that film, which won Best Picture.)
When it comes to the Best International Feature Oscar (formerly Best Foreign Language Film), that award officially goes to the country that submitted the film, not to the film’s producer or director. This understandably confuses viewers because, for example, the prime minister of France doesn’t walk up and accept the trophy if a French movie wins Best International Feature; the director does. So when Jonathan Glazer accepted the International Feature Oscar last year for The Zone of Interest, he was accepting on behalf of the United Kingdom, the country that submitted the film.
Certain filmmakers like Bong Joon Ho and Pedro Almódovar have won Oscars in other categories, so they remain Oscar winners despite technically not winning in International Feature. But there’s a long list of great filmmakers like Asghar Farhadi (A Separation; The Salesman), Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), and Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) who don’t technically have an Oscar to their name. It even trips up our own staff!
➼ Correction: Blade (2025) should not have counted for a movie with a one-word title starring Mia Goth
This one snuck past us: Back when Marvel was still planning to reboot the Blade franchise within the MCU (is it still? Who’s to say!), it had attached folks like Mahershala Ali, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, and Delroy Lindo. So when Mia Goth was in a grid last spooky season (likely place for her to be), several players guessed Blade for either one-word title or character name in title. The database accepted that as a correct answer, which it shouldn’t have, and while we corrected the error, we wanted to make sure our players had no misapprehensions: The Mahershala Ali Blade will never be a real movie.
❤️❤️❤️
The Fans Are Good
We get tons of emails from players, and while most of those emails are correcting our mistakes (or, more often, mistakes you think we’ve made), some of them include creative uses of our game that make us chuckle. Our fact-checker, Britina, is most often the one answering those emails, and here she shares one of her favorites:
For Cinematrix player Marite Hart’s birthday, her friends made her a custom Cinematrix with all category intersections. I tried my hand at their game with categories that would certainly flood our inbox (can we categorically decide what constitutes a ‘strong female lead’? If a movie features a cat, but is not about a cat, would that count?). My answers below in Sharpie:
And if you went to the trouble to design a Cinematrix grid as your Halloween costume, first of all: Thank you! Second of all, your Halloween parties have gotten WAY too niche.
… Including the Famous Ones
Edgar Wright has been a loyal Cinematrix player for a while now, and we appreciate his passion, even when he falls into one of the most predictable of Cinematrix pitfalls: the Fathers’ Day trap. Seeing the director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Baby Driver write “BOOO xxx” in response to our game has been thrilling.
Cinematrix, Explained
- One Year of Cinematrix, by the Numbers
- Every Cinematrix Category, Defined
- Cinematrix Clarifications & Corrections Vol. 3: Trick or Treat