Trivia is a movie lover's best friend. Seriously, have you ever been to a dinner with other movie lovers chattering about everything from new releases to which movies Johnny Depp is in to how amazing the Marvel Phase 3 movies are going to be? As you might expect, when movie lovers decide to procreate, a whole new generation of movie know-it-alls is born. But they don't get that way on their own.
Oh, no. Family game night is how those little kids blossom from an obsession with "Zootopia" to growing up and watching nothing but Wes Anderson movies. What? You thought showing them movies all the time was enough of an education? No way. You've got to shovel as much movie trivia into their lives as possible. This is where family game night comes into the equation: to groom those kids to be future pub night movie trivia champs.
Movie Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is an oldie but goody and totally worthwhile to play with your family. There are multiple movie-centric editions from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to various Star Wars versions and even an all-encompassing silver screen classics subsidiary pack. By rotating through the different editions, you ensure that your kids will become mini Trivial Pursuit movie masters in all facets. Sure, you could play one version until everyone in the family knows all the answers by heart, but making sure you switch it up on a regular basis ensures that your kids -- and you, for that matter -- don't get bored with the game.
Movie Jeopardy!
Remember those games you used to play in school to study for science or history tests? The teacher would create all these questions about the curriculum and you'd study your bum off so your team would win? Well, you can do the same thing with facts about movies. For the "Jeopardy!" format, frame questions in the form of statements, like "In the movie "Toy Story," this character is Woody's best friend." Who is Andy? Correct! How about "In "Marvel's The Avengers," this is the place where our heroes eventually reunite to save the day." What is Stark Tower? Ding-ding-ding! It's like you're back in Mr. D's eighth grade history class learning about the Civil War, except the questions and answers are about Marvel's "Civil War," not the American one.
Guess That Movie From the Still
Here's a different angle on movie trivia if your family gets tired of straight-up facts about movies. Choose different scenes from popular movies and let players use a bell to signal that they have the answer. For instance, in what movie can you see Judy Garland dancing down a yellow brick road? Ding-ding! "The Wizard of Oz" -- obviously.
Make It a Costumed Movie Theme Night
Throw a movie trivia party with your parents, your friends, and your kids' friends; then assign each person a different character from a film. When party night rolls around, everyone shows up in costume and in character and then has to guess which movie every other character is from. Imagine a little Holly Golightly ("Breakfast at Tiffany's") sharing a snack with a pint-size version of Neo ("The Matrix") and fellow movie buffs trying to outdo each other's outfits. Sounds like it could be an out-of-the-box movie night of delights.
Name That Line
Sure, there are always guess-the-movie-from-the-still games, and most movie trivia games include lines from movies, but isolating lines is its own brand of fun. Collect some of the best known lines from movies, such as "Say hello to my little friend" from "Scarface" or "Just keep swimming" from "Finding Nemo," and have the players guess which character and movie the lines came from. Want to make it even more amusing? Require the player reading the lines to do so in the proper accent of the character. Like what would Austin Powers be if he said "yeah, baby" without the fake British accent? Nothing, that's what.
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