Predictive Gaming for Substandard Films

I have an embarrassing secret: I'm kind of afraid of record stores.  I love the institution of the independent record store, exposing people to good music and hooking listeners up with hard-to-find albums, but once I step foot inside, I begin to feel as if the full weight of generations of music snobbery is hovering over me, poised to crush me if a wrong move is made.  I never know what I want to look for, browsing makes me panicky, and I usually give up and flee after a few minutes.

In other words, I would be just about the last person to get excited about living a few blocks away from a record store, if the record store wasn't Saki.  In addition to having excellent in-store sessions that feel like actual shows, Saki also regularly hosts other events.  A recent addition is Predictive Gaming for Substandard Films, where outcomes are guessed and wagers are placed as you and your compatriots endure one of the most terrible movies you've seen since MST3K was cancelled.

I went to the inaugural open-to-the-public run, which was attended by the always-friendly Saki clerks, their friends, and me and the date I had brought.  No one else.  Awkward.  Between my fear of record stores and feeling out-of-place, I was ready to bolt for the door, but I'm glad we stayed.  We were heartily welcomed as representatives of the public, and given beer and popcorn as the game was set up.  By the time things got underway, most of the awkwardness had dissipated as we watched the work of cinematic genius for hints that may help us win the game.

To play Predictive Gaming for Substandard Films, participants receive betting chips, which are wagered on answers to multiple-choice questions at various points in the movie (questions are read in a dramatic and highly entertaining fashion), as we try to guess just where this whole mess is heading.  Chips pay out at the end for fabulous prizes like grab bags and store gift cards.

The film was Blood Monkey, a straight-to-video affair from 2007 that you've never heard of if you're lucky.  We were asked to predict such things as who hooked up, who died, and just what exactly was up with the opening sequence of the film.  My date proved to be some sort of B-movie savant, guessing every answer correctly and becoming Lord of the Blood Monkeys (he did not like that title, or my insistence on continuing to use it well after the game ended).  As with any good game, winning or losing doesn't ultimately matter (it's kind of hard to be proud of correctly predicting the blood monkeys will pee on everyone)--the fun lies as much in the journey as in taunting the winner at the end.

So head to Saki this Friday at 8 to see things you can't unsee, win prizes and earn unfortunate nicknames, and have a chance to get in on this gaming trend before it blows up.