Hi everyone,

We have started a weekly competition called : “So you think you know James?”

What is this game? - Each week our glorious leader reviews several new and older movies and awards them star ratings. What you have to do is use your knowledge of movies and his exquisite taste to guess the star ratings that he will award. It’s that simple and that difficult. We will publish a list of the movies at the head of each weekly thread.

How do I win? - Each week the person or people who correctly guess all of James reviews will be the weekly winner. But more importantly you will get a single point. We will be keeping a tally of the points through 2009 and the person with the most points will be the big winner.

Are there prizes? - Each week you will have the admiration and respect of the entire membership. the member with the most points at the end of 2009 can choose a film for James to review on the main website. the only condition is that the film is available on DVD or Blu Ray

Should I suggest my choice right now? - No, let's wait till we are closer to December to get into that game.

How will I know who is leading in a few month? - There will be a leader board posting within this section.

When does the weekly competition start and close? - It will start a few days before each week and close before James publishes the first review.

Can I make multiple guesses? - No, one per person. However, you can edit your guesses up to the point we declare it closed. And yes, mods can see edit times!

Who can enter? - Anyone signed up for the forum except James and Sheryl

If I've missed anything out, or if anything is unclear, please let me know.
Rob




2/4/2012 EDIT!

This is Pedro here. I am updating the rules and guidelines for the 2012 year. In previous years, we've had to guess three films correctly to get a full point. This is no longer the case. Last year, we switched to a system that gives you, on average, one point per film. This basic formula will remain the same with one major tweak and one not-so-major tweak.

For each film you guess correctly, you will get one full point. This template shouldn't change much.

For weeks with two movies, zero correct will lose you a half point. For weeks with three movies, three correct will win an extra half point and zero correct will lose you a full point. As usual, you're encouraged to not be super wrong.

In general, you don't have to make a guess for every single film if you don't want to. If on a three film week you guess only two movies, rules for two film weeks will be applied. Therefore, if you're late or have no idea what to guess, it's not a big deal. Submitting a guess for only one film, regardless of the week, can be beneficial. If you get it wrong, no penalty will be applied. If you get it right, you're still good for one point.

Guesses may not be edited after the first review has been posted, except in cases where the first film reviewed is a bonus. This will not only be penalized with a round disqualification, but a five point deduction. Repeat offenders will be banned for the year. This new rule has been augmented because there were a few cases of accidental guess fraud last year. Let's hope we don't have to deal with that this year!

Guesses for films not in the specific round will not be accepted. Don't worry, though, it won't count against you. Well, if it becomes excessive and annoying, it might.

The last thing that needs to be covered is gambling. In short: you gamble on the film I select, no other. You can bet as many points as you have going into the round. (If for whatever reason you go negative, you have to fix that before you bet again.) Violating this rule will disqualify the bet, but not the other guesses. If you choose not to bet anything but put forth a guess anyway, no points will be rewarded one way or the other. Like normal guesses, bets may not be edited after the first review is posted unless the first review posted is a bonus. Also like normal guesses, if you're late to the party and miss the first review you can still put forth a bet. It should be noted, though, that you would not be allowed to edit anything after posting late guesses and/or bets. I don't think that's been abundantly clear before, so there you have it.

And that's it. *holds up glass of something* Here's to a good year! If you have any questions, feel free to PM Pedro.

Rules Clarification: Grand Prize winner.

Just so there are no surprises, here's a little more information about what the Grand Prize winner gets...

The individual who has the most points during the 2009 contest period gets the right to commission a full 500+ word review from me of a film of his/her choice. The review will be posted to the main site as "Video Views" entry. There is a caveat: the film has to be available both for purchase at amazon.com and for rental at Netflix. Please note the "and" (not "or").

What about ties?

If the contest ends and two people are tied for first place, BOTH will get a review. If the contest ends and more than two people are tied, there will be a sudden-death run-off in January to determine a single winner. Specifics of how this will be run will be announced if it looks like it will have to be implemented.

and the biggest prize of all



Rob

I am not going to lie, i am really wierded out by this whole idea of a contest set around guessing what we think he might rate a movie. It seems a little egomaniacal to encourage and obssesive to participate in. Truthfully after seeing Robert's "oscar" i half expect to read of James's suspicious disappearance. just remember james, "it rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again." lets stick to the movies and leave the worship to another site!

dude, its a joke.
and its not really james's opinions we're guessing here(which could only be done if both parties had seen the movie), cuz we haven't even seen 2 of the 3 movies in consideration every week. so basically all we're guessing is if its good. and competitions are fun.
also, its just one post every week. hardly obsessive.

Hi Leone25

Relax for a moment and take a deep breath.

The competition was my idea as i thought it would be fun for a group of people who read his reviews.
The oscar edit was done by me with Photochop

Having corresponded with James I can tell you that the last thing he is is an egomaniac. In fact if you've been reading the site extensively over the past years he's at the other end of that continuum.

At the end of the day this is a bit of fun that people seem to enjoy doing each week. i certianly enjoy the challenge

To be serious for just a moment.

I think James is an outstanding film critic. I'm here because of that. i don't "know" the guy. I've been reading his reviews since almost day one and found him to be an excellent barometer. So guessing his star rating is nothing more than me saying what I'd give those movies.

It's just a bit of fun

Rob

Alright, can the next poll we do pertain to the amount of users on this forum have a sense of humor? I haven't seen this level of dull chitlin since I made an unfortunate trip to the Gaia forums.


As for whether or not this is 'obsessive', well, if James didn't want us to stalk him he wouldn't wear those classy gucci vests and ghetto-bling eye glasses. This forum is getting to his head and I'm starting to worry. I have heard rumors of a name change to Lil' James, similar to Hal Hinson's late 80's/early 90's persona, 'film critic'.

You mean we get to see Sir James in a gold spandex catsuit? WooT!

--RB|!R|

So is this a 2009 thing only? Or will we do this for 2010 as well?

I think this may be a new tradition.

We'll do it again in 2010.