Went to see I Heart Huckabees today. It was such fun. Excellent casting and the characters' reactions to things were just perfectly funny and/or cool. There's a lot to like about this film, but I don't want to talk about that. No, I want to talk about what an important contribution this film makes to the 'six degrees' game. And hey, maybe that contribution is intentional because one of the film's themes is like, the possible interconnectedness of like, everything and shit. Deep. Anyway, fun times were had by me in noting and appreciating the casting of this movie. Seriously, I think you could actually make a game called "Six Degrees Of I Heart Huckabees", which would rhyme in a fresh exciting way, but more importantly, would totally work for every western movie actor, ever. And for some other people too. Like, Debbie Harry is only one degree away. One degree! Aren't you totally jazzed about that? I am. But I will tell you how that happens later*, because it's not that interesting, and I want to keep you excited. Are you excited yet? Yes you are! Like, don't even get me started on the numerous ways you can get to Spike Jonze. The ways are like, so numerous. Even just by going through Jason Schwartzman you can get to him a number of ways. [By the way, just so you know some rules, I do count personal relationships and work relationships, because it makes a more fun game, utilising more useless information than a simply professional association based game.] Like, Huckabees' Jason Schwartzman is Sofia Coppola's cousin and Sofia Coppola is the ex-wife of Spike Jonze. Done. Or, Huckabees' Jason Schwartzman was in Rushmore with Bill Murray who was directed in Lost In Translation by Sofia Coppola who is the ex-wife of Spike Jonze. Or, Huckabees's Jason Schwartzman was in Rushmore with Bill Murray who was in The Royal Tenenbaums with Ben Stiller who was in There's Something About Mary with Cameron Diaz who was directed in Being John Malkovich by Spike Jonze. You can do it however you like. You can just as easily get to Spike through Huckabees director David O. Russell because of Three Kings. It's so easy. And fun. Yes, it is fun isn't it.

I just want to wet your appetite for the game by showing you some of its potential, but really, look at this cast. You could spend hours on this. And you should. Anyway, some important things to remember. Tippi Hedren is in this movie. Ohmygod. That's Melanie Griffith's mother. [You see how exciting all this is already?] And she's old, so that means she brings in connections from a long way back, like Hitchcock and stuff. Okay? Awesome. And Isabelle Huppert is in this movie. That brings all manner of French shit into it, like Ozon and Godard and Daniel Auteuil. Which pretty much gets you to everything French. And Jude Law gets you the Brits and a lot more Americans too. And Jason Schwartzman's mum is in this movie, the 'guinea brat', which gets you to the whole Godfather thing even if you are some kind of stickler and don't want to go the personal relationships route. Lame-ass. You can still get to Brando without any problem. And Kevin Dunn is in this movie. Not only does he have one of the best lines ["She said Fuckabees"] but he is also the brother of Nora Dunn, and has been that nondescript guy in too many movies to count. He's a rich source of connections, and if you add his sister's connections you've got, like, a lot. And Isla Fisher is in this movie, so any Australian action you can't get through Naomi Watts, you can probably get through her. Also, her Ali G connection opens up Britain's TV comedy action too. Also, Shania Twain's presence gives you Mutt Lange which gives you Def Leppard and AC/DC and so forth too. And I haven't even mentioned Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman yet. So you see, the possibilities are endless, I think. But I would like to make sure. I'd like the answers to important questions like, "Can I get to Vin Diesel?" [The answer being, yes. Huckabees' Mark Wahlberg was in The Truth About Charlie with Thandie Newton, who was in The Chronicles Of Riddick with Vin Diesel.] I'd like to test this game to its limits, so I propose a challenge. An exciting challenge.

THE SIX DEGREES OF HUCKABEES CHALLENGE.
Suggest ANY western-ish actor or famous type person, the unlikelier the better, and I will try and get to them in six moves from the Huckabees movie, [or, get back to the Huckabees movie in six moves from them, however you wanna work it]. Yes, I WANT SOMETHING TO DO. I am sick of crosswords, and anyway, the general knowledge crossword only comes out on the weekend, and that's the only one I like. PLEASE PLEASE MAKE SUGGESTIONS.

* Oh yeah, the Debbie Harry thing. Jason Schwartzman was in a movie called Spun, possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. It was bad. Really really bad, and tried very hard to be gritty and about drugs but also 'edgy' and cartoonish. It was so shit. The only reason to watch it is for its additional connections in this game, because it has Brittany Murphy and Patrick Fugit and Mena Suvari and John Leguizamo and Mickey Rourke, [yes, Mickey Rourke] in it. Do you know what that means? You can get to the chick in Wild Orchid in like, three moves. Ha! Anyway, Debbie Harry played Jason Schwartzman's neighbour in Spun. ONE DEGREE!