The Goon Line 009: Cinematrix

My morning game ritual is already pretty stacked. I have the entire NYT app to get through (I love Connections so much and it was a real star of my 2023, but do not sleep on Tiles). Then I do something called “Killer Sudoku” in an app that is almost assuredly pumping malware into my phone. And then I spryly hop out of bed (just kidding, I lie there and refresh Instagram a trillion times, read the worst Reddit threads on the planet and ignore the fact that I’ve had to pee for 45 minutes).

Well, now I have a new game that is going to add a few minutes to this routine, and I am not mad about it one bit. This week New York Magazine launched Cinematrix, a movie trivia mind twister that wonderfully scratches one’s broad film knowledge-testing itch.

Cinematrix is simple, slightly maddening and quickly becoming a source of competition in this household. Match three celebrities to three categories of film with one movie that fits the bill in each box. (Let’s just say that I’ve had great success exhausting all of the titles in the “Ocean’s” series this week.)

It reminds me, too, of another great game a colleague introduced me to years ago and that I am surprised and pleased to see still kicking. Framed makes you guess a film using only six (progressively easier) still shots from various scenes.

So, now I’ll have to remain in bed even longer each morning, testing my film trivia skills and then reading a Reddit thread about how and why every movie is the worst. See you at the wound clinic!