Oh, Tenenbaum!
Fans of quirky films will burst out with B-I-N-G-O while watching “The Royal Tenenbaums” on Jan. 3 at Videology, when the bar and screening room’s Wes Anderson Bingo night focuses on the director’s film about genius siblings Chaz, Richie, and (adopted) sister Margot. The game is to spot certain unmistakably Andersonian visual and plot devices and fill up bingo cards with them, but that is no walk in the park in a crowd of self-styled Anderson experts, said Videology’s events director.
“Our Wes Anderson Bingo nights tend to have more winners than any others, people really know his movies in and out,” said Austin Kim. “It’s probably not the best way to watch it for the first time, but it’s going to be a ton of fun if you’re an aficionado.”
The event uses a handy Wes Anderson bingo card created by Forrest Wickman, a writer at Slate.com and used with permission. Spot a precocious child? A title card in yellow? A character played by Bill Murray? You are three spots closer to winning — and getting a free drink!
Once there is a winner, everyone clears their card and starts over. Instead of a traditional bingo caller, the event has judges, who roam the screening-room-turned-bingo-hall to check cards and settle disputes, such as which characters count for the “childish adult” square.
Videology also runs similar weekly bingo games for cult classic television series like “Twin Peaks” and “Arrested Development.” A series generally offers more opportunities to fill in bingo cards than a film does, said Kim, but Anderson’s films are an exception. Nearly every shot in “The Royal Tenenbaums” features one of the elements that Wickman has singled out on his bingo card, so there will no shortage of opportunities to fill up a winning card, Kim said.
“Anderson is the guy that it really works with, he can really pack them in,” Kim said. “In the first 10 minutes of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ you can hit everything.”
Fans tend to pack Videology’s 60-seat screening room quickly, so Kim advises aspiring bingo players to grab a ticket in advance or show up early.
Wes Anderson Bingo: The Royal Tenenbaums at Videology [308 Bedford Ave. at S. First Street in Williamsburg, (718) 782–3468, www.video