The Independent Film Channel understands the obsessive quality

of the average movie nut. So leave it to them to create a series

which pits film buff against film buff in a battle to the death. "Ultimate

Film Fanatic", a game show-like venue hosted by Film Threat's

Chris Gore, scoured the countryside to find that one person

with the most obscure film facts at their fingertips, the greatest

ability to argue their opinions on cinema, and the premiere

collection of movie memorabilia in the U.S.. The lucky winner,

besides the $10,000 cash prize and the title of "Ultimate

Film Fanatic", gets the opportunity to host and program

a full evening of IFC features.

On July 9 at 10:30 p.m., the first of seven semi-finals will

air on IFC. New York, Phoenix. Detroit, Atlanta. Philadelphia,

Los Angeles, and Denver narrowed down the hordes of fans to

five lucky contestants from each area. Atlanta's search

found Eric Harvey of Decatur, Joshua Hammonds of Marietta,

Jeff Sutton of Marietta, Billy Murphy of Newnan, and Reed Barker

of Peachtree City.

Barker, who appears on the July 30 episode, keeps a blog

at www.reedyb.com where he comments on films and books, and

a dead Oscar web site at https://members.aol.com/reedyb/oscar/

containing plenty more opinions and lists of movies. The computer

is just the tip of the iceberg. His love for actors and their

roles stretches