Fantasy Acting League Round Five

Wow! Just wow! This month things get serious. I thought it was going to be a quiet week in the movies, because there hasn’t really been much that has caught my attention. Sure, Mad Max was cool, but none of the really good movies have been released yet. However, this round became one for the dark horses. Yes, we are all excited because most of us have Tom Hardy and he completely owned the box office with Mad Max – however, at the same time, everyone had Mad Max. Tom Hardy’s score pretty much just kept everyone else in the game. It was the outside of the box choices that impressed here. All of those choices that we scoffed at when we saw them written down on our opponent’s team sheet. ‘Oh, look – Drew has Melissa McCarthy! What’s she going to do this year?!’ ‘LOL – does Sam Rockwell even make movies anymore?!!’ And now we’re all eaten our hats, because a lot of us are now relying on miracles to break ahead. Seems that thinking outside the box might be the factor that will crown this year’s winner. Oh… and spoiler alert! Rob’s still on zero.

This Round’s Movies

Tomorrowland
Pitch Perfect 2
London Road
Slow West
Listen Up Philip
Second Coming
Mad Max: Fury Road
Spy
Poltergeist
The Longest Ride
Queen and Country
Return to Sender
Accidental Love
She’s Funny That Way
Sword of Vengeance
Man Up
Mr. Holmes
San Andreas

The Team’s Scores

MovieRob – 0 (+0) = 0
Emma Stone – 0
Meg Ryan – 0
Natalie Portman – 0
Chris Pratt – 0
Tom Hanks – 0
Bradley Cooper – 0

Words of WisTIM – 2 (+22) = 24
Shailene Woodley – 0
Zoe Saldana – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Tom Cruise – 0
Jake Gyllenhaal – 2
Samuel L. Jackson – 0

Where the Wild Things Are – 17 (+14) = 31
Emily Blunt – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Julianne Moore – 0
Tom Hardy – 15
Benedict Cumberbatch – 0
Jake Gyllenhaal – 2

Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger – 15 (+16) = 31
Jessica Chastain – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Benedict Cumberbatch – 0
Hugh Jackman – 0
Tom Hardy – 15

Oracle of Film – 15 (+20) = 35
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Emma Stone – 0
Tom Hardy – 15
Chris Hemsworth – 0
Oscar Isaac – 0

What About the Twinkie – 11 (+25) = 36
Britt Robertson – 11
Jessica Chastain – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Oscar Isaacs – 0
Jeremy Renner – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0

Marked Movies – 25 (+11) = 36
Jessica Chastain – 0
Meryl Streep – 0
Naomi Watts – 0
Michael Fassbender – 5
Sam Rockwell – 5
Tom Hardy – 15

Debra Vega – 3 (+38) = 41
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Elizabeth Banks – 3
Andy Serkis – 0
Jeremy Renner – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0

Drew – 22 (+24) = 46
Natalie Portman – 0
Melissa McCarthy – 7
Cate Blanchett – 0
Channing Tatum – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0
Tom Hardy – 15

Mr. Movie – 20 (+30) = 50
Sienna Miller – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Anna Kendrick – 5
Channing Tatum – 0
Samuel L. Jackson – 0
Tom Hardy – 15

Verbal Spew – 20 (+32) = 52
Anna Kendrick – 5
Helen Mirren – 0
Kate Mara – 0
Channing Tatum – 0
Tom Hardy – 15
Chris Hemsworth – 0

1ST PLACE
Cinema Parrot Disco – 25 (+35) = 60
Sienna Miller – 0
Anna Kendrick – 5
Cate Blanchette – 0
Tom Hardy – 15
Sam Rockwell – 5
Samuel L. Jackson – 0

HOW THE ACTORS SCORED

Tom Hardy – 15 (Mad Max: Lead Role – 3; Five Stars – 3; Empire compliments performance – 2/ London Road: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2; Empire compliments performance – 2)
Anna Kendrick – 5 (Pitch Perfect 2: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2)
Melissa McCarthy – 7 (Spy: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2; Empire compliments performance – 2)
Jake Gyllenhaal – 2 (Accidental Love: Lead role – 3; One Star – -1)
Sam Rockwell – 5 (Poltergeist: Lead Role – 3; Two Stars – 0; Empire compliments performance – 2)
Elizabeth Banks – 3 (Pitch Perfect 2: Cameo – 1; Four Stars – 2)
Michael Fassbender – 5 (Slow West: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2)
Britt Robertson – 11 (Tomorrowland: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2; Empire compliments performance – 2/ The Longest Ride: Lead Role – 3; Three Stars – 1)

ACTOR OF THE ROUND

Tom Hardy – 15 (Mad Max: Lead Role – 3; Five Stars – 3; Empire compliments performance – 2/ London Road: Lead Role – 3; Four Stars – 2; Empire compliments performance – 2)

ROUND’S ANALYSIS

Sixty points? Sixty motherflipping points?! If I wasn’t organising this points system, I would claim that this was fixed. Cinema Parrot Disco, a little dissuaded that Debra Vega showed us all that she could actually be beaten, responded in the way only a power-hungry blogger could. She proceeded to crush us all, knocking her would-be rival back to fifth place, and pretty much taking most of us out of the game. We are going to have to pull a miracle out the bag to even compete. A few of us have managed to keep up with her. Verbal Spew has always proven herself to not back down from a fight, the mentality of an Irish vagrant always at the forefront of her mind. However, just behind her is Mr. Movie who has jumped a massive amount. Well, kind of… I messed up the points last month and Mr. Movie actually had ten more points than I said he did. I’ve recalculated the points and Mr. Movie turned out to be one of the most threatening players in the mix. Stealth mode over, Mr. Movie is in it to win it.

I am coming for your soul!!!!

So how did we all get these points? Well, the obvious points came from Mr. Tom Hardy. Let’s be honest, he was all in our bad books last month. He scored a single point and suddenly a lot of game plans were looking fragile. Well, seeing as he brought out a five star effort with Mad Max, as well as a musical about London serial killers (I didn’t question Empire, I just accepted the points), rocketed him back into the point-scorer of the month. You are forgiven. Sadly, a new problem arose. We all have him. Yes, a few of us jumped miles ahead, but when everyone else scored exactly the same, we are not really any better off. So, it turned out that it were the lesser-known point scorers that became the star of the show. Melissa McCarthy kept Drew in sight of the lead, Anna Kendrick did the usual and gave her fans another healthy dose of points and everyone who put faith in Sam Rockwell breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, the Poltergeist was shite, but Rockwell is the best thing about it.

And then there is Britt Robertson. I was sceptical when Kieron picked her for his team, but this month, he made me eat my hat. She brought out two movies, the immense Tomorrowland and The Longest Ride, the usual Nicholas Sparks rom-com, but one that gave her the lead role. Eleven points for a relative unknown is incredible and keeps What About the Twinkie ready to do some serious damage in the next few months…