Fantasy Acting League Round Nine

Okay, before we go any further, a sincere apology. For those of you who regularly read my blog, you will realise that I have taken a massive hiatus. I originally intended to have a week off, because my work load was crashing in down on me. I had no time to go to the cinema, or even watch a movie on a weekly basis, so I had absolutely no material to review. However, as more acting projects crept up (hey, check out a series I am starring in, Rewind, using the Facebook page), I ended up taking the whole of October off. And in all honesty, I am still not ready for an official comeback. However, I couldn’t leave you hanging on the Fantasy Acting League any longer. So here we are with an exciting round with several heavy hitters, thanks to Sicario and Macbeth, a few actors putting in some OSCAR worthy performances which have sent some of the back of the leaderboard of the Fantasy League into potential dark horse territory. Also, I will try to post some gaming reviews this week. And you will have to slaughter my family to stop me from seeing the latest 007 sometime in the next two weeks, so expect a review of that very soon. But anyway, enough grovelling. You are here for the points…

This Round’s Movies

The Martian
The Intern
Pan
Sicario
Hitman: Agent 47
SuperBob
The Program
99 Homes
Mississippi Grind
Lessons in Love
The Lobster
Sinister 2
Suffragette
Macbeth
Beasts of No Nation
McFarland
Life
Miss You Already
American Ultra
The D Train
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Everest

The Teams Scores

Movie Rob – 0 (+13) = 13
Emma Stone – 0
Meg Ryan – 0
Natalie Portman – 0
Chris Pratt – 0
Tom Hanks – 0
Bradley Cooper – 0

Words of WisTIM – 4 (+42) = 46
Shailene Woodley – 0
Zoe Saldana – 0
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Tom Cruise – 0
Jake Gyllenhaal – 4
Samuel L. Jackson – 0

Oracle of Film – 0 (+52) = 52
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Emma Stone – 0
Tom Hardy – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0
Oscar Isaacs – 0

What About the Twinkie – 4 (+49) = 53
Britt Robertson – 0
Jessica Chastain – 4
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Oscar Isaacs – 0
Jeremy Renner – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0

Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger – 10 (+43) = 53
Jessica Chastain – 4
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Benedict Cumberbatch – 0
Hugh Jackman – 6
Tom Hardy – 0

Debra Vega – 0 (+53) = 53
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Scarlett Johannsson – 0
Elizabeth Banks – 0
Andy Serkis – 0
Jeremy Renner – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0

Where the Wild Things Are – 12 (+44) = 56
Emily Blunt – 8
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Julianne Moore – 0
Tom Hardy – 0
Benedict Cumberbatch – 0
Jake Gyllenhaal – 4

Drew – 0 (+60) = 60
Natalie Portman – 0
Melissa McCarthy – 0
Cate Blanchett – 0
Channing Tatum – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0
Tom Hardy – 0

Mr. Movie – 4 (+65) = 69
Sienna Miller – 4
Jennifer Lawrence – 0
Anna Kendrick – 0
Channing Tatum – 0
Samuel L. Jackson – 0
Tom Hardy – 0

Marked Movies – 16 (+53) = 69
Jessica Chastain – 4
Meryl Streep – 4
Naomi Watts – 0
Michael Fassbender – 8
Sam Rockwell – 0
Tom Hardy – 0

Verbal Spew – 4 (+71) = 75
Anna Kendrick – 0
Helen Mirren – 0
Kate Mara – 4
Channing Tatum- 0
Tom Hardy – 0
Chris Hemsworth – 0

1ST PLACE
Cinema Parrot Disco – 4 (+72) = 76
Sienna Miller – 4
Anna Kendrick – 0
Cate Blanchette – 0
Tom Hardy – 0
Sam Rockwell – 0
Samuel L. Jackson – 0

How The Actors Scored

Jessica Chastain – 4 (The Martian: Supporting Role – 2; Four Stars – 2)
Kate Mara – 4 (The Martian: Supporting Role – 2; Four Stars – 2)
Michael Fassbender – 8 (Macbeth: Lead Role – 3; Five Stars – 3; Empire Compliments Performance – 2)
Emily Blunt – 8 (Sicario: Lead Role – 3; Five Stars – 3; Empire Compliments Performance – 2)
Sienna Miller – 4 (Mississippi Grind: Supporting Role – 2; Four Stars – 2)
Jake Gyllenhaal – 4 (Everest: Lead Role – 3; Three Stars – 1)
Meryl Streep – 4 (Suffragette: Supporting Role – 2; Four Stars – 2)
Hugh Jackman – 6 (Pan: Lead Role – 3; Three Stars – 1; Empire Compliments Performance – 2)

Round Analysis

I knew this round was going to be a big one the moment Empire threw a pitch perfect review at Macbeth. As soon as the OSCARs come about, the Fantasy points start soaring. Hopefully, this will make the remaining rounds (not long left, folks!) just as exciting as this. The best example for this is from Where The Wild Things Are. As a bunch of her rivals ahead of her got trapped in a stand-off (three teams have 53 points, drawing in the middle of the table), she scored some heavy points and cleared all of them, putting her on track for a victory, if she gets a similar dash of points in the next few weeks. Everyone else scored steadily. Empire’s new magazine format means that the reviews are more condensed and the smaller, easier to miss movies are getting mini reviews. This is a shame, because I am sure that a few of the actors who scored 4 points (Sienna Miller, Jessica Chastain), should have got a few compliments thrown their way, but the writers ran out of space to get around to them. It is something we are going to have to take into account when selecting our teams for next year.

Meanwhile, Verbal Spew and Cinema Parrot Disco are refusing to budge. Verbal Spew gets 4 points, Disco matches her again, always keeping her rival one point behind her, almost like the cocky bad guy mocking the down-on-his luck hero. I am loving it as it is keeping the top end of the race exciting. However, I cannot help but notice Marked Movies jumping to joint third. Didn’t he spend half the year second to last? However, he is know a serious threat to anyone who fancies their chances as the winner of 2015’s Fantasy Acting League. Mr. Movie pulled a similar trick last month and it is a reminder that nothing is certain. The first place mark is still wide open.