Crunching the Numbers: Lucky Number Slevin

[Ezen Baklattan]

Amuler Ranks in third place in the box office category. (Bet 3) - 30

[Blankments]

I will probably make some right before the deadline; trying to finish up my last film right now.

[4815162342]

Amuler Ranks in third place in the box office category. (Bet 3) - 30

 

Put all bets in the same post as mentioned earlier in the thread. And you only have 20 points to bet after your first 2 bets. Also you are not eligible to bet on Amulet since it is not your film and you didn't request it. You are allowed to make bets on:

 

The Wanders, Risk Management, Extrasensory, and The Rich and Famous.

 

And remember, you can make as many bets as you want for the films you're eligible to bet on. It doesn't have to be one bet of each type. It can be three bets of a single type, or 2 bets of one type and 2 bets of a second, etc.

Edited April 20, 2013 by 4815162342

[Ezen Baklattan]

Gotcha. Thanks.

[Blankments]

Just kidding, I'll start with these bets and then go back to work on TT

 

LucIId will at least recieve a B+ 20 pointsChuck Norris will be higher than Unbalanced 4 30 pointsThe Vast Dark will be ranked 8th overall in Prestige 20 points

[riczhang]

20 points that Chuck Norris will end up #3 in the BO category

40 points that Rich and Famous will score at least an A. 

40 points that Risk Management will rank above Three Month Funeral.

[Ezen Baklattan]

40 points that Rich and Famous will score at least an A. 

Win it. Win.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Spaghetti

[4815162342]

I'm a little distracted with a few things tonight, so I won't start reading until tomorrow, so people can alter their bets or make additional ones until then.

[The Dark Alfred]

LucIId > Chuck and Liam, best 1 - 20

Justice League > Unbalanced 4, bet 1 - 20

Risk Management to receive A-, bet 2  - 20

Vast Dark to receive best B-, bet 2 - 20

Extrasensory #3, bet 3 - 20

[4815162342]

Bet Time has now closed. These are the official bets:
 
 
Alpha (100 Points to start)
1. LucIId will grade higher than Martian Chronicles. (Type 1) Betting 40 points. SUCCESS (+40 Points)
2. The Chronicles Of Narnia will place 5th on the BO list. (Type 3). Betting 10 points. FAILED (-20 Points)
 
FINAL POINT TOTAL: 120
 
Spaghetti (100 Points to start)
1. Risk Management gets at least an A (Type 2, Betting 30 Points) SUCCESS (+90 Points)
2. The Rich & Famous will have a better grade than Extrasensory (Type 1, Betting 50 points) FAILED (-50 Points)
3. The Wanders ranks in 11th place (Type 3, Betting 20 points) FAILED (-40 Points)
 
FINAL POINT TOTAL: 100 points
 
Blank (100 Points to start)
LucIId will at least recieve a B+ (Type 2, betting 20 points) FAILED (-20 Points)
Chuck Norris will be higher than Unbalanced 4 (Type 1, betting 30 points) SUCCESS (+30 Points)
The Vast Dark will be ranked 8th overall in Prestige (Type 3, betting 20 points) FAILED (-40 Points)
 
Final POINT TOTAL: 70 points
 
riczhang (100 points to start)
Chuck Norris will end up #3 in the BO category (Type 3, betting 20 points) FAILED (-40 Points)
Rich and Famous will score at least an A. (Type 2, betting 40 points) FAILED (-40 Points)
Risk Management will rank above Three Month Funeral. (Type 1, betting 40 points) SUCCESS! (+40 Points)
 
FINAL POINT TOTAL: 60 points
 
Alfred (100 Points to start)
LucIId will rank above Chuck and Liam, (Type 1, betting 20 points) FAILED (-20 Points)
Unbalanced 4 will rank below Justice League, (Type 1, betting 20 points) FAILED (-20 Points)
 
FINAL POINT TOTAL: 60 points
 
 
I will keep a running tally of points as the bet conditions become accomplished.
 
This will be the order in which I review the requests:
 
Justice League
Amulet
The Wanders
The Rich and Famous
The Martian Chronicles
Unbalanced 4
Narnia
Extrasensory
Risk Management
Chuck and Liam
The Vast Dark
LucIId
 
I will update the category rankings after each review.
 
Good luck.

Edited April 25, 2013 by 4815162342

[Alpha]

I'm excited... 

 

And yet somewhat scared 

[4815162342]

Justice League

A Blankments Production

A Somewhat Bloated League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...and Women...and Aliens


After a few years of solo outings, the various heroes of the DC universe, minus some of its most famous dudes due to copyright issues, come together in a 2.0 version of the Avengers. So how does this mash-up do? Well, it is entertaining and a visual treat, but it has some flaws that impede it from being near the same level as The Avengers:

The story feels a bit inorganic. Unlike The Avengers, which had a great narrative flow from its previous solo efforts that smoothly transitioned into the premise for the film, Justice League suddenly introduces us to Darkseid and goes "yeah this dude's been hiding under the Earth and just now is about to attack." Darkseid's one of the ultimate DC villains, he probably should have been given more build-up. The film is 156 minutes long but a lot of that is devoted to the characters standing around yelling at one another and arguing about what to do, so the result is a fair amount of bloat for not much added purpose.

The story therefore has to follow a similar model to the Avengers (the various heroes being brought together to face a big threat) without being seen as riffing on the Avengers. For the most part, it succeeds enough, with the big difference being the Athens brawl in which the heroes FAIL to save the city. The writing isn't as good as in The Avengers but the ego/pride conflicts between Flash and Booster Gold help keep the middle aloft with some intra-team conflict. But the film has some pacing issues. The first act is pretty slow and lacks zip as it tries to reintroduce us to most of the heroes. The second act is solid with the ego trips and the Athens failure, but the segue into the third act is very sudden and seems to be over a bit too quickly. Darkseid gives some evil villain speech in the ruins of LA and then gets eventually beaten up. A bit underwhelming.

Now the action and visuals themselves are totally excellent and help keep things moving along with bursts of extreme kinetic excitement. I just wish we had a bit more character development for the heroes beyond several of them butting heads and having ego/pride trips before getting slapped into place by Waller.

Now, pure enjoyment goes a long way to make up for character/story flaws and Justice Leagues carries lots of enjoyment the audience's way. So enjoy the ride, even if it could have a bit more zing and substance to it.

B

[4815162342]

Category Ranking Update:

 

The Box Office Category

1. Spark 2: Ignition: B+

2. Blank: B+

3. Justice League: B

4. Call of Duty: Eye of the Storm: B

5. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: B-

6. Journey: C+

7. The Academy: D+

[Alpha]

Amulets next! Woo!

[Blankments]

Yeah, the major issue with JL is trying not to make it like Avengers. A good model would've been to save Darkseid until the second or third JL movie, but then it'd be considered as ripping off Thanos. Avengers is the ideal model for a superhero team-up film, and considering the stuff I had to work with on JL, I'm happy with a B from you.

[4815162342]

In the old CAYOM I came close to making an Avengers film based on older CAYOM versions of several superheroes. This was in late 2010.

[Blankments]

I'm still very interested in your WWII Avengers-style film with Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, Christopher Lee, etc. 

[4815162342]

I am waiting for the second game decade for that one.

[4815162342]

Amulet

An Alpha Production

More with Less: A Jewelry Journey with Pitfalls


Amulet is an animated offering that shows quite a lot, yet lacks some detail and wonder in the presentation. With a budget of $75 million, the film lacks some of the visual/stylistic firepower needed to really capture the wonder of its epic journey. We have robots, walking houses, a giant, a walking robot house fighting a giant, anthropomorphic animals, armies of elves, explosions, octopus arachnid jelly things, and it all feels a bit less remarkable since the animation isn't as detailed and powerful as it could be. Especially with that voice cast eating up budget.

On to the story. Amulet is the story of a family, mourning the loss of the always great Stanley Tucci, whose journey to an old family estate turns up mysteries and dangers almost instantly and it's linked to a strange stone amulet our heroine Joey King discovers. The family is sucked into an alternate reality with monsters and creatures and more. The film features a lot of fantasy conventions but wisely turns them on their head a bit. The elves aren't your typical woodland nice guys but vicious killers. You have robots and planes and other modern conveniences mucking around as well, broadening the world beyond just your regular old fantasy.

The voice acting and choices for the roles are quite good. Jessica Chastain feels a little underused as the mother and Stanley Tucci's in the film for about five minutes (same as Dustin Hoffman) so they also could have gotten cheaper career voice actors to fill those roles. Otherwise Joey King is electric and Daniel Craig brings some cynical feistiness to the proceedings.

Overall I enjoyed Amulet and was very invested in the story and characters, but the discount the studio took on the budget impacted the visual presentation so what was an epic tale and adventure just didn't quite look and feel that way in the end.

B+ (with a more reasonable budget like 100 million [i don't expect 140+ million like most Dreamworks/Pixar outings] it'd be a surefire A-).

[4815162342]

Category Ranking Update:

 

The Box Office Category

1. Spark 2: Ignition: B+

2. Amulet: B+

3. Blank: B+

4. Justice League: B

5. Call of Duty: Eye of the Storm: B

6. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: B-

7. Journey: C+

8. The Academy: D+