Board 8 > The Gauntlet Crew Ranks Sports Movies: Results Topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

18. The Sandlot (142)

Red - 7
Wickle - 12
Snake - 13
Inviso - 14
JONA - 30
Karo - 33
Scarlet - 33

Red - Yes, this film is a massive nostalgia bomb for me. And yes, I am heavily biased towards baseball movies. This is the summer baseball story everyone wishes they had as a kid(Minus the starting off as an idiot part, of course). While Smalls sucking and then miraculously being good is kind of odd, the message of how he gets there is a good one, baseball is a game where everything has to come natural, you cant overthink things or you are going to suck(Yes, you have to do a lot of thinking, but everything you do has to be instinctual. Baseball is a fast game when stuff is actually happening). This movie is at its best early on when its about baseball and the culture in which kids typically see it. At its worst when kids are trying to endlessly get a ball back to terrible effect. But its mostly a lighthearted enjoyable baseball movie.

Wickle - Whoops, I thought this was an Adam Sandler movie for some reason. Instead we get... something that tries to... Kind of repeat the Goonies I guess? A little bit of backyard baseball and some level of shenanigans regarding a dog. I liked all the ending parts of that movie, especially the whole stuff about how they grow older as if it was another movie based on a true story when it wasn't.

Snake - I think everyone watches this at some point when they’re a kid, whether in school, on TV, or having it on a home video. Whether you play baseball as a kid or not, I think it’s a very relatable film for kids. It leans into ‘60s nostalgia, a time where kids would naturally get in trouble and have comedic adventures around their hometown. The acting here is some of the most realistic for kid/teen actors.

Inviso - Not so much a sports movie as it is a coming of age movie. And in that regard, it’s pretty awesome. You have this dorky kid move to a new town at summertime and he gets drafted by some local kids to play baseball with them. A series of vignettes transpire, and everyone grows and bonds as a result. You get invested in the kids and their quirks and eccentricities, and you want to see them succeed. Poor Bertram though. No one saw him again. Also, this is a fascinating interpretation of the movie that I thought I’d share:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptBo7Ly_yZg

JONA - While there is a bunch of charm here and makes me nostalgic for the days where I was a white kid living in a suburban area, most of the kids are forgettable and blend together and there are a bunch of segments which were not entertaining.

Karo - Basically there this group of young boys who play baseball in an abandoned lot, all of whom are about as believable as real children as the kids from South Park.

When the boys lose a valuable baseball in a backyard guarded by a frightening dog, the movie completely goes off the deep end as the kids engage in all sorts of looney tunes shenanigans to get the ball back. Each of these attempts ends in catastrophic failure and everyone screaming 'AHHHHHHHHH!' for two minutes straight.

Its just an idiotic film that gets ever more idiotic the longer it goes on, and is written by people who likely have never interacted with a real child in their life.

Scarlet - With a cast cribbed from every child sports film of the 90s, these characters are so two-dimensional that they make Mr. Game & Watch look positively brimming with depth in comparison. Featuring an endless summer of baseball anecdotes that would kill a cocktail party, The Sandlot is exactly what you expect it to be.

Film MVP: The dog
Rating: 43/100
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Outlier Stats:

***Inviso - 171
*Wickle - 178
****Scarlet - 180
*Red - 191
**JONA - 193
*Karo - 199
*Snake - 235

I take back the lead and Wickle jumps all the way into second place after another big outlier from Scarlet. Red/JONA/Karo all stay within a stone's throw of one another, although it looks like they might be solidly forming a secondary tier now. And Snake continues to hold that bottom spot, but at least he's closed the gap between him and Karo to less than 50 points.
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Hint for #17:

17. Came out in the last decade.
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This has a chance to be the movie I want gone, but also has a chance to be Rush maybe. Granted, I expect that one to be higher by default of not being crap.
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Gonna guess The Blind Side.
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17. The Fencer (137)

Red - 8
Wickle - 8
Karo - 9
Scarlet - 17
JONA - 25
Snake - 33
Inviso - 37

Red - I was dreading this movie as a foreign film when I was finishing the list, but I Was kind of surprised to be kind of entertained when all was said and done. The main character is forced to choose between teaching the children his passion or leaving for a safer life. It was very gripping to see him build a bond he felt he had to follow through to the end. The biggest problem with this movie is the emotional impact of the ending is dulled by the need of the movie to return the teacher to his students, ultimately making his sacrifice for them at the end far less emotional(It seems like almost no time has passed when he returns).

Wickle - A movie based on a true story and attempts to show the fear caused by war at that time. I state attempt because honestly the performance of the actors weren't all that great. Endel's actor showed bare minimum emotions, and then we had Jaan's grandpa who had that wide eyed stare as if he was being abducted by aliens. It's a fairly sad story, but gains a happy end since Endel was able to return. It also mentions his school remaining to the date that this movie was made, but no mention of characters besides him, so it doesn't seem like he made Jaan into a great fencer afterall. Oh, but it did have a lovely soundtrack, I should add.

Karo - A wanted man in the Soviet Union becomes a schoolteacher and teaches the kids about fencing, and none of the parents show the least bit of concern that their children are learning the best ways to skewer each other with long sharp objects. They somehow make it through the year without anyone losing an eye, and become good enough in that short period of time to win the national championship.

Its a very well made movie, but there isn't a lot that’s super memorable about it.

Scarlet - It’s The Pianist if you hate art and love sports.

Film MVP: Adrien Brody
Rating: 70/100

JONA - It's like an odd version of The Sound of Music where instead of the kids having a singing group, they have a fencing group. And there's no music, of course. The movie is fine and all but it never really hit me emotionally.

Snake - The Fencer is a bit of a slow-paced affair, but I think the acting of Mart Avandi helps you get through it. Still, it’s not the greatest thing ever, the plot is really nothing special despite the real life story being pretty interesting.

Inviso - Fuck foreign language films that don’t properly subtitle their movies. I watched this whole film and read the Wikipedia summary trying to understand what was going on, but seriously, I just don’t care. The whole movie is set in a bleak and depressing setting of post-WWII Estonia, and it’s about a boring fucking sport of fencing, revolving around a bunch of boring bullshit. At least it got the “underdog triumphs over adversity” ending right. That’s better than nothing.
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Outlier Stats:

*****Scarlet - 180
*Wickle - 187
***Inviso - 191
*Red - 200
**JONA - 201
*Karo - 207
*Snake - 251

Scarlet gets a spot-on while I lose my lowest-remaining movie, causing a MASSIVE swing to put him back into first place, while I drop down below Wickle into third. Also, Snek passes the 250 mark! Yay?
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Hint for #16:

16. From a year ending in 9.
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Two movies from 1989 (Field of Dreams and Major League)
Two from 2009 (The Blind Side and Invictus)

Well, Red is expecting Blind Side sometime soon, so it's possible it's that.
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Gotta be The Blind Side
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JONALEON1 posted...

Gonna guess The Blind Side.

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16. Major League (134)

Red - 3
Inviso - 15
Snake - 17
Wickle - 17
Karo - 20
Scarlet - 30
JONA - 32

Red - I've always loved the kind of nuances played up in this movie. You've got a greedy owner trying to take a team to Miami(The Marlins didnt exist yet, this ended up extra on point), a dude that cant hit a curve, creepy rituals(Baseball players are in fact, weird creatures of habit). But I'm going to be honest, despite all the characters thrown in here, I think what brings this all together is Bob Eucker. His personality just kind of naturally fit into that role that the fit was just way too perfect. A good announcer can make or break a TV watching experience of a sport in real life, but this is a case of an announcer just bringing the perfect bit of life to the movie.

Inviso - There are a lot of sports movies about a ragtag group of misfits that come together to win big, and it’s always a very similar situation. Maybe the coach throws some wacky training in to boost their skill, but that’s not the case with Major League. No, with Major League, the players all have their glaring flaws, and they’re not always fixed by the end, but they overcome those flaws and actually train HARD in order to succeed. It’s impressive, and I appreciated the unique personalities that came together to create the winning team in this movie.

Snake - This was a surprisingly funny movie, and the concept interested me greatly as something with a lot of potential. I think it delivers for the most part, and some great one-liners are delivered throughout.

Wickle - So... this was kinda boring. Fairly foul while not getting that bad with it. And unlike some older movies with teams, it felt like you could truly start to see them try to make a difference with who you're trying to look at. I didn't really like that they didn't follow much in regards to the rules of pitching, what, did we have 3 pitchers total for their team? Saw someone else in the bullpen but basically only one character ever started except for that last game. Just also funny to see the difference between the General Managers between this one and Any Given Sunday.

Karo - The new owner of a major league baseball franchise tries to recruit the most incompetent team ever so the city will hate them and she can move the team to miami. Why she didn’t take the much easier step of just bribing some politicians is anyone’s guess.

The plan backfires because of course deep down the team is really really good and they win the pennant.

It is somewhat funny, but it could have been better if it wasn’t constantly sidetracked by the damn catcher and his endeavors at being a creepy stalker. Nobody cares about your weird love life, asshole.

Scarlet - In a world of underdog come-from-behind feel good heartwarmers, this one features Charlie Sheen. Much like the mascot of the film-featured Cleveland Indians, baseball is rolled up into a demeaning caricature as its entire culture is appropriated by people who have very little understanding of what makes it tick before shelving it as a commodity for a few quick bucks.

Film MVP: Willie Mays Hayes
Rating: 49/100

JONA - Fuck that homewrecker baseball player. He got so much screentime. Other than that, the movie can be kind of fun, even though the comedy is hit and miss. Also, lol the implications of having the only two black people in the movie be someone who does voodoo and is gifted KFC and someone who likes to steal.
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Outlier Stats:

*Wickle - 188
***Inviso - 192
*****Scarlet - 194
*Karo - 211
*Red - 213
**JONA - 217
*Snake - 252

And Scarlet takes a hard hit, allowing Wickle to take the lead for the first time all contest (I think)! Still a very tight race for first place though, with only 6 points separating first and third. Meanwhile, Karo finally pulls himself out of the bottom tier to snag 4th place from Red and JONA, and JONA surprisingly ends up at the bottom of the list for once. Well, not the BOTTOM. Snake is still holding that position strong. But still.
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Hint for #15:

15. The first movie on the list with no rankings in the thirties.
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Ugh... my outlier is really gonna take a hit with my bottom 10...
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cool runnings?
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Wimbledon (which should have left awhile back)
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ZeroSignal620 posted...

Wimbledon (which should have left awhile back)

It's in Snake's 30s, it's not that.
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JONALEON1 posted...

JONALEON1 posted...

Gonna guess The Blind Side.

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15. The Blind Side (132)

Wickle - 3
Karo - 6
Inviso - 22
JONA - 22
Scarlet - 26
Snake - 26
Red - 27

Wickle - Funny how one movie is gonna drop on this list for promoting underaged drinking (granted, if you look closely the drink is carbonated, so it’s probably soda) and racism but then this one places highly despite it. Granted, there's more to it and honestly... I just love this movie. I enjoy the fact that the first time I sat down watching this film I looked up Michael Oher to see if he was still a Raven, and then proceeded to watch some Raven games just to watch him. He's currently a Panther now, sadly, but it makes sense if you've seen his injuries. But really, this movie was the first time I saw Sandra Bullock and I just loved her performance. She just will not skip a beat no matter what she's supposed to say, and the delivery of one of those last lines... you probably know exactly what I'm talking about if you've seen this film. That was just... I'll chuckle everytime. It's no Disney movie, but it really shows a fantastic art of how you don't need foul language to make a film actually mature. You just need to grow up and act like you've done so.

Karo - A shy, hulking ghetto teenager stays with a white family who barely knows him, yet somehow trusts him enough not to steal (or eat) any of the furniture.

Much of the film is about his new family helping him to adjust to a normal life and getting his grades up high enough so he can play football.

It is a movie that is cute and touching, though maybe a bit too predictable.

Inviso - Not entirely sure how Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for this…she wasn’t anything spectacular. Still, this was a nice enough movie. A little too forced in the emotion department though. I really didn’t like the first half because they tried too hard to play up Michael as being black, when that was the LEAST necessary aspect of his character. Still, it was just nice to see him go from this shy, quiet guy that wasn’t going anywhere in life…to having a family, getting better grades, and just generally making a 180-degree turnaround. So yeah, a bit forced, but decent enough, especially in the second half (go Kathy Bates!)
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JONA - Big Mike out of his cage
Not Michael Elgin? That's fine
Gonna be feeling down
Because I wanted Elgin
The movie's starring Bullock
How did it end up like this
It was only Bullock, it was only Bullock
Now I'm watching this film
And she's adopting Mike
Then he's playing football
And she's caring for him
Now they're good family
And he went to college
And he's now successful
Now, the movie's over
Now, let me go

I just finished its killing me
To do a writeup
Apathy, can't wait for the next movie
Swimming through sick writer's block
Choking on writeup deadline
But it's just the price I pay
Next movie is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I watched The Blind Side

Big Mike out of his cage
Not Michael Elgin? That's fine
Gonna be feeling down
Because I wanted Elgin
The movie's starring Bullock
How did it end up like this
It was only Bullock, it was only Bullock
Now I'm watching this film
And she's adopting Mike
Then he's playing football
And she's caring for him
Now they're good family
And he went to college
And he's now successful
Now, the movie's over
Now, let me go

I just finished its killing me
To do a writeup
Apathy, can't wait for the next movie
Swimming through sick writer's block
Choking on writeup deadline
But it's just the price I pay
Next movie is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I watched The Blind Side
It's okay
It's okay
It's okay
It's okay

Scarlet - Despite an unbearably dull opening hour, the film finds some heart later to salvage this story of a mediocre football player and his pageant mom-like manipulation machine that is Sandra Bullock incarnate. How Bullock landed an Oscar for this utterly derivative performance is beyond my scope of understanding. It truly caught me for a loop. Completely unexpected. I was totally bli- I’ll see myself out.

Film MVP: Kathy Bates
Rating: 59/100

Snake - Kind of feels manipulative most of the time, but god damn do I really like Bullock’s and Aaron’s acting here. The cinamtography is solid and the story held my interest.

Red - Can it even be a sports movie if theres almost no football in it? I guess, but the movie is more about a white family taking in a big black guy than it is anything else. They become a family, he plays football and goes on to have a mildly successful career. The problems here is the 7 year old or however old he is kid is portrayed as smarter than everyone when really hes mostly annoying. Then you get the end when they decide to make up some random drama about his parents colluding to send him to their college. This drama never feels particularly, nor does his thing with his real mom either. This is a problem with movies where you are simply waiting to get to what is already an inevitable ending.
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Outlier Ranking:

***Inviso - 199
*Wickle - 200
*****Scarlet - 205
*Karo - 220
**JONA - 224
*Red - 225
*Snake - 263

Last one to hit 200! Woohoo! A high ranking from Wickle and a relatively lower ranking from me moves me back into first place, but the scores are still close between me, Scar and Wickle. Karo, JONA and Red are all in a similarly close position in the second tier. And then poor Snek. Poor Snek.
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Hint for #14:

14. Is NOT based on a true story.
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YESSSS JONA's write-up
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Inviso posted...

Hint for #14:

14. Is NOT based on a true story.

If it's Wimbledon or the Wrestler, Vis is wrong with this hint!
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I'm going to guess Shaolin Soccer
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And actually, my writeup is wrong.

Michael Oher was cut from the Panthers earlier this month.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

I'm going to guess Shaolin Soccer

man I hope not
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Johnbobb posted...

Snake5555555555 posted...

I'm going to guess Shaolin Soccer

man I hope not

But looking at what's left, it's unlikely to be anything else. Unless Vis is wrong about his hint.
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I'll guess Dodgeball, since its title is a lie.
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Have been reading and just realized that 42 isn't in this

Am I the only one that really liked that movie, orrr >_>
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WalkingWiki posted...

Have been reading and just realized that 42 isn't in this

Am I the only one that really liked that movie, orrr >_>

There are hundreds of sports films.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

WalkingWiki posted...

Have been reading and just realized that 42 isn't in this

Am I the only one that really liked that movie, orrr >_>

There are hundreds of sports films.

I worded that badly, lol, Ik

What are you guys' quick take on 42 then?
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Pretty solid biopic. I enjoyed it. Pride of the Yankees is a better baseball biopic, though.
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14. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (129)

Karo - 7
Inviso - 9
JONA - 13
Red - 13
Wickle - 20
Snake - 30
Scarlet - 37

Karo - Two rival gyms compete in an insane dodgeball tournament that has ridiculous teams made of things like ninjas, lumberjacks and girl scouts.

The whole thing is very silly but still entertaining, and it manages to cross the apex of stupidity into the realm of awesome.

Inviso - I fully admit that this movie is immature and stupid, but it’s just amusing to me. The jokes mostly manage to hit, and almost every character is JUST quirky enough to be amusing without becoming outright annoying. Patches O’Hoolihan was almost incapable of delivering a hilarious line, White Goodman was a hilariously stupid douchebag, and really, this was a lot like Shaolin Soccer, but with American humor instead of Hong Kong. It’s still a fun movie and does its job well for a comedy. I will say though, that Lance Armstrong scene REALLY doesn’t hold up well nowadays, huh? >_>

JONA - A good amount of me liking the movie is because I do like the game of dodgeball a lot. I fucking love the Kunio-kun Dodgeball games and I loved Extreme Dodgeball on GSN. I thought the movie would have not aged well since the last time I saw it but I still found it quite funny.

Red - People getting hit by things is funny, I guess. While many comedies of this nature are low quality garbage, dodgeball manages to salvage itself with its Underdog theme. While some of the comedy is crude, the movie at least makes it a reasonably compelling case for you to root for the protagonists. Or at the very least, root for the villain to lose so he can shut up and get what is coming to him. A mildly clever and fulfilling ending keep this from being complete drivel that many comedies of this style end up being.

Wickle - Well, this at least should be ahead of Blades of Glory so it's not like this is a list spoiler, but I mentioned with it how much garbage it was for how quickly Will Ferrell crosses the perverted line. This movie is kind of the perfect representation of that line, where some level of perversion is good, while some is just horrid. "Put your mouth where our balls are" is good perverted humor, Goodman getting caught using pizza to masturbate to himself is not. And no, fatty did not make a funny. It's still a funny movie, just has its problems and certainly isn't as great as it used to be.

Snake - A solid slapstick concept executed to breaking points over a flimsy sport to focus on. Kind of lame and boring in some parts.

Scarlet - This style of comedy, this sort of base pandering to the least common denominator, this idea that Ben Stiller using funny accents and affects will win over the audience and allow them to forgive the rest of this entire sordid affair shows just how far comedy fell in the early and mid 00s. The concept that Vince Vaughn is someone filmgoers will root for is mindboggling to say the least. While there are hints of good humor, subtle jokes that actually work, they are forced to take a backseat to the extremely broad attempts and comedy that are the equivalent of a bad MadTV sketch.

Film MVP: Jason Bateman and/or Paul Burchill
Rating: 35/100
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Outlier Stats:

***Inviso - 204
*Wickle - 206
**JONA - 225
*Red - 226
*Karo - 227
*****Scarlet - 228
*Snake - 279

Wow, after hovering near the top of the list ever since he hit four of the first five movies out with perfect rankings, Scarlet finally manages an extreme outlier score and falls way down the list into sixth place. But it's a close sixth as only four points separate third from sixth, so it's still anyone's game. Meanwhile, Wickle and I remain at the top of the list, and Snek continues to sink lower and lower.
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Hint for #13:

13. This sport uses a ball.
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Well, it's possibly Wimbledon just for Snek.
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I'll guess Remember the Titans.
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shaolin soccer
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WickIebee posted...

Well, it's possibly Wimbledon just for Snek.

I've given up hope for this ever dropping T_T
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Looks like i was wrong
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1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
5. Whip It (2009)
6. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
7. ???
8. The Fighter (2010)
9. ???
10. Blades of Glory (2007)

I've always found Dodgeball to be really funny; not entirely sure why.
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13. Shaolin Soccer (128)

JONA - 2
Red - 12
Karo - 18
Snake - 18
Inviso - 19
Scarlet - 27
Wickle - 32

JONA - This movie is just absolutely ridiculous and hilarious. If you don't like this movie, you have no soul (or culture). Also, stay tuned for Gauntlet Crew Ranks the Martial Arts Movies, which has Kung Fu Hustle, the same director of this movie.

Red - This is a movie that is so ridiculous it basically never fails to be entertaining. Yeah, sometimes it stupid to the point you hate yourself for having enjoyed some of it, but for the most part, it absolutely hits that note of being so ridiculous that its actually good. This isn't a formula for being a great movie, or even a good movie at times, but at the very least you will be watching just to see how ridiculous the movie can get. And hell, soccer is boring, and this movie takes that and at least makes it somewhat interesting.

Karo - A washed up chinese soccer star forms a team made out of shaolin monks in order to take on the invincible soccer club Team Evil (yes they are actually evil, what did you expect).

What follows is a bizarre, hilarious and completely fucking stupid soccer film with everyone jumping about the field bending it like Goku, leaving the stadium in ruins.

It is dumb, knows it is dumb, and loves that it is dumb.

Snake - Oh, I didn’t realize we were at the martial arts movies list yet. This is a pretty funny movie though, I liked it. Great performances and some of the more fun action sports sequences on this list. It’s a weird combo but it works completely.

Inviso - This one started off kinda slow. Like, for a goofy comedy sports movie, this one was NOT that funny for like, the first HALF. It was mostly watching Golden Leg get treated like shit and then get drunk, or Steel Leg get treated like shit and flirt with Burnface. BUT, once the misfits finally get their shit together, the movie becomes badass. It’s like a live-action anime, complete with JRPG villains fucking shit up. Overall, it winds up enjoyable enough, but that first half does hamper it a bit for me.

Scarlet - There’s no question that Chow is a talented and creative mind. This just wasn’t the vehicle for his particular brand of entertainment. Sometimes it is so goofy that you want to slap it for foisting so many dud gags, but at other times it is so intentionally goofy that you have to laugh. Sadly, far too many jokes are fouls.

Film MVP: Stephen Chow
Rating: 58/100

Wickle - How to spot a kids movie from a mile away. 1) They name the bad guys a really simpleton way of saying "these guys are evil" like the Evil team. 2) They make sure to tell you that it's not outside beauty, but inside that counts, and 3) No matter what kind of bullshit happens, the main characters must win. #3 is also very categorical for shounen anime. Remember kids, that bully may beat the shit out of you 20 times over for liking this film, but in the end, you'll win because you're the protagonist of your own story. HA, JUST KIDDING, HE'S THE PROTAGONIST OF HIS STORY TOO.
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Outlier Stats:

***Inviso - 210
*Wickle - 225
*Red - 227
*Karo - 232
**JONA - 236
*****Scarlet - 242
*Snake - 284

Alright, now that we're nearing another extreme on the list, it looks like we're gonna see some heavier shifts in placement. Wickle goes from -2 to -15, putting him in a close contest with Red for second place. Meanwhile Karo, JONA and Scarlet, while staying close to each other, fall further out of contention. Also, Snek.
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Hint for #12:

12. The main character is a black man.
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Ah good, one down. Let's see... Black...

Probably Karo's wish of it being Cool Runnings.
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1. Shaolin Soccer (2001)
2. ???
3. ???
4. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
5. Whip It (2009)
6. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
7. ???
8. The Fighter (2010)
9. ???
10. Blades of Glory (2007)

Ouch.

High five JONA, smh at everyone else
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12. Cool Runnings (126)

Red - 6
JONA - 14
Wickle - 14
Inviso - 20
Scarlet - 21
Karo - 24
Snake - 27

Red - Cool Runnings is probably the movie I've seen broadcast on TV more than any other movie on this list. People like underdog stories, and Jamaicans in a bobsled is pretty high on the underdog style. Very loosely based on a true story I think the concept alone is a pretty good hook. While some of the comedy is a bit of a miss, at the end of the day you will still be rooting for these guys to succeed. And well, lighthearted films that don't resort to lowest common denominator humor are good enough to be pretty high on a list comprised of endless locker room speeches, so movies like cool runnings end up a very pleasant break.

JONA - A fun and funny comedy movie with lots of charm. Sure, it doesn't set the film world on fire but it's just really enjoyable for what it is.

Wickle - Now this is how you create a movie that ends with losing. End it with respectibly taking the loss and still being heroes, not being the Seahawks during Super Bowl XLIX. Granted, it was actually fairly boring. Characters are pretty forgettable, I mean, I do these write-ups directly after the movie with some finishing touches later and I can't remember a single name.

Inviso - After watching as many of these as I already have, it does start to wear on me how common sports movie tropes are. The underdogs who are complete fuck-ups, but they train real hard and manage to run with the big boys. Maybe with a coach who had some problems in his past. The characters in this movie were fun, and the whole premise is more interesting than your standard sports movie…but it’s just a LITTLE too juvenile in its presentation for me to appreciate. Even though the ending is more realistic than a typical “underdogs dominate” ending…it’s still just average for me.

Scarlet - While it certainly doesn’t advertise successfully for that Jamaica travel package, the team of lackadaisical dreamers coming to do something unlikely and in many ways noble is about as heartfelt as such an absurd story could muster.

Film MVP: John Candy
Rating: 64/100

Karo - Based loosely on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team at the winter olympics. So these four Jamaican youths (some of whom are of course mildly offensive stereotypes) fail to qualify for the games in track and field and thus decide to enter in a different sport instead with the help of the great bobsledding expert John Candy.
The movie is a fun little ride, though maybe it fell back on 'haha look, black people are doing things they don’t normally do!' as the main source of humor a bit too much.

Snake - This is a really funny, heartwaming film that’s really just a bunch of Jamaican bobsledders trying to make it. It’s genius in its simplicity.
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Outlier Stats:

***Inviso - 218
*Wickle - 227
*Red - 233
**JONA - 238
*Karo - 244
*****Scarlet - 251
*Snake - 299

Not much to say as the field is starting to spread out a bit. Snake is just one point shy of hitting 300, and we're not even at the top ten yet. Will he manage to hang on just one more round? Ehhhh...probably not, but we'll see.
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