That was easily two of the best reviews battling it out in that last match. Like the comments said, it was too bad only one could get through… but that one happened to be Kasper Gutman . So congrats! You’ve made it to the next round. And speaking of, Round 1 has officially (and finally) ended! A couple weeks ago, I asked if I should post the identities of the Fallen battlers at the end of the rounds or wait until the very end of the tournament. The vast majority asked for it to be put up at the end of every round… so that’s what I’m gonna do. What follows is a list giving a brief summary of their battle, the battle’s stats, and–finally–the identity of the competitor who didn’t quite make it. This post will be the primary of the tournament until Monday, when I will begin Round 2! (Assuming I have reviews in by then…) So sit back, relax, and prepare to be shocked and amazed at who all didn’t make it past the first round! Please leave comments and reactions below! Here is also the final bracket for Round 1. Click to make it bigger.
ROUND 1 – THE FALLEN
Battle #1 – Molstad
Molstad faced off against Rick von Sloneker in the first bout and reviewed Speed. With a total of 26 votes, Molstad lost out 30% to 69%. Maybe he just feels more at home as a talker, not a writer? Because this was none other than… Fredo from the Film Yarn podcast.
Battle #2 – The Crazy 88
The Crazy 88 actually almost won her battle against Macaulay Connor while reviewing the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. But in the final hours, Macaulay scored a bunch of votes. With 54 total votes, The Crazy 88 lost 40% to 59%. And she was none other than… Amy Wong from YAM Magazine.
Battle #3 – Med School Movie Fanatic
In one of our early blowouts, Med School lost out to Your Accomplice in the Wood Chipper as they battled with Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. With 31 total votes, it turned out 29% to 70%. And this reviewer was none other than… Nick Robinson from Sputnik Reviews.
Battle #4 – The Movie Mugwump
Unfortunately, Movie Mugwump had to drop out of the competition due to health issues and was unable to participate in the battle of The Mist. This allowed his opponent, Ms. Jolly Holly-day, to move on to the next round. He was none other than… Zack from The Lightning Bug’s Lair.
Battle #5 – Dr. Diggler
This was a tough battle. In the second day of voting, Dr. Diggler fought back hard and almost took the whole thing. But in the last minutes, he was beat out by Dr. Richard Thornton in their reviews of City Lights. There were 46 total votes, and it was 52% to 47%. And this particular doctor was a newer LAMB by the name of Mr. Darko from The Movie Log.
Battle #6 – dogbitesman
For the second blowout battle, dogbitesman lost out to The Honorary Swede with their reviews for the Sam Raimi western, The Quick and the Dead. With 33 total votes, it came to 27% to 72%. This reviewer is another newer LAMB who goes by Movie Waffler from the site of the same name.
Battle #7 – Deems Taylor
Deems Taylor had a little fight in him there with his negative review of The Little Mermaid, but inevitably lost to Botch Casually in the battle. There were 36 total votes, with 25% to 75%. This reviewer, as it turns out, is Nick Rehak from the popular blog, French Toast Sunday.
Battle #8 – Remo Williams
This was more of a battle of style preference, since both reviews of Rope were generally well received. But in the end, Fox Mulder’s more academic approach won out over Remo’s more personal approach. There were 30 total votes, with 73% to 26%, making it one of the most shocking outs of the round, especially considering both were well liked. As it turns out, this reviewer doesn’t actually review all that much himself… it’s Kai Parker from Man, I Love Films.
Battle #9 – Loki Laufeyson
Loki Laufeyson was holding a strong lead, but Eyes Wide Open made a huge comeback and ended up beating Loki by a single point. I guess in the end, Maid in Manhattan was a little too much for her. There were 33 total votes, with 51% to 58%. And I’d say this is yet another shocker, as the competition just lost… Stevee Taylor of Cinematic Paradox.
Battle #10 – Kevin Smith
As I say the following, it is in no way a strike against “Kevin Smith.” But it’s this kind of loss that shows success in the anonymous format of this tournament. With 21 total votes for these reviews of Willy Wonka, Kevin Smith lost out to R.L. Logan 23% to 76%, making it the biggest percentage difference of the round. Something tells me had the names been revealed, the results might have been a little different. Why? Because Kevin Smith is none other than former Best Reviewer LAMMY Nominee… Dan “The Man” of Dan the Man’s Movie Reviews.
Battle #11 – ThatGuyWithTheFunnyAccent
He actually came in as a replacement for another who had to drop out… and he didn’t do too bad! He faced off against Pinocchio_Liez as they reviewed Once Upon A Time in the West, and with a total of 31 votes, he lost out 38% to 61%. A number of people questioned his grammar and English-writing skills, but I’m relatively sure English is not his primary language. He mainly writes in Spanish… it’s Jaime Grijalva from Exodus 8:2.
Battle #12 – FrankDux
It was an incredibly tight race against Zelda’s Kid Sister on their Eraserhead reviews, but she barely beat him out by a couple votes. There were 22 total votes, with a difference of 54% to 45%. And fortunately, it was a tight race because both reviews were rather well-written. So this guy shouldn’t feel bad about a thing… it’s Will from Silver Emulsion.
Battle #13 – Karl Freund
This was an interesting battle, as Hayley had a strong lead, but despite some thinking his review of The Room didn’t quite grasp the concept of so-bad-its-good, Karl Freund began to catch up pretty fast. But in the end, he lost out by only a couple votes to Hayley. With 26 total votes, it was 53% to 46%. But hey, maybe there was a cultural difference? Because this was Michael Parent of Le Mot du Cinephilliaque.
Battle #14 – Sorkin’s Understudy
This was probably one of the closest races we had the entire round. It went back and forth constantly until the last minutes, with each contestant never more than a couple votes difference apart from each other. For a while I was sure Sorkin’s Understudy had it in the bag, but eventually Henry Swanson took a strong enough lead in their reviews of Singin’ in the Rain to grab the win. With 31 total votes, there was a difference of 54% to 45%. The near-winner was none other than… Shala Thomas of Life Between Films.
Battle #15 – Spuds Mckenzie
Spuds was in-and-out for a while, and there were a number of problems, such as emails continually ending up in spam folders. But it ended up turning out he was just a little too busy for the tournament and had to drop out last minute, giving the automatic win to Falkor, despite his rather controversial review of Oldboy. Spuds turns out to be… Xavier Burgin from Que the Lights.
Battle #16 – Mean Reds
Such an intense battle between two fantastic reviews for Brazil. Kasper Gutman was in the strong lead, but then Mean Reds came in for an underdog attack on Day 2. For the last few hours it was a back-and-forth to the end, but by the time it was over, only a couple votes gave Kasper the win. It was the third-highest voting count of the round with 40, and a percentage rate of 47% to 52%. This strong contender was none other than… Jess Manzo from French Toast Sunday.
Such an intense battle between two fantastic reviews for Brazil. Kasper Gutman was in the strong lead, but then Mean Reds came in for an underdog attack on Day 2. For the last few hours it was a back-and-forth to the end, but by the time it was over, only a couple votes gave Kasper the win. It was the third-highest voting count of the round with 40, and a percentage rate of 47% to 52%. This strong contender was none other than… Jess Manzo from French Toast Sunday.
ROUND 1 – HONORABLE MENTIONS
Round 1 Honorable Mention #1 – Jake Blues
Jake Blues was originally in the competition, but had to drop out due to technological problems. He was replaced by ThatGuyWithTheFunnyAccent. Jake was none other than… TheVern from Video Vangaurd.
Round 1 Honorable Mention #2 – Herb West
Herb West was also originally in the competition, but due to a multitude of reasons had to pull out. She was replaced by R.L. Logan. Herb was none other than… Lindsay Street from French Toast Sunday.
Round 1 Honorable Mention #3 – Mr. Pink
Mr. Pink was a last-minute drop due to personal family craziness. Because of this, I had to replace him with a back-up, this time with Kasper Gutman. Mr. Pink was none other than… Paul Rodgers of Fear of a Ghost Planet.