Daniel Dolinski's Blog, page 4

#Schmoedown IGN vs Nerdist and Clark Wolfe vs

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Warning: This post gives commentary on the latest set of Schmoedown matches. If you have not seen the matches yet and do not like spoilers, watch the matches first than come back and read the highlights.

On Tuesday[image error], we saw Team Nerdist returning with Dan Casey bringing in Racheal Heine to help him against debuting Team IGN’s Eric Goldman and Jim Vejvoda. This match proved which was better to have: experience or intelligence.

In Round One, Team IGN scored an impressive 12 points with Vejvoda answering every question correctly while the experienced Team Nerdist stumbled scoring only 6 points. Although starting off strong, IGN lost some footing in Round Two in their category “Tim Burton Movies” but recovered answering their last three questions correctly without using Multiple Choice option. Team Nerdist was able to steal a single point, but they weren’t able to avoid being knockout. At their turn spinning the wheel, they ended up on Opponent’s Choice, resulting IGN choosing “Bio Pics” as their category. Nerdist gained a single point, and IGN stole 4 additional points. The final score was 22 to 8 with IGN winning their match in Round Two. As unfortunate as Nerdists loss was, Team IGN dominated both rounds gaining 22 points. Usually that score would be a descent score in three rounds, but they did it in less than two rounds. I would have loved to see what would have happened had they gone through all three rounds.

Friday’s match was the match that everyone w[image error]as waiting for. “Classy Clark Wolfe vs JTE” had been brewing for a long time. JTE once asked Wolfe to join him as his teammate but ultimately declined to join Mark Reilly as “Wolves of Steel,” and he has never let it down since. At first Mark Reilly was ready to take JTE on in a singles match after his victory over Sam Levine, but Clark wanted a chance to take JTE down before her parent.

[image error]What I love about the people over at Collider is that they consistently change a few things with every match whether it’s new rules or new players. This time in “The Tale of The Tape,” they had both players in front of a green scene and captured a video rather than a picture. Both of them had more attitude which made the viewing a pleasure to watch. Another thing they had was former five-time wrestling champion Booker T gave a “Keys to Victory” video, rooting for Clark Wolfe and hoping she would KO JTE in Round Two. Lastly, they changed the point-system in Round Three eliminating the 1 point question and replacing it with a 2 point question.

Wolfe led Round One with a score 5 to 3, proving that JTE might be a jerk but can hold his own against any competitor. With Wolfe in the lead, she spun the wheel landing on “Comedies,” opting out and landing on “Animated Movies.” She secured 3 points with JTE not stealing any points from her. But her fortune seemed to spun in her direction as JTE spun and landed on “Opponent’s Choice.” Being the classy woman she is, Wolfe sarcastically asking the Schmoes if he could spin again. Of course, she choose “Horror” for JTE, but he fought back answering three out of four questions right and scoring 3 points while Wolfe stole a single point from him. Round Two ended with Wolfe still in the lead with 9 to 7.

Round Three was a tennis match were JTE and Wolfe answered their 2 point and 3 point questions correctly. Wolfe still maintained a 2 point lead, but JTE needed to answer his 5 point question and pray that Wolfe couldn’t answer her last question. Unfortunately, JTE could not answer his question in “Comic Book Movies,” resulting in Clark Wolfe winning the match. However this might prove to be interesting because now Clark has to face off with her own partner Mark Reilly in the coming days. Although they are going to battle each other, I have no doubt that they won’t be aggressive towards each other, and we’ll see a great match similar to Mark Reilly’s match with Sam Levine.

 

#Schmoedown : Rotten Tomatoes vs What the Flicks Bernardin vs Scarpin

On Tuesday, we saw the return of Team Rotten Tomatoes Grae D[image error]rake & Matt Atchity and the debut of new team What The Flick with Christy Lemire & Alonso Duralde. Before the match could begin, John Campea announced two new rules to Schmoedown. 1) Each team (or contestant if in singles match) may only be allowed to repeat a question three time at any time in the game and 2) Each team (or contestant if in singles match) is allow one challenge where a contestant can challenge a ruling on a point answer. If a challenge is activated, a third judge will confer with the other judges to make a final ruling. The first round seemed to be neck and neck with both teams scoring 7 points. But in Round 2, Team Rotten Tomatoes took the lead by scoring an additional 6 points in the Action/Adventure category while What The Flick failed to steal several points. During their chance at the dreaded wheel, What The Flick landed on “Opponent’s Choice,” and Team RT choose the feared “Release Dates” category. Although Scott Manz was not in the studio, his voice carried over the internet in agony as the new team only scored 2 points in one question. Team RT managed to steal 5 points from Team WTF, ending the second round 18 to 9. Although avoiding the knockout in Round 2,  WTF failed to answer their one point question in Round 3. It was a disappointing debut for Team WTF but had they landed anything else in Round 2, t[image error]hey might have done better.

Friday introduced us to two new rookies of the season: Marc Bernardin from “Fatman on Batman” and “Kinda Funny” Nick Scarpino. Scarpino came out with five lovely ladies wearing “Producer Seducer” shirts while Bernardin confidently walked out on his own, intimidating Scarpino from the start. Bernardin pulled in the lead from the start as Scarpino struggled to keep up in Round 1. The round ended with a score of 7 to 5, showing that Bernardin didn’t need help from love ladies to assist him.

Things did not improve for Scarpino in Round 2 in the category of “Spielberg Movies.” Despite answering all his questions right, he needed to have the Multiple Choice opinion for each of them. Bernardin spun the wheel twice and both times landing on the “BioPics” category. He flexed he trivia muscles answering all his questions correct and needed Multiple Choice for only two of them. The scored at the end of Round 2 was 13 to 9 with Bernardin ahead by four points.

Scarpino answered his 1 and 3 point question correctly in Round 3, tying the game and sending it back to Bernardin. Bernardin returned the pressure back to Scarpino as he c[image error]orrectly answered his 1 point question and took the lead once again. The pressure proved too great for Scarpino as he missed his 5 point question. Three of the lovely ladies left with Bernardin while the other two just left all together, leaving Scarpino by himself until Josh “The Wild Man” Macuga asked to join with him on his new team.

Friday’s match was a great match by two new upcoming contenders, and I’m looking forward to see Macuga with a new team member like himself. In Round 2, Scarpino was guessing at most of the four questions, or what is commonly called “Macugaing,” which is why The Wild Man himself secured the rookie as his team member. Team What The Flick had a disappointing debut, but I am looking forward to see future matches where they can prove their talent.

Movie Trivia Schmoedown Single’s Title Match: Dan Murrell vs John Rocha

Warning: This is post gives commentary on the latest match on the Schmoedown. If you have not seen the match yet and do not like spoilers, watch it first then come back a read the play-by-play.[image error]

If you have been following the matches like I have, you know this was going to be a great match from the start. Dan Murrell, Heavyweight Champion of the Schmoedown, has never lost a match. John Rocha also knows his movie trivia. Even though he doesn’t have an impressive strike like Murrell, he is the No. 1 contender and isn’t to messed with. The Four Horsemen had a ruff start to the year after Rocha and Matt Knost lost their belts to Team Patriots, and Bibbinani lost to JTE. Rocha has his eyes on every belt, but can he recover The Four Horsemen’s pride with this Title Match? First we must go through the pre-game match between Drew “The Godfather”  McWeeny vs Mike “The Killer” Kalinowski.

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In Round 1, McWeeny missed only one question simply because he wasn’t able to write down his answer in time. If more time was presented, he would have answered every question correctly, but he was still managed to maintain the lead with a score of 7-6.

Round 2 debuted the new wheel where McWeeny  choose to let Kalinowski spin first landing on “90’s Movies.” Thinking that it was a good category, he accepted it but ended up proving to be his downfall. McWeeny was able to steal 3 points from Kalinowski while he was able to only score three points. McWeeny had a perfect round, scoring eight points and ending Round 2 with a nine point lead, 18-9.

Kalinowski was able to avoid the knockout, but he needed to answer every three questions to tie the game. He managed to answer his 1 point and 3 point questions but failed to answer his last question. McWeeny was able to TKO Kalinowski with a fail score of 18-13.

[image error]Even before Round 1 of the Title Match could begin, Dangerous Dan Murrell and “The Outlaw” John Rocha start duking it out with Murrell placing the belt near Rocha’s reach. Rocha responded by saying that he was going to take it, but Murrell asked if he was going to clean it. As round one began, two contenders showed equaled strength answering the same five questions correctly and missing three questions, tying Round 1 with a score of 5-5.

Their strength continued in Round 2 where Rocha spun the new wheel and ultimately landing on “Animated Movies.” He managed to score six points but he would later regret for not choosing to take multiple choice on his third question because Murrell was able to steal two points from Rocha. Murrell had an equally great round, only missing one question which allowed Rocha to steal back an additional point. They finished Round 2 with Murrell taking the lead 13-12.

In the Betting Round, each contestant wagered two points in the category of Horror/Thriller. They each answered the question correctly. The Speed Round proved to be Rocha’s greatest moment. The Outlaw buzzed in quickly before they could be finished. He managed to receive three points but lost one when he couldn’t answer the question in time. Rocha and Murrell were tied with 16 points each.

In the fifth round, Rocha was only able to score his five point question in the category of Dramas. Dan Murrell had already answered his one point question so he had to answer his five point win the match and keep his belt. He answered his three point question with some struggle but receiving the points to his score. Murrell’s five point question was in Directors with who directed The Burbs? He answered, unsure if his answer was correct.

Kristen Harloff shouts that the winner [image error]and . . . new champion is John Rocha and Bibbinani rushed over to hug Rocha. In the end, both contestants exchange a hearty handshake and hug each other, giving each other the respect they deserve. In the final interview with Dan Murrell, he was insulted that no one from the Lion’s Den came to support him despite stating otherwise. He further announced that he was dropping out of the Lion’s Den saying they lost their “Alpha [Lion].” The final score was 21-20 with John Rocha taking the belt with sites on the Patriots to reclaim the Team Belt. It was an awesome match, one of the greatest matches I’ve seen, with the Finstock and Macuga match next to it.

Movie Trivia Schmoedown Single’s Title Match: Dan Murrell vs John Rocha

Warning: This is post gives commentary on the latest match on the Schmoedown. If you have not seen the match yet and do not like spoilers, watch it first then come back a read the play-by-play.[image error]

If you have been following the matches like I have, you know this was going to be a great match from the start. Dan Murrell, Heavyweight Champion of the Schmoedown, has never lost a match. John Rocha also knows his movie trivia. Even though he doesn’t have an impressive strike like Murrell, he is the No. 1 contender and isn’t to messed with. The Four Horsemen had a ruff start to the year after Rocha and Matt Knost lost their belts to Team Patriots, and Bibbinani lost to JTE. Rocha has his eyes on every belt, but can he recover The Four Horsemen’s pride with this Title Match? First we must go through the pre-game match between Drew “The Godfather”  McWeeny vs Mike “The Killer” Kalinowski.

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In Round 1, McWeeny missed only one question simply because he wasn’t able to write down his answer in time. If more time was presented, he would have answered every question correctly, but he was still managed to maintain the lead with a score of 7-6.

Round 2 debuted the new wheel where McWeeny  choose to let Kalinowski spin first landing on “90’s Movies.” Thinking that it was a good category, he accepted it but ended up proving to be his downfall. McWeeny was able to steal 3 points from Kalinowski while he was able to only score three points. McWeeny had a perfect round, scoring eight points and ending Round 2 with a nine point lead, 18-9.

Kalinowski was able to avoid the knockout, but he needed to answer every three questions to tie the game. He managed to answer his 1 point and 3 point questions but failed to answer his last question. McWeeny was able to TKO Kalinowski with a fail score of 18-13.

[image error]Even before Round 1 of the Title Match could begin, Dangerous Dan Murrell and “The Outlaw” John Rocha start duking it out with Murrell placing the belt near Rocha’s reach. Rocha responded by saying that he was going to take it, but Murrell asked if he was going to clean it. As round one began, two contenders showed equaled strength answering the same five questions correctly and missing three questions, tying Round 1 with a score of 5-5.

Their strength continued in Round 2 where Rocha spun the new wheel and ultimately landing on “Animated Movies.” He managed to score six points but he would later regret for not choosing to take multiple choice on his third question because Murrell was able to steal two points from Rocha. Murrell had an equally great round, only missing one question which allowed Rocha to steal back an additional point. They finished Round 2 with Murrell taking the lead 13-12.

In the Betting Round, each contestant wagered two points in the category of Horror/Thriller. They each answered the question correctly. The Speed Round proved to be Rocha’s greatest moment. The Outlaw buzzed in quickly before they could be finished. He managed to receive three points but lost one when he couldn’t answer the question in time. Rocha and Murrell were tied with 16 points each.

In the fifth round, Rocha was only able to score his five point question in the category of Dramas. Dan Murrell had already answered his one point question so he had to answer his five point win the match and keep his belt. He answered his three point question with some struggle but receiving the points to his score. Murrell’s five point question was in Directors with who directed The Burbs? He answered, unsure if his answer was correct.

Kristen Harloff shouts that the winner [image error]and . . . new champion is John Rocha and Bibbinani rushed over to hug Rocha. In the end, both contestants exchange a hearty handshake and hug each other, giving each other the respect they deserve. In the final interview with Dan Murrell, he was insulted that no one from the Lion’s Den came to support him despite stating otherwise. He further announced that he was dropping out of the Lion’s Den saying they lost their “Alpha [Lion].” The final score was 21-20 with John Rocha taking the belt with sites on the Patriots to reclaim the Team Belt. It was an awesome match, one of the greatest matches I’ve seen, with the Finstock and Macuga match next to it.

Movie Trivia Schmoedown: Team’s Title Match

Warning: This is post gives commentary on the latest match on the Schmoedown. If you have not seen the match yet and do not like spoilers, watch it first then come back a read the play-by-play.

[image error]From left to right: Jeff Sneider, JTE, Jason Inman, Scott Mantz

I have been a fan of Movie Talk since the AMC days, but I never heard of the Schmoe’s or their movie trivia game until they moved to Collider and merged them both. After many months, I grew to love every match and testing my trivia knowledge against each contestant, seeing if I could be a worthy opponent. While able to hold my own in each match, I feel what others feel when watching other game shows like “The Price is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune.” I’m happy just to sit back and play along with the show.

Anyway, its starts off with Team Patriots outside, briefly talking to their former manager Finstock. For those of you who are unaware, on Feb 3, 2017, Finstock was banned from all Schmoedown involvement after being defeated by Josh Macuga in a retirement match. Although Kristen Harloff assured us fans that Finstock has been banned, it did not stop him from simply wishing Team Patriots good-luck.

After both teams had taken their seats, Round 1 began with both teams being awarded one point each on the first question. At first it seem both teams were evenly matched, but Jason Inman faulted answering only two other questions correctly while Scott Manz was able to score five points. Team Patriots was able to score an additional nine points, taking a two point lead, 10-8.

In Round 2 each team member may confer with each other and with Team Patriots defending their title, JTE spun the dreaded wheel landing on “Sports movies.” They choose to spin again and took the category “70’s movies.” They were able to score seven points, answering three questions without multiple choice and one with multiple choice. Team Trek stole two questions and were awarded two points, which gave them the boost they needed to stay in the game.

Jason Inman spun twice for Team Trek, resulting in them taking “Comedies” as their category. They seemed to struggle with this category because they needed multiple choice on all but one question. However, they answered each question right, tying the game with 17-17. Both teams in Round 3, or “the Betting Round,” answered correctly in the category “Action/Adventure”, but Team Patriots betted the max amount allowed, 3 pts., letting them take the lead 20-19.

In the “Speed Round,” everyone was asked five questions in different categories. The first person to buzz in would be allowed to answer. If you answer the question right, the team would be awarded one point. A wrong answer would cost a team one point. Team Patriots walked away with three points while Team Trek answer one question correctly and another incorrectly. This resulted in Team Patriots advancing their score further to 23-19.

Although behind, Team Trek was able to make it to Round 5 without being knocked out by Team Patriots. Jason Inman went first, answering their one point question incorrectly, but Scott “The Captain” Manz answered his three point question correctly. The five point [image error]question proved to be a bit tricky for them both despite the category being Fantasy/Sci-Fi.  “What George Lucas movie was the source of inspiration to the 2005 movie, The Island?” While most people would have answered “Star Wars,” Team Trek answered “TXL-1138” and were awarded five point, giving them a final score of 27 and taking the lead for the first time in the match.

Team Patriots was down four points and needed to answer their five point question to win the match. They started out strong, correctly answering both the one and three point questions, but both members were stumped when their final question was asked. Round 5 ended in a tie sending the teams into sudden death. Each contestant waited patiently as Mark Ellis asked the first qualifying question. Although Jeff Snieder was quick to the buzzer and answered the question correctly, Team Patriots did not score the winning question. They reset and prepared for a second sudden death question. This time JTE took a ga[image error]mbit and correctly answered the second qualifying question without Ellis finishing it, giving them a second chance to score. Harloff asked them who directed “Cutthroat Island.” JTE confidently gave Jeff Sneider the correct answer, resulting them in winning the match.

This is the first time a team has successfully defended the Team’s Champion Belt. Each team held their own leading to two Sudden Death Rounds. I strongly recommend this series to every movie fan out there. Kristen Harloff has posted the upcoming matches, but the one I’m waiting for is this Friday February 17, 2017: a pre-game match between Mcweeny and Kalinowski and the main fight: John Rocha vs Dan Murrell for the Champion Belt. I will be watching with a hot pizza, a cold two-liter of coke, and my notepad as I watch Friday’s match.[image error]