100 movies: The Mystery Team

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100 movies of 2012
Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

The Mystery TeamThe Mystery Team (07/08/12)

A group of former Encyclopedia Brown-style child-detectives struggle to solve a real mystery.

The Mystery Team is a sweet little film. It’s funny, charming and has a lovely sense of warmth to it. It might veer into some gross out joke territory on a couple of occasions, but thankfully not enough to totally put me off.

From the mind of Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino aka Troy Barnes. It’s very much his film. He plays Jason, the leader of The Mystery Team. A group of high schoolers who just haven’t grown up and continue their childish mystery solving. But are suddenly faced with a very serious mystery when a little girl asks them to solve the murder of her parents.

Like I said before, this is a really sweet film. Getting used to the lead characters took some time. Just their sheer innocence of the world around them. And yet they successfully fumble their way through their biggest mystery.

It is fairly predictable stuff. But that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment. If you’re a fan of Community and, more so, a fan of Donald Glover, this one’s worth a watch.
Rating: 3/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

60 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)
  41. Prometheus 4/5 (03/06/12)
  42. The Tree of Life 2/5 (04/06/12)
  43. The Lovely Bones 3/5 (05/06/12)
  44. Snow White and the Huntsman 3/5 (06/06/12)
  45. The Devil’s Backbone 4/5 (07/06/12)
  46. Britain in a Day 5/5 (11/06/12)
  47. The French Connection 4/5 (15/06/12)
  48. Insomnia 3/5 (16/06/12)
  49. Rebel Without a Cause 4/5 (22/06/12)
  50. A Lonely Place to Die 3/5 (26/06/12)
  51. Killer Joe 3/5 (29/06/12)
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man 4/5 (03/07/12)
  53. Raising Arizona 4/5 (04/07/12)
  54. Horrible Bosses 4/5 (06/07/12)
  55. Broadcast News 3/5 (07/07/12)
  56. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4/5 (07/07/12)
  57. Miller’s Crossing 4/5 (18/07/12)
  58. The Dark Knight Rises 5/5 (20/07/12)
  59. 21 Jump Street 5/5 (29/07/12)
  60. The Mystery Team 3/5 (07/08/12)

8 Comments

  1. Hey it’s Donald Glover! Since he’s grown on me I’ll have to give this a watch. From the poster, the protagonists seem like the “sweet and nerdy” type.

    • They are sweet and nerdy. Though sometimes a little too much. But hopefully by then you’re too involved in the film to let it concern you too much.

  2. I haven’t ever heard of this one. Is that wrong. Although I probably would give it a go because of my love for Community and Troy!!

    • I hadn’t until someone over on G+ saw that I was a Community fan and recommended it to me. If you like Troy, it’s a good bet you’ll like this. Donald is very Troy like!

  3. I’ve always wanted to watch this movie. I’m a huge fan of Donald Glover (and his music). I find him to be a genius. i mean, it’s not common to be a young write for 30 Rock. I’ve always wanted to watch this film, but thought it was a waste of time. I might check it out.

    • If you’re a fan of Glover I’d definitely recommend you check this out. He’s done great work onscreen and behind the scenes.

  4. I am still annoyed that I didn’t take any photos during this panel at Comic Con because I was only still there due to it being sandwiched between other things and I didn’t know who any of them were at the time.

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