"A group of irrational fans band together to eradicate first year head coaches..."

This week I took in Rock M Nation's 1st Annual Rock M Reviews Festival, or RMR Fest (pronounced 'Armor Fest') for short. Four features were presented and I reviewed them all, just for you.

My Reviews

Coach Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Tackling and Love the Scheme

A conspiracy thriller focusing on the disappearance of a very successful defensive line coach (Coach Kul), the men who replaced him and one head coach's strange love affair with not tackling. Something sinister happened at Mizzou but nobody is talking.

Seriously, not a single character says a word on the matter throughout the entire run and we never find out what happened. What isn't Coach Strangelove (Barry Odom) telling us? What happened to Coach Kul? Why can't Mizzou tackle? Which 'scheme' are they actually running? Why won't Marvin Zanders pass!!! We walk away with a ton of questions but zero answers.

It's strange… and frustrating… and quite frankly, a little boring. I didn't love it. Hopefully the sequel is better. 1.5 Stars

The Fault in Our Tigers

(Image from the movie, The Fault in Our Tigers)

Based on a true story, two terminal teams, Offey (Drew Lock) and Dee (Truman Tiger), form an unlikely bond on the football field. The only real mystery in this predictable yarn is who dies first. SPOILER: it's Dee. Dee dies first and rather early, actually.

An emotionally manipulative tale of woe. A hard, fast pass. 1 Star

(Actual picture of Dee and Offey, early 2016)

Mizzion: Impossible - Rogue Defense

Truman and team take on their most impossible mission yet, playing defense - an unbelievably challenging task.

Stupid title. Even dumber premise. .5 Stars

Coachbusters

A group of irrational fans band together to eradicate first year head coaches whom they deem unfit and unworthy. It's a story as old as the Bible and more played out than a 'will they won't they' sitcom subplot. But alas, it was probably the most popular feature of the weekend.

"You ruined my childhood!" claims one character. "Quick, let's get on Yelp and give him poor ratings!" suggests another. "Don't CROSS the streams!" yells another. "Chill the hell out!" screamed me at the screen.

"Who you gonna fire? COACH ODOM!" is the tagline of Coachbusters and unfortunate rallying cry to all those who find difficult times unbearable and seek a quick, short-sided fix. The frustration is understandable, however, the outcry is not for CB does not offer up any actual solutions to a problem other than to fire a coach… after 8 games.

What Coachbusters conveniently forgets to remind its audience of is what subsequently happens when you continually fire head coaches. They rise from the dead, but not like an all-mighty Phoenix. No, like an all-depressing KANSAS! Firer beware. .5 Stars

Summary: Overall, the 1st Annual RMR Fest was subpar at best. Some good (offensively it wasn't a complete train wreck). A lot of bad - especially the pitch-fork witch hunt that was Coachbusters. But mostly the festival lacked any real energy, excitement or hope. A couple promising moments fizzled out quickly as a result of a universally flawed production. Not too much to hang your hang your hat on here. Maybe next year. 1 Star

What do you think? Which Festival feature best summed up this past weekend of Mizzou football?

Watch (or don't):

Genre: Festival

Starring: Truman, Barry Odom, Josh Heupel, DeMontie Cross, Drew Lock

Featuring: Angry Fans

Produced: Josh Heupel and DeMontie Cross

Directed by: Barry Odom