Proposal: A Tournament

I have decided that 2009 is just not a good year for the Top Ten List. The problem: Such lists often only highlight the critical darlings, and, in my opinion, that field has been relatively weak this year. That doesn't mean it's been a bad year for movies, though; the middle of the pack has been very diverse and contains some highly interesting gems. That's why I think it might be fun to simulate a tournament, and all that comes with it -- 64 movies, seeded, head to head single elimination match-ups, favorites, Cinderellas, unlikely heroes. One shining moment to decide which is the best film of 2009. Call it January Madness.

The Rules:

1. Each of our regular contributors will send me a list of 25 movies he or she believes should be included in the field.

(a) These do not need to be what the reviewer believes are the best -- the reviewer may use any criteria to decide which ones are deserving (popularity, originality, etc.).

(b) The reviewer doesn't have to rank each movie, but he or she must identify the four that should be considered the top seeds in each bracket.

(c) The reviewer must have seen the movie in its entirety (bathroom breaks excepted) to put a movie on his or her list. Here's a list of the movies released in 2009 to get you started.

(d) If you can't provide me with 25, then give me what you can. If you want to include more than 25, be my guest.

2. Based on these lists, I will construct a bracket, seeding all 64 movies in four groups of 16. My method in doing so will have no strict rules -- however, I can guarantee that I will consider your designated top four seeds, general popularity and critical acclaim to create a rough ranking. Also, I will most definitely take advantage of any possible comically-themed match-ups (e.g. Nine vs. 9?). If the five lists of 25 movies don't contain enough movies to fill the bracket (I expect a lot of overlap), I will fill in movies first based on what other movies have been reviewed on this site, then I will look to other random "Best Of" lists on the internet to fill the gap.

3. The first round will begin sometime shortly after the first of January, 2010. There will be 32 posts in the first round, each with a title that represents the game (e.g. "#16 Transformers 2 vs. #1 Up in the Air).

(a) Each reviewer who has seen BOTH movies will make a call on which is the better movie, and must make a brief argument as to why (two sentences at most) in the comments. His or her vote will be worth 6 pts for the better movie.

(b) Reviewers who have only seen one of the movies in contention must evaluate the movie they saw on a 0-2 scale. This is more of an endorsement that the movie should move on to the next round than a "rating." 0 means you don't approve of the movie moving on to the next round; 1 means you liked the movie, but are doubtful it could compete with its opponent head-to-head (even though you haven't seen the other movie); and 2 means you want the movie to move on to the next round, and you think it would compare favorably with the other movie (even though you haven't seen the other movie).

(c) Reviewers who have not seen either film will NOT receive a vote in the first instance, but in the case of any ties, they may vote for one movie based on their evaluations of their colleague's arguments. Mike Bristow will break any tie that is not broken through this procedure. All reviewers are welcome to make comments of any nature on any post, regardless of whether they've seen the movie or not.

4. After the round of 64 is decided (however long it might take for all five of us to chime in); we'll repeat the process with 32 more teams, then the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and the Championship Match. The result will be 63 match-ups in 63 posts. A large endeavor, I know, but I think we can make it happen.

5. Any and all comments from outsiders are welcome, and can be considered by eligible voters (me, Bree, Nilay, Aaron, and Allen) before making their decisions. When the voters complete their entries in the comments, I will re-post the game page with a recap of how the vote went and which movie won.

So. . . Are you in, or out?