Welcome to the first annual Reel Nerds 2009 Movie Bracket Challenge! Instead of just naming our top ten lists this year, we're daring to be different. The result: A tournament with a field of 64 movies placed in head-to-head single elimination match-ups. One shining moment to decide which is the best film of 2009. Call it January Madness.The Rules:
1. Below this post you'll find 32 posts, each representing the match-up of two movies that have been seeded according to general quality, popularity, and critical acclaim (and my whim). Every one of these movies has been seen, from beginning to end, by at least one of our reviewers. ALL READERS are invited to comment on each post to let us know which movie you think should move on to the next round.
2. Each of the five Reel Nerds Contributors will vote in the comments, based on their personal preferences, for one of the movies in each post. If they've seen BOTH movies, they have SIX points to give their favorite of the two. If they've only seen ONE of the movies, they have up to TWO points to give the movie they've seen (meaning that they can also give the movie ONE or ZERO points based on how they felt about it). TWO points is a general endorsement of the film, while ZERO means the movie should not move on to the next round. ONE can mean whatever you want it to mean -- a lukewarm or half-hearted endorsement, for example. Contributors who have not seen either film will not get a vote, except in the case of a tie (which will consist of a simple yea or nay vote). Mike Bristow is the tie-breaker of last resort.
3. No matter if they have a vote or not, all contributors MUST comment, so I can know when it is time to move on to the next round. After the round of 64 is decided, 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.
Notes:
1. I have done my best to fairly rank all the films, attempting to create meaningful and intriguing match-ups. Seeding a bracket is never easy, so I'm sure they'll be complaints. Put 'em in the comments.
2. Some critical darlings, such as Invictus, The Messenger, and the White Ribbon have been left out because none of our contributors have seen them. Sorry, guys! Maybe we'll let you play in the 2010 Bracket Challenge.
3. Our regular contributors will notice that each of their favorite four films of the year (conveyed secretly to me) have been placed in separate groups, so that all of them have a chance to make it to the Final Four without playing each other. You're welcome.
HAVE FUN!
Click here for a printable bracket!
1 comments:
A few notes on round one:
-I'm not too upset about Bruno not moving on. I really liked Humpday. It's very engaging, but I don't remember laughing once. Both were marketed as comedies, but only found one funny.
- District 9 welcome to the next round! It was a struggle for the ages, but you made it. (no offense intended Disgrace, I'm sure your a good film too.)
-I can't believe how close McG came to moving on!
- State of Play just got bumped to the top of my Netflix Queue. Considering It beat Sherlock.
- I figured Basterds would steamroll it's way to the top (I'm still prepared to vote for it depending on the matchup), but thanks to my feelings for it, and Aaron's comment, It is going to be a rocky road to victory indeed.
- I knew Knowing would get crushed, PA is pretty good and worthy enough to move on, just too much down time especially for a 90 min movie.
-And finally, I enjoyed Perfect Getaway much more than I expected to, and even though I voted against it I am not disappointed in it's first round victory. But, MAN! I am blown away at how much venom PE received. Worst of the year...REALLY!? I take it you didn't see any film this year that had two in the title: Transformers, Twilight, or Halloween? Now that's WORST material.
This is tremendous fun, bring on round two!
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