Movie Tournament 2k11: Round Two Results

Round Two of Voting is Over

After a long week of voting, our survey told us that...

Airplane! is better than Dr. Strangelove

• Results: 51-49%

Fight Club is better than Reservoir Dogs

• Results: 60-40%

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is better than Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

• Results: 51-49%

Pulp Fiction is better than Young Frankenstein

• Results: 52-48%

Round Three Match-ups are as follows:

• Airplane! vs. Fight Club
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail vs. Pulp Fiction

Vote Now:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NJXTG8J

Movie Tournament 2k11: Round One Results

Round One is Officially Over

After distributing the survey via the internet (email, facebook and other social media, forums, instant messaging, etc.) and in person (printed copies), here are the results:

Over 100 voters told us that...

Dr. Strangelove is better than Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

• Results: 51-49%

Airplane! is better than Sin City

• Results: 60-40%

Reservoir Dogs is better than Terminator 2: Judgement Day

• Results: 63-37%

Fight Club is better than A Clockwork Orange

• Results: 52-48%

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is better than Finding Nemo

• Results: 51-49%

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is better than The Shining

• Results: 54-46%

Pulp Fiction is better than Donnie Darko

• Results: 73-27%

Young Frankenstein is better than The Thing

• Results: 71-29%

Round Two match-ups are as follows:

• Dr. Strangelove vs. Airplane!
• Reservoir Dogs vs. Fight Club
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory vs. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Pulp Fiction vs. Young Frankenstein

Thank you again for all your support and time, the turnout for Round One was excellent and I expect the same, if not more, for Round Two.

Voting endings Friday, April 29 at Midnight.

Congratulations to the winners, who will now advance on to Round Two.

Vote Now for Round Two: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NTKDMQ8

Round One: Sin City vs. Airplane!

In this round one match-up, we have a hard-hitting action flick, Sin City, going up against a comedy legend, Airplane!

Sin City (2005)

• Directed by: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino (guest director)
• Written by: Frank Miller
• Starring: Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, Rutger Hauer, Nick Stahl, Frank Miller
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Critics: 78%
• Audience: 75%

Frank Miller (writer of RoboCop 2, 300, The Spirit) is known more for his Marvel and DC comic book series than his directing, but finally broke through with this 2005 action flick. The storyline of Sin City is very Tarantino-esque (fitting, as good friends Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino both collaborated with Miller in this, his directorial debut), in that the plot revolves around multiple, seemingly intertwined, storylines all occurring simultaneously. IMDB writer Tom Benton put it best:

Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller's popular comics, focusing around a muscular brute (Mickey Rourke) who's looking for the person responsible for the death of his beloved Goldie, a man (Clive Owen) fed up with Sin City's corrupt law enforcement (Benicio Del Toro) who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible mistake, [and] a cop (Bruce Willis) who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed pedophile (Nick Stahl)...

Also, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett, Michael Madsen, Elijah Wood, and Rutger Hauer all star in this action film.

Airplane! (1980)

• Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker.
• Written by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker.
• Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hays, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Rotten Tomatoes 
• Critics: 98%
• Audience: 85%

Starring Leslie Nielsen in the role of a lifetime, Airplane!, written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker (the masters of parody responsible for The Naked Gun and Hot Shots series), follows the story of Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a disgraced ex-Navy pilot, who is chasing after the love of his life Elaine (Julie Hagerty), a flight stewardess. After a meal of tainted fish is served, passengers and crew alike start to fall terribly ill. With Striker as their only hope of landing the plane safely, Rex Kramer (Robert Stack) and Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) must guide the traumatized war veteran to safety. Peter Graves and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also star in this legendary parody.

Vote now for your favorite movie: Sin City or Airplane!

Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZFYHYS7

Resources

Several resources were used in the creation of this blog, as well as being referenced specifically in individual posts.

The Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB)

IMDb offers a searchable database of over 1.5 million movies, TV and entertainment programs and over 3.2 million cast and crew members, making it the Web's most comprehensive and authoritative source of information on movies, TV and celebrities. IMDb features include cast lists, photographs, quotes, trivia, reviews, box-office data, celebrity biographies, coverage of film festivals and major events, and the ability for users to watch trailers, clips and thousands of full-length TV episodes and movies for free.

Considered the website for movies, IMDB is known worldwide for being an Encyclopedia of film knowledge.

First Showing

...provide[s] the latest movie news, movie trailers, movie reviews, interviews, opinions, hype and buzz, and everything else related to the cinematic experience straight from Hollywood and beyond. FirstShowing is both a web-based destination providing complete media coverage of mainstream and independent movies, the latest on the moviegoing experience, and the connection between Hollywood and the audience; and a location-based organization that strives to make the experience at theaters more exciting, enjoyable, and interactive than ever before. FirstShowing is at its heart a creative collaboration of individuals who are above all dedicated and passionate towards movies and the incomparable theatrical experience. 

First Showing is a very useful blog which provides, among other things, first-hand interviews with actors and directors, trailers for new movies, and movie rumors.

Rotten Tomatoes

According to Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes:

...includes online reviews from authors that are certified members of various writing guilds or film critic associations. The staff then determine for each review whether it is positive ("fresh", marked by a small icon of a red tomato) or negative ("rotten", marked by a small icon of a green splattered tomato)...
The website keeps track of all the reviews counted (which can approach 270 for major, recently released films) and the percentage of positive reviews is tabulated. If the positive reviews make up 60% or more, the film is considered "fresh" in that a supermajority of the reviewers approve of the film. If the positive reviews are less than 60%, then the film is considered "rotten". In addition, major film reviewers like Roger Ebert, Desson Thomson, Stephen Hunter, and Lisa Schwarzbaum, are listed in a sub-listing called "Top Critics", which tabulated their reviews separately, while still including their opinions in the general rating. When there are sufficient reviews to form a conclusion, a consensus statement is posted which is intended to articulate the general reasons for their opinion.

Rotten Tomatoes' ratings are generally used to gauge the success of a film in terms of how the critics and the audience viewed the movie. These ratings are useful in case there is a disparity between the critic's and audience's ratings. The website also allows for an open forum (for registered users) to post their opinions and discuss movies with others.

There are hundreds of thousands of websites on the internet featuring information about films. The following websites were not necessarily used in the creation of this blog, but are still great resources nonetheless:

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/

http://www.worstpreviews.com/

http://www.movieweb.com/

http://www.filmsite.org/