Round One: Finding Nemo vs. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

It is rather fitting that the two family-oriented movies face one another in the first round of the tournament, with the beloved, animated Finding Nemo attempting to overthrow the classic musical Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Finding Nemo (2003)

• Directed by: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
• Written by: Andrew Stanton (story and screenplay), Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
• Starring: Albert Brooks, Alexander Gould, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem DaFoe, Brad Garrett, Geoffrey Rush
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Critics: 98%
• Audience: 80%

                In this 2003 Disney film, Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), a clownfish, is distraught after his son, and only living family member, Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould), is kidnapped by a scuba diver. With only a street address written on the back of a pair of goggles as his guide, Marlin uses the aid of a forgetful blue tang fish, named Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), to travel to Sydney and rescue his son. Along the way, Marlin encounters sharks, jellyfish, turtles, and scores of other various mammals and amphibians. Willem DaFoe, Brad Garrett, and Geoffrey Rush also voice characters in this family-friendly film.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

• Directed by: Mel Stuart
• Written by: Roald Dahl (screenplay and book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”)
• Starring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Critics: 90%
• Audience: 80%

                Not to be confused with the recent remake (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) starring Johnny Depp), the original film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is a classic story about a poor youth, Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), who is given the opportunity of a lifetime: a tour of the world-famous, and extremely secretive, Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory, given by Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) himself, and a lifetime supply of chocolate. Once inside, Charlie and the the other four children, and their equally greedy and repugnant parents, experience a myriad of mishaps over the course of their adventure. The deeper they go into the factory, the smaller the group becomes, until finally, only Charlie and Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) are left. Only those true of heart are worthy of Wonka's ultimate prize; is Charlie the one Wonka has been searching for?

Vote now for your favorite movie: Finding Nemo or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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

Round One: Young Frankenstein vs. The Thing

In this battle of science fiction films, you must decide between the humorous Young Frankenstein or the horror/thriller The Thing.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

• Directed by: Mel Brooks              
• Written by: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Mary Shelley (novel “Frankenstein”)
• Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr, Gene Hackman
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Critics: 94%
• Audience: 91%

                Mel Brooks, the comedic genius behind such classics as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, wrote and directed this parody of Mary Shelley’s famous book, Frankenstein. Shot in black and white to simulate the feeling of a classic horror movie, Young Frankenstein follows the footsteps of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder), pronounced “Fronkensteen,” the grandson of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. After inheriting his family’s estate in Transylvania, Frankenstein travels to Europe where he is met by his faithful servant Igor (Marty Feldman), pronounced “eye-gor”, his lab assistant Inga (Teri Garr), and the housekeeper Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). From there, Dr. Frankenstein tries to debunk the myths, and truths, surrounding his grandfather’s work. Frankenstein attempts to duplicate his grandfather’s experiment, but with many mishaps occurring, such as using an abnormal brain in the creation of his monster, much hilarity ensues throughout the course of the film. A guest cameo from Gene Hackman is one of the most memorable scenes from this classic comedy.

The Thing (1982)

• Directed by: John Carpenter
• Written by: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Bill Lancaster (screenplay)
• Starring: Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, Keith David
• Rotten Tomatoes
• Critics: 80%
• Audience: 88%

                John Carpenter (director of Halloween, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live) re-created the classic 1951 film The Thing from Another World with his 1982 version of The Thing. The story begins with an American scientific expedition (led by Kurt Russell and Keith David) in Antarctica seemingly under attack by a group of crazed Norwegians. Chasing, and shooting at, a dog from their helicopter, the Norwegians are soon killed and whole ordeals become but a mysterious sense of foreboding for the American expedition. That night, after all the commotion dies down, the dog (the one the Norwegians were chasing) mutates, attacking and killing other dogs at the camp, as well as a few members of the expedition. The group soon realizes that an alien life-form is loose in their camp and they have no idea what it looks like or who it has already taken over. They must work together, while also being wary of one another, to fight this creature before their times runs out.

Vote now for your favorite movie: Young Frankenstein or The Thing

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

Explaining Movie Tournament 2k11

What is Movie Tournament 2k11?

            In the spirit of professional and collegiate sports, I have devised a tournament-style competition, using a 16-team, single elimination bracket, to determine the best film out of a group of selected ones.

How were the movies selected?

I found it necessary to choose the movies from a wide variety of genres, as well as several movies that are adaptations of novels (A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, The Shining, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Sin City is based on a graphic novel, which is essentially a comic book for adults.

Featured genres include:  Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, War.

Furthermore, I wanted the movies selected to feature a variety of different directors and actors. Only two directors have more than one film on the list: Stanley Kubrick for Dr. Strangelove, The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. The same was done for lead actors, with only Gene Wilder, in Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein, and Bruce Willis, in Pulp Fiction and Sin City, appearing multiple times. Other actors appear in several other movies listed, but only in minor roles: Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs and Sin City, Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, and Tim Roth in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Coincidentally enough, all three of these movies are directed by Tarantino (he collaborated with fellow directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller on Sin City). Once the final list of movies was compiled, I then had to determine how to fill out the bracket.

             In creating a bracket-style tournament, one of the problems I encountered was seeding. For those of you who do not know, each “team” (or movie in this case) is given a seed based on their record and performance. I did not want to seed the movies based on critic’s ratings (RottenTomatoes score or “star rating”), but rather something more appropriate and unbiased. I decided that the most logical statistic to use would be All-time, Worldwide Box-Office Gross Earnings. Numbers ranged from $1.12 billion for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King to $1.2 million for Donnie Darko.

How are winners determined?

So now I’m sure you’re wondering exactly how a winner will be determined. Each movie match-up will be featured in a posting which will critique the movies on a number of different aspects, such as: the cast (including actors, directors and writers), the storyline (plot of the movie), visuals (editing, lighting, animation, directing techniques, etc.), the ending of the movie, and what, if any, are the lasting effects of this movie (has the movie stood the test of time, does it remain popular and relevant today, etc.).

WARNING: 

Posts will contain SPOILERS. Read at your own caution.

If necessary, any posts that contain subject matter that is not suitable for children under the age of 18 will contain appropriate warnings.

Links to a survey will be displayed at the conclusion of each post, as well as in this post, so that readers can vote for their favorite movies (only one vote per person). I will also distribute the surveys via email, social media (instant messaging, Facebook, etc.) and in person (printed copies). Each round of voting will last approximately one week, after which the results will be posted and the next round will begin. The schedule is as follows:

Round 1: 16 teams – (4/13 – 4/23)

                Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZFYHYS7 (ENDED)

Round 2: 8 Teams – (4/23 – 4/30)

                Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NTKDMQ8 (ENDED)

Round 3: 4 Teams – (5/1 – 5/7)

                Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NJXTG8J (ENDED)

Round 4: 2 Teams – (5/8 – 5/14)

                Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GVP2MWF (ENDED)

Final Winner & Analysis Posted on 5/15

                Winner: http://movietourny.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-winner-is.html

As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Post in the comments section or email me any questions or suggestions for current and/or future tournaments.

Bracket provided by http://www.blankplayoffbracket.com/

Box Office Statistics provided by http://www.boxofficemojo.com

Movie Genres and Sub-Genres: http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

Survey provided by http://www.surveymonkey.com/

A Little Bit About the Author

             My name is Corey Greene and I’m a 3^rd year Professional and Technical Communications major at the Rochester Institute of Technology. This blog was created for Public Relations Writing, taught by Professor Mike Johansson.  I wanted to create an interactive blog with a topic that would interest not only myself but others as well, and thus, Movie Tournament 2k11 was born.