Once again, this will just be half of the second round. The rest of the second round games will be posted tomorrow. Here we go!
Drama
(1) The Shawshank Redemption
(8) The Truman Show
Winner: The Shawshank Redemption
For each of these movies the first round wins were too easy to come by. This one was a bit tougher, but The Truman Show never really stood a chance. Although it's really great, Shawshank is really in another league.
(14) The Terminal
(11) A Few Good Men
Winner: A Few Good Men
"It was oregano, Dave, it was ten dollars worth of oregano."
"Yeah? Well your client thought it was marijuana."
"My client's a moron, that's not against the law."
It's awfully tough to beat the side-splitting humor mixed with amazing drama and acting in A Few Good Men... and we haven't even mentioned Nicholson yet.
Family
(4) Beauty and the Beast
(5) Finding Neverland
Winner: Beauty and the Beast
I honestly don't think Finding Neverland gets the credit it deserves for being a beautifully made creative piece of work, but if I chose it as the winner in this contest it would only be as some kind of statement-maker, and that's not fair. At the end of the day, it's the musical score from Beauty and the Beast that just pushed this one over the edge.
(7) Miracle
(15) Newsies
Winner: Newsies
The drama and the emotion of Miracle are much stronger than in Newsies, but the latter has marvelous music, marvelous choreography, and a set of lovable characters tied into a real-life story that came out on top.
Comedy
(1) Forrest Gump
(9) Marley & Me
Winner: Forrest Gump
The only way for a movie to beat Forrest Gump is to be at least ten years old and to have proven itself more timeless and enduring. Maybe in ten years Marley & Me will be at that point, but I doubt it. Sorry, Elizabeth. I still love Marley.
(14) Matilda
(11) Elf
Winner: Elf
I think Will Ferrell is one of the funniest guys in the business, but unfortunately most of his movies are vulgar and inappropriate. Elf is the exception to that rule. It's totally clean, and even funnier than the gross ones. I think it's pretty much the humor that puts this one out of reach.
Action
(4) Gladiator
(12) The Patriot
Winner: The Patriot
Probably the toughest decision of round 2. These are both amazing movies with very good manly-man kinds of lead characters. It was hard. I couldn't even decide it based on historical periods, because my two favorites to study would be captured in each of these movies. I don't know what the X-factor was that gave The Patriot the win, but it happened.
(7) The Bourne Trilogy
(15) Armageddon
Winner: The Bourne Trilogy
Maybe it's a little unfair that three great movies are going up against one, but that's the way it's happening. Armageddon really is a fabulous movie, but I'm won over by how Jason Bourne is so obviously a re-programmed man whose pretty much a machine, knowing exactly what to do to accomplish his goal. It's just cool.
I gotta hand it to ya- you're doing a really good job at final decisions. I actually agreed with all of your picks on this one. I would agree with Forest Gump over Marley too, even though I absolutely love Marley. It's just that Forest Gump has been around for so long and has been extremely successful. Marley may be one of my all-time favs right now, but I don't think that can out-weigh the decision about which is the more classic movie in the long run.
ReplyDeleteSo, all of that to say... you have my blessing. ;)
Dad says he agrees with all your picks. Does that matter?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it matters, but it's certainly nice to know!
ReplyDelete