40 Years of Movies - Final Four!

 

And then there were four!  After four weeks of voting we have made it to the final four.  The four movies that are left are nothing short of classics, and they blitzed their way into the Final Four with all four movies winning in dominating fashion to advance.  I thought we would have some much closer results from the past round, but the closest matchup was decided by 12 votes.  Now it will be interesting to see how close the next round will be.

Taking a look at the four movies, the first thing that stands out is the clear Steven Spielberg influence.  Two of the movies are directed by Spielberg, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, and they will be going head to head for a chance to compete for the championship.  A third movie, The Goonies, was produced by Spielberg, so his stamp is all over this final four.  Another trend that has been a staple of this entire tournament is the 80s dominance, as three of the four movies were released in the 80s.  And we're guaranteed to have at least one 80s movie in the championship as The Goonies takes on The Princess Bride, in our pirate influenced matchup.  So let's get to it and get down to the vote!

40 Years of Movies - Elite Eight

 

We are down to eight now, and the phrase Elite Eight could not be more apt.  The remaining movies are heavyweights, making the choices even more difficult.  And, as has been the case throughout the tournament, there is a distinct 80s vibe.  Five of the remaining movies are from the 80s.  That's not entirely surprising seeing as there were three all 80s matchups in the previous round.  This round features two all 80s matchups, guaranteeing at least two 80s movies in the Final Four.  We also lost another one seed in the last round as Back to the Future lost an incredibly close match to Return of the Jedi.  That was one of two matchups that was decided by two votes, and both of them went back and forth with multiple lead changes throughout the week.  But, as a result, only one region has held true to form with the top two seeds advancing, setting up a mammoth showdown between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard.  And that's not the only monster showdown as this round is full of box office behemoths and cult favorites.  I expect some very close votes, so let's get right down to it.  Cast your votes below and share with friends!

40 Years of Movies - Sweet Sixteen

 

Just like that we're down to sixteen!  The second round was full of close matchups with six matchups decided by seven or fewer votes, and three of those decided by only two votes.  That can only mean the choices get tougher in the next round.  As we head to the Sweet Sixteen, let's take a look at some of the surprises from the last round.  We lost our first 1-seed and 2-seed as both L.A. Confidential and Knives Out lost.  There's also only one 3-seed left in the entire tournament.  So the other top seeds should be on high alert moving forward.  Only one region, the Raiders of the Lost Ark region, saw all top four seeds advance to this stage.  Meanwhile, Number Five is still alive as plucky 14-seed Short Circuit squeaked out another close win to advance.  And if you take a closer look at the remaining films, you'll see that the 80s are absolutely dominating, with 10 of the remaining 16 movies.  It will be interesting to see if that domination, or maybe it's nostalgia, continues.  With that said, let's get to what everyone is waiting for, the vote! 

40 Years of Movies - Round 2

 

Round 1 in the 40 Years of Movies bracket is complete!  There were a few surprises in the first round as seven double digit seeds advanced.  Since all of these movies are my favorites, it hurts to see any of them go, but there were definitely some shockers in my opinion.  The Office Space vs Sandlot matchup was the closest result and the one that most people told me they had the hardest time choosing.  I have to agree that this was the toughest choice in the first round and I was sad to see Office Space go so early.  The other movie that I was saddest to see get knocked out was Tron.  But I have to remind myself that eventually all but one of these movies are going to lose.

So as we look toward the second round, the matchups get even tougher.  There’s a 14 seed looking for another upset, proving that "Number Five is alive!"  We have an all alien invasion matchup as Avengers: Infinity War takes on Independence Day, and two each of Star Wars, Avengers, and Jurassic Park movies.  The 80s and 90s films have dominated so far with 21 of the 32 remaining movies.  It will be interesting to see if that trend continues moving forward.  So let’s get right to it.  Time to vote for your favorites to advance to the next round!

40 Years of Movies Bracket!

 

Forty years ago NASA launched the first space shuttle, Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed as the first female Supreme Court Justice, Prince Charles married Lady Diana.  And in October of 1981, yours truly was born.  That’s right, I turn 40 this year.  And what better way to celebrate this momentous event in our history than with a special bracket for March Madness!  So without further ado, allow me to introduce the 40 Years, 40ish Movies Bracket, a celebration of my favorite movies from the past 40 years.  This is your chance to take a trip down memory lane, perhaps revisit some classics, and vote on which of my favorite movies from the past 40 years you think is the best. 

Before we reveal the actual bracket and get to the voting itself, let me explain a little how I put this together.  (Warning: Nerdy science info to follow to make me seem smart.)  I started the process by selecting a favorite movie from every year since 1981.  I wanted to make sure every year was represented.  This proved a little difficult for some years (see: 2007).  After that, I filled out the rest of the bracket with wild cards spread throughout the forty years.  So, in basketball terms, there are 40 automatic qualifiers and 24 at-large movies.  Once I had the 64 movies locked down, I ranked them based on my preference.  Now at this point I could have just placed them in the bracket based on my ranking alone, but I wanted to remove some of the bias.  So I added critic and audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB ratings, and a Metacritic score to form a composite ranking.  I then used that composite ranking to create the seedings for the bracket.  After I created the initial seeding, I made some adjustments to the bracket in the name of competitive balance, mostly to separate movies from the same franchise, same year, or starring the same actor/actress.  What I was left with is a bracket full of my favorites in which I think every matchup is a tough decision.

But now it is your turn to help decide which of my favorite movies of the past 40 years is the best.  You can vote below and check out the full bracket at the bottom of the page.  And please feel free to share with your friends, and comment on which movies you are surprised made the list or which ones you think I overlooked.  Enjoy!

Best 90s Movie Champion!

After weeks of voting and friendly debates, a winner in the Best 90s Movie bracket is finally crowned!  The winner is Jurassic Park!  In what I expected to be a much closer vote in the final Jurassic Park outdistanced Shawshank by a score of 47-29.  In fact, Jurassic Park breezed through much of the tournament, beating four Best Picture nominees and one winner with an average margin of victory of 32 votes.  This just goes to show that even almost 30 years later, dinosaurs are still popular.  Congrats to the cast and crew of Jurassic Park who spared no expense making a timeless movie that is still a favorite of many to this day.  As a personal connection, my wife and I had our first dance as a married couple to the theme song of Jurassic Park.  You can check that out below.

I also want to thank everyone who voted along the way.  I appreciate the support as well as all the movie discussions.  It was fun for me even if I disagreed with other's opinions.  I had no idea that Mrs. Doubtfire or Good Will Hunting were so popular.  And I was surprised that movies like Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, and Terminator 2 didn't do as well.  But that's why they play the games, so to speak.  Here are some other fun facts from the bracket.

The actor with the most movies in the field was Tom Hanks with 5, followed by Robin Williams and Kevin Spacey with 4. Hanks and Williams each had a film make it to the final four, while none of Spacey's films made it out of the second round.

The director with the most films in the field was Steven Spielberg with 4. Nobody else had more than 2. Three of his films made the elite eight, but only one advanced to the final four, and eventually won.

Best Picture winners didn't fare very well in the tournament as only two advanced as far as the elite eight with none making the final four. The two films in the championship each knocked off one Best Picture winner on the way to the title match, while Good Will Hunting is the only film to defeat two Best Picture winners.

The biggest upset in the tournament was 14 seed Mrs. Doubtfire beating 3 seed Goodfellas. Two double digit seeds made it as far as the sweet sixteen, Office Space and Home Alone, with Home Alone advancing to the elite eight and narrowly missing the final four.

Of the top ten highest grossing films of the decade, only four made it past the second round.  Both Jurassic Park and The Shawshank Redemption knocked off two films on the highest grossing list on their way to the championship.  If Shawshank would have won, they would have defeated three.  

Animated films did very well in the first two rounds, as four of the six animated films in the bracket made it to the sweet sixteen.  But only one made it past that point, although that film, Toy Story, went all the way to the final four.

Below is the entire bracket if you want to take a look.  Thanks again, and I look forward to next year's bracket, which based on your votes, is going to be the best of my favorite movies of the past 40 years.

Best 90s Movie Championship!

We've finally made it to the Championship match of the Best 90s Movie Bracket!  After five rounds and 62 head to head match ups, we are down to the final two to decide the winner.  Jurassic Park and The Shawshank Redemption have had mostly dominating performances to get to this point and they are both very well acclaimed.  That should make for a competitive match pitting escaped dinosaurs versus escaped convicts.  I can't say I'm very surprised by this match up, but I don't know that I would have predicted this final at the beginning of the tournament.  With this match up we finally say goodbye to Good Will Hunting, which had an amazing run, and Toy Story, which was the last one seed remaining.

I've also included a bonus question to ask for people's thoughts on what next year's bracket should be.  That's right, I'm already thinking about next year.  But before I get to that, there's a champion to be crowned!  Vote for your favorite, share with friends, and enjoy the thrilling conclusion to the Best 90s Movie Bracket!