My Favorite Movie Tournament

Off and on I'll ask myself, "What is my favorite movie of all time?" Some years it's one movie. Some years it's another. I'm going to try to settle this once and for all with the My Favorite Movie Tournament. It's a 64 movie double elimination tournament that will crown my favorite movie of all time.

To give sort of a blanket criteria for movies to succeed, the movie must have 3 criteria met:

1. Staying power. I can't just see a movie once and say it's my favorite all time. It has to be a movie I can sit and watch any time it's on or I can put in the DVD and watch it at any given time.

2. Memorable characters. The movie can't be filled with John and Jane Does. It has to be filled with characters I can never forget because it's the characters that draws me into a movie.

3. Quotable quotes. A movie cannot be proclaimed my all-time favorite if I can't continuously quote from it. The quotes help with staying power but they are a quick reminder to anyone around that you've seen the quoted movie.

The first round will begin tonight to narrow the field to 32.

Mr. Deeds vs. Ghostbusters
The first matchup has already proven to be a tough one in that I would be willing to sit down and watch either movie through its entirety anytime. Both movies have characters that'll be seared into your brain from Longfellow Deeds to Babe Bennett to Egon Spangler to Peter Venkman. John Turturro as Emilio was such a memorable performance in Mr. Deeds. "Do not underestimate the sneakiness sir." The crowning moment comes when Deeds asks him to hit his foot with the fireplace poker since he had no feeling in it due to frostbite ending with Emilio stabbing Deeds' foot into the ground as he screams, "You're sick! You're sick! How could you do that...aww I'm just kiddin'." On the other hand, how can you compete with the Ghostbusters? "Ray...it's looking at me..." was the first quote that came to mind from when Venkman first encountered Slimer. Or how about the ending sequence at the top of the New York building..."Are you a God?" "Well, no." "Then...DIE!"
Winner has to go to Ghostbusters.

Simon Birch vs. From Dusk Till Dawn
Winner Simon Birch.

To Live vs. A League of Their Own
Winner A League of Their Own

Aladdin vs. A Walk to Remember
Winner Aladdin

An American Tail vs. Adaptation
Winner An American Tail

Back to the Future vs. Animal House
Winner Back to the Future

Batman vs. Blow
Winner Batman

The Notebook vs. Big Daddy
Two really different movies for two really different types of mood. The Notebook is a brilliantly told love story while Big Daddy is a slapstick comedy about a man finding fatherly love for a boy. The Notebook has some staying power as long as there's a significant other who likes to watch it. Otherwise this one would probably stay on the shelf simply because I have no desire to see it again.While The Notebook's story is wonderful and a great chick flick, Big Daddy provides so many memorable moments that it's hard to overlook. "But I wipe my own ass! I wipe my own ass!"
Winner Big Daddy


Big vs. Eat Drink Man Woman
Winner Big

City of God vs. Home Alone
Winner City of God

Coming to America vs. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Winner Coming to America

Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Bomb vs. Office Space
Winner Dr. Strangelove

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vs. Red River
Winner Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Ferris Bueller's Day Off vs. Saw
Winner Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Finding Nemo vs. Shaun of the Dead
Winner Finding Nemo

Forrest Gump vs. Spiderman
Winner Forrest Gump

La Bamba vs. Super Troopers
Winner La Bamba

There's Something About Mary vs. A Christmas Story
There's Something About Mary hits on the stalker within me, but A Christmas Story hits on the boy within me...whoa that didn't sound right. Mary provided plenty of hilarious moments ("Is that hair gel?") but ultimately, with A Christmas Story mainly for Christmas it has a greater longevity. Watching it on an all day marathon on TNT Christmas Day never ever gets old. I'm just so glad he got his Red Rider BB gun. There's plenty of good reasons to make A Christmas Story one of my favorite movies. Plus if I didn't pick it over Mary, Scott Farkus would beat me up.
Winner A Christmas Story



Monsters, Inc. vs. Thank You For Not Smoking
Winner Monsters, Inc

My Cousin Vinny vs. The Matrix
Winner My Cousin Vinny

Planes, Trains and Automobiles vs. The Wizard
Winner Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Pulp Fiction vs. Zoolander
Winner Pulp Fiction

Rudy vs. Little Miss Sunshine
Winner Rudy

The Lion King vs. Full Metal Jacket
Winner The Lion King

The Princess Bride vs. Collateral
Winner The Princess Bride

The Sandlot vs. The Wood
Winner The Sandlot

The Shining vs. Saturday Night Fever
Winner The Shining

Toy Story vs. Scarface
Winner Scarface

Say Anything vs. Field of Dreams
Whew, another toughie. For a long time I always considered Field of Dreams to be my favorite movie of all time because it had baseball and it had a great story. Then it fell by the wayside after it started getting boring to me some days and I'd find myself skipping over it to watch something else. Say Anything is the same kind of movie for me. Sometimes I'm in the mood for it. Sometimes I'm not. While both movies are filled with great quotes such as "I gave her my heart...I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen," from Say Anything to James Earl Jones' moving speech about baseball in Field of Dreams.
Winner...Field of Dreams

Uncle Buck vs. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Winner Uncle Buck

When Harry Met Sally vs. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Winner When Harry Met Sally

House of 1000 Corpses vs. Big Fish
Winner Big Fish