Sunday, March 22, 2009

March Movie Madness 2009 - The Conversation Before the Storm

Okay, all the brackets are in. The first round of matches will take place Monday. Check back here at 2 p.m. Eastern.

In the meantime, a conversation starter:

I have of course received plenty of grief from plenty of people over which actors and actresses didn't make the final field.

I ask you, whom did I leave out? But since there are a finite number of spots, you can only add one if you subtract one. So for every name you want to add you have to give a name to remove. And explain why.

The second discussion point is with seedings. Think someone was seeded too high, or too low? Who and why? And if you want to raise someone's seed, you have to lower someone elses.

Discuss.

22 comments:

Natsthename said...

I don't know, it's a lot of work for you, and I don't think I should bitch at all, since it's work I'm not willing to do!

I wasn't truly bitching about Brando vs. Depp, but that was a tough pick for me! LOL. Any of the old school vs. contemporary actors was tough for me, since I think the variety of roles is just so expanded now as opposed to "back then." I had to go with Brando, if only on Streetcar and the Godfather alone. I don't think Depp has reached such a pinnacle, although he's certainly capable.

Someone mentioned Maureen O'Hara in the other post. Yep, she shoulda been a contender. And I'd take out Faye Dunaway. She excelled as Bonnie, and was good in Chinatown and Thomas-Crown, but the rest..meh. O'Hara ..How Green Was My Valley, Quiet Man, the original Parent Trap and Rio Grande..all home runs. She really was underrated. (Did you see her in that thing with John Candy! A HOOT!)

Emma said...

I think I'd have to give Will Smith the boot and replace him with Al Pacino. I love me some Al Pacino.

As for the dames, I disagree with ditching Dunaway. I wouldn't have missed Laura Linney or Annette Bening. Perhaps they could have been replaced with Ellen Burstyn and maybe Helen Mirren...or perhaps Holly Hunter...or?

Kos said...

Emma, I just realized from your comment regarding Pacino that you filled out the wrong bracket! You must have downloaded it right away and not seen my notice that it was the wrong one. Sorry! I'll email you the correct one.

Emma said...

Okay. I redid the dude side. Hopefully you can just use my dame side from my previous one.

But now I have to bitch... because not only did Pacino have to go against DeNiro...but he had to go against Paul Newman.

I'm spent. I need a nap.

Natsthename said...

LOL.

Wow, no Holly Hunter. I didn't notice that right away, but Emma's right. I'd still dump Dunaway, though. I like me some Holly Hunter. I'd take off Halle Berry, but someone would call me racist. Maybe Joan Fontaine? And Vivien Leigh, to me, surpasses Nicole Kidman.

None of them beats Streep, though, in my book, so it's all moot.

Cody Bones said...

Nat, I was the one to mention Maureen O'Hara, not only do I think that she was a wonderful actress with scads of award winning movies to her credit, but she was truly an original, there was No one like her in movie history, stunningly beautiful as well. As a side note, the thing with John Candy was "Only the Lonely" , and she played a character named Rose Muldoon here in Chicago. I know the guy who wrote that movie, and he actually based it on a real life Rose Muldoon, who lives (still) in the near west suburbs. Supposedly she said that if he wanted to use her name, the only actress that she would allow to portray her was Maureen O'Hara. The Muldoon family is quite a clan I must say.

krissy said...

I feel bad I just couldn't get it done this weekend. Coming home from vacation and I'll admit it..this was tough!! I sat down and started on it, then totally froze up when I had to pick between Pacino and DeNiro. Panicked and did laundry instead.... I will continue to watch from the sidelines this year.

Natsthename said...

Cody, sorry! I was too lazy to revisit the comment and get your name. Thanks for the background on "Only The Lonely"! I really enjoyed that movie, even though, at first, I questioned the pairing of Candy and O'Hara. They were both great!

I, too, had a tough time with DeNiro vs. Pacino, but I finally settled on one of them.

N. said...

Jeff, it was perfect. It was tough, but it was perfect.

As for seeds, I don't know seeds from pitts so I can't comment there. I have no idea how you would rank actors and why, but I accept your seeding as, well, your knowledgeable and esteemed opinion.

So there.

Granny Snark said...

Thank you for calling me on the phone yesterday and telling me, "You're doing this whether you want to or not." LOL!

N. said...

@PJ: did he really say "LOL"? Did he say it like, "loll" or did he say "el oh el"?

Paticus said...

I guess i filled out the wrong bracket as well. There was no Pacino in mine. Oops.

Brad said...

For some reason, I thought this would be a tough one to fill out, but once I got going and thought about why one actor was better than another, it was easy. One of the top ways I found that I was picking one over another was the actors range over a period of time and over a range of films. In the end, it seemed that the actors rankings were fairly well done and agreeable to my standards.

Where was Henry Fonda????

Honorable mentions on my list are Joe Pesci, Billy Bob Thornton, Ewan McGregor, Kirk Douglas, Catherine Deneuve, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, The Duke, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson.

I could go on, but then you'd have to re-do the brackets. Actually there are too many to pick from and Jefe did a sweet job. Can't wait to see the results.

Kos said...

So Brad, you only answered half the question. You gotta say who you'd take out to get Henry Fonda in there! (or any of the others)

N. said...

Jefe it's *past* two PM eastern now, 'k?

Bored now.

Kos said...

I know and I'm sorry, but I had a couple more people with the wrong brackets so I'm gave them a little extra time. It'll be up soon...

Teacake said...

I'd have put Gene Hackman on there. Booted for him, I'd say Jeff Bridges. I know he's the Lebowski, and I'm not saying he's not great, but he's no Hackman.

:)

Brad said...

I'd definitely take out Will Smith or Sean Penn for Henry Fonda. His performance in 'Once Upon a Time in the West' is more commanding than anything either of those two have done to date (yes, even 'Dead Man Walking').

Granny Snark said...

"@PJ: did he really say "LOL"? Did he say it like, "loll" or did he say "el oh el"?"

Actually what he said was, "Oh HELL yes you're going to participate in my Film Freaks thingie, like it or not."

Sorry I wasn't clear the first time.

Ell oh ell.

Kos said...

You'd take out Sean Penn? Dude, were I to do this over again I'd not only not take him out, I'd give him a higher seed! You're high.

My biggest regrets are the aforementioned Henry Fonda, Gene Hackman (nod to Teacake) and one of the classiest of all actors, Sidney Poitier. Poitier would probably be the first one I'd put in here, to be honest.

Natsthename said...

Poitier, oh yes! But I'd still pick Fonda over him, even though that is a tight race. To leave off? Penn or Crowe. I can't STAND Crowe, for some reason. He grates on me. I did like his performance in Gladiator, but he still grates on me.

Stephanie said...

I like Helen Mirren but I don't know who I would ditch in her favor.