Fri, February 2, 2007

It's been a weird year for movies. Very few have lived up to their potential, and a glut of bizarre, self-important Oscar bait has clogged theatres for practically as long as I can remember.

Nevertheless, we soldier on. We search for closure in the annual Movie Tournament (of Movies). Vote weekdays this month, starting next Monday, and we'll crown a winner on the Monday after the Oscars. When all else seems lost, at least we'll still have our say. Such as it is.

As you'll recall, there's a complex, unfair formula that goes into picking the films for each year's tournament. The top seeds go to the Best Picture winners because – in a sense – they've earned it. In another, more accurate, sense, it's just fun to see if they can hold up against movies that were not judged award-worthy, but were more enjoyable, interesting, or fulfilling. (Not that I'm trying to define what a good movie should be or anything.)

After that, it's a hazy calculation, taking into account how much I liked a movie, how much critical acclaim it seemed to get, its box office success, its general buzz, and whether or not it was in goddamn English. It's a not-uncontroversial process, but so far we've picked some mighty fine winners, so what the hell, let's try it again.

The films in contention this year:

#1 Seeds

Little Miss Sunshine
The Departed
The Queen
Letters from Iwo Jima

#2 Seeds

Babel
The Prestige
Stranger than Fiction
Borat

#3 Seeds

Inside Man
United 93
Casino Royale
Cars

#4 Seeds

Wordplay
An Inconvenient Truth
Pan's Labyrinth
Snakes on a Plane

If you like, you can download a PDF bracket to start planning. Check back to track the voting so far.