Match Cut Madness 2: Best of the 90s

[Idioteque Stalker]

Welcome to Match Cut Madness 2.0, a March Madness-style bracket tournament in which movies engage in 1v1 battles for glory and for shame. In Madness 1.0, MC chose its favorite films of the 80s (results: [

Show Spoiler

Champion: Do the Right Thing, Runner-Up: The Shining, Third Place: Aliens

]). With Madness 2.0, we are tackling a new decade: the best movies of the 90s.

The Rules: Vote for one of two movies. If you haven't seen both movies, don't vote. If you have seen both movies, you must vote no matter how painful. The movie with the most votes moves to the next round, and the other is burned in a fire and can never be seen again by anyone. Eventually one movie will reign supreme.

____________________________


New in Madness 2.0: The Play-In Round
Have you ever looked at the list of movies in a Madness tournament, thought to yourself, "What is [inferior movie X] doing here when [superior movie Y] would be a better competitor," and wanted to do something about it? Well now you can -- with The Play-In Round!

[

Show Spoiler

No voting will occur in this round. Instead, MC posters (up to a maximum of three times each) are invited to suggest a replacement for any movie that is considered "on the bubble," so long as the suggested replacement has more views on Letterboxd. This way MC can trend toward greater participation while still customizing the brackets (which are again based on Filmspotting's) to reflect its own unique taste.

The 32 movies that are "on the bubble," and therefore able to be replaced: [

Show Spoiler

Arranged in order of Letterboxd views, then separated into groups in order to keep movies competing in their own "weight class," so to speak, since Forrest Gump has no business picking on The Sweet Hereafter.

Fat Chance! (no maximum)
The Truman Show 724k
The Lion King 712k
Jurassic Park 697k

Good Luck (no maximum)
Edward Scissorhands 460k (Replaced by Titanic -- Idioteque Stalker)
Saving Private Ryan 448k
The Sixth Sense 406k
Leon: The Professional 405k
Clueless 369k (Replaced by The Nightmare Before Christmas -- Yxklyx)
Princess Mononoke 328k

Give It Your Best Shot (500k Max)
The Usual Suspects 292k
The Iron Giant 272k
Blair Witch Project 258k
There’s Something About Mary 149k
Office Space 145k
Starship Troopers 141k (Replaced by Scream - Ezee E)

Shouldn’t Be Too Hard (300k Max)
The Thin Red Line 103k
Three Colors: Blue 100k (Replaced by Contact -- Peng)
Boyz N the Hood 86k (Replaced by Ed Wood -- Peng)
My Own Private Idaho 81k (Replaced by Lost Highway -- Yxklyx)
Wild at Heart 80k (Replaced by Three Colors: Blue -- Baby Doll)
All About My Mother 77k
JFK 61k
Glengarry Glen Ross 60k (Replaced by Run Lola Run -- Yxklyx)
Dead Man 59k

Ripe for the Picking (200k Max)
The Piano 52k (Replaced by Three Colors: Red -- Peng)
The Insider 51k (Replaced by The Piano -- Baby Doll)
The Player 48k (Replaced by Basic Instinct -- Baby Doll)
Close-Up 44k
Naked 41k (Replaced by La Haine -- Ezee E)
Safe 31k

You Monster! (100k Max)
Metropolitan 17k (Replaced by Three Kings -- Ezee E)
The Sweet Hereafter 15k

For example: if you would like to suggest The Lost World: Jurassic Park (266k views) you may NOT replace The Iron Giant (272k views) because the movie you suggest has to have more views than the movie you're replacing. Additionally, you may NOT replace The Piano (52k views) because movies in the "Ripe for the Picking" group can only be replaced by movies with fewer than 200k views. You are left with the thirteen movies in between -- plenty of options for a militant evangelizer of The Lost World!

]

The 32 movies that are locked in, and therefore shouldn't be suggested as replacements: [

Show Spoiler

Barton Fink
Before Sunrise
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
Boogie Nights
Chungking Express
Dazed and Confused
Eyes Wide Shut
Fargo
Fight Club
Goodfellas
Groundhog Day
Heat
Hoop Dreams
Jackie Brown
LA Confidential
Magnolia
Malcolm X
The Matrix
Miller’s Crossing
Out of Sight
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Rushmore
Schindler’s List
Seven
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Toy Story
Trainspotting
Unforgiven

]

In the end, I alone shall bear the full weight and responsibility of determining which replacements are accepted. As supreme ruler I will always strive to remain fair and impartial, but there are certain ways you can increase/decrease the likelihood your suggestion goes through:

Your film is more likely to be chosen if:
-- Other MC posters chime in with support.
-- You give an impassioned plea.
-- You have seen the movie you are trying to replace.
-- It is part of an underrepresented group: documentaries (only 2 in current bracket), animated films (4), non-English language films (5), cast/crew are minority groups, etc.

Your film is less likely to be chosen if:
-- Other MC posters chime in with dissent.
-- Your main reason for replacing a film is it is too popular or too obscure.
-- You have not seen the movie you are trying to replace.
-- You are trying to replace a film in an underrepresented group (see above) with a film in a group already sufficiently represented (normie films, you know the type). Theoretically, if you tried to replace Hoop Dreams with The Boondock Saints, I’d tell you to save your energy.

If your film is chosen, I HAVE to vote for it in round 1. But don't dilly dally -- once a film has been replaced it can't be replaced again!

]

____________________________


Round One Results
[

Show Spoiler

Pulp Fiction vs. Three Colors: Blue
Out of Sight vs. Saving Private Ryan
Toy Story vs. The Sixth Sense (BLOWOUT)
Schindler’s List vs. The Iron Giant
Fight Club vs. Safe (NAILBITER)
Barton Fink vs. Leon: The Professional (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Chungking Express vs. Lost Highway (UPSET)
Jackie Brown vs. Princess Mononoke (UPSET)
The Silence of the Lambs vs. Close-Up (TIE goes to Filmspotting winner)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day vs. The Lion King (BLOWOUT)
Heat vs. JFK
Dazed and Confused vs. Basic Instinct (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Boogie Nights vs. La Haine
Malcolm X vs. Contact
The Big Lebowski vs. The Truman Show (BLOWOUT)
Groundhog Day vs. Titanic (BLOWOUT)
Goodfellas vs. There’s Something About Mary (BLOWOUT + HUMILIATION)
Miller’s Crossing vs. Jurassic Park
Magnolia vs. All About My Mother (BLOWOUT)
Being John Malkovich vs. Office Space (BLOWOUT)
Unforgiven vs. Three Kings
Trainspotting vs. The Nightmare Before Christmas (NAILBITER)
The Matrix vs. The Blair Witch Project (BLOWOUT)
Hoop Dreams vs. The Thin Red Line (TIE goes to Filmspotting winner)
Fargo vs. Dead Man
L. A. Confidential vs. Run Lola Run
Before Sunrise vs. The Piano
Eyes Wide Shut vs. Three Colors: Red (UPSET)
Rushmore vs. The Sweet Hereafter (NAILBITER)
The Shawshank Redemption vs The Usual Suspects
Reservoir Dogs vs. Ed Wood (UPSET)
Seven vs. Scream (BLOWOUT)

]

Round Two Results
[

Show Spoiler

Pulp Fiction vs. Saving Private Ryan (BLOWOUT + HUMILIATION)
Toy Story vs. Schindler’s List (UPSET + BLOWOUT)
Fight Club vs. Leon: The Professional (BLOWOUT)
Lost Highway vs. Princess Mononoke (BLOWOUT)
The Silence of the Lambs vs. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (UPSET)
Heat vs. Basic Instinct (BLOWOUT)
Boogie Nights vs. Malcolm X
The Big Lebowski vs. Groundhog Day (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Goodfellas vs. Jurassic Park
Magnolia vs. Being John Malkovich (UPSET + BLOWOUT)
Unforgiven vs. Trainspotting (BLOWOUT)
The Matrix vs. Hoop Dreams
Fargo vs. L. A. Confidential
Before Sunrise vs. Three Colors: Red (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Rushmore vs. The Shawshank Redemption (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Ed Wood vs. Seven (UPSET + NAILBITER)

]

Sweet Sixteen Results
[

Show Spoiler

Pulp Fiction vs. Schindler’s List
Fight Club vs. Princess Mononoke (UPSET)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day vs. Heat (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Boogie Nights vs. Groundhog Day
Goodfellas vs. Magnolia (BLOWOUT)
Unforgiven vs. The Matrix (UPSET + NAILBITER)
Fargo vs. Three Colors: Red
The Shawshank Redemption vs. Ed Wood (UPSET + BLOWOUT)

]

Elite Eight Results
[

Show Spoiler

Pulp Fiction vs. Princess Mononoke
Terminator 2: Judgment Day vs. Boogie Nights (TIE -- goes to Filmspotting winner)
Goodfellas vs. Unforgiven
Fargo vs. Ed Wood (NAILBITER)

]

Final Four Results
[

Show Spoiler

Pulp Fiction vs. Boogie Nights
Goodfellas vs. Fargo (UPSET + BLOWOUT)

]

Championship Results
[

Show Spoiler

Champion: Goodfellas
Runner-Up: Pulp Fiction
Third Place: Fargo

]

[Idioteque Stalker]

Play-In Round TL;DR

-- You may suggest movies to replace movies that are "on the bubble"
-- The movie you suggest must have more views on Letterboxd than the movie you're replacing
-- I choose which suggestions are accepted, and will vote for all accepted movies in round 1

The 32 movies that are "on the bubble," and therefore able to be replaced: [

Show Spoiler

Arranged in order of Letterboxd views, then separated into groups in order to keep movies competing in their own "weight class," so to speak, since Forrest Gump has no business picking on The Sweet Hereafter.

Fat Chance! (no maximum)
The Truman Show 724k
The Lion King 712k
Jurassic Park 697k

Good Luck (no maximum)
Edward Scissorhands 460k (Replaced by Titanic -- Idioteque Stalker)
Saving Private Ryan 448k
The Sixth Sense 406k
Leon: The Professional 405k
Clueless 369k (Replaced by The Nightmare Before Christmas -- Yxklyx)
Princess Mononoke 328k

Give It Your Best Shot (500k Max)
The Usual Suspects 292k
The Iron Giant 272k
Blair Witch Project 258k
There’s Something About Mary 149k
Office Space 145k
Starship Troopers 141k (Replaced by Scream - Ezee E)

Shouldn’t Be Too Hard (300k Max)
The Thin Red Line 103k
Three Colors: Blue 100k (Replaced by Contact -- Peng)
Boyz N the Hood 86k (Replaced by Ed Wood -- Peng)
My Own Private Idaho 81k (Replaced by Lost Highway -- Yxklyx)
Wild at Heart 80k (Replaced by Three Colors: Blue -- Baby Doll)
All About My Mother 77k
JFK 61k
Glengarry Glen Ross 60k (Replaced by Run Lola Run -- Yxklyx)
Dead Man 59k

Ripe for the Picking (200k Max)
The Piano 52k (Replaced by Three Colors: Red -- Peng)
The Insider 51k (Replaced by The Piano -- Baby Doll)
The Player 48k (Replaced by Basic Instinct -- Baby Doll)
Close-Up 44k
Naked 41k (Replaced by La Haine -- Ezee E)
Safe 31k

You Monster! (100k Max)
Metropolitan 17k (Replaced by Three Kings -- Ezee E)
The Sweet Hereafter 15k

For example: if you would like to suggest The Lost World: Jurassic Park (266k views) you may NOT replace The Iron Giant (272k views) because the movie you suggest has to have more views than the movie you're replacing. Additionally, you may NOT replace The Piano (52k views) because movies in the "Ripe for the Picking" group can only be replaced by movies with fewer than 200k views. You are left with the thirteen movies in between -- plenty of options for a militant evangelizer of The Lost World!

]

The 32 movies that are locked in, and therefore shouldn't be suggested as replacements: [

Show Spoiler

Barton Fink
Before Sunrise
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
Boogie Nights
Chungking Express
Dazed and Confused
Eyes Wide Shut
Fargo
Fight Club
Goodfellas
Groundhog Day
Heat
Hoop Dreams
Jackie Brown
LA Confidential
Magnolia
Malcolm X
The Matrix
Miller’s Crossing
Out of Sight
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Rushmore
Schindler’s List
Seven
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Toy Story
Trainspotting
Unforgiven

]

These two lists combined make up the 64 movies in MC Madness. If you hate some of the movies which are "on the bubble," now's your chance to take them down!

[Dukefrukem]

nevermind... not enough views.. WTF

[Dukefrukem]

Okay.. Replace The Piano, with Army of Darkness

[Idioteque Stalker]

Okay.. Replace The Piano, with Army of Darkness

+ horror/comedy is a unique genre
- The Piano is part of an underrepresented group
= I am currently undecided on this one. If fellow MCers chime in with support/dissent that may clear things up, or you can try choosing a different movie to replace. (EDIT: The Piano has already been replaced by Peng. You may choose another movie if you want.)

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion 91k replaces Boyz N the Hood 86k
Three Colors: Red 76k replaces The Piano 52k
Contact 105k replaces Blue 100k

+ Evangelion is animated
- Evangelion is too niche (mainly for people who have completed the series), and Boyz N the Hood is part of an underrepresented group
= Thank you, try again!

+ Three Colors: Red is non-English language
- The Piano is part of an underrepresented group and Three Colors: Blue is already in this tournament (or is it?)
= The Piano is out! Three Colors: Red is in!

+ Contact received support from another MCer (duke), you voted Red in
- Three Colors: Blue is part of an underrepresented group (non-English language)
= Three Colors: Blue is out! Contact is in!

Three Kings (64k) > Metropolitan
Perfect Blue (157k) > Close-Up
Scream (328k) > Starship Troopers

+ Russel is a respected director and hardly anyone has seen Metropolitan
- Whit Stillman is a respected director
= Metropolitan is out! Three Kings is in!

+ Perfect Blue is animated and Satoshi Kon is a respected director
- Close-Up is part of several underrepresented groups (non-English language documentary) and Kiarostami is a respected director
= Thank you, try again!

+ Scream is iconic, a "nah duh" addition
- Starship Troopers is a cult classic and Verhoeven is a respected director
= Starship Troopers is out! Scream is in!

[Ezee E]

Three Kings (64k) > Metropolitan
Perfect Blue (157k) > Close-Up
Scream (328k) > Starship Troopers

Want to throw Home Alone in there, but not from one of those movies.

[Dukefrukem]

nevermind... too many views.

[Peng]

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion 91k replaces Boyz N the Hood 86k
Three Colors: Red 76k replaces The Piano 52k
Contact 105k replaces Blue 100k

[Dukefrukem]

Contact 105k replaces Blue 100k

Seconded

[Ezee E]

La Haine (130k) > Naked
Speed (182k) > Safe

[Idioteque Stalker]

La Haine (130k) > Naked
Speed (182k) > Safe

+ La Haine is non-English language
- Mike Leigh is a respected director
= Naked is out! La Haine is in!

Ezee E has reached the maximum allowed replacements. Peng has one possible replacement left. Duke still has all three.

[Idioteque Stalker]

The Piano over here like, "WTF did I do?"

[Ezee E]

Now get The Piano back in!

Nice thread idea on this!

[Idioteque Stalker]

Now get The Piano back in!

A movie that has been kicked out can be put back in, but a movie that has been put in can not be kicked out. So if someone wants to suggest The Piano replace something, they can do that; but La Haine, for instance, is locked in (as would be The Piano if someone were to get it back in).

Anyways, I agree with you. But I remain impartial!

[baby doll]

Trois couleurs: Bleu replaces Wild at Heart (or are we talking about Derek Jarman's Blue?)
Naked replaces The Player
The Piano replaces The Insider

[Idioteque Stalker]

Trois couleurs: Bleu replaces Wild at Heart (or are we talking about Derek Jarman's Blue?)
Naked replaces The Player
The Piano replaces The Insider

+ Three Colors: Blue is non-English Language, Wild at Heart is hard to track down
- David Lynch is a respected director, Three Colors: Red is already in
= Wild at Heart is out! Three Colors: Blue is in!

Naked does not have more Letterboxd views than The Player. You can suggest another movie to replace if you'd like.

+ The Piano is part of an underrepresented group and isn't Heat enough representation for Michael Mann
- Michael Mann is a respected filmmaker
= The Insider is out! The Piano is in!

EDIT: Not Jarman's Blue. At 7k views, that one is too obscure for a tournament like this. I will refer to Blue as Three Colors: Blue from now on as to avoid confusion. You have one possible replacement left.

[baby doll]

- Michael Mann was a respected filmmaker

Fixed.

[baby doll]

I'm not sure if I'm understanding the rules, but could Basic Instinct (98k views) replace The Player?

[Idioteque Stalker]

I'm not sure if I'm understanding the rules, but could Basic Instinct (98k views) replace The Player?

+ Paul Verhoeven is a respected filmmaker
- Robert Altman is a respected filmmaker
= The Player is out! Basic Instinct is in!

(Unless you were asking hypothetically, but for now I will assume you were not.)

Fixed.

Haha, I couldn't think of anything else to say. If I were on the other side of this round, The Insider would've been one of the first movies I tried to take down.

[baby doll]

Maybe we ought to change the title of this thread from "Best of the '90s" to "Most Popular Films of the '90s" since so many of the decade's best movies have too few Letterboxd views to even be in consideration:

Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy (Martin Arnold, 1998): 1.2k
Les Amants du Pont Neuf (Leos Carax, 1991): 16k
The Apple (Samira Makhmalbaf, 1998): 2.4k
La Cérémonie (Claude Chabrol, 1996): 12k
Cyclo (Tran Anh Hung, 1995): 2.9k
Drifting Clouds (Aki Kaurismäki, 1996): 4.5k
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (Errol Morris, 1997): 3.7k
From the Journals of Jean Seberg (Mark Rappaport, 1995): 430
Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas, 1996): 16K
Life, and Nothing More... (Abbas Kiarostami, 1992): 11k
A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996): 9.7k
New Rose Hotel (Abel Ferrara, 1998): 7.2k
Nouvelle vague (Jean-Luc Godard, 1990): 1.8k
El patrullero (Alex Cox, 1991): 795
The Puppet Master (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1993): 2.5k
Rosetta (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 1999): 13k
Ruan Lingyu (Stanley Kwan, 1991): 2.1k
Sátántangó (Béla Tarr, 1994): 17k
Simple Men (Hal Hartley, 1992): 3k
The Story of Qiu Jiu (Zhang Yimou, 1992): 2.4k
The Suspended Step of the Stork (Theo Angelopoulos, 1991): 2.1k
Tilaï (Idrissa Ouédraogo, 1990): 407
To Sleep with Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990): 6.4k
Underground (Emir Kusturica, 1995): 15k
Vive l'amour (Tsai Ming-liang, 1994): 9.7k

[Ezee E]

Maybe we ought to change the title of this thread from "Best of the '90s" to "Most Popular Films of the '90s" since so many of the decade's best movies have too few Letterboxd views to even be in consideration:

Make a tourney! It'll be like the NIT

[Irish]

Maybe we ought to change the title of this thread from "Best of the '90s" to "Most Popular Films of the '90s" since so many of the decade's best movies have too few Letterboxd views to even be in consideration:

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (Errol Morris, 1997): 3.7k
Irma Vep (Olivier Assayas, 1996): 16K
New Rose Hotel (Abel Ferrara, 1998): 7.2k
Nouvelle vague (Jean-Luc Godard, 1990): 1.8k
Simple Men (Hal Hartley, 1992): 3k
The Story of Qiu Jiu (Zhang Yimou, 1992): 2.4k
To Sleep with Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990): 6.4k

Legit surprises me these films don't have enough votes on LB.

But this reminds me of a pet theory of mine: Different generations of filmgoers have permanent viewing blindspots, usually centered around when they were old enough to watch movies but not old enough for movies aimed at adults. For Gen X, this period is around the late 70s through the early 80s. For Millennials, it's the early 90s.

So, nobody talks about Julie Christie or "Coming Home," and the careers of Zhang Yimou and Hal Hartley largely disappears. Likewise: "The Horseman on the Roof," "Belle Epoque," "Sirens, "Flesh and Bone," "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway."

The only exceptions are films made by filmmakers who have a legacy, ie, people who are still working and popular now, or films whose subject matter naturally attracts teenage boys (eg: horror movies and war films).

[Idioteque Stalker]

But this reminds me of a pet theory of mine: Different generations of filmgoers have permanent viewing blindspots, usually centered around when they were old enough to watch movies but not old enough for movies aimed at adults. For Gen X, this period is around the late 70s through the early 80s. For Millennials, it's the early 90s.

Wait wait wait... so this is why I've seen The Big Green, Little Giants, Wild America, Black Beauty, Flubber, The Little Rascals, The Swan Princess, Fly Away Home, Fern Gully, Casper, The Secret Garden, Homeward Bound, Balto, Blank Check, Rookie of the Year, and Heavyweights all multiple times... but I still haven't seen Satantango?

[Ezee E]

Wait wait wait... so this is why I've seen The Big Green, Little Giants, Wild America, Black Beauty, Flubber, The Little Rascals, The Swan Princess, Fly Away Home, Fern Gully, Casper, The Secret Garden, Homeward Bound, Balto, Blank Check, Rookie of the Year, and Heavyweights all multiple times... but I still haven't seen Satantango?

You could rewatch all of those, back-to-back, and still finish before Satantango I'm pretty sure.

[Yxklyx]

Why does it say "Ripe for the Picking (200k Max)" when the highest it can be is 58K since 59K puts it in the next bracket? Anyway, I think I understand, replacing within the same bracket...

Run Lola Run 102K > Glengarry Glen Ross 60k (foreign films under-represented)
Lost Highway 108K > My Own Private Idaho 81k (shouldn't we have at least one Lynch film)
The Nightmare Before Christmas 463K > Clueless 369k (animation under-represented)

have not seen Boyz N the Hood. Surprised that last one wasn't on the original list.

Yeah, it has to be based on popularity otherwise a movie that only ONE person has seen would automatically win - because only he/she could ever vote against it. I would have liked to have seen Careful and Trust on the list but I like my three replacements.

edited: after reading ENTIRE original post.