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slipjig3I really need to have my brain surgically removed. I was thinking about the website that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mgrasso had linked to (summary: an NCAA March Madness-type bracket in which well-known musical artists are paired in head-to-head matchups, which the readership then votes on. I was thinking, "Wow, cool idea."
I was also thinking about my new Netflix account. At the same time.
Oh, holy hell.
I then buried my face in my hands and sobbed hysterically, because I knew I was staring down the business end of Another Damn Project, and that the obsessive-compulsive part of my brain was not going to shut up about it until I actually followed through. There goes my shambles of a life. (Actually, it's not so bad: the vast majority of the project can be, and has been, done during lulls at work, when frankly I need some massive project to gobble up my spare time. Besides, the100videos project has gone belly-up in the wake of that whole Viacom/YouTube debacle, and this takes up less Internet time than that ever did.)
So. Hold nose, close eyes, jump....
The CinemaBowl Playoffs: How It Works
In my notebooks, right there on the coffee table behind me, is a ginormous single-elimination playoff chart, which I have filled with the names of 512 (*gasp*) movies, past and present, paired randomly. You will be presented with each of these pairings, a handful at a time, in a series of LJ polls over the next several weeks. For each pairing, choose the movie that you prefer, by whatever definition you see fit. Each poll will be open for a few days; at the end of that time, a winner will be declared for each pairing, and that winner will advance to the next round. Such weeding out will continue until we are left One True Winner, a title that is simply fraught with Meaning and Portent, despite the fact that the playoffs themselves are totally arbitrary.
Stuff to Keep in Mind
1) The list of movies as totally arbitrary. I tried to choose titles that are seminal in some way or another, be it in terms of critical acclaim, box office popularity, awards, or status as a classic or a cult favorite; at the same time, I tried to make sure everything was represented from family fare to drama to comedy to horror to what-have-you. Please do not come to me with complaints that I left out so-and-so movie. Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I left out a lot of things. Some omissions were likely mistakes, perhaps to the point of criminal. I'm sorry. Carry on.
2) The pairings are totally random. Believe me, there are some pairs here that make the baby Jesus cry, and I know it. I swore to myself that I'd abide by whatever matchups arose, and I stuck by that promise, even when it was killing me to do so. (Let's just say that I'm going to be watching a few pet favorites go up in flames very shortly.)
3) In a few cases, I've lumped entire trilogies together under one slot. One, Lord of the Rings, got combined because many feel that having been filmed concurrently and with scripts for the lot prepared together, they really constitute a single movie. The other, The Apu Trilogy, does commonly get listed in the literature as a single title, and breaking them up would likely have been met with blank stares.
4) Feel free to pimp out the individual battles as they come up. The more, the merrier.
The first round of voting will begin shortly. For the love of God, talk me out of this.
mgrasso had linked to (summary: an NCAA March Madness-type bracket in which well-known musical artists are paired in head-to-head matchups, which the readership then votes on. I was thinking, "Wow, cool idea."I was also thinking about my new Netflix account. At the same time.
Oh, holy hell.
I then buried my face in my hands and sobbed hysterically, because I knew I was staring down the business end of Another Damn Project, and that the obsessive-compulsive part of my brain was not going to shut up about it until I actually followed through. There goes my shambles of a life. (Actually, it's not so bad: the vast majority of the project can be, and has been, done during lulls at work, when frankly I need some massive project to gobble up my spare time. Besides, the
100videos project has gone belly-up in the wake of that whole Viacom/YouTube debacle, and this takes up less Internet time than that ever did.)So. Hold nose, close eyes, jump....
The CinemaBowl Playoffs: How It Works
In my notebooks, right there on the coffee table behind me, is a ginormous single-elimination playoff chart, which I have filled with the names of 512 (*gasp*) movies, past and present, paired randomly. You will be presented with each of these pairings, a handful at a time, in a series of LJ polls over the next several weeks. For each pairing, choose the movie that you prefer, by whatever definition you see fit. Each poll will be open for a few days; at the end of that time, a winner will be declared for each pairing, and that winner will advance to the next round. Such weeding out will continue until we are left One True Winner, a title that is simply fraught with Meaning and Portent, despite the fact that the playoffs themselves are totally arbitrary.
Stuff to Keep in Mind
1) The list of movies as totally arbitrary. I tried to choose titles that are seminal in some way or another, be it in terms of critical acclaim, box office popularity, awards, or status as a classic or a cult favorite; at the same time, I tried to make sure everything was represented from family fare to drama to comedy to horror to what-have-you. Please do not come to me with complaints that I left out so-and-so movie. Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I left out a lot of things. Some omissions were likely mistakes, perhaps to the point of criminal. I'm sorry. Carry on.
2) The pairings are totally random. Believe me, there are some pairs here that make the baby Jesus cry, and I know it. I swore to myself that I'd abide by whatever matchups arose, and I stuck by that promise, even when it was killing me to do so. (Let's just say that I'm going to be watching a few pet favorites go up in flames very shortly.)
3) In a few cases, I've lumped entire trilogies together under one slot. One, Lord of the Rings, got combined because many feel that having been filmed concurrently and with scripts for the lot prepared together, they really constitute a single movie. The other, The Apu Trilogy, does commonly get listed in the literature as a single title, and breaking them up would likely have been met with blank stares.
4) Feel free to pimp out the individual battles as they come up. The more, the merrier.
The first round of voting will begin shortly. For the love of God, talk me out of this.
