The Best Picture tournament of the Academy Award winners from the last 64 years rolls on, now down to the final 16 films.
A film tournament with seedings based off of domestic box office totals can often lead to a mixed bag of results. While previous film tournaments have focused on summer months of a specific year, this Academy Award Best Picture tournament spans 64 years of winners.
Discrepancies between money taken in was going to happen, considering the cost of a ticket and number of screenings increasing over the years.
Upsets were bound to happen in this non-scientific way to determine a winner but after two rounds, 11 of the top-16 seeds remain.
And there is pretty close to equal representation across the decades, though the most recent Best Picture winner is the winner from 2008, No Country for Old Men. This film is joined by three other films from the 2000s in the round of 16.
The victory by No Country for Old Men was against the top overall seed Titanic. This "upset" also means Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and its 11 Oscars stands alone as the most decorated winner in the field.
Winners from the 1990s and 1970s are represented by four films each among the final 16. The 1980s have two films left, as does the period from 1969 back to 1958, the year first looked at for purposes of this bracket.
Three 1-seeds remain but there's a possibility that number drops to zero based off of a matchups in the round of 16.
Red Carpet region
No Country for Old Men wasn't in much of a contest, winning with 61 percent of the vote. The bigger winner was Silence of the Lambs with 74 percent while Dances with Wolves barely eked out a victory over Million Dollar Baby (50.9 - 49.1)
- 9) No Country for Old Men (2008)
- 5) Silence of the Lambs (1992)
- 3) The Sound of Music (1966)
- 2) Dances with Wolves (1991)
Glamour region
Two of the four films from the 2000s are in this region with Gladiator and Chicago. Both won in somewhat close matchups, winning by 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively. The Bridge on the River Kwai held off The French Connection by 1.4 percent while One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest had the easiest time of the bunch, winning handily by 36.
- 1) Gladiator (2001)
- 5) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
- 3) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1958)
- 2) Chicago (2003)
Gold Statue region
A 12-seed still hanging around at this point might be a little surprising, if that film weren't The Godfather II. Not only did this sequel advance, it defeated Argo with ease, winning with 87 percent of the vote. The round of 32 in this region was generally a cakewalk for films, though 1-seed Return of the King had a battle with My Fair Lady before winning by 10 percent.
- 1) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2004)
- 12) The Godfather II (1975)
- 3) The Sting (1974)
- 2) Rain Man (1989)
Glitz region
The Godfather has a lot more respect than I could have ever imagined. And I already imagined it had a lot. As a 4-seed, the film has been simply dominant in the 1st two rounds. There were expectations it would defeat Rocky in the round of 32 but not by the 82 percent to 18 percent margin it ended on.
The region's four matchups weren't really close at all, with top-seed Forrest Gump and Schindler's List winning with ease. One double-digit seed remains in Amadeus, which defeated Moonlight with 63 percent of the vote.
- 1) Forrest Gump (1995)
- 4) The Godfather (1973)
- 11) Amadeus (1985)
- 7) Schindler's List (1994)
Voting will take place on Twitter (@jasonrh_78) until we decide a winner shortly before this year's Oscars ceremony on March 27.
Best Picture tournament: The full 64-film field
Best Picture tournament: The rise of the 11-seeds
photo credit: Flickr
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