Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Kangra
May 7, 2012

STAC Goat posted:

See, I dunno. I don't think Eli "falls for" Oskar at all. I think she's a predator manipulating him. And if she DOES fall for him isn't that pedophilia? She's not a child even if she physically looks like one. She's very much the usual cold, callous vampire killer but she shows moments of vulnerability with Oskar. But they're all contrived, no? She enters his apartment and bleeds out knowing that will happen and knowing it will make herself vulnerable to Oskar. Its manipulation. And I don't necessarily think the film was saying "this relationship is good" but its definitely not overtly saying "this relationship is bad." And maybe that's ok, but its weird considering the stuff it left out from the book and the way so many have interpreted the film. And I don't know what to do with that.

But it also loops into a lot of complicated questions I have about modern vampire stuff in general and the emphasis on "sexy tortured brooding" vampires and the "romanticism" of teenage girls falling for century's old serial killers. But that's just a jumbled mess of ideas and I dunno if LTROI is a repudiation of it or continuation.

I should have clarified "fall for him" since I do agree that Eli's being more predatory than is shown in the movie, and I made the mistake of making it sound like it's currently erotic love. What I mean is that Eli actually cares for Oskar at that point, and maybe considers allowing for at least some amount of relationship to develop, but I agree that even that gets weird. If Eli has seen this happen before, then they'd be in the position of having to find someone who would like them enough while young and still care for them while older. Or... book-version Håkan, and it's best to just drop that line of thinking.

It's along the lines of BTTF-style time travel crushes, or the horror that is Big. And I think it's fine to be bothered by it, and I understand why someone would criticize the movie since even with the steps taken to distance it there's an inevitable association from the book there. The film doesn't skip it but maybe tacitly acknowledges that something like it happens. I focus more on the part that I find good about it, about finding acceptance from someone when you seem to be so isolated and strange, and being happy to have something to help with the darkness and loneliness.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Burkion
May 10, 2012

by Fluffdaddy
See, the thing is, I think Eli DOES love Oskar genuinely.

The deal with Eli is that she is frozen in place as who she was. She will never not be a twelve year old girl, no matter what she experiences and how the world changes around her. That's the price of immortality- you are frozen as you are, forever. You can no longer grow or change, because that is for the living.

Which means that eventually Oskar will outgrow her and their dynamics will shift. Which means the cycle we've already seen with her continues until she meets a new Oskar X years down the road.

Because unlike her, Oskar cannot remain the same. Just because she genuinely loves him doesn't mean that it isn't horrific in its own right, because especially with vampires, such things have their cost. There is a tragedy to these things, one she cannot escape and Oskar cannot grasp. He is temporary, while she is not.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

drat the Wailing is long. I started it forever ago and didn't finish it in time. Its good though. Long, but good. Good, but long. It didn't need my vote anyway.



The last solo director is dead. Bava had a truly remarkable run in this tournament but he drew a deep cut at the wrong time and it cost him as he falls to finally secure this tournament for the super teams. And in the conflict of two super teams Predation ends its equally remarkable run dominating all other teams falling as even a curated critical darling can lose against another curated critical darling in a tight fight. Bava and Predation get eliminated short of the championship but mostly likely unable to be overtaken in the overall stats in this tournament. But that’s how sports works sometimes. Sometimes a team dominates all season or tournament and then falls late. That’s the thrill and excitement. And the result is a final clash of two beloved super teams from two beloved contributors as MZ’s One n Dones goes against Deb’s Queer As In gently caress You to battle for the crown.

I have goosebumps.

Now I have given a lot of thought about how to do this fairly. Last year Shrek did 3 matchups and I absolutely wanted to stick with that. The question was just how to pick the movies. Originally I wanted to do “Random”, “Highest Rated”, and “Lowest Rated” but it was pointed out to me that that would be unfair to a solo directors or loose teams vs a curated team. I also would have liked to get new films in but QAIFY and One n Dones only had 1 left and Predation had none so it felt unfair to Bava. So I settled on 1) new film/random draw, 2) the movie that won by the highest margin, and 3) the movie that won by the lowest margin. That felt fair to me. Did someone sneak by with a good draw? Did someone just barely survive a tough draw? It just seemed like the best approach. Of course I had no idea who was advancing, so did I writeup 12 movies? I’m not telling.



4. (MacheteZombie’s The One n Dones) James Bond III’s Def by Temptation vs. 5. (Deb’s Queer as in gently caress You) Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s Amer


We get a true first time matchup in our first round as both teams have one undrawn film left. For One n Dones that’s a tough draw as its arguably the weakest film on the team. Def by Temptation is a vanity piece by someone you’ve never heard of (besides his name sounding familiar) but it has a cult classic status not only because its a rare black horror film but also because everyone who isn’t James Bond III is an immensely talented person. Samuel Jackson, Kadeem Hardison, Bill Nunn, and the cinematic eye of Ernest R. Dickerson. Somehow Bond got ahold of a Spike Lee film and the result is a mixed bag but something memorable. On the other side of the fight is the film that maybe personifies QaiFY’s whole thing and has been streamed multiple times outside the tournament alongside it. Its a dazzling array of sights and sounds that fits entirely in line with the themes of this team, and one I’ve personally not only watched twice but actually listened too one time getting more out of the experience. Its a very interesting matchup of style differences and experimental ideas. Not too bad for our last truly new matchup of films #143 and 144 of this tournament.

Def by Temptaion is available on Shudder, AMC+, and Spectrum and is on Youtube
Amer


4. (MacheteZombie’s The One n Dones) Lesley Manning’s Ghostwatch vs. 5. (Deb’s Queer as in gently caress You) Nikos Nikolaidis’ Singapore Sling


Our second matchup sees the biggest winner from each team and that’s no small thing. Ghostwatch was our first shutout victory of the tournament way back in Week 6 but it owed some of that success to a weak opponent in Robert Wise’s Audrey Rose. Singapore Sling was one of our first big victories in Week 4, the first actual week of the Field of 64, but it also had soft competition on Larry Cohen’s See China and Die. Two huge victories from two big critical favorites both from way back in January but now going head to head in September its going to be a much tougher fight. Ghostwatch’s shutout has been a bit surpassed and forgotten over the year so now it has a chance to double up on victories and probably become the most voted film in this tournament. Sling on the other hand can start and end this tournament as the big buzz crowd favorite. Should be an epic fight.

Ghostwatch is available on The Internet Archive
Singapore Sling is on Youtube


4. (MacheteZombie’s The One n Dones) Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark vs. 5. (Deb’s Queer as in gently caress You) Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s The Strange Colors of Your Body


Strange Colors only eeked by in Week 27 (July) with 57% of the vote but that’s in large part to being in a three way battle with the legendary Lucio Fulci (Manhattan Baby) and the tournament dominator Gasper Noe (Enter the Void), two massive guns to take down. Near Dark pulled 60% in Week 23 (June) taking down Wuxia Horror/Siu-Tua Chang’s Chinese Ghost Story II. So now both films get second go in our final matchup, battle tested and having beat tough fights in the past now in the final difficult fight of this tournament.

Near Dark is available on Shudder, AMC+, Spectrum, and Direct TV.
The Strange Colors of Your Body is available on Shudder, AMC+, and Spectrum and is on Youtube.



That’s it. This is the last time I’ll do this, at least this year. Those are the last of our movies and matchups. One of these two super teams will be our new Bracketology Champion joining Ken Russell with those honors. Some tough matchups, all good matchups. A couple of extra ones this week so if you all want to extend the voting period just say so. No deadline this time. Lets just finish this off right.

Vote or change your vote until 3 AM EST Sept 10th (or when I wake up)

Bracket & Noms Spreadsheet
Letterboxd List

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 10:10 on Sep 3, 2021

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I hosed up this entire thing.

I can't believe how badly I hosed this up.



Final Four should have been Predation/One n Dones and Bava/QaiFY.

I have no idea how I did that. I'm so sorry. I can tell you I've been burnt out and I had a difficult couple of weeks. I don't want to seek pity telling you why, because I just hate myself right now and am deeply embarrassed.

Ultimately it just means the conferences got shuffled around, and since the conferences were randomly sorted big picture it doesn't change much. But that's not true. The matchups that were supposed to happen didn't. People lost because I messed up. That's my fault. I'm so sorry.

gently caress, gently caress, gently caress, gently caress, gently caress. gently caress me. Fire me. I'm incompetent.

Tarnop
Nov 25, 2013

Pull me out

On behalf of Predation I absolve you of your sins.

Seriously, don't beat yourself up about it. No one else caught the mix up either, despite the spreadsheet being publicly accessible. Predation would have had to beat One and Dones anyway, and I'm not sure it stood more of a chance against The Wailing.

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

I did spot the mix up a couple of weeks ago, but I assumed I just didn't know how tournaments worked. Sorry!

I have to say that I'm hype to see QaiFY reaching the final! No one else probably remembers this, but in the previous Bracketology tournament Cattet & Forzani were nominated but didn't recieve enough votes to enter, they just weren't well known enough, well now they're in the final!

I've loved this husband and wife team of directors since I discovered Amer last year. They're self-taught filmmakers and genre cinema super fans, and it shows! Each shot is full of love and experimentation and passion. Their films are a catalogue of exquisite cinematography and Amer stands as perhaps their most experimental and most successful film, it's certainly my favourite film of all time, so not only am I extremely excited that I get to share it with you all, it seems extremely appropriate that it takes this spot in the final.

Singapore Sling is my other favourite film of all time and for wholly different reasons. It typifies the two oppositional forces that I look for in films, but here are found in perfect harmony, namely gross depraved brutal and unsettling extreme goopy emotions and images, and then a sweet lightness, a kindness, a lack of malice with a sense of fun and good heartedness. It's a combination that outside of Sling I've only seen pulled off in Alucarda. Singapore Sling is a rare film that is both deep and thoughtful, but also profane and anarchic and irreverent, a comedy that bombards the viewer with extreme images persistently and constantly, but also holds them by the hand and whispers that it's all in good fun.

Strange Color is maybe the weakest film on QaiFY so it makes sense that it takes this third spot. Here the experimentation of Cattet and Forzani doesn't find a harmony with its complex plot, resulting in a beautiful and enthralling failure? Perhaps failure is too strong a word, but it's clear that something is missing here. All that said however, each scene itself could be plucked from the whole, and loved and appreciated on its own merits as a short film, such is the remarkable attention to detail and relentless experimentation of this highly talented pair.

For me, QaiFY sweeps all the categories here, but that really just reflects my own personal taste. I'll be curious to see how it fares against an equally powerful and deserved competitor in the ever wonderful Machete Zombie's One and Dones.

I'd also like to thank you all for such a beautiful and incredible tournament. Each of you have done so much to make this experiment a fun welcoming and fulfilling experience. The biggest thank you though must go to Goat, whose tireless and awe inspiring diligence cements him as the true MVP of this tournament. Whichever team wins, we all know that Goat is the true King of Horror, may he reign forever in our hearts.

married but discreet
May 7, 2005


Taco Defender
I'd love a backdoor triumph of giallo, and I will vote accordingly.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
I absolutely couldn't care less about a bracket error, that's not what this is about, everyone knows that.

I feel like I know who I'm voting for here because two out of the three feel like easy decisions for me, but I'm going to reserve final judgement until I get to rewatch some of this stuff.

Servoret
Nov 8, 2009



Needs More Goop posted:

Strange Color is maybe the weakest film on QaiFY

Funny you should say that, as Strange Color is the one Cattet and Forzani film I’ve seen talked up ever since it came out. I’m not a big fan of their style after seeing three of their films (including Let the Corpses Tan on the big screen), so my vote might be a straight ticket for One and Dones, depending on how I feel about Def by Temptation after I watch it.

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

Oh I don't really pay much attention to what's being talked up by other people, I always just go with how a film affects me at a personal level. I feel like the anti-SMG in that way, all heart and no head.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I'm gonna thank you all for forgiving my screwup and I'll pretend I'm over it and not flogging myself with Catholic guilt.

I've seen all 6 movies, all this year in fact, so I think I know how I'm voting. Near Dark is a favorite and I think Ernest Dickerson is an underrated master (and I've been kicking myself all year for not putting together a team with Bones and Def) and I just don't like giallo... and Ghostwatch has become a Halloween go to for me while I had a bad reaction to Sling... So this one could be a sweep for me as much as that pains me. But I think I'm gonna try and rewatch them all. Def's not a great film and Amer was very striking so I think that could win me over. I dunno if Strange Colors can beat Near Dark for me. And I'm hesitant to rewatch Sling and am almost certain it can't beat Ghostwatch. But I always feel like I'm missing something when people love a movie and I don't get it, so I might give it a try.

For me this is probably my last week of horror until October so 6 fresh rewatches is actually a very comfy way to go out, I think. And I'm not done yet. I'm working on some stuff you make up for my screwup.

I also realized my math doesn't work out with the stats so I screwed those up too. So gonna redo them this week.

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.
James Bond III’s Def by Temptation vs. Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s Amer

I was able to watch both of these within the last few days and this one is a pretty easy choice for me. Amer was a fantastic audiovisual experience. Def by Temptation okay at best.


Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark vs. Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani’s The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears

This matchup is much more difficult. I really like both Near Dark and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears. To me, Near Dark is clearly better than Def by Temptation. I also think that Amer is better than The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, but not by the same margin. I gave both of them four stars so I suppose I'm waiting for an effort post or hoping for time to rewatch both this week.

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

Strange Color is a difficult film to effort post about because it is such a dense hallucinatory experience with an unreliable narrator. The whole film transports us into a warped mind, and the world warps around that perspective, like the shifting kaleidoscopic architecture of the film's intro. You'd really have to do maybe a scene-by-scene breakdown or speak in such sweeping terms that granular intricacies of shot composition are lost. For instance, the time loop sequence in which a man stabs his way out of himself, how to even begin describing that without delving into an equally dense metaphor?

Near Dark on the other hand is a lot easier to discuss, and a lot easier to criticise as a result. The third act in particular is a bit of a mess imho, its where the film squirms so uncomfortably under its own premise that it introduces several painfully contrived plot beats, the blood transfusion, the chance encounter of the families, et cetera. It's a film that's conscious of its own runtime and attempts to sprint toward a happy ending, at the cost of everything that came before it. In contrast with Strange Color it's also a lot less ambitious too, a lot less beautiful, a lot less intricate, and while there are certainly iconic performances that left a large cultural impact, the film is just far more pedestrian.

I think this is a theme when contrasting all six films. QaiFY is filled with films that stand outside of convention, and push the boundaries of cinematography, narrative structure, and cultural expectations. One And Dones feels more like a comfortable slipper, full of well-worn classics (and Def By Temptation). It might come down to a preference split, but I know for me that I always prefer films that push against boundaries, and challenge the expectations of the medium

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I think Def by Temptation is notable because it pushed expectations. There's no reason it should be as good as it is. Its a cheap Troma noir Blaxploitation film and a clear vanity piece from an untalented child actor. But somehow he stole Spike Lee's crew for it and it feels like they just decided this was their chance to throw a party with no adults in town. I think there's so many great and notable elements in the film that Ernest Dickerson should be credited for and I think its a performance that drat near makes me think Kadeem Hardison should have been a big star. But its held back by its limitations and doesn't really coalesce into a complete great film. But I think its still a really worthwhile and surprising film.

But I also think Amer's a more complete film. The directors knew what they were doing in their three act play and each serves a purpose. Its a film I appreciate a little more in a different way each time I see it. Not one I love, because I don't like the foundation of giallo its rooted in and find that kind of storytelling a bit overwhelming. But Amer really walks the line well for me and has to get my vote.

I haven't rewatched Strange Colors yet but it didn't walk that line for me. It just kind of overwhelmed me and felt like a bit of a mess, and I watched it twice to be sure. Its definitely very ambitious. I'm not sure Near Dark isn't kind of ambitious in its own way and time, but I'd agree it doesn't fully know what it wants to do with that last act besides wrap things up. But its still a film I really like and can very easily watch and enjoy over and over. I have yet to be able to sit through Strange Colors in one go. Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer
I believe Def By Temptation was an indie movie that Troma distributed, and not directly funded or produced by them.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Yeah, I should have clarified. I think Bond got all the distribution himself through like a deal with a record studio and stuff. And Kaufman has nothing to do with the film.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
Ugh, I got swamped with work stuff and family stuff(Happy Rosh Hashanah!) this week. Bad week for that to happen, I ended up missing the last bracketology streams which was a bummer.

Luckily Deb doesn't post here anymore or else I'd have to worry about her being mad at me for voting against her team by the score of 2 to 1. Ghostwatch and Near Dark are just too strong. Oh well, she'll never see this so I'm free and clear!

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

I'm sure she's somewhere out there stomping her feet and pouting and not knowing why

TrixRabbi
Aug 20, 2010

Time for a little robot chauvinism!

Feel like the One n Dones was always kinda a shady team. Just pick a buncha the greatest films of all time and put em together!

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007

TrixRabbi posted:

Feel like the One n Dones was always kinda a shady team. Just pick a buncha the greatest films of all time and put em together!

Not my fault some of thr greatest horror films were genre one offs by the directors!

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Its Wednesday, folks. The last Wednesday. Well not the last Wednesday ever, just the last one I'll be making this post. At least this year. In just under 36 hours or so we will be done. 8 long months ends but you can still vote or change your vote until 3 AM EST Sept 10th (or when I wake up). I have a few little things planned to do the next few weeks, and something for October. So the thread won't go dead Friday. But this is the last chance to get in these last few movies and vote to see who is gonna be our champion.

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007
I'm voting Amer, Ghostwatch, Near Dark.

Loved Amer and while Def by Temptation is surprisingly fun Amer just outclasses it. I bounced off Strange Color pretty hard though it's very pretty and has a great soundtrack while Near Dark is one of my favorite vampire flicks. Ghostwatch and Singapore Sling are both great, but Ghostwatch is just way too fun to vote against.

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

But have you considered...?

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Congratulations to our 2021 Spook-A-Doodle Bracketology Tournament & Movie Club champion MacheteZombie’s The One n Dones!



Amer hands The One n Dones and MZ their first loss of the tournament and actually has one of the biggest wins of the whole thing. But Near Dark and Ghostwatch pick up decisive wins to give The One n Dones the 2-1 victory. I’ll have to compile the stats but if my table math is right Amer’s victory should put it in the Top 5 in votes and % and Queer as in gently caress You should finish 2nd overall in teams in total votes. One of the unquestionably most popular teams and styles of the tournament that left an indelible mark. And if this had just been a straight up battle of the last of their teams I’d be naming QaiFY as our new champions. But its fitting that the superest of super teams ultimately won this thing as MZ managed to piece together 6 classic horrors that very nearly went perfect across the tournament. Ghostwatch and Near Dark both end up winning twice and Ghostwatch ends up with the most votes total of any movie (I’m not really sure how I’m gonna count those repeats though, we’ll see). In the end it was an unquestionable battle of the best of the tournament with an array of styles on display. But someone has to win and someone has to go home so congrats to MZ and his One n Done champions.


That’s it. Its over. Its bittersweet for me really. A little sad. I still have some more stuff for you. There’s that survey and any rule changes we might haggle out, I’m gonna compile stats over the next week, and I’m gonna do a related personal challenge for October that everyone is welcome to join for a related “prize”. I’ll post that stuff over the next week once we’ve had some time to process. For now I want to thank you all. I really enjoyed myself. Yes, there was some burnout but I love projects like this. I do them for fun. This was definitely a long one but I was glad to be doing it for an audience. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed doing it. God willing and group desire I’ll do it again next year. But all of that stuff is for another day. Tonight I rest and today is a celebration of the end of our journey.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz3zTX_-ycQ


But every end is a new beginning…

Servoret
Nov 8, 2009



Great video! Thanks for everything, STAC Goat!

married but discreet
May 7, 2005


Taco Defender
Loving the video, fantastic job on everything!

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
Wow that was really a journey, thank you STAC. And it was pretty cool to watch that video and recognize moments from this whole list of movies I wouldn't have seen if not for the tournament.

The Berzerker
Feb 24, 2006

treat me like a dog



Incredible work as always, Goat. This video was a hilarious cap to the whole thing. Thank you.

Franchescanado
Feb 23, 2013

If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment

Grimey Drawer
What a wild ride it's been.

Congrats to MZ for curating a helluva team. Also congrats to everyone who curated a team in general, a charm to this whole thing has been seeing the different voices of the people who crafted them.

Great work STAC Goat. You're the actual GOAT of the tournament. Thank you for everything you've done. I loved the video montage. It gave me the warm and fuzzies.

I'm excited to see what we come up with next!

MacheteZombie
Feb 4, 2007
STAC thank you so much for organizing and managing this for us all year, it was a lot of fun! Got to see tons of new stuff this year as a result.

I also want to thank everyone for voting and doing writeups. It was wonderful seeing everyone's thoughts on the different tournament movies all year.

Scumfuck Princess
Jun 15, 2021

Congratulations to MZ! :swoon: If it couldn't be the team I was rooting for, I'm glad it was you that picked up the crown, wear it well! You deserve it not only for crafting a wonderful team, but also for all the hard work and tireless effort you put in around here. And thank you so much to Goat for running such an incredible tournament! The fact that you maintained such a level of excellence and passion for nine months is beyond impressive, I have no idea how you managed it, but enjoy your rest, you've earned it! And I'll look forward to seeing everyone in the next tournament!

twernt
Mar 11, 2003

Whoa whoa wait, time out.
Congratulations, MacheteZombie! Thank you, STAC Goat! Also, thank you everyone else who put together teams. So many directors that were new to me — Cattet and Forzani, Abel Ferrara, Neil Marshall, Nikos Nikolaidis, Gaspar Noé, Ben Wheatley, Andrzej Żuławski, and others I’m forgetting.

Even though I didn't start to participate until partway through the first round, this was fun and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

married but discreet
May 7, 2005


Taco Defender
Obviously too early to think of new teams (hah!), and we haven't settled on rules for next year's tournament, but it's fun to think about.
Can we brainstorm an anti One-and-Dones, perhaps a One-and-Don'ts, consisting of singularly awful movies that are still sort of interesting? Only people with a single directorial credit allows. So far I got:

The Evil Within - Andrew Getty
Verotika - Glen Danzig (although there is apparently a Danzig Horror Western in the making)
Lost River - Ryan Gosling (this one sort of slaps)
The Fanatic - Fred Durst
Bad Moon - Eric Red

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

married but discreet posted:

Obviously too early to think of new teams (hah!),

I definitely don't have a dozen teams all ready to go...

The One n Duds

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
I like Bad Moon

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

I think thematically a One n Duds movie should be 6 films that 9 out of 10 people says sucks but 1 person is willing to go to town for.

Like if its just 6 terrible pieces of TubiTV crap that's just gonna be a wash anyway. But a team that's like "Hey, its the Fred Durst movie!" or "I know everyone hates this but I actually love it because..." sounds like a lot of fun and actually has room to surprise and make a cinderella run.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Sep 11, 2021

married but discreet
May 7, 2005


Taco Defender
Exactly - all One and Dud/Don'ts entries I'd actually recommend to people, not cause they're great but cause they're interesting and fun failures.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Ok, the topic was raised so lets debrief a bit.





Obviously the big stories/changes were teams and the length/pacing. Largely those seem to have both been a hit. I like them. I think the pacing made it easier to watch everything and process it, and the whole thing became such a part of my year that I feel a little lost with it over. And for others I hope it was a nice mainstay that hey could come and go from as their lives permitted and probably the best compliment I could hear is that someone joined up midway.

I’ve been thinking all year of expanding things - both beyond “director” and to larger teams. There’s a lot of complicated reasons for that. Larger pools could mean more variety and no repeats in the finals. It would make it harder to build super teams and make things more competitive, and in turn if we also required solo directors to have 8-10 then it would open the field up to more teams with 6-7 movie directors to team up with someone. Good? Bad? I’m not really sure. And being sure is made complicated by a polarizing response to the “no cherry picking” rule so making bigger, deeper pools might be exactly what some people don’t want. I was surprised it seemed popular in that poll but I don’t want to take that as an official vote. I think its better if we talk it out. So what do people think?

The other thing is the “director” thing. I was gonna make a hard pitch for us to evolve to an “auteur” tournament and define “auteur” as anyone with a signature influence. Producers, writers, special effects, cinematographers, composers, whatever. Even iconic actors maybe. But it felt very complicated of how to set parameters for that and I spent all year trying to figure something out and failing. If hypothetically you build teams for Roger Corman, Edgar Allen Poe, and Vincent Price how do you decide which movies go where? First come first serve? Include them on all teams and just go by first draw? That was part of why I was thinking of expanding teams to compensate for that. And would that just kill the “no cherry picking” rule?

As I thought about it I decided… there’s nothing really stopping someone from building a Poe or Price team now. If it fits by the “no cherry picking” rule now it would if we changed the name of this. So I’m not sure I was really proposing what I thought I was. I guess really I just want us to get more creative and adventurous with the teams… but I don’t want to lose the no cherry picking rule because I really think that the variety and deeper cuts is great. But I don’t know… what do you all think?

I’m working on stats including cumulative stats from both tournaments. And I’m gonna explain my October HalloweeNIT idea closer to. And I figure I’ll start next year’s thread sometime in November/December for nominations, presumably after we talk rules out here. But really I just wanted to get someone to tell me to shut up, so thank you for that!



married but discreet posted:

Exactly - all One and Dud/Don'ts entries I'd actually recommend to people, not cause they're great but cause they're interesting and fun failures.

I thought Strangeland was directed by Dee Snider but apparently he just stars in it. But that's another One n Dud candidate I think that I remember seeming interesting but kind of sucking but in a way I wonder if people might enjoy in a reevaluation.

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Sep 11, 2021

The Hausu Usher
Feb 9, 2010

:spooky:
Screaming is the only useful thing that we can do.

I couldn't keep up with watching the selections and doing uni work at the same time so dropped off this after a few weeks but kept my eye on the thread, fantastic work STAC Goat. Hope I can enjoy fully in the next one!

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Stat and useless info time!

Just for speculation's sake, had Predation made the finals their lineup would have been Peeping Tom (vs Def by Temptation), Under the Skin (vs Ghostwatch), and It Follows (vs Near Dark). Had Mario Bava advanced his lineup would have been Hatchet for the Honeymoond (vs Amer), Black Sunday (vs Singapore Sling), and Blood and Black Lace (vs The Strange Colors of Your Body). Of course I messed up the brackets so it really should have been Bava/QaiFY vs OnD/Predation. But I’m totally over that.


I added Director and Team stat pages to the spreadsheet. I also created cumulative records of all the movies and directors featured. They might be fun long term and it makes it easier to sort through this stuff and double check. I might put that in its own spreadsheet? Or just copy it to a new one for next year? Or just do everything on this one? I’m not sure. I’m also not sure its a finished product. In fact I know its not a finished product. Its a work in progress. Always tinkering. All suggestions or request welcome. But here’s some stuff I noticed, and the Top 10s and final numbers.




- MZ of course ends up on top of the team pool with a near perfect 7-1 record. You could argue he was perfect since he won every round he played, but I’m counting each matchup.
- Deb comes in second with a 10-4 record having more victories than anyone but me.
- I went 12-16 and am one of only 3 people to have a record under .500. Sorry mbd and Kangra, but at least you didn’t fail as much as me.
- I still don’t really know what to do with the anime team. If you all want to decide who gets credit for it let me know. Until then its its own entry.

There’s not really a lot to look at or analyze here but I think it will be very fun of people turn their teams over next year and start racking up cumulative stats for them. I’m already thinking of ways to expand, revamp, and consolidate my teams.




- We watched 144 films from 107 directors. There were 4 teams of directors (Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra, Jeremy Gardner & Christian Stella, and Jim Henson & Frank Oz) so its actually 107 different directorial teams but 111 directors total.
- Mario Bava had 5 films, Stuart Gordon and Tobe Hooper had 4, and Shinya Tsukamoto, Park Chan Wook, George Romero, Lucio Fulci, John Carpenter, Jack Arnold, and Gaspar Noe all had 3 (Cattet and Forzani had 3 but they did Strange Colors of Your Body twice).
- Another 12 directors had two films (plus Nikos Nikolaidis, Lesley Manning, and Kathryn Bigelow who all did repeats in the finals).
- By my math we had 83 of 144 films - 58% - as individual director entries.
- Bava, Gordon, Hooper, Tsukamoto, Park, Romero, Fulci, Carpenter, Arnold, and Noe accounted for 34 of the films we watched, or 24%. At least if my table math is right.
- To make Ballot Percentage something worthwhile I put together a Top 10 based on a minimum of 2 films. That’s still a little screwy since a number of the top 10 got redraws, but hey. Votes are votes.




- 138 directors/teams of directors total.
- Only 33 directors have had movies in both tournaments. That’s just 24% of the 138 total.
- Ken Russel is the only perfect director with more than 2 matchups, going 8-0 with 4 films.
- The next directors remotely close to him are Mario Bava, Stuart Gordon, and Brian Yuzna who all have had 7 matchups and are 5-2.
- Russel however picked up his 8 wins with only 4 movies. Bava, Gordon, and Yuzna all have 7 films.
- Takashi Miike has played the most matchups, 9. He has also lost the most rounds, 4, thanks to a sweep in the ’20 championships.
- George Romero, David Cronenberg, Guillermo del Toro, and Tobe Hooper all have 6 movies and are 4-2.
- David Lynch rounds out the Top 10 but is actually ahead of that last pool in win percentage with 7 movies and a 4-1 record, having been eliminated the second time on a Cronenberg team film.

- 10 directors have had the indignity of being eliminated twice with no victories. Mary Lambert, Lucky McKee, Kôji Shiraishi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tod Browning, Don Coscarelli, Mike Flanagan, Terence Fisher, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and Rob Zombie.
- 23 directors have won a matchup without losing any. Ana Lily Amirpour, Bertrand Mandico, Claire Denis, Eiichi Yamamoto, Issa Lopez, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Lars Von Trier, Mary Harron, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Alice Lowe, Bill Gunn, Brandon Cronenberg, Charles Laughton, Chung Sun, Ernest R. Dickerson, Fede Alvarez, Gerald Kargl, Joe Swanberg, Jonathan Glazer, Michael Powell, Na Hong-jin, Neil Marshall, Satoshi Kon, Yann Gonzalez
- 4 directors have won twice without losing. Hayao Miyazaki, André Øvredal, Kathryn Bigelow, and Lesley Manning.




- We had five shutouts in the tournament. Ghostwatch over Audrey Rose in week 6, round 1. Black Sunday over I Sell The Dead in week 15, round 1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre over Chained in week 23, Round 2. Thirst over Burying the Ex in week 25, round 2. And Black Sabbath over Eater in week 33, in the Elite Eight.
- TCM was the only film to get 100% of its ballots.
- Despite not being shutouts Amer and Gremlins 2 both do better in ballot percentage and total votes than some of the shutouts.
- 4 of the Top 10 films in percentage come from the US, 3 come from Italy, and 1 each from Belgium, South Korea, and the UK.
- Vote total Top 10 is a more diverse spread with 3 UK, 2 US, and 1 each from Italy, Canada,




- We watched films from 21 different countries/regions. There is some grey area there as not only did the Google Map not recognize Hong Kong and in the individual UK countries as their own but there were also a bunch of films that were co-promotions that I had to make calls on.
- The US has 68 movies, a full 46% of the total. It performs under .500 quadrupling any other country’s win total with 29 but nearly… quintupling (?) anyone else in losses with 39.
- The UK was arguably the top performer at 7-3. France went 4-1 but there was a lot of crossover with Belgium who went 3-2.
- Italy went 7-8 but the fact that 3 of the top 10 films were Italian suggests maybe it got hurt with the early round giallo defeats (and Argento flopping hard with Phantom).
- Japan also went 6-7. It may have suffered from the same deal of tough draw first round losses with only Tsukamoto advancing deep and no real representation on any teams.

I might have messed all of this up. I keep catching mistakes. I'm a little spreadsheet burned out, or at least I'm kind blocked and hit a wall on how to customize it more or passion to experiment. I'll get it back but you know... rest.

Well for a few weeks...



2020: Franchise Tournament Thread / Franchise Letterboxd List / Directors Tournament Thread / Director’s Letterboxd List
2021: Thread / Spreadsheet / Letterboxd List / HalloweeNIT Letterboxd List
2022: Thread / Spreadsheet / Letterboxd List
Cumulative: Spreadsheet / Letterboxd List

STAC Goat fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Sep 13, 2021

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply