Results of Competition #3, Round 2

We are now getting to the point where the competition to get into our top 25 has become very tough. There were some tough calls to make in more than one group. To see the top three films in each of the eight groups, see the bold-face entrees in my previous post. But here are some details:

I once again constructed a set of "votes" based on user ratings on IMDB. These votes only created different results in two groups: A and H. I decided against using these votes in this round because of the effect they would have had on group A. With these votes, The Silence of the Lambs would be voted in, without these votes The Wizard of Oz gets the nod. I didn't vote for either of those films, I would have included Ran, but given the choice, I think The Wizard of Oz is the more deserving of the two.

Group H was very contentious. Sure, 2001 and La Strada made the top 25. But what about #3? With the IMDB "votes", it would be Psycho. Without the IMDB votes (and I'd already decided not to use them this round), it's a tie between The Andromeda Strain and Straw Dogs. There were a number of ways I could have broken this tie. I voted for Straw Dogs but not The Andromeda Strain, but I wanted this to be as democratic as possible, and I could see other tie-breakers that would give the opposite result. Since Escape Goat didn't vote for either one, I gave him the opportunity to do what I did in Group A, and cast the deciding vote. He chose Straw Dogs.

As far as how my personal choices fared, well I've already mentioned group A. In group C, I chose Bombay over Touch of Evil, but was outvoted. (Actually, that was a tie broken by the IMDB "votes".) I was badly outvoted in groups F and G, and we've covered group H.

We must bid farewell to A Face in the Crowd, which was in our original top ten. Several other excellent films are out of this competition forever. But remember, we now have a list of 24 films. I get to choose a film to save as #25.

Ran would be a strong contender for #25. Actually, all of the films we are voting on at this point are quite good. But I chose Bombay, because it has it all. On every level that you would want to evaluate a film, Bombay is there. It has cinematography, humor, music (and of course dance), drama, a really important message, influence, etc. It starts out a light-hearted romantic Bollywood musical and halfway through it turns into very serious, nasty, ugly commentary on religious intolerance. And it was banned in India for a while, or something like that. So we are keeping this one, for now.

Well, I guess that about covers it for now. I'll post the groups for the final round tomorrow. Come back soon and vote, I value your opinion almost as much as my own. Well, at least half as much, anyway.