Oscar_Madness 
- Many of the Awards Circuit readers are in college and are likely very giddy about the start of March Madness! For many of you that don’t follow college basketball or are not from the states, March Madness is the beginning of the NCAA Tournament for Division I Basketball teams as they face off to be named the best in the country. We are adopting this yearly tradition to the Awards Circuit and kicking off our own “March Oscar Madness.”
In the NCAA tournament, 64 teams compete in four brackets, North, South, East, and West, playing each other for nearly three weeks. While we didn’t adopt those names, our brackets reflect the Oscar hosts over the years. The four brackets are: HOPE (to honor Bob Hope), CRYSTAL (to honor Billy Crystal), CARSON (to honor Johnny Carson), and WHOOPI (to honor Whoopi Goldberg, had to stick with her first name as oppose to Goldberg).
With 64 spots and 85 years of Best Picture winners, choosing the best was a daunting task. We have chosen 60 films to automatically enter the tournament. The last four spots will be up to the readership of the Awards Circuit. Beginning tomorrow (Wednesday), a poll will be open with the 25 films that were “on the bubble” and you will vote on which four films will round out the 12 seed of the tournament. The poll will close Saturday and on the Awards Circuit Power Hour on Sunday, I will announce the top four films that will be advancing. Then, beginning Monday, March 18 through Wednesday, March 20 – the first round begins, so make sure to check the site frequently those days to ensure you get a vote in one of the competitive games.
The 25 films that you will be voting on his listed below and the Oscar bracket is there for you all to download as well. Giving a successful run, we’ll be kicking this off every March with different types of competitions like actors, directors, etc..
Oscar_Madness (BRACKET – EXCEL FILE, CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)
25 FILMS TO BEGIN COMPETING FOR THE LAST FOUR SPOTS
A Beautiful Mind
A Man for All Seasons
All the King’s Men
Around the World in 80 Days
Braveheart
Broadway Melody
Cavalcade
Cimarron
Gentleman’s Agreement
Gigi
Going my Way
Grand Hotel
Hamlet
How Green was My Valley
Mrs. Miniver
Oliver!
Out of Africa
Terms of Endearment
The Great Zeigfeld
The Greatest Show on Earth
The King’s Speech
The Last Emperor
The Life of Emile Zola
Tom Jones
You Can’t Take It With You
What four films will you be voting for?
Terence Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 10:14 am
Can’t wait to see what wins!
Terence Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Chelsea
March 12, 2013 at 10:14 am
well, yeah. how fun is this?! great idea, guys.
Chelsea(Quote) (Reply)
brace
March 12, 2013 at 10:27 am
yeah this is fun, but The Godfather will win (everybody likes it, nobody hates it – it’s the consensus pick). of the 25 listed above I’m definitely choosing Tom Jones and Terms of Endearment.
brace(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 10:33 am
I don’t disagree with you that The Godfather will be the early favorite, but wait until the Madness starts! It will be really interesting if The Godfather faces off against The Godfather Part 2 to get to the Final Four.
I’m betting Terms of Endearment is one of the four that gets saved. Be sure to vote!!
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Jamie
March 12, 2013 at 11:23 am
Being me I have to pick at least one musical so will go with Oliver over Gigi (better book, stage based, great performances) though passing on classic B/W Astaire hurts if you are referring to the 1940 version. All The King’s Men because the issues still exist and Terms of Endearment because Shirley needs to make this run. I will now go fight with myself about number four.
Jamie(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 12:05 pm
These are just the Best Picture winners, so not the Astaire version. Have fun!
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Will
March 12, 2013 at 12:05 pm
My god this is a great idea. I love March Madness so much
Will(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Me too!! It’s the one thing that cures my Post-Oscar depression.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Jeremy DC
March 12, 2013 at 12:14 pm
My last four in would be All the King’s Men, The Last Emperor, Terms of Endearment, and Grand Hotel which is mainly because of Joan Crawford.
Jeremy DC(Quote) (Reply)
Steve
March 12, 2013 at 12:54 pm
How was Hamlet left off the automatic entrant list?!?! It’s perfect!
Steve(Quote) (Reply)
Ellis
March 12, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Hmm… don’t understand a lot of these choices that have to vie for the bottom four. Especially considering CRASH was left off the list, which is widely considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, winner of all time.
I mean, HAMLET, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS and ALL THE KINGS MEN are absolutely terrific and deserved winners. I just fear many may have not seen them still, hence why they are on the list.
Even films like OUT OF AFRICA and TOM JONES are solid movies. But where’s CHARIOTS OF FIRE and ROCKY? Those are two films that, given the competition they were up against, are absolutely abhorrent winner.
Ellis(Quote) (Reply)
Ellis
March 12, 2013 at 1:47 pm
Also, GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT? Really? No way does Billy Wilder belong on this list.
Ellis(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 2:53 pm
We had to make cuts somewhere, but this is why we gave you, the readers, a chance to save some of these films from elimination. Think about it though, we had to cut 1 out of every 4 winners to trim the list enough to do this. So obviously there were going to be some worthy pictures left off the list. And remember, just because you don’t like a film (esp. Rocky!! wtf??), doesn’t mean it isn’t good or even beloved. I agree with you about A Gentleman’s Agreement, though. That was a tough one to watch go to the “Last Four In” pile. So do us both a favor and save it!
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Ellis
March 12, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Mark Johnson,
Fair enough. Oh, and about Rocky… it’s a great movie. But compared to Network, All the President’s Men and Taxi Driver? Doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as those three masterpieces.
Ellis(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
March 12, 2013 at 7:40 pm
Talk about a great year for film. Try not to hate on it for what it beat. I think it was the 3rd best film in that group, myself, but you won’t get any arguments from me however you rank those.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Robbie M.
March 13, 2013 at 11:00 am
To Ellis: the AC staff agrees with you that Billy Wilder doesn’t belong on the list because they placed both of his best picture winners already on the bracket (Lost Weekend and Apartment). Gentleman’s Agreement was directed by Elia Kazan.
Ellis,
Robbie M.(Quote) (Reply)
Joey Magidson
March 12, 2013 at 2:59 pm
I’ve filled out my brackets…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
JulieFe
March 12, 2013 at 4:59 pm
I love this. I remember liking “Grand Hotel,” “A Man for All Seasons,” and “Gentlemen’s Agreement” when I watched them a long time ago. I tried to get through Broadway Melody but couldn’t. It wasn’t bad. I just lost interest.
JulieFe(Quote) (Reply)
UBourgeois
March 12, 2013 at 5:39 pm
Of the 25, I’d go with A Man for All Seasons, Gentleman’s Agreement, Terms of Endearment, and Hamlet. Part of me wants to pick The King’s Speech but I guess I shouldn’t waste my vote.
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
Squasher88
March 12, 2013 at 10:09 pm
That bracket….wow. Million Dollar Baby is wayyy too low. I can’t understand why it was seeded behind An American in Paris, The Artist etc.
Squasher88(Quote) (Reply)
Maciek
March 13, 2013 at 8:50 am
My picks are: Terms of Endearment, Grand Hotel, The Last Emperor and Hamlet
Maciek(Quote) (Reply)