CP Movie Draft! - FIN

[WindomURL]

Board Updated.

[Prototype]

Vanilla Sky

[Coach]

I think someone actually picked Vanilla Sky

[Prototype]

Not on the board...

[Displaced Flames fan]

As promised, I present you with my all-star team! WOOOHOOOO!

What you have here is my pick in each category among your picks. Some of these were very, very tough. Western? Good grief, there were 10 movies in that category that were worthy of this team. One note, in the Action category, there were a couple of great films that I didn't pick because I don't consider them action films. I'm sure you can figure out which ones those are. The Sports category also caused me some angst with two great films vieing for my affection! Also, there were two films that were picked without considering any other picks. Bonus points for anyone who can sucessfuly guess which two films were my 'no brainers'. Enjoy!

Pre '60's - Bridge Over the River Kwai (Halifax Drunk)
Best Picture-Dances With Wolves (Habernac)
Documentary-Hoop Dreams (Tilley)
Foreign-Shaun of the Dead (Halifax Drunk)
Action-Raiders of the Lost Ark (Superflyer)
Animated-Toy Story (Matty C)
Black & White- Schindler's List (Matty C)
Comedy- The Big Lebowski (Got Miika)
Drama- The Shawshank Redemption (Jagger)
Fantasy- Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Miss Teeks)
Musical-Grease (Matty C)
Sci-Fi- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Ro)
Sports- Hoosiers (Flamesguy SJ)
Thriller- Se7en (Flame of Liberty)
War- Appocalypse Now (Octothorp)
Western- Unforgiven (getbak)
Wildcard 1- Good Will Hunting (Prototype)
Wildcard 2- Grosse Pointe Blank (Jerzee Girl)
Wildcard 3- True Romance (Van Flames Fan)
Wildcard 4- The Matador (Flamesguy_SJ)

[Dion]

^^^
Hard to argue with those choices DFF. Nicely done!

[octothorp]

My All-Star list:

(edit: I'm adding comments, but it'll take me a few tries to get them all down)

Pre 1960: North By Northwest
My favorite Hitchcock, and a movie that I really hoped to pick up. Cary Grant plays his role with a perfect balance of suaveness and bewilderment, and the whole colour-palette of the movie seems to be built up around him. Also has a great score.

Best Picture: Dr Zhivago
Another film with a great score. The scope of the movie is wonderful, and it moves quickly for a film of its length. I'm a bit of a russiophile, and I love this era in history.

Docu/Non-Fiction: Lawrence of Arabia
I kinda wish we had limited the category to pure documentaries, but this is the best film in the category as it stands.

Foreign: Seven Samurai
There's something really elemental about this film. It's very pure and raw in its story, and even ignoring the fact that it was remade as a western, there are so many parallels here to themes shared with the western genre.

Action: Bourne Identity
The entire series has some of the best action sequences ever, from fights to car chases, to a great story and a sympathetic hero. Bourne, Potente, and Cooper are all brilliant.

Animation: Nightmare Before Christmas
Easily the best stop-motion animation ever made. For me, this came down to the best of each animation technique (the best cell-animation, in my opinion, is Spirited Away, which was my own pick and is followed by Iron Giant, while the best computer-animated is Ratatouille, which I was shocked that it didn't get picked). But Nightmare has a beautiful story, and I think it's probably the most pure creation to come from Tim Burton.

Black & White: Casablanca

Comedy: Rushmore

Drama: Shawshank Redemption
Few movies have a moment of elation like the scene where he finally makes his escape. But throughout the movies, there are highs and lows contrasted with one another beautifully.

Fantasy: LOTR Return of the King

Musical: Singing in the Rain

Sci-Fi: Blade Runner

Sports: Field of Dreams

Thriller: Usual Suspects

War: Downfall
I'm glad that others are picking Apocalypse for this category, but Downfall is would be my second choice in this category, and I also had it in consideration in Foreign. Very visceral portrait of Hitler's last days, and the sense of claustrophobia caused by the nest of underground passages as well as the ever-tightening Allied chokehold give this film a great feel.

Western: 3:10 to Yuma

Wildcard 1: Adaptation

Wildcard 2: Casino Royale

Wildcard 3: Best in Show

Wildcard 4: Garden State

[sadora]

Originally Posted by Dion

^^^
Hard to argue with those choices DFF. Nicely done!

I would argue Dances With Wolves...there were so many other flicks picked in that category that would be more deserving of that spot in an all star list. Wolves was longgggggg, boring and overrated.

[Itse]

Hmm, the draft table at http://www.geocities.com/cp_movie_draft/ is terribly outdated. Is there another one or something, 'cause otherwise picking my top choices will be terribly labourous.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Itse

Hmm, the draft table at http://www.geocities.com/cp_movie_draft/ is terribly outdated. Is there another one or something, 'cause otherwise picking my top choices will be terribly labourous.

Windom's table is linked in the very first post of this thread. I believe they changed in mid-draft. It is up to date.

[Ro]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Bonus points for anyone who can sucessfuly guess which two films were my 'no brainers'.

I think it's two of:

Animated-Toy Story (Matty C)
Sci-Fi- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Ro)
War- Appocalypse Now (Octothorp)

Am I right?

[Jagger]

It's Just A Flesh Wound are pleased to select their All-Star team for the CP Movie draft:

Pre-60's: North by Northwest (1959) (WindomURL)
Best Picture: The Godfather (Prototype)
Docu/Non Fiction: Apollo 13 (getbak)
Foreign: Life of Brian (Superflyer) *Would have taken TG,TB, &TU. Sorry Dis but us Pythonites have to stand by their own!
Action: : Raiders of the Lost Ark (Superflyer)
Animation: Toy Story 2 (Straybullet)
B&W: Young Frankenstein (czure32)
Comedy: Airplane! (octothorpe)
Drama: The Graduate (the much maligned doozwimp)
Fantasy: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Ro)
Musical: Singin' in the Rain (Eastern Girl)
Sci-Fi: Twelve Monkeys (Dis)
Sports: Slap Shot (WindomURL)
Thriller: The Usual Suspects (Tilley)
War: Das Boot (VanFlamesFan)
Western: Unforgiven (getbak)
W.C. #1: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jerzee Girl)
W.C. #2: The Full Monty (Itse)
W.C. #3: Wedding Crashers (Dis)
W.C.#4: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (sadora)

Very nice team.

There were a few almosts or honourable mentions:

The aforementioned "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly should have made this team. It would have if it was placed in the Western category as it should have been! Young Guns indeed!!!

Love Actually is my favourite chick flick. It couldn't dislodge Wedding Crashers though. That's the funniest movie I've seen in recent years.

The Big Sleep and Vertigo were close but North By Northwest is probably my favourite Hitchcock, even moreso than my Rear Window pick, which I surprisingly took before NBNW! What was I thinking?

Next up: IJAFW's Top 10 placing for this draft. (I'm working on it!)

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Ro

I think it's two of:

Animated-Toy Story (Matty C)
Sci-Fi- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Ro)
War- Appocalypse Now (Octothorp)

Am I right?

Sadly, no.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Jagger

The aforementioned "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly should have made this team. It would have if it was placed in the Western category as it should have been! Young Guns indeed!!!

I totally botched that portion of my draft up. Made a change I really didn't need to make. I am ashamed.

[Coach]

Hey thanks for the love in the all-star teams guys...makes me feel good about myself!

[liamenator]

liamenator's all-star team:

Pre-60s: On The Waterfront (Flamesguy_SJ)
Best Picture: Pulp Fiction (VANFLAMSFAN)
Docu: Stop Making Sense (WindomURL)
Foreign: Breathless (GotMiikka?)
Action: Fight Club (dooz)
Animation: Nightmare Before Christmas (MissTeeks)
B&W: Pi (StrayBullet) *Aside from Schindler's List.
Comedy: The Big Lebowski (GotMiikka?)
Drama: Fargo (Tilley)
Fantasy: The Neverending Story (HalifaxDrunk)
Musical: School of Rock (RedVan)
Sci-Fi: Blade Runner (Itse)
Sports: Caddyshack (Tilley)
Thriller: se7en (Flame of Liberty)
War: Apocalypse Now (octo)
Western: The Wild Bunch (ResAlien)
WC 1: Casino (Flame of Liberty)
WC 2: Life Aquatic (Ro)
WC 3: Plan Nine from Outer Space (Jagger)
WC 4:Stranger Than Fiction (octo)

[Coach]

Pre-60s: Citizen Kane (Liamenator)
Best Picture: Gladiator (REDVAN)
Docu: Apollo 13 (getbak)
Foreign:The Motorcycle Diaries (habernac)
Action: The Dark Knight (WindomURL)
Animation: The Incredibles (Flamesguy_SJ)
B&W: To Kill a Mockingbird (Displaced Flames Fan)
Comedy: Office Space (WindomURL)
Drama: A Beautiful Mind (Flamesguy_SJ)
Fantasy: The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring (Flame of Liberty)
Musical: School of Rock (RedVan)
Sci-Fi: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (habernac)
Sports: Remember the Titans (Ro)
Thriller: The Departed (Flamesguy_SJ)
War: Platoon (Flame of Liberty)
Western: Tombstone (Halifax Drunk)
WC 1: Dumb and Dumber (VANFLAMESFAN)
WC 2: Ocean's Eleven (Prototype)
WC 3: Christmas Vacation (MissTeeks)
WC 4: The Italian Job (Miss Teeks)

New proposal: Everyone does an allstar team (you can't vote for yourself) and the person with the most allstar votes wins? Its a competition, someone has to win.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by MattyC

New proposal: Everyone does an allstar team (you can't vote for yourself) and the person with the most allstar votes wins? Its a competition, someone has to win.

Oh great, and I've already posted my team before people have a chance to bribe me.

[Itse]

Okay, so here's my list. The winners are: Jagger, JerzeeGirl and HalifaxDrunk with 3 movies, Doozwimp and Superflyer got 2 picks.

Some commentary; I really paid attention to the category when judging, which is why for example GoodBadUgly didn't come up. A great movie sure, but it's a western in English, so really, not that "foreign" by my standards. (Also, A bout de souffle is a really good film, obviously.)

In Sci-Fi, Gattaca got the nod over many others for not being a fantasy film in modern times (Ghostbusters) or in space (Star Wars). Also, I like thoughtful sci-fi.

In western I picked Man Who Shot Liberty Valance over Unforgiven mostly because it's an even more uncommon approach to the western, while still being definitely within the category. (I might've gone for the Searchers if I had seen it more recently.)

Pre-60s: Vertigo (Ro)
Best Picture: Amadeus (liamenator)
Docu/Non-Fiction: Super Size Me (VANFLAMESFAN)
Foreign: A bout de souffle [Breathless] (Got Miikka?)
Action: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Superflyer)
Animation: South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (czure32)
Black & White: 12 Angry Men (Jagger)
Comedy: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Jagger)
Drama: American Beauty (Prototype)
Fantasy: The NeverEnding Story (HalifaxDrunk)
Musical: The Blues Brothers (HalifaxDrunk)
Sci-Fi: Gattaca (doozwimp)
Sports: Rocky (Superflyer)
Thriller/Horror: The Thing (WindomURL)
War: Full Metal Jacket (HalifaxDrunk)
Western: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (JerzeeGirl)
Wildcard #1 Rocky Horror Picture Show (JerzeeGirl)
Wildcard #2 Love Actually (JerzeeGirl)
Wildcard #3 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Jagger)
Wildcard #4 A.I. Artificial Intelligence (doozwimp)

[Got Miikka?]

Oh nice ~ this is a good way to do the all-star thing! My choices:

Pre-60's - Wizard of Oz (Tilley)

Kane was farther ahead of its time, but to me Oz is more ubiquitous and heavily ingrained in our all-time movie consciousness. Just try and think of the title without having your brain overloaded with a barrage of burned-in imagery. (Also - and this is just weird me - but I don't really like that Orson Welles guy. He kind of pisses me off)

Best Picture - Pulp Fiction (VANFLAMESFAN)

This one was really tough. My shortlist would include The Godfather and The Silence of the Lambs; Godfather is just remarkable filmmaking - where to start or end about The Godfather - and I can't imagine a more effective, brilliantly acted thriller than Lambs (Hopkins' Hannibal, IMO, wins Best Villain Evar running away)... but I will go with Pulp Fiction for its tenacity, its creativity, and most of all, for being able to work on so many levels - and yet, you can sit and watch it and the whole 2.5 hours of it just fly by in a thoroughly entertaining rush. I haven't seen too many films as inspired as this.

Docu/Non-fiction - United 93 (FlamesguySJ)

You kinda got me on this category I must admit! - I don't watch a tonne of documentaries, because I just have this thing about movies and fiction being inextricable (I am sure I am selling myself short). There are some good picks that I have seen, however, in this category - but I am going with 93 for its spot-on, non-partisan re-enactment of events for which the exact details are sketchy; director Greengrass intelligently sidesteps the pratfalls of his contemporary Oliver Stone, whose laughable World Trade Center did everything this movie does right, wrong. I have never walked out of a theatre as jarred as I was after watching United 93.

Foreign - A Clockwork Orange (liamenator)

Easy pick here! I don't often pull this one out of the box set - and indeed, I find the Burgess novel upon which it is based a little lighter and more humorous to plow through - but this is a fantastic adaptation by the unparalleled Stanley Kubrick, when one is in the mood for a little of the old ultraviolence; the sets, the music, the ominous retro-future tone... and of course, Malcolm MacDowell in the performance of his life.

Action - Die Hard (HalifaxDrunk)

I was actually watching bits of this last night on TLC. Without question - the quintessential action movie, perfectly executed, from a surprisingly-nuanced, taut, brilliant script. The sequence where baddie Hans Gruber and hero John McClane meet up incognito - genius. Simply cannot be outdone.

Animation - The Iron Giant (Ro)

Lots of top-shelf options here, but it is the touching, wrenching story of the Iron Giant, delivered in all of its gorgeous hand-drawn magnificence - released at a time when animation films were flocking towards the CG format - that truly gets me every time. Beautiful movie.

B&W - King Kong (ResAlien)

The companion piece to the Wizard of Oz - a timeless story that is permanently entrenched in our movie memory. Sure, the stop-motion effects look a bit silly today, but I think they are still more effective than anything they hacked together in Peter Jackson's lousy remake. Shout-out to our Alberta countrygal Fay Wray!

Comedy - Swingers (sadora)

The toughest category of all! So many great, hilarious movies... but I will go with Swingers - because... well, I just effing love Swingers. Everything that is great about Jon Favreau - who I contend is one of the true gems in moviemaking today - is summarized by his role in this film; and then there is the young, pre-alcoholism Vince Vaughn, the perfect foil to Favreau... and of course, the guys sitting around trashtalking each other while they play NHL hockey on the Sega Genesis. That scene on its own wins this category.

Drama - Lost In Translation (Superflyer)

A toss-up between this and the superlative Fargo - but I give the edge to Translation for its affecting humanity (Coens don't quite understand this concept; although Fargo is the closest they've come). My brother calls this movie 'depressing' but I call it inspiring - sure, the ending is a bit sad, but doesn't it fill you with a warm sense of hope at the same time? Few performances as textured and brilliant as Bill Murray in this film - the Academy should be kicking itself for the rest of time not to have recgonized his work here (if not in many other places - but that's for another discussion).

Fantasy - The Princess Bride (getbak)

What a fantastic film The Princess Bride is. It truly has a little bit of everything, and it is the kind of movie I can watch anytime, in any mood, and come out feeling happy (which I am pretty sure is the point - the viewer's experience is meant to mirror that of the Fred Savage character). I could start a laundry list of favorite bits from this one. For example: the constant bickering between Fezzik (Andre the Giant) and the recently-revived Indigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) about "The Man In Black." Just kills me.
*note* Whatever happened to Rob Reiner? The guy made several top-notch movies and then... what... The Bucket List????

Musical - School of Rock (REDVAN)

If I ever have kids, they will be watching School of Rock before any other 'inspirational family-friendly' movies - this one gets the message just right. The perfect role for one of my personal faves, Jack Black - they might as well have just called his character 'Jack Black' - featuring several very good turns from a cast of gifted youngsters. Scriptwriter Mike White is hilarious as Black's wimpy roomate; Joan Cusack pitch-perfect as the school principal; Sarah Silverman also devilishly funny as White's controlling girlfriend. The scene where Black 'unveils' his epic rock masterpiece to the class - pretty sure he ad-libbed a lot of it - is one of the all-time greats. I raise my goblet of rock to this movie.

This is going to be really really long. Maybe I will do the other 9 later. I should really be doing other things right now anyway...