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I felt much like Adam when BTTF best Raging Bull. I was flabbergasted. BTTF is a wonderful film that speaks to multiple generations. It's funny and poignant and well made. It was my son's favorite movie when he was 5. I have great memories of seeing it in the theater when I was 7. I love it. But Raging Bull is the best movie of the 80s. It's absurd to think that BTTF knocked it out of this tournament. Now that that's out of my system...
So, easy, I'm voting for 2001, right? Nope, I'm a total hypocrite. I'm going Back to the Future. 2001 may be a masterpiece, but I think it exemplifies what people mean when they say Kubrick is too "cold". BTTF is heartwarming all the other things I already said above. Between the two, that's the one I can't live without.
2001 remains in my top ten list of all time greats. I'd love to have seen a 2001, Wizard of Oz match up. Two stories left open for people to interpret in their own way. On my last viewing, I saw the monolith as representing art itself. For me, art and the cinema are the only things which have the power to push me beyond the infinite and reality as I know it. How could I not vote for a movie which transformed me into a space baby?
Back to the future is a companion piece to most of teh Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies as in: It's good but nowhere near as good as the pedastal raving Nostalgia of grown man longing back for the simplicity and purity of their childhood has put it on! 2001 Spac Odesy on the otehr hand is a historical movie not just for its themes but for its impact on movies of the future. I appreaciate everybodies Nostalgia (I have my own ones to be sure) but there can be no other rational choice here but 2001!
Back to the Future all the way. Yes, 2001 is a great film, but it's 2017. 2001 is the past, it is Back to the Future.
So here we are, the day after Chuck Berry dies, and you're forcing me to vote against Back To the Future. This is heavy.
So here we are, the after Chuck Berry dies, and you're forcing me to vote against Back To the Future. This is heavy.
Errr - I mean, "Raging Bull," not "Chinatown."
You guys have clearly fried my brain.
Ooof. This matchup is forcing me to reverse myself a bit.
I'm one of those psychopaths that cheerfully championed "Back to the Future" over "Chinatown" and did a little future-dance when it won. My thinking, then? "Chinatown" is immaculate, but Marty's adventure is the more singular achievement: as smart, funny, family-friendly adventures go, it's just about perfect, and it stands alone. "Chinatown," by contrast, isn't even the only period crime masterpiece in this tournament.
And when "2001," which I love, went up against "Do the Right Thing," I campaigned for Spike. The matchup pitted austere art against a piece that hums, alive, with human energy - and I decided there was more value in the latter.
So it's strange, then, to vote for "2001" over "Back to the Future," but that's what I've got to do. In this matchup, both pictures strike me as singular achievements: both occupy a unique space, and represent pinnacle achievements in their spheres. It's a gut reaction vote, then. Which advances? The cryptic think piece which uses space travel as a narrative gateway to big, beautiful statements about humankind? Or the smart, hilarious, pitch-perfect time-travel adventure which entertains completely, and does it without the faintest whiff of cynicism? The film which exemplifies movies as an art form which can challenge, or the one which represents the capacity of movies to exhilarate?
"2001," I think, is a bit rarer. It's a more unique animal. It might not get my championship vote, but I can't let the Space Baby go down just yet.
You hear the words "Kubrick masterpiece" applied to quite a few films in his body of work. You know what words you don't often hear? "Zemeckis masterpiece."
For this one I have to go with my head over my heart. I have loved back to the future ever since I first saw it as a kid. However, the story is very simple compared to the complexity of 2001. 2001 has so much to still explore philosophically and in this case I must choose 2001.
Heavy! Dave versus Biff? Classic cinema versus a modern classic? HAL versus Marty McFly? Doc Brown versus Doc Frank Poole? Unfortunately, perhaps as a sign of these times, I think it's better to go with whimsy over majesty, humour over space, and yes a DeLorean over the moon shuttle.
C'mon Adam, do you really want your kids to have to lip sync HAL singing "Daisy" instead of Marty singing "Johnny B Goode" like you got to? You can't force that on future generations.
Well looky what we have here... Adams bracket... What are you blind? Think, McFly, think! I thought I told you never to vote against Back to the Future. You think 2001 is going to win!?! That's about as funny as a screen door on a battleship... butthead. Why don't you make like tree, and get outta here. Oh, and Josh...say hi to your mom for me ^_^
2001 is my No.1 movie of all times but I am voting for Back to the future simply because its the most entertaining movie ever made period.
I am NOT sorry Back To The Future beat Raging Bull and I'm not apologetic about voting for it again against 2001. Sorry Adam. But really sorry to my husband who thinks 2001 is a masterpiece of cinema. We have had many arguments about this over the course of our 30 year marriage and I still say 2001 is boring.
I grew up watching Back to the Future many times a year. As a person I have grown a lot, and the film only gets better as I get older. It's hugely important to my childhood. That being said, while I may have watched Back to the Future growing up I grew a little as a person watching 2001: A Space Odyssey the first time. My dad was so excited to show it to me, he told me he had been waiting since I was born for me to grow enough to watch it. It was the first time in my mind that a film made me go "hold on a minute, there is something deeper going on here" and the first film that made me really pursue a deeper understanding. Looking through the timeline of my life, watching 2001 was the spark that blew up my love of film. In my college dorm I only have room on my wall for one poster (literally) and that poster is 2001.
(I vowed to write a comment for every one of the match ups this time (my first time participating) and I got in a bit over my head with my massive comment on PF vs Goodfellas, so I'm going to try to keep it shorter and sweeter from now on or else my whole weekend is shot!)
I am thrilled that Back to the Future, in recent years, seems to be getting more of the credit it deserves as an iconic and near-perfect film. I watched the newish documentary about it on Netflix which, while certainly biased, emphasized the surprising fact that it has become a modern classic, with its screenplay being taught in film schools and DeLorean collectors turning their vintage rides into time machines all around the world. It's hilarious, it's moving, and, Adam (I think it was Adam?), I even had my own Johnny B. Goode guitar karaoke performance as a kid, mine for my grandmother.
With that said, Back to the Future's density is to face a film whose ambition alone, which is to cover *literally* the entire scope of human history, nearly brings me to tears, and I am afraid that even one of my all time favorites cannot compare. I had no idea what 2001 was about or any hints of its provocative style when I first saw it, and, expecting to see something along the lines of Star Trek, I was blown away by one of the most unique artistic experiences of my life. From the monkeys beating the hell out of each other to HAL's dry delivery to the special effects to the confusing ending, 2001 is by turns deeply philosophical, slyly hilarious, and, at times, truly breathtaking. Not only has the sheer thought of its ambition on one prior occasion moved me to tears, but so - with its barren, majestic simplicity of just three circles combined with possibly the greatest use of music in film history - has the title screen. Enough said.
I have one of two sections when considering these pantheon films. Either I nod my head solemnly in reverence to the importance of the film in cinema history, or I pump my fist in excitement at the joy a film brings. Many matches this round are a clash between these actions, but this is the most difficult: abstract meditative sic-fi vs. adventure comedy sic-fi. In this fight the bizarre and the abstract win, but I can't say that argument will apply to the Star Wars matchups!
Thank God the world had 2001: A Space Odyssey so it could inspire so many important filmmakers for decades to come. All of whom, unfortunately, will have to eat the fire-dust of a Delorean. Sorry, Stanley.
I guess Adam is going to be disappointed in me, but I am voting for Back to the Future.
Intellectually, I can see see why 2001 is revered as a cinematic achievement. I also think I understand its cultural significance (I can still easily recall HAL's "Just what do you think you are doing, Dave?" and it still gives me chills). But, I really didn't enjoy it very much at all. My head appreciates it, but my heart doesn't like it.
Both my head and my heart love Back to the Future.
Every other movie left in FS Madness feels a bit academic -- like the syllabus for my Intro to Film class from freshmen year of college. Back to the Future is not only the best movie of the 1980's, but it it pure cinematic joy! I am jumping on the Cinderella bandwagon and cheering for Back to the Future to go all of the way!
I was about to vote for 2001 when I started thinking, do I really want to watch 30 minutes of apes skull bashing and that interdimensional 20 minute acid trip, or listen to some Johnny B. Goode and hang out with Doc. The characters speak more to me in Back to the Future, there are no elements in the film that I can think of that I'd like to make shorter or edit. When I have kids, I'd much rather them see Marty's skating than Alien babies and machine like dialogue dialogue. One might be more ambitious, but one I carry with me much more. If it is about preserving a piece of artwork for future generations, I would keep 2001, but for this one I'm going with what I would rather watch at any point that I feel like it and I'm always up for Back to the Future, it takes a special mood to wrestle with 2001 each time.
Plus, Delorean > HAL.
We've got a film where "Back in Time" is performed by a bunch of ape-man versus a film where "Back in Time" is performed by Huey Lewis & The News. We've got Doc Dave against Doc Brown -- Hal, against Biff. I love 2001. It's an amazing achievement in film. It's Kubrick's masterpiece. It will stand the tests of time (pun intended). That said, NOTHING was going to keep me from voting for BACK TO THE FUTURE. Few films are as thoroughly enjoyable, to the depths of your soul, as BACK TO THE FUTURE. It's got everything a film is supposed to have, and it never loses its appeal. I want this film to go deep -- for all the film nerds out there who are tired of having CITIZEN KANE and VERTIGO shoved down our threats. I want to see Marty ride his skateboard all the way to the finals.
I'm... sorry... Marty.. but I just... can't... let... you... continue... to the next... round.
Do I want to have a sleep or watch a movie. If I want a sleep I will put on 2001. BttF it is.
Also,
http://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor.html
The "all others cease to exist" thing is silly. Vote your heart. Vote your conscience. Vote how you want, it's an honor, not triage. If Adam wants to stand behind that statement, then he can agree to actually remove all but the winner from the pantheon, leaving one film. But I don't think that's happening, so it's a popularity vs. appreciation game, and play it your own way.
2001. And I'll be thinking about it while I watch Back to the Future too.
I need more laughs and fun in my life - BttF for me.
Very tough one here. I like how BTTF has been beating the odds so far and even though I think 2001 is really better, I'd like to give BTTF my boost to continue on it's unlikely quest. But looking ahead in the bracket... it looks like it's coming up against Raiders next which is a sure death sentence. So 2001 it is.
Back to the Future is fun, but without 2001 where are all the internet arguments about what that giant baby is?
So much with the criteria from you guys! 2001 is clearly the better film. And yet, I save it for a pure cinema experience. I have no interest in watching 2001 on a small screen. BTTF however, I could watch it again and again on any format. So, I'm going with the highly enjoyable adventures of Doc and Marty.
2001 is used in the closing audio of each show, thereby clearly indicating its superior status in this matchup.
Serious question, is there a flaw in 2001? I can't find one.
Adam, this is all your fault. Ever since you "clarified" the rules by saying that all films but the winner will cease to exist, I've had to go back and second guess most of my votes. Take this pairing, for example. 2001 is a great movie, a masterpiece, but if I had to choose which one of these movies I'd be able to watch from this point on, it's... shoot, it's still 2001. Yes, Back to the Future is much more than a well-written time travel comedy, but 2001 is also much more than an effects-driven sci-fi epic. 2001 is the more demanding film, and it's less blatantly entertaining, but it's also the more rewarding of the two. If, every time I watched a movie, I would have no choice but to be confused by the monolith, in awe at the greatest jump-cut in history (you know the one), terrified of HAL, and pondering the "star child" finale, I would be okay with that.
Now that the bombshell has been dropped that these are the only films left in existence, I presume you are legally obligated to introduce yourself as "I'm _______ and I'm a total monster"