2012 King of the Hill Finale: Round 1

2012 King of the Hill Bracket Time:  Round of 8

Brackets courtesy http://challonge.com/

It has been a very long, exciting year with movies.  I've reviewed them all.  Now it is time to see which of the twelve best movies is the official 2012 King of the Hill winner.  The highest seeded movie of the year was Brave with a whopping four direct defeats.  The lowest seeded movie was Avengers which happened to be the only movie in May that I watched.  For the single elimination bracket to work, four movies were give Byes to advance them automatically to the second round.  Those movies are Brave, Paranormal Activity 2, Hanna, and, The Dark Knight Rises.

I will be reviewing each movie in this round all in one post.  As I'm comparing eight movies in Round 1, the descriptions will be shorter.  If you want more detailed information on the movie, be sure to click on the matching movie label.  That will bring you to the original reviews involving that film.  It is a great way to get more detailed information.

Whip It v Hunger Games
These two movies have very little in common outside of having a strong female protagonist.  One is a distopian world in which kids are sent off to fight each other to the death.  The other is a contemporary piece in which the protagonist is trying to set out to find out who she is in the world.  What makes this comparison so difficult is that both genres are unique in their own right.  Science Fiction is about exploring the possible and asking the question:  "what if?"  Contemporary creates a slice of life about our modern day society and makes us think about the world around us.

Hunger Games is going to stand the test of time.  Of that I have no doubt.  However, Hunger Games is not the complete story.  It is the first movie of a trilogy.  While some of the "What if?" of science fiction has been asked in the first film, the movie does not fully address the question in this movie.  There are aspects that will come in later movies.  And those movies will bring the full question to a head.  However, when looking at the movies to determine the winner, it is important to look at the movie as a whole.  Hunger Games did not tell the full story.  Whip It did.

Winner:  Whip It

Tucker and Dale vs Evil v The Avengers
This comparison is a pretty easy one to make.  Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a movie that both mocks horror films, but pays homage to them at the same time.  The Avengers is an action packed blockbuster that combines all of the big name super heroes from the Marvel Universe that has been in theaters recently.  While I probably would have had a higher appreciation for Tucker and Dale vs Evil had I been more involved in horror, the movie does not compare to The Avengers.  The Avengers is a movie I have sought out seeing a second time and will definitely seek out again.

Winner:  The Avengers

Back to the Future v The Little Princess
One of these films is a cult classic.  The other movie is a cute movie about a girl who is thrust from one worldly experience into another.  Back to the Future is a classic for a reason.  It is a damn good movie about a boy who accidentally goes back in time and has to fix the future before he ceases to exist.  The film has lots of secrets hidden in.  The movie is extremely accurate.  The movie is great for discussions with friends.  The Little Princess is simply entertaining.  I'd watch it again, but it holds no special strength in my heart.

Winner:  Back to the Future

Super v War of the Worlds
Forgive me Ellen Page.  I love her role in this movie.  I love the movie Super.  It is definitely a cult classic and will stand the test of time.  This movie is about the drive to be a hero and change the world.  It is a dark comedy, and those always do better as time goes on.  However, the story of War of the Worlds is much older and has already survived as long as it has.  Unfortunately, the story has never had a chance to get a proper shining in movie format.  That changed with this version.  And for this reason, this movie will be remembered for being the first War of the Worlds rendition to get it right.

Winner:  War of the Worlds

Movie Ketchup Time (April)

I'm behind on my blog and I'm sorry for the two/three of you out there that check this blog on a regular basis.  I'm also currently dealing with the heaviest bout of depression I have ever experienced in my life.  Still, I feel that when dealing with depression, the best solution is to try and force yourself to do something anyway.  So, for now, while I have the energy, I'm going to start clearing out my projects I'm super behind on.  To start off, let's talk about the King of the Hill Movie Challenge.

For those who do not know, the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge is my system for determining the best movie of year that I saw. One movie from each month will be selected and, at the end of the year, I will do a tournament style showdown where they will take each other on until the final movie has been selected. Bracket placement will be determined by the number of movies the monthly movie faced and won.

April was not a busy movie month.  I only watched two films during the month Titanic and The Little Princess.  If there was another movie I watched, it was not significant enough to implant itself in my mind.    So today, I have two movies to pit against each other.  Titanic, the extremely popular, massively grossing film by James Cameron.  And The Little Princess (1995 version), an underdog remake of a Shirley Temple film.  For me, the decision was easy, but I don't expect this decision to be quickly accepted by my readers.

Titanic is two movies rolled into one.  It is the disaster movie of the famous voyage of the RMS Titanic.  It is also a "romance" movie.  The romance story follows two characters Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet).  They are two people from different worlds on a voyage to America.  The two meet under the most unusual of circumstances and quickly fall in love with each other.  The disaster story follows the RMS Titanic (CGI) as it crashes into an ice berg (CGI) and begins to sink into the murky depths (either CGI or a giant kiddie pool).

It is the story of the sinking of the Titanic that made this movie great.  The romance had decent moments, but was more of a detraction than anything else.  For one thing, Titanic has some of the worst dialogue I have ever seen in a movie.  The most irritating is how often Jack and Kate use the other's name.  This is not natural dialogue and if you don't believe me, record yourself for a day and see how often you say someone else's name when talking to them.

The Little Princess is a movie directed by Alfonso Cuarón that follows Sara (Liesel Matthews) as she attends an American boarding school while her father, a British factory owner is fighting in World War I.  Her life is comfortable and filled with all of the amenities until her father is reported as having been killed and that the British government has seized his assets.  Suddenly, Sara is without a penny to her name and thrust into working as a servant girl along side Becky (Vanessa Lee Chester).

The Little Princess is clearly aimed for young girls, but the story is a whimsical tale that can entertain a wider audience.  It has moments that are over the top, such as a scene when the neighbor's aid, Ram (Errol Sitahal), fills the attic with exotic foods and fabric for Becky and Sara.  Despite these over the top moments, the movie gives a very realistic look into boarding schools during the early 1900's.  The dialogue makes Titanic look like a Saturday morning cartoon, and it was a better, overall period piece.

April King of the Hill Movie Winner:  The Little Princess

And if you case you were wondering, the March King of the Hill Movie Winner is The Hunger Games