IMDB Top 250 Tournament

3) The Godfather Part II vs Once Upon a Time in America
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
20) Star Wars vs The Hunt
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
The Great Escape vs Heat
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12) Interstellar vs Stalker
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind vs Good Will Hunting
56) The Lion King vs Annie Hall
Singin’ in the Rain vs Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
9) Return of the King vs Unforgiven
Twelve Monkeys vs 50) Alien
Blade Runner vs Guardians of the Galaxy


3) The Godfather Part II vs Once Upon a Time in America
Network vs Trainspotting
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown

The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
20) Episode IV: A New Hope vs The Hunt
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
The Great Escape vs Heat
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12) Interstellar vs Stalker
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction

3) The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
20) Episode IV: A New Hope vs The Hunt
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
The Great Escape vs Heat
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12) Interstellar vs Stalker
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction

3) The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction

3) The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
20) Episode IV: A New Hope vs The Hunt
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
The Great Escape vs Heat
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12) Interstellar vs Stalker
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction
__________________

I get you. Some matchups you know your answer and it's frustrating for it to be ineligible when you don't necessarily want to watch the other film. It's not ideal, but as you've said, both films need to be seen by each participant.

Also, the matches are not totally random. The top 64 films were seeded and the remaining films were placed randomly. Obviously the ordering of the list is dubious, with the IMDB 250 being Nolan centric etc, but I didn't want to digress from the order.

Judgement at Nuremberg vs The Maltese Falcon

3) The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory
33) Psycho vs Das Boot
Snatch vs On the Waterfront
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X
20) Episode IV: A New Hope vs The Hunt
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia
Oldboy vs Into the Wild
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon
The Great Escape vs Heat
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12) Interstellar vs Stalker
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others
41) Memento vs Her
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction

__________________
Too weird to live, and too rare to die.

Blade Runner vs Guardians of the Galaxy

Memento vs Her

The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious

Hope it's ok to include short comments on the choices. Great idea!

1) Shawshank Redemption vs Dial M for Murder - like both equally, going with the underdog
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind vs Good Will Hunting - one of Robin Williams's finest performances
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre vs The Secret in their Eyes
Requiem for a Dream vs 58) Cinema Paradiso - highly disturbing film, but a masterpiece nonetheless
39) Modern Times vs Finding Nemo - entertaining all throughout
Dil Chahta Hai vs Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Dil Chahta Hai is imo one of the films that doesn't serve top 250
Persona vs Gone With the Wind - Gone With the Wind would be tough to beat in a literature contest, the film doesn't really live up to it though, Persona is better.
The Avengers vs 28) Leon: the Professional - the relationship between Leon and Mathilda works so well
18) Goodfellas vs Kill Bill Volume 1 - one of the finest ever films about organized crime
Taxi Driver vs Gandhi - Gandhi another film I don't feel belongs in a top 250
La Strada vs A Christmas Story
Barry Lyndon vs 48) Gladiator - perhaps my second favorite Stanley Kubrick film
56) The Lion King vs Annie Hall - though some votes in previous matchups might make it look otherwise, I'm pretty biased towards the animation genre
Singin’ in the Rain vs Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
The Killing vs The Grapes of Wrath - Easy one, another great Stanley Kubric film and I always found The Grapes of Wrath overrated, both the novel and the film
The Sting vs 15) Forrest Gump - The Sting is great, but I would vote for Forrest Gump in most matchups, my favorite 90s film
9) Return of the King vs Unforgiven - I regard Lord of the Rings as the best films of the 00s (not necessarily my favorites though); living up to the standards set by Tolkien's novels wasn't easy, but LOTR more than lived up to the challenge.
Ikiru vs Hotel Rwanda
Judgement at Nuremberg vs The Maltese Falcon - was shown this film in class in the first year of my law course, needless to say I loved it
Twelve Monkeys vs 50) Alien - Close one. The 90s were such a great sci-fi film decade though, and Twelve Monkeys lived up to the standards
42) The Pianist vs Lagaan: Once Upon a time in India
In the Mood for Love vs The Best Years of our Lives - Entertaining and at the same time demanding deep reflection, a classic
The Bourne Ultimatum vs The Princess Bride - The Bourne Ultimatum has no place in the top 250 imo
The Help vs 17) Two Towers
27) Once Upon a time in the West vs Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - one of those matchups that makes you question the seeding process. I'm generally not a big fan of romantic films, but ESSM delivers it so well
Blade Runner vs Guardians of the Galaxy - easiest choice of the lot; Blade Runner is an iconic film, to my mind still the benchmark for sci-fi films; the ending scene is so incredibly powerful too. Will get my vote in most matchups.
The Truman Show vs Downfall - one of those films who makes you realize how powerful/impactful film is as a medium
The Sixth Sense vs 36) Rear Window - "I see dead people". 1999 was a fitting conclusion to a great decade of film.
60) American Beauty vs The 400 Blows
Ip Man vs Casino - very close, I'm a bit put off by the excessive (needless) violence in Casino
Raging Bull vs The Big Lebowski - toughest choice of the lot, surprised both are unseeed... going with Raging Bull, just barely. One of the best films of the 80s.
Ran vs 6) The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - I'm biased towards most things Japanese, but I do genuinely love Ran. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is good, but definitely overseeded imo.

Didn't watch The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Ikiru, Lagaan: Once Upon a time in India, The Help and 400 Blows, so no votes on those matchups.

Nice idea to add comments! As for the seeding, I didn't order them myself. Merely compiled them based on their respective positions in the IMDB 250, so yeah there are some poor positions and unfortunate early matchups but if you're doing a tournament on that list you might as well stick to the list.

Fair enough, I guess the cream will rise to the top naturally anyway. Time to vote for the second quarter.

3) The Godfather Part 2 vs Once Upon a Time in America - The Godfather trilogy is one of my favorites, and the second film is arguably the best
Up vs Wild Strawberries
Network vs Trainspotting - great example of how great satire can be if done right
Underground [1995] vs 59) Paths of Glory - Another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece
33) Psycho vs Das Boot - Don't feel too strongly about this one, but Das Boot is an excellent film and accurate enough about a historical topic that interests me, so it gets the nod
Snatch vs On the Waterfront - One of Marlon Brando's finest performances, a true classic
Strangers on a Train vs Boyhood
Yojimbo vs 32) American History X - an iconic film in its genre, with great impact still to this day
20) Episode IV: A New Hope vs The Hunt - The best Star Wars film imo.
My Neighbour Totoro vs Lawrence of Arabia - I did mention before I was biased both towards animated films and Japanese stuff; in any case, second best animated film of 1988 behind the sublime (but harrow) Grave of the Fireflies
Oldboy vs Into the Wild - fantastic film, with Emily Hirsch delivering a sublime performance
The Gold Rush vs 43) The Green Mile - No contest here, another great 1999 film to cap off an immense decade in film
49) Back to the Future vs Papillon - A personal favorite, I absolute love the Back to Future Trilogy
The Great Escape vs Heat - Another great film exploring World War II
The Battle of Algiers vs Notorious - I like how realistic the characters and the plot are given the setting, excellent film
The Bridge on the River Kwai vs 16) One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Surely this one will be a no contest?
12) Interstellar vs Stalker - Is Interstellar even the 12th best film of 2014 let alone ever?
Donnie Darko vs Toy Story 3 - Hmm very tough one, going with Donnie Darko because of its more complex plot and how quotable it is.
Rebecca vs The Seventh Seal
No Country for Old Men vs 53) The Lives of Others - A very powerful film despite the quiet nature of most of it
41) Memento vs Her - This one should be a no contest either
Life of Brian vs Chinatown
The Hustler vs Double Indemnity - Not quite as good as the novel imo, but still a definite classic
Black Cat, White Cat vs 21) Seven Samurai - one of the most influential films ever, easy choice here
25) Silence of the Lambs vs The Big Sleep - an instant classic,
Laputa: Castle in the Sky vs La Dolce Vita
Metropolis vs The King’s Speech - not sure if the 1927 film or the 2001 animated version (probably the former), but Metropolis would win anyway for me
Fanny and Alexander vs 40) Terminator 2: Judgement Day - might be long as hell, but definitely worth a watch
63) Aliens vs Mary and Max - incredibly intense film all throughout
It Happened One Night vs Amores Perros
Die Hard vs Howl’s Moving Castle - superb animated film, I assume Die Hard will win though
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade vs 5) Pulp Fiction - 1994 was one of the best film years ever, Pulp Fiction is far from my favorite of that year, but it's still an incredible film

Haven't watched Boyhood, Rebecca, Life of Brian and Amores Perros, so no votes on those matchups.

Just a reminder the first quarter will be closing for voting this Sunday. Only takes a few minutes to vote and the more people who do so, the more relevant and competitive the votes become. So keep them coming guys!

56) The Lion King vs Annie Hall
The Sting vs 15) Forrest Gump
Twelve Monkeys vs 50) Alien
Raging Bull vs The Big Lebowsi

This thread is just an excuse for Mark to show off.

Feel free to show off by voting yourself!

Watched Boyhood today and I'm giving it a vote. No recency bias here, I was genuinely blown away by the film. Quoting my own post because I assume it will be easier for you to keep track/count votes like that.