TRS for Friday, Oct 22 - VS!

[trsjeff]

TRS VS returns! Movies are pitted against each other to create the supreme best-of list. This week, a fight breaks out! This is serious business!

[damnedeyez]

I just can't get behind Dan's reasoning. Trying to do something, no matter how significant or whatnot, doesn't make a film better...it just makes it seem like a possible reason for not liking it.

Anyway, like I said somewhere before, any attempt to make a list with others of best anything needs a discussion beforehand of how you're judging best. Is it which you enjoyed more, or the technical aspects, etc. I tend to agree with Alex in not rating a movie that you didn't like higher than one you did. (But I still agree with both of them that it wasn't a good movie.)

[supernerd]

Yeah, I have to agree with Alex. Picking a movie you enjoyed less really doesn't make much sense. Maybe it would if it were more significant in the things it had done, but Dan chose it for the things it was trying to do and failed at.

What would you rather have? A 3 layer cake that someone tried to bake but failed, so it's just a pile of moosh? Or a normal cake that tastes yummy in your tummy? =)

Anyway! Great episode, had me laughing quite a bit! =D

[tofe]

Death Proof is sooooooo much fun and one of the reasons I will keep sampling QT.
He is very hit or miss for me. Love Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms and Death Proof. Dislike Sin City, Kill Bill and Inglorious Bastards.

[iccanui]

First off, VS is becoming one of my fav segments. And im glad its spread out.

I get exactly what Dan was saying.

I think anyway dan is saying, that 21 is a good movie for the genre and type of movie it was. But even though he didnt like deathproof, he appreciates what the movie was in its own world and genre, etc. Therefore looking at them in there respective environments, for their target audience and demographic, deathproof was better.

I also think Dan was perhaps trying to do what we asked them to do, talk more about the movies, have debates and i appreciated that.

[chimpy]

I agree with Dan.

21 was completely and utterly forgettable. Sure it was good, but so are Twinkies. And in the end I'll always vote for home-made cake, even if it's not that great. I'd rather someone try and make a cake at home and come up with some banana-mocha-peanutbutter surprise over a processed snack cake. I may not want to eat that cake, but I'll always vote for a homemade dessert over a store-bought processed piece of fluff.

Man that was a tortured analogy.

Plus, I loved DeathProof.

[icu]

I understand Dan's reasoning and Alex's frustration. Obviously ground rules were not really put in place (as mentioned). Loved the Jeff and Mike tag-team on the "VS.!" during the "discussion".

I can understand not seeing Godfather III because it got such a bad rep. Heck, I don't know when I would have seen it if it didn't come with the box set. When compared to the first two it can't possibly live up (what could?), but it wasn't a clusterfrak like the prequels. It's got some great elements and yes it has many failings - (although it's been talked about ad nauseum the casting of his daughter really didn't help matters - it's hard to ignore). I'd say if you liked the first two definitely give it a watch some time (it'll make much better Saturday afternoon viewing than some other movies).

Ok having done my Godfather fanboy duty - Lawrence of Arabia on 2 lists of shame!?! This cannot stand. Those two young men need to get the Blue Ray or w/e crank the surround and sit down and watch that ASAP on a big screen in it's original aspect ratio! Even if you ignore the fantastic acting and the screenplay the cinematography and score are the definitions of EPIC! The rest of the movies on the List of Shame are forgivable to a degree, but not this. Fix this now as a favor to yourselves.

*It is hard to make some decisions and it's hard to know if you want to go by emotions or analytical critical thinking. I can get tough at times. The way I'm playing is that I'm imagining that I am going to receive only my top 20 picks as free BlueRays and I can't own the rest. Movies I'll want to have forever to enjoy by myself or share with others who may not have seen them.

[blacksymbiote]

I think a major conflict in Vs simply comes from the personalities of the guys. Dan will always judge a movie based on it's parts, it's historical impact on film, what it inspired in later movies, than if he simply liked it or not as Alex might. If I were to judge a "classic" against something I just loved, depending on my outlook it could go either way. Wizard of Oz is a classic and means a lot to film, but Rambo 4 was awesome and pure fun. I like Rambo more, but Wizard of Oz "means more". How you decide to judge the movies is more important than the movies themselves as it will shape the list completely differently. So this is supposed to be "the most Rad movies"... What does that mean to each of them? I think it simply means in terms of enjoyment. You need to decide how you're going to judge your own list, and stick to your guns if you run into a conflict like that later.

Of course I think the guys will run into this more in future installments, but that's what makes the segment so great! I really liked that you went into more depth as to why you picked one movie over another. Much more interesting than simply batting a bunch out of the park.

[jtv]

Is the concept supposed to be "Which is the better movie?" or "Which movie did you personally enjoy more?".

If it's the former, I can see Dan's point of view. If it's the latter, then I agree with Alex, Dan is a crackpot.

I think the meal analogy is the best one. Let's say you get two meals. Meal A is quite enjoyable, but a bit mundane. Meal B has awesome potential, it sounds great on the menu, but the execution is horrible and you hate it. There's no way you can say that Meal B is the better meal just because it should be better.

[regularname]

Versus is now my favorite feature. I wish they did it every week. The best part is how often a movie comes up that I've never seen before, and therefore I get their quick impressions and recommendations. Plus the guys are never better then when they're nerd raging at each other.

I also like how there aren't really set rules beyond 'Pick whichever movie you think is best based on your own personal criteria'. Alex picks based on straight emotional response, Dan based on significance and craft, and Jeff on size of resultant nerd boner.

I wasn't a huge fan of the daily idea b/c I'm human and fear change, but getting segments like 'versus' really makes it worthwhile. I just wish it was an every week thing!

For the record, I agree with Dan's logic. I too hated Death Proof and think its the least interesting of QTs work, but when up against a completely forgettable flash in the pan movie it would still win my vote as well.