DVDTalk Draft Game…Semi-Finals…down to the wire!
 

Welcome to the Semi-Finals of the DVDTalk Draft Tournament! In this thread, the players drafted a roster of ten DVDs each. Now, it is up to you, the DVDTalk community, to vote on who has the best collection.

We are now down to four excellent collections. In order to vote, you need to reply to this post telling me who you think has the best roster. Your vote will not count unless you vote on every pair!

Players in the game are also allowed to vote. Optionally, they are also allowed to post to this thread telling everybody why they think you should vote for their collection.

So, let the voting begin! The polls closes tomorrow, exactly 24 hours after the timestamp of this post. Match-ups will be listed in the first reply to this post.

Good luck to all the participants!

This Round’s Match-Ups

1. jfrost vs. RyoHazuki
2. cleaver vs. slop101

1. jfrost
2. slop101

jfrost
slop101

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

jfrost’s Collection
cleaver’s Collection:

1. jfrost
2. cleaver

1. RyoHazuki
2. cleaver


good luck

1. jfrost
2. cleaver (this was a hard decision)

1. RyoHazuki
2. Cleaver

jfrost
cleaver

1. jfrost
2. cleaver

1. RyoHazuki
2. Cleaver

RyoHazuki
slop101

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

1. jfrost
2. cleaver

Jfrost v. RyoHazuki
- Great matchup, but I have to go with Jfrost here. In Ryo's collection, I have never seen Yakuza papers or Rules of the Game. I think Toy Story is slightly overrated (and this is not even the ultimate toy box collection edition) and To Kill a Mockingbird is wildly overrated (and I am a lawyer too!). Your 3 must have's for me are Band of Brothers, True Romance (what a fantastic disk, the screen-specific commentary by Hopper on the "Your'e an eggplant" scene is wonderful), and Do the Right Thing criterion (if you remember, you beat me to that one by a matter of seconds, forcing me to settle for Old School).
- Jfrost just has better quality, top-to-bottom. Well, except for Taken, which I have not seen but suspect is something I would not enjoy. Oh, and I found Spirited Away to be a slight letdown (though it was still enjoyable). I hope you took Panic Room simply for the extras, the movie itself doesn't do anything for me. But Se7en, Memento LE, and LOTR: FOTR are truly wonderful movies and dvds. And I like the novelty of a Canadian-only dvd (Brotherhood of the Wolf 3 disc).

cleaver vs. slop101
- Ok, some good matchups here. Rushmore and Life Aquatic cancel each other our (the former is the better movie, the latter has better extras). Bambi and Monster's Inc. also cancel each other out. Ditto for Deadwood and Star Trek, two tv-series that I have absolutely no desire to see (although Cleaver should get some points for saving his tv pick until the last round; that was probably too early to draft Deadwood). Let's also cancel out the Sting and Short Cuts, two movies with wonderful reputations that are on my wish list. Finally, let's cancel out Savign Private Ryan and Bridge on the River Quai, two classic war movies (although I should note that Cleaver chose the hard-to-find version of SPR with the extras AND dts).

- Ok, so we are left with Cleaver's Godfather Trilogy, T2: UE, Die Hard 5 Star, 12 Monkeys, and Animal House up against Slop101's Brazil collection, Citizen Kane, Led Zeppelin, Goodfellas, and Dr. Strangelove. I have to go with Cleaver, I just enjoy his movies a bit more. Unfortunately, I find the story behind Brazil more enjoyable than the movie itself. 12 Monkeys is the more accessible Gilliam flick, and I just think it is a more even movie overall. Great documentary with the Hamster factor also. I also think that Dr. Strangelove is a bit overrated (interesting subject matter, but I can't get over the fact that it is a comedy that isn't funny at all). Cleaver's only comedy to matcup is Animal House, which has really stood the test of time as hilarious and the inspiration (for better or worse) of countless imitators. I don't know the Led Zep dvd, but let's call that a draw with the overrated Die Hard (I enjoyed Part 3 more). Now, we have Godfather and T2: UE vs. Citizen Kane and Goodfellas. Wow. Tough. This is so arbitrary, and I all four of these dvds are in my top 15, but I have to give a slight edge to Godfather and T2. When I bought a dvd player in 2002, these were two of the first three movies I purchased (the other: Almost Famous Bootleg cut). So that breaks the tie.

In sum:
1- Jfrost
2- Cleaver

1. jfrost
2. slop101

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

I could go either way with my choices between both match-ups. Some movies really stand out on these lists, while others on the same list leave me unexcited. Perhaps, after dinner I'll change my and do some switching.

1. jfrost
2. cleaver

1. jfrost
2. cleaver

Pair 1 was tough. I've got 5 of jfrost's DVDs and 6 of RyoHazuki's DVDs, and I decided I'd rather have 4 of the DVDs from jfrost's list than the 4 I didn't have from RyoHazuki's list. Barely.

Some fun matchups within the matchup between me and slop101. Should be interesting.

1. jfrost - The thing I don't like about jfrost's collection is that it has no maturity. The oldest movie there is 1988's Die Hard. I think I would prefer to see a little more depth to it. But that's not to say they aren't good movies. I own or plan to eventually buy nearly every one. They're great fun. Just not enough variety. Still, you're in the semi-finals, so your strategy is clear superior to mine. :D

RyoHazuki has a fair collection, but I just not as familiar with it. I've mentioned that Band of Brothers is probably my most prized part of my collection, but that's not enough to cancel out Fellowship, Se7en, Memento, Die Hard (one of my top 10) and Brotherhood. You have Good, Bad, Ugly, Toy Story and Mockingbird, but I'm (unfortunately) not as familiar with all the rest.

2. cleaver - This was a much closer matchup. In fact, I changed my mind several times. You both have great choices and I was forced to look a lot harder than most matchups. In the end it really came down to Private Ryan, Die Hard and 12 Monkeys vs. Brazil, Kane, Kwai and Deadwood. And now that I've typed it all out, I'm going to change my mind again! Nope, I'm changing it back again. I think I just need to stop thinking about this one or I'll flip-flop until I end up missing the deadline.

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

jfrost
cleaver

jfrost
slop101

Sticking up for my collection, I have to say that judging based solely on the merits of the film alone is very subjective - especially when you're comparing two works from the same director - though it's up to debate, I can see why someone would prefer 12Monkeys over Brazil, but it's a matter of fact that the Brazil set is just a better dvd.
Strangelove, Kane and Kwai are all loaded dvd sets with great extras and transfers.
A word about the Zeppelin dvd - ask anyone who has seen it, and they will tell you that it is, hands down, one of the greatest music/concert dvds ever produced - they don't even have to be Zeppelin fans. Over 5 hours of incredible previously unseen concert footage, amazing restoration job along with bowel-shaking DTS and lots of extras, there really is no room for improvemnet here.

Led Zeppelin is my favorite band, and that's my #1 concert DVD ahead of the Monterrey Pop Criterion. Just want to point out that Led Zeppelin is slop101's lone movie box set, so while I have no music DVD to match up, I have 3 additional movies from the Godfather trilogy.

And while some people may prefer 12 Monkeys and some may prefer Brazil, neither is catagorically a better DVD. The 3 disc Panic Room presentation is better than Fight Club and Se7en, but most would prefer eith Fight Club or Se7en.

1. RyoHazuki-I'm not a fan of a few titles on jfrost's team(Die Hard, Taken and most notably, Royal Tenenbaums). However, I give him props for throwing on an excellent anime title as his last pick. RyoHazuki's list is just more to my liking and he sealed it with one of my all time faves, TGTB&TU.

2. slop101-I just cannot vote against a collection that contains Citizen Kane, Goodfellas and Dr. Strangelove(at least not until the next round-wink-).

As always, good luck to all contestants.:)

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

1) jfrost
2) cleaver

good luck.

1) RyoHazuki
2) slop101

1. jfrost
2.slop101

jfrost
cleaver

1. RyoHazuki

Wow, tough choice. I had already written a paragraph about why I chose jfrost over Ryo. Just as I was scrolling down to delete the actual lists, I browsed over them again, and decided that I'd rather vote for Ryo. I think jfrost's collection opens with a strong first half, but then falls off a bit from there. Even the Criterion pick is a relatively weak one (I like the film, but the release isn't too awe-inspiring).

It's hard for me to cast a vote against Memento (one of my three favorite films), the last remaining LOTR EE (I'm not a geeked out fan of the films, but I do admit that the DVD releases are tip-top), and Se7en. However, the more I look at Ryo's list, the more he becomes the runaway favorite for me. Band of Brothers speaks for itself. Rules of the Game is astounding, one of my favorite releases ever. A couple more great films, animated, classic, giftset, another Criterion...yeah, this is definitely an easier choice for me than it was when I first started typing. My apologies to Memento, I still love ya.

2. slop101

Another relatively easy choice that, sadly, forces me to eliminate some of my prized DVD's. It pains me to vote against The Godfather Trilogy, The Sting, and the Rushmore Criterion. However, Brazil is an amazing release. Goodfellas, Kwai, and Strangelove speak for themselves as movies. Bambi trumps Monsters Inc. Life Aquatic is a solid movie, even if a disposable Criterion title. The factors that made this an easy choice, though, are Citizen Kane and Short Cuts. The greatest film of all-time, and a loaded DVD that comes with a book of Raymond Carver shorts (one of the best "extras" I've ever seen included on a DVD release). I don't think I'd take anybody's collection over this one, Franchot's being the lone exception.

-JP

Up to the moment standings:

Pairing 1: jfrost (18), RyoHazuki (12)
Pairing 2: slop101 (14), cleaver (16)

-JP

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

1. RyoHazuki
2. slop101

This Round’s Match-Ups

1. jfrost vs. RyoHazuki
both good collections, I own 7 from each, but I just feel that Ryo has more titles that are of much higher quality and artistic value.

2. cleaver vs. slop101
easier choice. too many things in the first collection that I don't care for all that much, I currently only own 3 of them (used to own more of them), compared to 8 in slop's collection.

1. RyoHazuki’s
2. Cleaver

1. RyoHazuki - a more diverse collection of interesting material. BoB, Rules of the Game, Yakuza Papers, and Do the Right Thing are the standouts there. Against this of course is the :mad: factor.

2. slop101 - its got BRAZIL, which if his list only contained that title -- dayenu, but also Kane, Zeppelin, Aquatic, Strangelove, and Short Cuts, which seal the deal.