Best Movie of the 2010s, Round of 16: Princeton Garden and Mega Movies Regions
The final spots in the Elite Eight have been decided! Did Easy A continue its magical run against Jordan Peele’s masterpiece, Get Out? Did both of Barry Jenkins’ films, Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, move on to meet each other in the next round? Erin and I disagreed on THREE of these four matchups, so you all decided 75% of them! Here are the results:
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2018)
Erin’s Pitch for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: My favorite thing about this movie is that it was able to make a superhero movie feel fresh and unique. That is a Herculean task and Spider-Verse succeeded with ease.
Tom’s Pitch for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Kingpin is hilarious-looking in this movie. His head is about 1/100th the size of his body. If you saw someone like this walking down the street you would ask if they were okay because his back has to be causing him SERIOUS problems. I guess it’s why he has the cane.
Erin’s Pitch for If Beale Street Could Talk: The score is my fave!! I wish I was in college when this came out, because it would have been on my iPod on repeat while writing papers.
Tom’s Pitch for If Beale Street Could Talk: For some reason, Dave Franco is in this movie as the lone landlord in the area willing to rent to the main Black couple, and I’m not sure if I like it or hate it because he draws the viewer’s eye because it’s randomly *Dave Franco*, but it was an interesting choice!
Erin’s Choice: I haven’t chosen Spider-Verse even once during the bracket (I think 🥴) so why start now? Beale Street.
Tom’s Choice: I would have loved for a potential Barry Jenkins vs. Barry Jenkins in the next round, but I’m picking Spider-Verse. Potentially Mahershala vs. Mahershala instead.
The People’s Choice: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - 22 (88.0%), If Beale Street Could Talk - 3 (12.0%). This feels like more voters need to watch Beale Street, but nevertheless, Spider-Verse advances one more step toward the finals!
WINNER: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)
MOONLIGHT (2016)
THE FLORIDA PROJECT (2017)
Erin’s Pitch for Moonlight: I think I’m going with the cinematography for this one. It’s so beautifully shot, with amazing colors. A visual feast for viewers.
Tom’s Pitch for Moonlight: Naomie Harris lays down a drug-addicted mother performance that’s the best we’ve seen this side of The Wire. You can see how her issues, coupled with the lack of a true father figure, hang over every moment of Chiron’s life. It’s subtle but beautiful.
Erin’s Pitch for The Florida Project: I think the passion of the cast performances is my favorite part of The Florida Project. It feels like everyone is truly invested in creating art.
Tom’s Pitch for The Florida Project: I won’t spoil the ending but it’s one of the best parts of the movie, and it’s filmed entirely on an iPhone (for obvious reasons if you watch the scene). It’s pure joy, melancholy, hopelessness, and euphoria.
Erin’s Choice: I pick The Florida Project because I’m just crazy like that. 🤪
Tom’s Choice: This one was a coin flip in my brain. I would be okay with either of these winning the entire thing. But…. I’m picking Moonlight.
The People’s Choice: Moonlight - 15 (78.9%), The Florida Project - 4 (21.1%). Moonlight continues to take no prisoners, tearing its way through to the Elite Eight.
WINNER: MOONLIGHT (2016)
ROMA (2018)
BRIDESMAIDS (2011)
Erin’s Pitch for Roma: I adore that this movie is in black and white. It’s mind blowing because it helps you focus on the story, but the lack of color somehow makes it feel even more rich and beautiful.
Tom’s Pitch for Roma: I can’t heap enough praise on Yalitza Aparicio. Her facial expressions alone convey dozens of emotions at once, and the scene in the movie theater with her boyfriend says so much with barely any words. It’s true art.
Erin’s Pitch for Bridesmaids: Oh, it’s gotta be the cast. Everyone is so so funny and puts in work to make this one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
Tom’s Pitch for Bridesmaids: The writing in this movie is really great because Kristen Wiig’s character is...a pretty awful person, but you still root for her to succeed because underneath her bitter, insecurely sarcastic exterior is someone who you can tell has the potential to be a great person, but she isn’t quite there yet!
Erin’s Choice: I pick Bridesmaids. Am I a bad person?
Tom’s Choice: It’s not often that I cry during movies. And I don’t mean that because I’m cool, I literally don’t think my tear ducts work correctly. And Roma almost got me there. Roma for me.
The People’s Choice: Roma - 6 (25.0%), Bridesmaids - 18 (75.0%). And just like that, Paul Feig’s movie which includes five-to-ten minutes about diarrhea eliminates Alfonso Cuaron’s passion project. Bridesmaids moves on.
WINNER: BRIDESMAIDS (2011)
GET OUT (2017)
EASY A (2010)
Erin’s Pitch for Get Out: This won the original screenplay Oscar for a reason! I have never watched a movie with a tighter script. Everything has a purpose, and I think it’s a masterclass on writing.
Tom’s Pitch for Get Out: Every time I watch this movie I pick up another wrinkle or two. Last time it was that the pacing is outstanding. Jordan Peele slowly pulls back the onion, layer by layer, until it is all laid bare in the thrilling and horrifying third act. It’s one of the best debut directorial jobs of all time.
Erin’s Pitch for Easy A: My favorite thing about Easy A is just bearing witness to Emma Stone’s star power. She is excellent in this film and elevates it to the next level.
Tom’s Pitch for Easy A: I wish Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson were my parents. (Not Clarkson in Sharp Objects though. Yikes.) They would be super fun, except everyone would think my dad is super hot and that would probably be weird.
Erin’s Choice: It is so fun that Easy A keeps winning. But that ends TONIGHT. Get Out Easy A. Get it?
Tom’s Choice: I don’t have much to say here. Easy A is a great movie but it is crazy that it got this far! Get Out is my choice.
The People’s Choice: Get Out - 14 (53.8%), Easy A - 12 (46.2%). Even against one of the most acclaimed movies of this generation, Easy A holds its own in the fan vote. What a story! Get Out moves on though.
WINNER: GET OUT (2017)
That’s it so far! Keep an eye on Instagram for the next region’s matchups! For now, we’ll leave you with the state of the Princeton Garden Theatre and Mega Movies Memorial Regions as they stand:
