Those are the semifinalists in this year’s March Movie Madness. We once had 60 more but now are down to 4.
Congrats to those who bow out after a good four round run. You made this tourney a lot more fun.
Now we look ahead. The voting for our Final Four will begin tomorrow and last for 2 days. That means polls will open around lunchtime tomorrow, March 29, and close midday on Saturday, March 31 while I’m knee deep in Nashville, Tennessee at the Killer Tribes event.
The finals will be set this weekend. Like the Highlander always said, there can be only one. Who will it be? That, my friends, is up to you.
This round must be the toughest yet. Just looking over these matchups I have no idea who I would take.
Although the female characters fell away with the demise of The Poppins, our field is actually equalized by contestants. There are four men and four women each left. Yay for gender equality and stuff.
Today’s matchups feature a lawyer vs. a banker/convict, a professor vs. a student, a lover vs. a fighter, and the two most lovable manipulators of all-time. (Special thanks to Ashley who backed Severus Snape for pointing out these poetic matches).
I’ll have one more set of videos coming at the end of this internet shindig. But for now it’s time to set the Final Four.
Well, well, well. The MMM always has a few surprises in store, and Round 3 delivered at least one twist.
We will have a new champion this year.
James Bond fell to Ferris Bueller and that means Piper Bayard will not repeat as champ. Renee scored the upset and will be joined by 7 others in the Elite 8 which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 27.
I’m withholding a final video for the last 15 to depart until the end of the tourney but you can check out who advanced by checking out the bracket.
Some of you might be surprised to see Han Solo go, but Atticus Finch has quite a few fans all these yeas later. The two closest matches were John McClane just edging out Severus Snape and Captain Jack Sparrow coming out on top of Mary Poppins (IYKWIM) in one of my favorite rivalries of the entire tournament between Jamie and Knox.
Congratulations to those who’ve advance to the Elite 8. You will receive an email on what happens next. See the rest of you on Tuesday!
From 64 to 16. The intensity of this tournament has truly begun to bring out the madness. The debates and smack talk and alliances like it’s Survivor up in here have been awesome.
Keep the good times alive on your blogs, in the comments, and over at Twitter #MMM2.
We had very little time between Rounds 2 and 3 and these contenders did a great job defending their characters in such a short time. Remember that the entire tournament schedule is posted along the right side all month here at eduClaytion. You can also keep up with the bracket from there.
Speaking of our master bracket, it will be updated tomorrow afternoon after the voting for Round 3 is complete. By the end of this weekend only 8 will remain.
I have the next two years of March Movie Madness already planned, so you should know that any character in this year’s tournament will not be eligible to appear again for a long time. This is their chance for greatness! As we saw last round, every vote counts, especially in these late rounds where each side has lots of support.
Speaking of last round, here’s a video recap in case you missed it.
But enough about yesterday; it’s about today, right now. The future of 16 legends is on the line. Are you ready? Here’s a little something to get you into the proper frame of mind.
Quite the week of action here in the realm of MMM2. The last round of voting was our busiest yet. Those battling for prize and pride made known their quest for glory.
Oh, sorry about all that flowery buzz up there. Been listening to too much dramatic music for these videos I’m making. More on that in a sec.
Anyway, I keep getting questions about how you can follow the bracket and see who won each time results are updated. I have a section with all that information over to the right there on this and every page of this site. Just click over. Next update will be sometime Saturday after polls close.
I would be remiss to not mention that we’ve lost Jess Buttram who surged fearlessly into battle with Detective John Kimble. Jess was last year’s runner up, a finish that earned her the coveted lifetime MMM qualification waiver, a most treasured possession of hers I’m sure.
Round 2 also featured our closest matchup yet as Jane Austen edge out Malcolm Reynolds by two votes in the final hour of polling. Austen is also the only real person represented in this year’s tournament.
Now it’s onto Round 3 which already starts tomorrow! The contestants have been notified. Polls open at NOON EST and close the same time on Saturday.
But before we look ahead, let’s take one last look back at the dearly departed of Round Deux.
Since this is kind of a funeral would you like to say a few words?
Halfway through the first day of Round 2, and I gotta say we have some surprises brewing. Will the upsets be upsetting?
You’ll have to decide that just like you’ll have to decide these final Round 2 choices to determine who will make it into the Sweet Sixteen. Voting for that round will all take place between Friday and Saturday by the way. That means we’ll have our Elite 8 set by this Sunday. Remember you can keep an eye on each round as well as the bracket by clicking the appropriate links on the MMM2 sidebar.
Don’t forget that the winner of both this tournament and the bracket challenge gets a watch from Hello Somebody, an organization you might like to take a minute to check out. If international issues interest you please take some time to check out a couple videos from the Brilliant Hans Rosling over at Clay-Morgan.com, especially if you enjoy some optimism about where the world is heading.
Voting for these matchups ends tomorrow at noon. I’ll have a recap ready to go by tomorrow evening. If you’ve already advanced to the next round or anticipate doing so please check your email for an update from me.
I am loving the MMM this year. So many good characters are already gonzo and the decisions only get tougher in this second round.
For the next two days we will reduce the field to our Sweet Sixteen. You will pick your favorite characters once again, but this time we’ve added some of the best quotes from the field in case you’ve forgotten some of the words that make the protagonists so iconic.
Voting is on a 24 hour cycle again. Round 2 will be over Thursday then right into Round 3 on Friday. You can keep track of everything easily with that sidebar to the right.
In case you missed it, here’s a video recap of round 1 including a tearjerking farewell to those we’ve lost along the way. Okay, so I’m not exactly going to challenge the Talking Dead folks at AMC, but I’ll get better along the way.
Speaking of video, here’s a little something to get you fired up just in case you need the proper motivation before voting.
What a fabulous start to March Movie Madness 2! That first week was fast-paced with gobs of people getting their two cents in as to who is the greatest protagonist in this year’s field. For a dramatic break down of all the action take a look at this video.
[Note: You should watch in full screen since I will never understand how to make Adobe render my videos without all that black border.]
Who’s FIRED UP?!?!
For those of you heading on to Round Two don’t forget to check your email and get quotes in for this week’s defense.
What a week we’ve had for Round 1 of this bizzzness.
The voting has been feverish, the smack talk smacky.
We’ve got one more day to go in the early round.
One of the ideas we kicked around for this year was doing a guy/girl split in characters between this year and next. We wondered how many female characters might be selected. Well, after three rounds I find it interesting that almost half of the 24 picks to advance are women. Girl power eh? Trish Loye wrote about female action heroes just the other day. Check it out if you have a minute.
Here’s the question of the day. I’m already thinking about ways to make MMM better even if it’s next year. But perhaps we can experiment this year. I’ve said that Round 2 defenses will consist of favorite character quotes. What else could we use for these short writeups? Images? Video? Let’s toss around some ideas in the comments.
I’m happy to say that I’ll be much more present going forward because I made my FINAL deadline for my book this morning. Exhausted, I am, if I may speak like Yoda for a minute. But happy.
So off we go with the final matches in Round 1! Give me those ideas in the comments but of course I also love to see the good-natured jabs. Good luck. Continue Reading…
Alright bracket busters, day 3 of March Movie Madness 2 is coming at ya. Beware the Ides of March.
We’ll be updating the bracket once again just as soon as possible. Yesterday was really fun. In the midst of a crazy busy day I enjoyed watching the #MMM2 thread on TweetDeck. You guys are cracking me up with comments all over the internet!
IMPORTANT NOTE before we go any further. For those of you who have already advanced to the second round (as well as those of you who might), I want to let you know in advance how you should be preparing. If I don’t do this now then we’ll all be scrambling on Sunday or Monday night.
The way you will defend your selection in Round 2 is by providing your favorite quotes from the character you are promoting. You can do as many quotes as your like but keep it under the 50 word limit again.
You don’t need to worry about submitting any of this yet, as I’ll have another easy form of some kind ready to go later on. I just want you to know what to expect if you’re expecting.
Congrats to all those who have advanced so far! Half of the field is set for Round 2, and we’ve got some more great matchups coming today including what might be the most intriguing matchup in the entire tourney. You’ll see. Happy voting! Continue Reading…
Indy.
