Memorial Day for some is referred to some as the official start of Summer. The studios must think that too because that weekend is one of the weekends each year the big movies are released. Marvel taking over the first weekend of May aside, the biggest movie of the month usually is released that weekend. That weekend for almost the last 4 decades has also housed one other event that is personal to me: my birthday. I remember being so excited when I saw The Lost World, the sequel to my favorite movie, was going to be released so close to my birthday. For someone who loves movies, it always nice to have something big to help mark another turn around the sun. This year, my plan is to take my nieces and nephews to see The Garfield Movie that weekend. For this tournament, the combatants will consist of movies released around Memorial Day.
Only two rules for the tournament are 1) movies have to be released near Memorial Day weekend, with all movies being released in May, and 2) seeding is based on Box Office returns. We are dealing with over 30 years of films, so I whittled it down to 16. I know in the last tournament I said it would just be me to pick winners in these tourneys anymore. Well, that will be true for nearly every tournament, just not this one. It’s my birthday, so it’s my opinion this time. To make up for my selfishness, I’m not even one of the voters in the next tournament in June.
First Round
1. Finding Nemo vs 16. The Flintstones
We start this round with a matchup that was a lot harder for me than you might realize. I’m in the minority that doesn’t love Finding Nemo. I like a lot of it, but Ellen’s Dory drives me insane. Its opponent this round was a movie 7-year old me really liked. I still remember the Happy Meal toys. Seeing it now, it’s a lot like some other movies in the 90s that is a very different viewing depending on how old you are. Oh the puns and basically the entirety of Halle Berry’s appearance here. Unfortunately though, one of these is a lot more painful to sit through for me. Fish are friends, not food. Nemo swims on.
8. Braveheart vs 9. Sister Act
I haven’t watched either of these in at least a decade, and neither are really ones I’m in a hurry to revisit. Not a lot for me to say about this matchup I guess. I’ll go with the one I hear people quote and reference more now, including during NFL Network’s coverage of the NFL Draft for some reason. Braveheart advances.
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vs 12. Pirates of The Caribbean: At World’s End
As you will see as this tournament moves on, there are 9 sequels in contention. In this matchup, we have a pair of movies that are the third entry in a five movie series. This matchup though is a good example that not all series are the same. The Indy series has 2 great films, 1 ok, 1 bad, and 1 awful. PotC though has 1 great, 1 ok, 1 bad, and 2 awful. The problem for At World’s End (the bad one in the series) is that it is up against one of the 2 great Indiana Jones adventures. Last Crusade wins this match, and I’m sure if Jack Sparrow had to choose which cup was the correct one, he would have chosen poorly too.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past vs 13. The Hangover Part II
There are so few X-Men movies I think are really good. It’s X2, First Class, and Days of Future Past. DoFP is also my favorite storyline in the comics. The Sentinals are just a great enemy for the X-Men and seeing them in live action is cool for me. Going against it is the worse of the Hangover trilogy. This one really isn’t hard, so I’ll save you some time. Hangover was the winner here, but Wolverine went back in time again and corrected things. Days of Future Past moves on.
6. Back to the Future Part III vs 11. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Back to the Future trilogy is a great one, but for me, Part III is the weakest. I’m more of a Part II person. Much like BTTF, The Lost World is obviously not the best entry of that series. However, it is far from the worst. I’m also a person who thinks Ian Malcolm is a great character. Lost World loses to 2/3 of the BTTF trilogy, but it barely beats Part III in this matchup.
3. A Quiet Place: Part II vs 14. The Longest Yard
A lot of the matchups this round are difficult for me, but this one very much isn’t. While The Longest Yard is a dumb, fun sports movie, it also is a remake of a much better version. On the other hand, A Quiet Place: Part II is the continuation of a truly inventive, original idea. It might not be as good as Part 1, but it still brings some great tension. Honestly, nobody in The Longest Yard could stay quiet enough to survive in the Quiet Place universe, so Part II gets the win.
7. Killer Klowns from Outer Space vs 10. Men in Black 3
It is funny how the matchups shook out this round. The seeds were all based on box office returns, so it was just a fun surprise. This matchup happened to be between two movies about aliens. For MIB, it wasn’t as bad as International, but it is so far behind the Original, and even the sequel. I did like Clement’s Boris the Animal. The movie just felt so much different than the previous 2. Killer Klowns though was something that we haven’t really seen before. It was dumb and knew it. The shadow puppet dinosaur attack is still a highlight for me. Bonus points for it also that its sequel never actually happened. Sometimes, it’s better to stick with only one film, than go with watered down sequels. The alien klowns move on.
2. Top Gun: Maverick vs 15. Pearl Harbor
The military matchup. One that is an almost 30 years later sequel, and the other by a director not usually known for character pieces. By that I mean a Bay film is usually about one thing (explosive action) and the titular attack scene is pure Bay goodness. It’s just the rest of the movie that is just lacking for me. I’m not really a fan of anyone’s performance in it. Something else I wasn’t really a fan of was the original Top Gun from 1986. I was so indifferent towards it that when the sequel came out in theaters in 2022, I went in with the lowest of expectations. It was so much better than the original to me. That could be because of an older Cruise in it, or the Glen Powell/Miles Teller addition to the story. With all that said, I’ll go with Maverick and it’s much fewer explosions for the win.
Quarterfinals
1. Finding Nemo vs 8. Braveheart
This corner of the bracket was by far the weakest to me, but Nemo is clearly the better movie here. Outside of the Dory character, there are just so many good characters in the movie. Bruce and the sharks are fun, and aquarium gang is the highlight of the movie for me. I’ll make this section short and to the point. The fish escape Darla and advance to the Semis.
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vs 4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
While I did like DoFP more than most of the X-Men movies, it isn’t better than Indiana’s movie with his father. Connery is so great as Jones Sr, and he is part of why people think this is the best movie of all of the Indiana Jones series. I’m not one of them since I think Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the best movies ever. It is better than the other 3 Jones movies, and it’s better than any X-Men movies (so far…) X-Men chose poorly. Indy chose wisely. Last Crusade moves on take on the fishes.  
11. The Lost World: Jurassic Park vs 3. A Quiet Place: Part II
Lost World is not Jurassic Park. Nobody will even think that. It isn’t as bad as people will say though. Do I yell “Don’t go into the long grass!” because of this movie? Maybe. Also, I’m one of the people who doesn’t hate the end of the movie when they are at San Diego. It was fun and dumb. What wasn’t fun or dumb was Part II of A Quiet Place. It picks up right after the first movie and it just continues the chuckle fest the first one was. A Quiet Place silently moves on.
7. Killer Klowns from Outer Space vs 2. Top Gun: Maverick
Here is where I make some people mad probably. While I think Maverick is excellent, and a whole lot better than the first Top Gun, this tourney is about what movies I like more. Killer Klowns is a movie I watch every year around Halloween. It is creative, fun, and it is the only time I really like clowns. I’m sure Cruise could stop the Klowns, but he was with his brother in Las Vegas when they attacked. Killer Klowns with the upset!
Semifinals
1. Finding Nemo vs 5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Just like in Raiders, Indy is fighting the Nazis. He also goes face-to-face with one of the most evil people in history. In Finding Nemo, the “big bad” Nemo faces is a ten year old girl doesn’t know how to keep pets alive. Indy was named after a dog, so he probably would be a better with fish then Darla. Indy to the Championship.
3. A Quiet Place: Part II vs 7. Killer Klowns from Outer Space
My love of Killer Klowns is real. From the shadow puppet T-Rex eating people, to the Captain becomes a puppet, there are so many cool ways the Klowns kill people in the movie. The Quiet Place aliens so one note when you compare them. I’m not crazy though. A Quiet Place takes out the Klowns, and goes after Indy in the finals.
Finals
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vs 3. A Quiet Place: Part II
It’s all come down to this. Do I go with one of the only horror movies I really like, or do I go with the last good Indy movie? I think I’ve made it pretty clear how much I like Last Crusade, so it would be weird if I didn’t pick that one, right? I might be a weird person, but not that much. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the Champ this time!
If I did this next year instead of now, Furiosa might have changed some stuff. I’m not sure it would be good enough to take out Indiana though. The next tournament will be on June 12th, and it will be a battle of the top 16 Pixar movies on Rotten Tomatoes. It will also be a tournament where I won’t have any say about who wins. It was a fun tourney to go through when I put it together, but you will see what I mean in a few weeks. 
Mitten Film Nerd 
Leave a comment