'40s Madness Sweet 16: An Upset Brewing?

17:25Adam Kempenaar:I think it's going to be our first and maybe only, maybe only upset of the entire tournament. You heard it here first. Bicycle Thieves is not just eating your cultural vegetables. It's essential cinema and both films in this matchup will slash should leave you in tears. I'm going with Bicycle Thieves, but you could flip a coin.

17:51Josh Larsen:This was the hardest to pick personally for me of all these matchups for many of the reasons you said brief encounter you know as i i mentioned earlier it's it's in the lightweight lean division right compared to the likes of lawrence of arabia or bridge on the river kawaii but pound for pound maybe his best if you look at it that way but what do you do with bicycle thieves i mean as as you said key film in all of cinema history, just a turning point toward neoreal realism. Also just the entire notion of global cinema opening up on American shores, a crucial text for cinema studies overall. But you made the point, Adam, no vegetables here, hugely moving as well, right?

18:39Josh Larsen:That's where you might think, okay, I've found a point of difference that'll help me at least make a decision? Am I going to go with emotions with brief encounter and go with appreciation, cinematic appreciation with bicycle thieves? That's not going to help you in this case, because you could flip that either way. I don't know right now where I'm going. I'm going to have to give it some more thought.

19:01Adam Kempenaar:Of course, the movie we've mentioned a ton on this show, the drama is the big movie to see this weekend. And Josh, I have a colleague at work who has seen this trailer and mentioned to me something that I don't think will in any way affect your experience with the movie. I haven't seen the trailer. I'm guessing you haven't either. And they said that based on their viewing, the sound and the sound design is something that may be an intriguing aspect of this movie. Not necessarily something I would have imagined just based on the plot synopsis of the film. So I have that in mind and that's something I'll be paying attention to maybe a little closer.

19:40Adam Kempenaar:And that's something really you can only get from that theatrical experience. Coming soon too, April 9th, coming to a Regal Cinema near you, Riz Ahmed in another version of Hamlet. And I've seen some videos online where he's talked about the approach that they're taking to Hamlet. Seems a very different approach than say the Hamlet we saw recently in Hamnet and other recent Hamlet adaptations. That has me very curious. And then the other thing I want to highlight that Regal has been doing lately, and we've called a few of these out. We've drawn your attention to this, but they've been doing a bunch of repertory screenings, really good repertory programming.

20:21Adam Kempenaar:And one of those they have coming up now or coming soon, April 5th through the 8th. So Sunday, April 5th starting and then running for four days, Hong Kong cinema classics, the killer, John Woo's the killer. How about getting to see John Woo's the killer on the big screen? That's not how you and I got to see, got to experience the killer for the first time. We had to watch that right on DVD or who knows, maybe even a VHS for the first time. Would love to have that experience on the big screen. And with Regal Unlimited, maybe you could see any of those movies we were just talking about for free because Regal Unlimited is the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits.

21:01Adam Kempenaar:Right now, Regal is offering FilmSpotting listeners endless movies for less. If you sign up for Regal Unlimited using the code FILMSPOT26, you'll get 15 % off. Regal Unlimited is the only truly limitless movie subscription pass. You can see any standard 2D movie anytime with no blackout dates or restrictions. And you don't just save money on tickets. You also save on snacks. Members get 10 % off all non-alcoholic concessions. All you have to do is sign up now in the Regal app or at the link in our description and use code FILMSPOT26 to receive your discount. okay the temporary abstention i i like that approach we have to take that you get one per round we'll just make that a rule all right we all get at least one per round play that card here yeah okay our fourth matchup is the number four seed billy wilder's double indemnity up against another hitchcock rebecca i'm gonna throw some reasoning in here that really sometimes we

22:05Josh Larsen:have to get to at this point, some criteria, some logic when you're faced with a difficult decision in film spotting madness. And this has probably come up over the years to some degree or another, but if you have two movies that, you know, in this case, Rebecca, double indemnity as a critic, I probably appreciate them both equally. Well, sometimes you just have to lean into personal experience when you saw the movie, who you saw it with, let that be your deciding factor. So in this case, Rebecca, I saw at a revival screening in a restored movie palace in downtown LA. This was with my family on a trip maybe eight years ago or so now.

22:42Josh Larsen:And since it's become a family favorite, that's the reasoning I'm going to give where I'm going Rebecca. Other than that, I have no critical acumen to add. Okay.

22:55Adam Kempenaar:I knew once you started talking about experience and And if nostalgia in any way was going to play a role, I knew double indemnity was sunk because you just watched double indemnity for the first time as part of our Barbara Stanwyck marathon. That was a major cinematic blind spot for you. You had to cross that one off.

23:12Josh Larsen:And you think, you know, that there's more another logic, another tactic you can employ. Recency bias is saying, well, you know, I've seen that one more recently and I can remember it more vividly. Maybe I'll lean that way. Yeah. In this case, not helping me out. I'm going Rebecca.

23:27Adam Kempenaar:Yeah. actually recency bias versus vividness the what's more vivid is actually that memory from your past in your in your mind and you're going with with rebecca so yeah for me couldn't smash the vote button for double indemnity hard enough easy choice one of the easiest choices of the entire tournament now that that was not the case when we get to our next matchup the third man the fifth seed versus the Maltese Falcon. We have in the Maltese Falcon, the second of three Humphrey Bogart movies and the first of two John Houston movies we're going to mention. This is a bit of a tough choice for me because of my appreciation, certainly for the Maltese Falcon.

24:14Adam Kempenaar:And I'm going to say it for the last time, I think, how long it has been since I've seen the third man. I am leaning the third man. And I think the third man is definitely going to win. I think it's going to win fairly easily too, but I do Josh really, and I'm saying it out loud to force myself. I do now I knew it was going to advance, or I thought it would advance pretty easily. Now that we're here and we're up against the likes of the Maltese Falcon in the sweet 16, I do really want to watch it again before it goes up against, if it advances, it will go up against double indemnity. Now, I want to be clear.

24:55Adam Kempenaar:I do not see a world where it, for me, defeats double indemnity, where I vote against double indemnity because the fact is double indemnity might be my number one seed in this tournament. That's how much I love that film. But I still want to give it a fighting chance in my mind. I want to give the third man a fighting chance. I know that's how some people feel about that film. That's how highly they regard it. And I feel like I'm sleeping on the third man a little bit. So I'm going to pick it. But before next round, I think I'm going to revisit the third man.

25:30Josh Larsen:You know, we don't talk about that as much. We often talk about, you know, doing homework for madness and an excuse to catch up with things we haven't seen. But yeah, also a great excuse to revisit these wonderful movies that it's been a while. I actually, and you know, how I fare in our prediction brackets will tell you how much stock you should put in this. I thought this might be the toughest one to predict of this round, just because you think of some lists of the top film noirs of all time, and both of these might be in the top five for some people, possibly. Third Man and Maltese Falcon.

26:06Josh Larsen:Does Bogart put Maltese over the top? Does Third Man's Vienna Sewer Chase counteract any star power? I think that's very possible. that that's, um, you know, a sequence that sticks in your memory more than a star performance in some ways. So you're probably right. Uh, I, I think, I don't know where my prediction bracket landed or if I had to make this choice, but sitting here right now, uh, it's tougher for me, but I think you're probably right. Third man will take it, but I'm not really sure with this one. Okay.

26:41Adam Kempenaar:The next matchup. This is Hawks v. Hawks. Oh, I'm sorry. That's our next one. I'm already jumping ahead to what I think is the much tougher matchup, the more interesting matchup. I think we can probably glide past pretty quickly as I tried to just ignore it. Number two, Citizen Kane versus number 15, the Philadelphia story. Do you have anything to say about that, Josh? yeah i don't think that's going to go well for the philadelphia story unfortunately no i don't think it nor should it stand a chance against kane and i don't know that we need to dwell on this part either but i was actually thinking and i don't i truly don't mean this as a huge slight against the philadelphia story it's in the top 16 for a reason but which movies in the top 16 realistically could the Philadelphia story beat.

27:33Adam Kempenaar:There's a reason why it's number 15 as well. You know, maybe Notorious, but honestly, if you put those two head to head, I think Notorious probably wins. I think the selection committee probably failed on that one. I don't know. Yeah.

27:47Josh Larsen:I mean, it's definitive Catherine Hepburn and you know, that goes a long way. Yeah. It goes a long way for folks. So yeah, it's by no means do we mean to slight it at all. But when you're coming up against Kane this relatively early in the tournament, few films are going to fare well.

28:07Adam Kempenaar:Yes. So here we are. The seven versus the 10 in the real March Madness tournament. We get a lot of upsets here. It's going to be Hawks upsetting himself, potentially. His Girl Friday versus the Big Sleep. deep screwball comedy versus hard-boiled detective, right? This may be the thing that ultimately decides it for a lot of people. And I think I'm showing my hand, Josh, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell versus Bogey and McCall. And this isn't the right grounds to make your choice probably, but with the Maltese Falcon out, I guess you have the third man, as you said, but do you need a great, a true hard-boiled detective noir to advance?

28:56Adam Kempenaar:Or does it feel like you do? It is the big sleep, the one. At the same time, Bogie's good to go with Casablanca. You know he's going to advance there. Cary Grant then is going to potentially be out, right, with his girl Friday. So.

29:13Josh Larsen:Yeah, I think we've seen with directors, voters don't necessarily think that way. I mean, sometimes we do falling into predictions perhaps, but maybe some people will think about in terms of what stars we're losing. I mean, great stars are in this matchup for sure. The thing for me between these two is, and I'll preface this by saying that I love the big sleep. I also would include it among those great noirs. It always comes with this massive caveat, no one knows what the heck is going on. It doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter. It truly doesn't. Labyrinthine plots come with the territory with noir, but this is particularly convoluted.

29:56Josh Larsen:And it's just something that seems to always be acknowledged, even in the greatest appreciations of the big sleep. I don't know that his girl Friday has a flaw. I mean, we could talk about whether there is or is not a perfect movie, but this is one that is clicking on every single cylinder. Maybe for me, at least, that's why I don't see this one as too tough to choose or predict, but I could be wrong.

30:22Adam Kempenaar:It's funny you say that though, and I don't want to digress into it because it's been years since I've seen The Big Sleep and I don't want to claim to know that text really well, but I truly don't think of that even, Josh, as a flaw because it's one of those things where in the moment of the storytelling, I'm not aware of it as a viewer. It's only after the fact when you're unpacking it, do you go, oh, that was never really resolved. That was introduced and it didn't matter. So it feels like a very minor, if at best a flaw, if as a storytelling element in the moment, you're not questioning it as a viewer.

31:02Adam Kempenaar:Everything else about it is working so completely that it truly doesn't matter. And for me, even though His Girl Friday, and it does matter to me that it's an all-time journalism movie, I suppose, Bogey and Bacall, and I think The Big Sleep of the two is the more quintessential Hawks film. And on those grounds, I'm going Big Sleep. That would be my pick.

31:26Josh Larsen:There's a lot to distract you. There's a lot of sexiness to distract you in The Big Sleep so that you don't notice those plot issues. That's for sure. Yes.

31:34Adam Kempenaar:Okay. So I'm going with the upset, even though I, I don't know that that's the way it's going to play out. His girl Friday probably wins, but I'd pick the 10 seed if I could, if I, if that mattered, let's move on. We have two more matchups, Josh, the third seed. It's a wonderful life up against the best years of our lives is, is the best years of our lives going to be our Cinderella, the 14 seed, is that effectively going to be the Cinderella of our tournament?

32:09Josh Larsen:Did I, did I say I already used my, I don't want to pick now card because I'll give you another one. I should maybe have saved it for this. Um, you know, the, the, the catch here is again, on first passing first thought, I, I think, you know, I'm going to go with the grittier, the best years of our lives. And then I always do this with, it's a wonderful life. I remember how steeped in depression and just grim reality It's a Wonderful Life is, despite where it ends up and how we maybe immediately think of it in our memory. I mean, it's been described as a noir itself in some ways. And I think you could make that case.

32:52Josh Larsen:So these are closer in my mind, even in tone, the more I think about it, which makes it more difficult for me. Here I'll use the film spotting bump qualifier to maybe help me make my choice. I do think of The Best Years of Our Lives as more of a film spotting movie than It's a Wonderful Life. So maybe that's how I'll feel better. I'll sleep better about voting for best years over It's a Wonderful Life.

33:25Adam Kempenaar:Yeah, it's hard when you're talking about a film. you know it's one thing when you're talking about a movie like Rebecca that you can trace back to a certain point in your life and it means something to you perhaps but it's a wonderful life for so many of us certainly so many of us of a certain generation sort of like the Wizard of Oz when we only had so many channels on TV and yes we are old enough to to have been at the tail end of that Right. That was an event that was still an event to watch. It's a wonderful life. And it meant something to my dad when that came on television and he forced you and you were reluctant at first to watch it.

34:06Adam Kempenaar:And then, of course, you gave in and you look forward to watching. It's a wonderful life. So the thought of that, of voting against it seems insane. And I was so confident, Josh, about saying that I was going with the best years of our lives. And then I remembered that when you're having difficult choices like this, that what we're supposed to do in these madness circumstances is we're supposed to apply the incinerator rules. like it's lost the one you're voting against is lost to time forever and it hit me that it would almost be like it's a wonderful life had never been born and could I live with that and despite all of that guess what I'm still picking the best years of our lives I'm still picking it if you don't want to be responsible I already admitted it I'll take the hit as hard as it is I just I do really think it's the I think it's the better film and and it means more to me right now at this point in my life than it's a wonderful life does maybe that that tells me something and what it's telling me is I'm due I'm dramatically due for a rewatch of it's a wonderful life but

35:23Josh Larsen:that's where I'm at right now I mean that's a good point if if you do a a sit down concentrated incinerated maybe just you viewing of It's a Wonderful Life, like the film critic viewing, right? Never done that. Yeah, right? That would be different. And you might notice and appreciate other things. And it would just add to your genuine nostalgic and rightful appreciation for the movie. And that might bump it over the top. But for now, you and me, we're both throwing it in the incinerator.

35:57Adam Kempenaar:Yes. Okay. Red shoes. We don't need no stinking red shoes. We'll see because we have the archers, perhaps their greatest film, the red shoes versus the treasure of the Sierra Madre, the six seed versus the 11 seed. Josh, easy one for you.

36:15Josh Larsen:I'm going to have to do some mental gyrations here as well, because on their faces, probably esteem both of these movies equally. So how do I parse that? I'm going to do what I say. It seems like most voters, most listeners don't do and, and look at who's left in the tournament in terms of filmmakers. I do consider that. I think it's important as these brackets are representative of an era. And for me, Paul and Pressburger, the archers have to be on there at least for one more round. Now I actually have black narcissists is my favorite of their films. So I can't vote for that anymore. No, I have read.

37:02Josh Larsen:It had a tough draw.

37:02Adam Kempenaar:It went up against Casablanca early.

37:05Josh Larsen:Yeah. And, um, you know, that would have been, I would have loved to have seen that continue to march on red shoes. I think I probably have a second. So that being the case, I want the archers to be represented still. It's enough reasoning for me to vote for it here, but it's not easy.

37:22Adam Kempenaar:Yeah, I mean, I could say I'm going with the red shoes because I want to see at least one Archer's film continue in the tournament after having so many good films bow out. But this isn't a tough choice for me. And I really do like the treasure of the Sierra Madre quite a bit, but I love the red shoes. And we've answered this question quite a bit over the years when it's been posed to us or it's just come up in conversation. the marathons that have had the biggest impact on us and i think we we tend to go to similar answers the iranian cinema marathon was a big one of course the satijit ray marathon was a big one these were hugely influential right varda like those three i think i think those three for sure absolutely changed us and changed the way we view films and changed the way we not only think about film and talk about film, but regard cinema, our favorite films of all time.

38:25Adam Kempenaar:It complicated in the best way that conversation. But before you joined the show, if I'm recalling correctly, was when we had the archers marathon. And I came to that not knowing a single archers film and not even knowing that they were called the archers. I had heard of Powell and Pressburger. I had seen Michael Powell's peeping Tom because I had to watch that in film school, but I had not seen a Powell and Pressburger film. And so you can imagine how eyeopening that marathon was for me and seeing a film like the red shoes that, that for me, you know, and, and having a mindset about that film, a stupid, a completely naive, just, just growing up, I think a chorus line, the, the famous Broadway musical.

39:16Adam Kempenaar:And then of course the Michael Douglas, you know, movie version of that, the red shoes comes up in that, right. As, as the dancers talk about it. And so I always just equated it as this, as this ballet movie, you know, and growing up, even as I got into film, not knowing anything about the movie other than it's a ballet movie. Somehow that didn't particularly appeal to me, Josh. And so to watch it and realize that it's about everything, almost everything I care about in cinema and art and made by these incredible artists, it blew me away, to say the least. and it's an all-timer for me. So it certainly belongs for me in the top six of this marathon or of this tournament.

40:08Adam Kempenaar:And it's an easy choice for me ahead of most films in this tournament and certainly ahead of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. So that's why I'm going Archers. All right. We'll see if the Archers continue on to the next round. We will indeed. Now, let's talk a little bit about how the bracket prediction contest is playing out. Oh, boy. Well, we'll get to us in a second. We'll get to the better news here first. You may remember last week we had at least two people. I can't remember if there was a third or not, but there were at least two, Matthew Emery and Anthony Reich, who were tied for first place.

40:47Adam Kempenaar:And they remain tied for first place. All right. After round two, they have, they have perfect brackets, Josh. And we heard from Anthony after round one. This is what he said. First place in film spotting madness. What giddy heights. This needs to go on my CV. I am hoping my run of good fortune continues, but seeing as I just followed the seating into the next round two, turns out wise. Sometimes because it was just the film I preferred and sometimes because I really did not have much of an idea. So following your extensive research and seating just seemed like the sensible thing to do. If it doesn't all go wrong, I know Sam and Adam are to blame.

41:28Adam Kempenaar:I can live with that. Follow your own advice and expertise, gents. Thanks for all you do. I love the madness of madness. It brings joy to March. So I, of course, had to do a deep dive on their brackets. And it's worth noting that Anthony and Matthew did also follow the seeding for the final four through the championship. So they both have Casablanca, they have Citizen Kane, they have double indemnity, and it's a wonderful life. And they both have Casablanca defeating the one seed. Yes, defeating Citizen Kane, the two seed in the final. But there is one notable difference. And here's the thing.

42:13Adam Kempenaar:I put this in the notes earlier today that it will decide it, but I didn't fully reckon with the fact that there still could be a tie. Because Anthony's bracket title is of all the film brackets in all the towns in the world. So you know where he's going, right? Now, Matthews, I think he'd admit freely, is not as clever, but it's revealing. Matthew's bracket title is black and white. And then in parentheses, like chalk. So what he's referring to there is Matthew just went with the favorite for every single choice. He never picked an upset in any round throughout the entire tournament. Anthony actually deviated from that pattern and picked a few upsets in this round coming up the sweet 16.

43:04Adam Kempenaar:And those choices were, and these are smart choices. These are very strategic choices. Like we just talked about, he picked the number 11 treasure, the Sierra Madre over the number six red shoes. I think that's got a chance, Josh, don't you? Sure. Yeah. And then even better, I think I, I called this one. In fact, I think, I think this could be the for sure upset that we get number nine brief encounter over number eight bicycle thieves. So he called those two. Yeah, they'll have to separate themselves right after this round? Right, except what happens if only one of those two happens? Then they both only have one incorrect.

43:48Adam Kempenaar:So they each only have one incorrect. There's no tiebreaker. They each only have one wrong. So as of this recording, I did send both of them a note. and I said, since it could end up being a tiebreaker, who is your third round choice if it does play out to be double indemnity versus it's a wonderful life? And of course, they both could end up picking the same choice and that's not a tiebreaker. And we may just have to call it, we have co-winners, right? But I know, I know we'll have to do something, right?

44:25Josh Larsen:We've talked about, you know, when do we jump into YouTube live? I think this is the time for an an arm wrestling decision for the film spotting madness champion. And we'll just, we'll just have Matthew and Anthony roll up the sleeves, get on camera and arm wrestle.

44:42Adam Kempenaar:Or is it time for quiz master Thomas Todd in 1940s movie trivia or something? I mean, you know,

44:50Josh Larsen:I, I love Thomas. Not as fun. I mean, unless Thomas is going to judge the arm wrestling, I think I like my idea.

44:56Adam Kempenaar:You know, he would do that. He'd be happy to do that. He would absolutely do it. We'll see where it goes and we'll see what those answers are if they do, in fact, go with the same tiebreaker. And we'll see, in fact, if it matters because who knows? Maybe one of them gets both of these matchups correct. I don't know where the voting stands on either of those, but that is the one departure. So I do have to share this with you.

45:23Josh Larsen:Basically what you're telling me, Adam, is it's too late for me to upset both of them and take them down.

45:29Adam Kempenaar:Yeah, that's not that's not going to happen now. OK, I just got this just about an hour before recording, thankfully, because I love it so much. And I I didn't even want to put it in the notes because I didn't want you to see it. I wanted to get your reaction to this in real time. We heard from Anthony. Well, we also heard from Matthew Emery. And I mentioned to him, you know, how you took this all chalk, all top seat approach. I can't wait to hear. I can't wait to hear how you respond. to Matthew, who clearly is a listener after my own heart. He said this, absolutely, your seeds were too good.

46:09Adam Kempenaar:I'm a numbers guy, so I collected a ton of data about all the movies in this tournament. Letterboxd score, IMDb votes and rating, director, genre, English audio. I don't know what he's saying about film spotting listeners there. If it's been featured on the show, nothing I added to the model. How was your model, Josh? Go on. Just go on. Nothing I added to the model improved it enough to pick against a seed. I think this is for two reasons. You and Sam take into account all the things I mentioned above. Upsets truly are upsets. Your seeds didn't have any systematic weaknesses I could exploit. We're kind of like the Terminator, like the T-1000, I think.

46:55Adam Kempenaar:while I have you, I just wanted to thank you for running the tournament again. You got me to watch new favorites like late spring, my darling Clementine, and I know where I'm going. Another archers movie there. So we're talking weaknesses, systematic weaknesses, models, all of the different factors he's throwing into the algorithm. Josh, it's, it's just, it's, it's, it's my love language. I think I don't, I don't think Netflix killed cinema. I think Matthew did. Well, I'm with him. We're together. We're in the boat going down with the movies. Wow. Thank you, Matthew. Thank you, Matthew, for that fun and getting to watch Josh react in real time to that.

47:39Adam Kempenaar:That was all worth it. We'll see how that plays out. It will be a it will be a Matthew Emery or Anthony Reich champion, or it will be a tie unless we come up with something clever. Like Josh wants to sell tickets to a wrestling match. Yeah. Hey, okay. As for the internal contest, the two of us producer, Sam madness, Godfather, Mike Merrigan in Dover, New Hampshire. Last week I was a hundred and first. I missed three. That's a hundred and first, obviously out of the entire tournament. This week, I'm still in the lead between the four of us. I moved up to 54th. I only missed one in the Sweet 16.

48:24Adam Kempenaar:Fantasia from round one. You know, I knew I had that crossed off. So that's the one I missed. Mike Merrigan, he was 120th this week, still in second, but he moved up to 81st. He also missed one. The Great Dictator was the one he lost. That went down 69 to 31 to treasure of the Sierra Madre. Sam, last week he was 181st. This week he's still in third place in our tournament, but he's up to 118th. He lost one. It was Mildred Pierce. Okay. Someone hasn't been named yet. In this crazy, chaotic world, I love that there's at least, it's not a constant, but I love that we're at least, we're getting back to basics like we're at least getting back to a world where i can count on josh being bad at film spotting madness like it's supposed to be you had a few anomalies it messed with my head yeah now we're getting back to the way i don't know what our head-to-head

49:30Josh Larsen:record is but i'm sure somebody with no life could put a chart together on that matthew where are you

49:36Adam Kempenaar:help me last week you were 202nd this week you're still in fourth you have dropped to 260th hey you

49:46Josh Larsen:know my goal was to stay in the 200s so i'm i'm sitting pretty i was gonna say there are at least

49:53Adam Kempenaar:like 200 people doing worse than you you could look at it that way i'll take so i'll take that you had sullivan's travels over notorious you had life and death over philadelphia you had spellbound which spellbound didn't make it past the big sleep last round and yes you also thought mildred pierce yeah would win so you you should have known better a little bit yeah you struggled a little better on mildred pierce now what's going to be interesting about how it plays out from here for us i don't know how different our sweet 16 matchups are i didn't dig in that much but here's what I know. You, me, and Sam all have the same final four, which is pretty much the top, the top four seeds.

50:37Mike Merrigan went against the grain a little bit.

50:41Adam Kempenaar:He has the third man upsetting double indemnity and making it to the final four. So, obviously that could be the decider. But just like last year, and this ended up hurting me, I don't know if you recall this, but I decided to be bold and I shot my shot. And I said, I know that it's going to come down to Mulholland drive and there will be blood. And I figure everyone's going to pick, there will be blood. And I actually think Mulholland drive has a chance. And not only that, if I'm going to separate myself i should pick mulholland drive i'll win well mulholland drive lost and i lost so this year i thought i think people are going to pick casablanca i understand why that's the popular choice going heart overhead but i think at the end of the day more film spotting listeners just realized that the 800-pound gorilla that is Citizen Kane is the choice, and Citizen Kane is going to beat Casablanca, and I'm going to separate myself from Josh and Sam and Mike Merrigan, and I'm going to pick Citizen Kane.

51:54Adam Kempenaar:And that's what I did. So once again, I'm the only one who picked differently for the champion.

51:58Josh Larsen:That's interesting because I thought I was, and I've seen some of the bracket predictions coming by, I thought I was the only one zagging by going Casablanca,

52:07Adam Kempenaar:But it looks like a lot of people, a lot of people went that predictive route.

52:12Josh Larsen:So I think, you know, as, as chalk as this has been, I think we are heading to a thrilling finale here. That's going to be tight and revealing. And yeah, I just feel like I heard that I'm still in the race essentially. So I'll take it. I mean, sure.

52:32Adam Kempenaar:You certainly are because I, I could lose. And there's no doubt about that. Casablanca absolutely could take this and could take it by a lot. That matchup is still ahead, isn't it, Josh, if it does come down to the one versus the two. We will see. Sweet 16 polls are open now. They close at 11.59 p.m. Central Time, Monday, April 6th. And the Elite Eight polls will open on Tuesday the 7th at noon. All of this information is available. Filmspottingmadness.com. That is our show for this week, Josh.

53:07Josh Larsen:Film Spotting is independently produced and listener supported. You can support the show by joining the Film Spotting family at filmspottingfamily.com. You can listen early and ad-free that way. You'll also get monthly bonus episodes, a weekly newsletter, and access to the entire show archive. We're produced by Golden Joe Disseau and Sam Van Hulgren. Without Sam and Golden Joe, this show wouldn't go. Our production assistant is Sophie Kempinar. Special thanks to everyone at WBEZ Chicago. More information is available at WBEZ.org. For Film Spotting, I'm Josh Larson. And I'm Adam Kempinar.

53:44Adam Kempenaar:Thanks for listening. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

53:57Adam Kempenaar:This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. After the big game, like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials, and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, and it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who is Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself. But the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the big game, it's worth thinking about.

54:30Adam Kempenaar:And if you want to show support, sharing the blue square is one small way to do that. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast.

54:42Josh Larsen:Arranged marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy and a lot of cringe. Listen to Boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.