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Share this poll, because the more votes the better.
Opinions! We all have them. Find out what people really think with polls and surveys from Crowdsignal.
Agreed with those who say Ace in the Hole is no A Face in the Crowd. How could you do this to us?! Bridge was an easy vote for me here.
Ace in the Hole is Wilder's most biting screenplay. Kurt Douglas is absolutely brilliant. River Kwai is great, but I'll be returning to Ace in the Hole year after year.
If A Face in the Crowd were in the running, I'd push it all the way up the hill. It missed the play-in? It shouldn't have required that in the first place, and that it lost out only means too few has seen it. It bests both Ace in the Hole and Network at each of their own games, and it's one of the best movies of its decade, top 10, top 5, top 3 even.
Kwai is an entertaining Lean epic. But Ace is possibly my favorite noir: dark, funny, poignient, cinematic. I give my vote to Ace simply because of its uniqueness.
The first example of a struggle I think I will have often during this tournament. How to compare a film I watched 20 years ago to one I watched much more recently. It's been so long since I've seen Kwai that I scarcely remember more than its truly iconic conclusion. On the other hand, I came to Ace in the Hole in my Letterboxd era and can consult my notes. Turns out it's a masterpiece. As I agonized over this pick - one of only two first round matchups that gave me much pause - I came to realize that I value a film being iconic a great deal. Alec Guinness' character in this film is one of the most memorable and fascinating in the history of cinema. Watching this as a teen targeting Best Picture winners gave me a - likely misplaced - sense of faith in the Academy. I ultimately let these factors sway my vote. I might as well have flipped a coin.
I'm sad to see that A Face in the Crowd lost the play in; I would have voted for it here if I could. While I really like Ace in the Hole, I have to give my vote to River Kwai. I love the tension of whether it's glorifying war or arguing against it and Sir Alec Guinness is absolutely perfect as Colonel Nicholson. Plus, it has the iconic final line that this ridiculous tournament is named after, so it has to make it to round two, right?