I!'s 100 Posts, 100 Baits: The List 100-91

Michael: Back in April of 2006 a contest was born. Created by Johnny Alba, I don’t think anyone thought it would ever reach the popularity it has reached today. Mimicking a real Oscar season, the contest originated without even Big 8 awards and with just creativity awards, most of which do not still exist today, and very little forum activity. Over the next few months, many authors make their debut in the contest, the discussion would grow, and the baits would evolve.

After 18 months of the contest, 845 baits have been submitted and one day I thought it was about time to name the best. I contacted a few authors and asked if they thought it would be a good idea to do an official Top 100 Baits of All-Time and they all thought it was a fantastic idea. So we came up with a list of 150 baits that were eligible to be in our Top 100. So now we’ve crunched the numbers and come up with a list that we think is the best it can be, so I know you are all looking forward to the first part of I!’s 100 Posts, 100 Baits.

The bait that snatched the 100th place in our countdown is the first of a few Pat baits to make it into the list. It’s an ensemble bait, that was virtually ignored at the precursors, but managed to receive 2 Oscar nominations and even pulled off a Best Crew win, it’s none other than Tavistock Place…

Narrator: Tavistock Place was released in January of 2007 and despite minimal buzz managed to place 15th in the Average Bait Scores.

(Interview)

Zgamer: I think what really intrigued me about this bait was how well it both copied and distinguished itself from Frears’ The Queen. By mixing a realistic and haunting story with a good (but way too bloated by our standards) cast, Pat really struck a cord with the other readers.

Narrator: Scoring 2 Oscar nominations, in the Best Crew and Cast categories, It would go on to win Best Crew and receive an Honorable Mention.

(Interview) Daniel: It’s an extremely emotional and great ensemble piece.

Title Card: The 100th Place bait…

Title Card: Pat’s Tavistock Place

Michael: Bryce entered the baiting world in November of 2006. While he is one of the newer prominent authors on the site, it didn’t stop because in his first month he released a bait that would go on to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This brings us to the 99th placed bait, Watts…

Narrator: Telling the story of the Watts riots, Bryce debuted relatively strong in the contest. While only scoring 1 nomination at the Oscars, the bait managed to pick up the win and it was a Big 8 award.

(Interview)

Daniel: A perfect Spike Lee project.

Zgamer: Looking past Bryce’s grammar mistakes, Watts is actually a very baity and interesting story, with a good cast and crew. I think that in the end the characters made the bait so much better, especially Samuel L. Jackson’s (who deserved his Oscar win).

Title Card: The 99th bait on the list…

Title Card: Bryce’s Watts

Michael: As we just mentioned Bryce was a completely new author when he wrote Watts, and now yet another new author gets our 98th place on the list. Ryne entered the contest in January of 07 and has stopped sense. Releasing such baits as MLK, Budapest, and Trading Countries he quickly made a name for himself as an author who would have anything as his subject. Then came Green River…

(Interview)

Zgamer: It took me a couple re-reads, but I finally see why this was liked as much as it was. I have to give kudos to Ryne for writing a story with a great cast and a good though long progression of the plot.

Narrator: Green River opened to mixed reviews, but those who loved it, really did love it. Though it had no major precursor nominations, it did score 3 Oscar nominations.

Daniel: Amazing casting of Alan Rickman. This would work well as a film.

Title Card: 98th Place goes to

Title Card: Ryne’s Green River

Michael: Our first comedy to hit the list is one of the widely embraced comedies of the contest. Starring the always great Jennifer Tilly, it is truly a great comedy. Written by Douglas Reese, A Work of Fiction was a breakthrough in the comedy genre and proved that a smart fun comedy could be loved.

(Interview)

Daniel: I remember reading a scene from this on the forums and knew then how good of a film this would make.

Narrator: Opening to little buzz, A Work of Fiction became a bait that was frowned upon at first, but everyone grew to love it in retrospect. Surprisingly Jennifer Tilly came out of absolutely and won Best Actress at the authors, receiving the only award the bait was nominated for.

Zgamer: It’s obvious Douglass wasn’t trying to be controversial with the topic of the story. He was just trying to make it really charming and it paid off very well. Because getting Jennifer Tilly an Oscar must amount to something.

Title Card: 97th in our countdown is…

Title Card: Douglas Reese’s A Work of Fiction

Michael: All Alone was entered into the contest in June 2006. While there wasn’t as much forum activity as there would be in the coming months, there was still a good amount of buzz around one of Josh’s early baits.

Narrator: Making many people Top 10 lists, All Alone was getting a considerable amount of buzz considering the circumstances. It only received 1 Oscar nomination, but it ended up nabbing 12th place.

Daniel: This is full of great casting and crew.

Title Card: The 96th bait is…

Title Card: Josh P.’s All Alone

Michael: No one mourns the wicked. This is the opening song to the musical Wicked that was based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In July 2006, James Somerton adapted the book into a Fantasy entitled Wicked that would go on to become one of the best Best Actress vehicles ever in the contest.

Zgamer: To think we could have two versions of the same story and have both be great. Well, James did his part in this with his adaptation of the book, which won me over the first time I saw it.

Narrator: Based on the book by Gregory Maguire, James took the lesser know versions of the popular story and it gained enormous momentum after the month ended, but still receivied 3 Oscar nominations and won 1 for Idina Menzel as one of the best female characters to grace the contest.

Daniel: I prefer this version to the 2007 version. Simply put, this would be the better film.

Title Card: The 95th best bait…

Title Card: James Somerton’s Wicked (2006)

Michael: Brian from Arizona won his first Best Picture in June of 2006 for the bait, Contemporary Comedy. 7 months later, he would get just as much buzz, if not more, for the musical Balton Productions. Starring Harry Connick, Jr. this is one of the best Original Musicals to ever be released in the contest.

Narrator: It was loosely based on the story of the Shubert brothers and it had a good amount of buzz going into the Oscars. In one of the most surprise upsets in contest history, it won Best Picture Musical/Comedy over the widely praised Negatives. It ended up with 4 Oscar nominations and a whopping 7th place.

Daniel: A fantastic original musical..

Zgamer: When I read Balton Productions for the first time, I was stunned. It was truly the first time I had read and appreciated a great musical on the site. Plus, where else can you see Harry Connick Jr. competing for an Oscar? No where, and that's why it's great.

Title Card: Coming in at 94th place…

Title Card: Brian’s Balton Productions.

Michael: Zgamer entered the contest in July of 2006 and was quickly accepted getting a Best Picture nomination his first time out. 4 months later he released a bait that was praised for it’s take on the high school scene and it’s ensemble, it was titled “Listening”.

Zgamer: Listening came to me out of nowhere, but the story still rings in my ears. I loved writing this bait especially because it was the one I went through the most trouble for to get it posted.You’d have trouble too if the computer you used to write it crashed a few days before submission.

Narrator: In the powerhouse month of October, a ton of baits had a ton of buzz and even though it wasn’t at the top of pile, it had a good amount of buzz considering the month it was released in. It received absolutely no precursor love, being overshadowed by such baits as Live From New York, Fosse, and The Awakening. Though when Oscar time came around, it got 3 nominations and won Best Plot/Synopsis.

Daniel: If this were made, it would be the best high school movie ever made.

Title Card: Winning 93rd place…

Title Card: Zgamer’s Listening

Michael: As one of the first Cohn baits to hit the contest, this quirky comedy was a very polarizing story, that was embraced highly by one of the most prominent authors in the baiting world, Pat. Telling the story of Phineas Gage, The Curious Case of Phineas Gage is one of the crowning achievements of D.W. ….

Narrator: Early on in the month, it was obvious that The Curious Case of Phineas Gage would be pretty love or hate material. Unfortunately, it hardly received any precursor love, but it’s star Paul Giamatti tied Tim Robbins for Best Actor Musical/Comedy at the September Golden Globes. So when Oscar time came around, it wasn’t a surprise that it only received 1 nomination. Despite it’s failure, it still is known as one of the greatest comedies of the contest.

Daniel: The synopsis is one of my favorites ever written. Great casting and crew all around.

Zgamer: I think what won this bait its audience was its uniqueness. This was one of the earliest attempts at changing how the synopsis was to be written and it still works even now.

Title Card: The 92nd bait of all time is…

Title Card: D.W.’s The Curious Case of Phineas Gage

Michael: Well, after the end of this bait, I will be a bit before the next 10 will be announced. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t go out on a strong note. Yet another Pat bait is making this part of the list, and this is one of the strongest biopics to ever be submitted to the contest. Everyone has to agree that if the story of Terri Schiavo was ever told on screen it would be one of the most controversial films ever made, but that didn’t stop Pat from making a bait that would be a timeless classic.

Zgamer: Why was Bait An Oscar made? To showcase baity stories like this. Though a touchy subject, this has Oscar bait written all over it.

Narrator: Released in May of 2006, this is one of the first baits that would live forever as a fantastic biopic. Featuring the incredible casting of Emma Thompson as the dying Terri, it is one of the best casting choices in the history of the contest. Receiving 4 Oscar nominations (not including the Big 8) it was nominated in nearly half the categories and the most nominated bait of the month. However it lost Best Picture to Doubt, but managed to get 2nd place. In the unofficial Big 8, Thompson won Best Actress.

Daniel: This is one of my favorite casting choices ever. This would be so controversial if it came out but also very moving and would surely be a good film.

Title Card: Grabbing the 91st place in the countdown

Title Card: Pat’s Terri

Michael: Well that wraps up part of the ceremony, discuss anywhere you feel like it. And for all the losers who didn’t read the ceremony that I spent a lot of time on, here’s the list so far (I kid, but it would be appreciated for comments on the ceremony, or just to read it.)

91. Terri
92. The Curious Case of Phineas Gage
93. Listening
94. Balton Productions
95. Wicked (July 2006)
96. All Alone
97. A Work of Fiction
98. Green River
99. Watts
100. Tavistock Place