Ok, so last year’s Sweet 16 was the closest rounds of voting we have ever had. This year’s group of 16 on the other hand was full of blowouts with the exception of one extremely close game. That one, which we will get to momentarily was back and forth or tied every time I checked. Neither movie ever got more than a 2 vote lead.

The Regional Finals begins now and voting will end Wednesday, March 31 at 5pm Central. Our Final 4 and regional winners will be announced and start the ultimate battle for Holiday movie supremacy on April Fools Day. Good luck with making up your mind on some of these.

But first — Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.

CLASSIC REGION

(2) A Christmas Story vs(3) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Our first Classic match-up was difficult to choose for me. These two are absolute must watch every year. Y’all had no such struggle in what to choose as our 2 seed A Christmas Story falls to the 3 seed Christmas Vacation by a final of 62-38.

(4) Home Alone vs (9) The Santa Clause

The 9 seed The Santa Clause was a Cinderella story I absolutely did not see coming, taking down some of the strongest contenders in the field. The magic comes to an end in the Sweet 16 as 4 seed Home Alone set all the traps and got the win 67-33.

MODERN REGION

(1) Elf vs (5) The Holiday

Our 1 seed in the Modern Region Elf just went OFF against plucky 5 seed The Holiday. The Holiday tried to make it look better than it really was at the end but the final here is 77-23.

(2) How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) vs (11) Four Christmases

Four Christmases was a fun little Cinderella story as well, getting to the Sweet 16 from the 11 seed. Notice I said was. Because they ran into a buzzsaw of a 2 seed in Jim Carrey’s version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Ol’ Grinchy sent ’em packing 79-21.

ANIMATED REGION

(1) Charlie Brown Christmas vs (4) The Nightmare Before Christmas

“Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” Beating the snot out of beloved 4 seed The Nightmare Before Christmas apparently. 1 seed Charlie Brown Christmas kept plowing through the competition, winning this match-up in their closest game of the tournament so far 67-33.

(2) How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) vs (3) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I really had no idea what to do here. Both of these movies are absolute legendary status. I went back and forth so many times before I cast my vote. The voters had my same issue. 2 seed How The Grinch Stole Christmas found a razor thin one vote win against 3 seed Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 51-49. Don’t ever say your vote doesn’t count!

NON-TYPICAL REGION

(1) Die Hard vs (13) Batman Returns

The biggest Cinderella of our tournament was a horribly underseeded 13 in Batman Returns. I’m going to have a serious talk with whoever seeded these things. *Ducks* They fought harder than expected, but the road to the Regional Final was cut short as they ran into a really strong 1 seed Die Hard. The final in this one was 63-37.

(2) Scrooged vs (3) Gremlins

The last game in the Sweet 16 was a match-up of two movies I haven’t seen in a few years. This will be rectified this Christmas season. In the end 2 seed Scrooged found a way to another win, pouring cold water on the upstart 3 seed Gremlins by a final of 65-35.

So after two weeks of games and some legit shocking upsets and Cinderella runs, we end up with a Regional Finals that consists of three 1/2 and a 3/4 match-ups. And honestly the 3 and 4 seeds in the Classic Region in Christmas Vacation and Home Alone very well could have been a 1 or 2 seed. Also two of the final 8 teams left, a full 25% of the remaining field, is versions of The Grinch.

That leaves us with our bracket looking like this:

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Elite 8

CLASSIC REGION

MODERN REGION

ANIMATED REGION

NON-TYPICAL REGION

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Alright y’all, with that, the Regional Finals are all set. Time to see who is our favorite in each category. Let’s get to voting! See you guys on Thursday, April 1 with our Final 4!