Welcome back to day four of the Sportcodex Sports Movies brackets. Sorry for the missed day yesterday; internet issues. Today we are looking at the matchups of seeds 13-16 vs seeds 52-49. Before we get into those, a little recap of the last eight matchups and who is moving onto the next round.

The 60th seed Space Jam (still bogus that it was that low) beat the 5th seed Million Dollar Baby quite convincingly, garnering 58% of the votes. Justice prevailed and I am a happy camper (although Million Dollar Baby is good).

The 6th seed, The Fighter, didn’t care about G-Baby at all, gaining the biggest margin of victory yet when it eliminated Hardball with 80.6% of the votes.

Another fan favourite, the 58th seed Bloodsport, also didn’t have much luck, getting destroyed by the 7th seed Moneyball, which gained 77% of votes.

We did see another high seed eliminated though as the 8th seed Hoosiers lost to the 57th seed BASEketball, only getting 42% of votes.

Day Three seemed to be the day of upsets, with three of the four lower seeds pulling through. The 56th seed Kingpin convincingly beat the 9th seed Bull Durham, getting 61.5% of the votes. Luckily Kevin Costner has a few more appearances in this bracket.

Speaking of, the 55th seed For Love Of The Game beat out the 10th seed I, Tonya, with nearly 64% of the votes.

The one matchup that wasn’t an upset in this lot; the 11th seed Love & Basketball squeaked past another Kevin Costner entry, Draft Day, with 53.8% of the votes.

Finally, Any Given Sunday made light work of Rush, beating out the 12th seed with 64% of the votes.

With the recap out of the way, it’s onto the next round of matchups.

13. Warrior vs 52. Ali

Warrior is a 2011 MMA film spliced with a family drama (not to be confused with a “family-friendly” drama) directed by Gavin O’Connor (Miracle, The Accountant) and stars Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte, the latter being nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award. It features two estranged brothers entering into an MMA tournament for very different reasons andfeatures a whole lot of drama that unfolds along the way.

Ali is a 2001 biopic on the man who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, Muhammad Ali. It was directed by Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) and stars Will Smith, who was nominated for a Best Actor award, Jamie Foxx and Jon Voight. The film spans most of his career, including his change from Cassius Clay to Ali, and all the drama outside the ring as well.

Warrior sports an average RT score of 87.5%, whereas Ali has an average RT score of 66.5%. Both films are heavy on the drama, the main difference being one is fictional and one is based on the life of arguably the greatest boxer of all-time.

14. Slap Shot vs 51. Victory

Slap Shot is an ice hockey movie from 1977 directed by George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Sting) and stars Paul Newman. It tells the story of the Charlestown Chiefs, a minor league hockey team struggling to sell tickets to games. So they resort to hiring the Hanson brothers, three big meatheads who only know violence.

Victory (fka Escape To Victory) is an interesting hybrid as it is a WWII movie mixed with a soccer movie. It is directed by the legendary John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure Of Sierra Madre) and stars Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone. It is essentially The Longest Yard but for soccer, as it features a group of POW’s who take on the German national soccer team in a game of soccer.

Slap Shot sports an average RT score of 87%, compared to Victory’s average RT score of 67%. This is an interesting matchup as I don’t think either movie is very big in New Zealand. The thing about Victory though is that this isn’t young, before he was famous Sylvester Stallone. This is post-Rocky 1 & 2 Stallone. So while not the massive star he became, his star was rising.

15. Field Of Dreams vs 50. Lords Of Dogtown

Field Of Dreams is a 1989 baseball movie directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Sneakers, The Sum Of All Fears) and stars Kevin Costner (yet again), Ray Liotta and James Earl Jones. It tells the story of an Iowa farmer named Ray who hears voices telling him to build a baseball field in his cornfield.

Lords Of Dogtown is a 2005 true story directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen) and stars John Robinson, Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger. It tells the story of three young surfers from Venice Beach, Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams, who reinvent skateboarding into what it is today, and all the trouble that came with that.

Field of Dreams sports an average RT score of 86.5%, compared to Lords of Dogtown, which has an average RT score of 68%. Field of Dreams was one of the biggest drama movies of the late 80s, right around when Costner was a big star and has a pretty big place in the hearts of a lot of people my age. Lords of Dogtown is much more niche, but is quite popular with audiences in it’s own right, being yet another film dragged down by a bad critic’s score.

16. Miracle vs 49. Tin Cup

Miracle is a 2004 Disney true story directed by Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, The Accountant) and stars Kurt Russell and Patricia Clarkson. It tells the story of Herb Adams, a college hockey brought in to coach the U.S. Men’s Olympic team. The event this is based on is largely known as ‘the miracle on ice’ or ‘the miracle at Lake Placid.’

Tin Cup is a 1996 romantic comedy/golf movie directed by Ron Shelton (White Men Can’t Jump, Bull Durham) and stars, once again, Kevin Costner, as well as Rene Russo. It follows Roy McAvoy, a washed-up golf pro who tries to qualify for the US Open in order to win a woman’s heart.

Miracle sports an average RT score of 85.5%, compared to Tin Cup which has an average RT score of 68.5%. Despite it’s high RT score, Miracle is another film dragged down by a lower critic’s score and has an audience score of 90% and features an underrated Kurt Russell performance. Tin Cup is the fifth appearance of Kevin Costner already. Will he appear again? And does he get the title of King of Sports Movies, or does he need to win the tournament before he can get that?

Well, there are another four matchups in the book. Keep it locked here for the next four matchups that’ll be up (probably) tomorrow. No random factoid for you today so until next time, PEACE!