Sup? It’s been a minute. After our hiatus that was totally for legit reasons and not me forgetting to finish this, we are back with the semifinals and we have two great matchups. Before we get into that though, here is a recap of how the quarterfinals went down.
The 25th seed He Got Game surprisingly got past the 17th seed The Karate Kid fairly easily, getting 61.9% of the votes.
A little closer but also surprising, in the battle of the Disney properties, the 34th seed Cool Runnings got through the 23rd seed Remember The Titans with 57.1% of the votes.
In a matchup that some “film buffs” would consider an upset, the 43rd seed Happy Gilmore blasted past the 30th seed Rocky with 64% of the votes.
Finally, the 44th seed White Men Can’t Jump continued it’s strong run, taking out the film with the most momentum, the 51st seed The Waterboy with 64% of the votes also.
Onto the semifinals!
25. He Got Game vs 44. White Men Can’t Jump
He Got Game
Stars: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen
Directed by: Spike Lee
RT Score: 82% (81% critic, 83% audience)
Path So Far: Beat 40th seed Invictus with 62.5% of votes. Got past the 57th seed BASEketball on a tie-breaker. Beat 41st seed Coach Carter with 63.6% of the votes. Beat 17th seed The Karate Kid with 61.9% of the votes.
White Men Can’t Jump
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson
Directed by: Ron Shelton
RT Score: 72.5% (77% critic, 68% audience)
Path So Far: Destroyed the 21st seed Friday Night Lights with 90% of the votes. Beat the 53rd seed Any Given Sunday with 77.8% of the votes. Beat the 60th seed Space Jam with 75% of the votes. Beat the 51st seed The Waterboy with 64% of the votes.
This is a tough matchup. The remaining two basketball films, one a very serious dramatic Spike Lee joint, the other a more fun film from frequent-sports movie director, Ron Shelton. He Got Game is the favourite if you go by the Rotten Tomatoes scores, however it’s hard to argue that White Men Can’t Jump has all the momentum, beating some serious fan favourites to get to this point.
34. Cool Runnings vs 43. Happy Gilmore
Cool Runnings
Stars: John Candy, Leon
Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
RT Score: 78.5% (76% critics, 81% audience)
Path So Far: Beat 31st seed Caddyshack with 83.3% of the votes. Beat 2nd seed Raging Bull with 69.2% of the votes. Swept the 15th seed Field of Dreams with 100% of the votes. Beat the 23rd seed Remember The Titans with 57.1% of the votes.
Happy Gilmore
Stars: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
RT Score: 73% (61% critic, 85% audience)
Path So Far: Swept the 22nd seed Major League, getting 100% of the votes. Dominated 11th seed Love & Basketball, getting 80% of the votes. Beat 6th seed The Fighter with 75% of the votes. Beat 30th seed Rocky with 64% of the votes.
I believe this matchup is even closer to the last, mainly due to the fact that both of these films have a heavy nostalgia factor added to them, and probably from the same people. For example, Cool Runnings was a favourite when I was a kid, and when I got to high school, Happy Gilmore was then very much one of my favourites. I am conflicted on this choice, and I bet I’m not the only one.
There we have it. The semifinals for this bracket. My apologies for the delay, and check out The Sportcodex on Twitter to follow along.
Until next time, PEACE!