The "Summer Movies of 1998" bracket marches on, taking only a brief pit stop to harken back to the days of the VHS cassette.
One would be remiss to hold a tournament of the great summer movies from 1998 and not mention the glory that was the VHS tape.
Various instances throughout my youth had me attached to certain cassettes owned by my family. Star Wars was likely the most played, and easily memorized, among the bunch, followed by such hits as Airplane! and, later, the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. (Of which I watched recently, surprised to learn I still knew much of the dialogue).
Throw in a tapes that included the Gobots and various other cartoons along side recorded NCAA national title games and my youth was set.
Later on, in the summer of 1998 and 1999 and my sports 'career' finished, a love for movies re-entered my life. I spent hours with the VCR I purchased with my first tax return a few years prior. A VCR that remains in my possession to this day.
Multiple trips a week were made to the supermarket video rental department, renting classics like Snake Eyes, The Big Lebowski, Can't Hardly Wait, and, for some reasons only my 18-year old mind can explain, 1995's National Lampoon's Senior Trip. (Starring, believe it or not, the great Jeremy Renner.)
The VHS tape was made to last, unless of course the VCR decided to make a mess of things upon the act of kindly rewinding. For what seemed like the longest time (which was probably only five years), weekend nights were spent perusing the aisles of video rental stores (later, Blockbuster) looking for the next great title, the next great scare, or even watching a classic for the tenth time.
DVD and Blu-Ray certainly have their qualities, but there's nothing like popping in old tape, reading the FBI warning and hoping the tracking will correct itself as you settle in for two hours of entertainment, popcorn at the ready.
June region, round 1 results
Christina Ricci and The Opposite of Sex may have lost their first round matchup in the May region to Warren Beatty's Bulworth, but she rebounded nicely in the June region.
Ricci and writer, director, and star of Buffalo '66 Vincent Gallo rallied as the 14th-seed to move onto the round of 32, upsetting the third-seed A Perfect Murder.
Buffalo '66, also starring Anjelica Huston, Ben Gazzara, Rosanna Arquette and Mikey Rourke, will face Mulan in the round of 32.
A look at the pairings for the next round.
- 1) Dr. Dolittle
- 8) Can't Hardly Wait
- 5) Six Days/Seven Nights
- 4) The X-Files
- 6) Mulan
- 14) Buffalo '66
- 7) Out of Sight
- 2) The Truman Show
July region, round 1 results
Upsets continued to hold strong in the July region, with both BASEketball and Jane Austen's Mafia! both succeeding in being voted in against higher grossing box office movies.
July might also be dubbed the "Jay Mohr" region, thanks to both of his movies (Small Soldiers and Mafia! advancing to the next round. Will fans keep the momentum going and give us an all Jay Mohr regional final?
Round of 32 matchups for the July region:
- 1) Saving Private Ryan
- 8) Small Soldiers
- 5) The Mask of Zorro
- 13) BASEketball
- 6) There's Something About Mary
- 14) Mafia!
- 7) Ever After
- 2) Armageddon
Voting for the August region is nearly complete, with voting for the next round beginning Monday July 30. Keep an eye on Twitter.
photo credit of VHS: commons.wikimedia.org
To find out more about Jason, be sure to visit jason-haskins.com
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