The month-long journey in deciding the best summer film of 1999 is coming to end with a match between South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut and American Pie.
Summer at the box office in 1999 certainly had its moments.
It started with the first new Star Wars movie in ages, something we are now accustomed to receiving almost every year. And, in the summer of 1999, it ended with a kid seeing dead people with the box office smash The Sixth Sense.
Both are no longer in this tournament. The Phantom Menace dropped out long ago while The Sixth Sense lost a close one in the final four, falling to American Pie by a single vote.
That's right. The horny kids from East Great Falls High have traveled all the way to the finals of this film tournament. It looks like Ostreicher (Chris Klein) finally got his wish of being known more than "just a kick ass lacrosse player".
This plucky film that could will be taking on South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut, which defeated Election in the final four. (Will this film make it two for two against Klein?)
South Park had only been on the airwaves since 1997 before making the leap to the big screen. Writing, creating, and producing a new episode in seven days, as Trey Parker and Matt Stone (plus others), is a daunting task. So with a feature film, given the time, Parker and Stone let the words in the title of bigger, longer, and uncut do all the talking.
And considering it took beloved pop culture series The Simpsons nearly 20 years to reach the big screen after its small screen debut, South Park should be applauded.
Parker and Stone had tried their hands at the big screen before, albeit the more traditional, non-animated route. While beloved in certain circles, neither Orgasmo (1997) nor BASEketball (1998) were a bona fide hit.
The South Park movie collected over 52 million at the domestic box office. The movie also featured celebrity cameos with the likes of George Clooney, Minnie Driver, Eric Idle, Brent Spiner, and Dave Foley all voicing characters in this feature.
Later showing their musical acumen in the Broadway smash-hit The Book of Mormon, the creators gave us a little taste with their academy nominated song from the film, Blame Canada.
South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut centers around the usual suspects of the television series. Cartman and friends see the R-rated movie starring their heroes, Terrence and Phillip. After, Cartman and the boys began to curse up a storm, causing parents in this sleepy Colorado town to blame the only ones they can think of: Canada.
American Pie
A throwback to the raunchy teen comedies of the 1980's, American Pie was not only a surprise hit, it became a franchise. The original crew -- well, most of them, at various times -- would appear in three more American Pie films, culminating in American Reunion. The franchise also spawned four direct-to-video films, under the guise of American Pie: Presents.
The original film went on to gross just over 102.5 million at the domestic box office. The movie launched the careers of directors Paul and Chris Weitz, who later co-directed and co-wrote About a Boy. Both have been involved as directors, albeit separately, in movies like In Good Company and Twilight: New Moon.
Little did we know at the time that this film about teenagers, sex, and pies would launch the careers of the ten actors central to the story.
The main character Jim, whose arc we followed through all four films, was played by Jason Biggs. Biggs had a few television credits to his name before making it big with American Pie. While he did headline a few movies of his own immediately after initial success, the franchise continued to be his moneymaker.
Jim's love interest in the films is Michelle, as played by Alyson Hannigan. Hannigan had made appearances on Roseanne and in the film Dead Man on Campus but was likely the most well-known of the young cast because of her role of Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hannigan later starred in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Two of Hannigan's female co-stars, Natasha Lyonne (Jessica) and Tara Reid (Vicky), may have been just as well-known, at least in some circles. Lyonne was an indie darling, thanks to her role in Slums of Beverly Hills. And she'd been in the business awhile, appearing in Pee Wee's Playhouse in multiple episodes. Lyonne is currently starring in Russian Doll on Netflix.
Reid, meanwhile, was in Days of our Lives at one point and also had roles in The Big Lebowski and Urban Legend. She continued to appear in films, including the ever-popular Sharknado series.
Another child actor of the bunch was Thomas Ian Nicholas (Kevin), who shot to fame as Henry Rowengartner in Rookie of the Year. He continues to act but has not quite had the profile as some of his co-stars.
Both Seann William Scott (Stifler) and Chris Klein (Ostreicher) saw their careers go from almost nothing to stardom overnight. William Scott had only appeared in music videos and commercials prior, but turned American Pie fame into more than a handful of comedic turns along co-stars like The Rock and Billy Bob Thornton.
Klein's first film was also in 1999, in the movie Election. He has appeared in multiple film and television projects since. including a nice turn in the United States version of the show Wilfred.
Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia), Mena Suvari (Heather), and Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch) also had minor roles in television shows prior to the film and both continue to act. Elizabeth appears a bit more sporadically, but recent just finished Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Suvari appeared later in 1999 in American Beauty and continues to show up on t.v. shows, including American Horror Story. Thomas has also acted consistently on television since.
Of course, the film also had its veteran actors, cameos, and future stars. Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Blink 182, and John Cho all appeared in the film
You've seen the films. You're caught up on the tale of the tape. Now, to pick a favorite. Voting can be done on both Twitter and Facebook. Happy voting!
photo credit: pixabay.com
Pt. 2: The movie 'Go'
Pt. 3: Blair Witch beckoned in 1999
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