It wouldn't feel like March if you didn't fill out at least one bracket, so here ya go. Here at the blog, bracketology usually starts with 4 match-ups between 8 contenders, but for this special March Madness edition, I've created this bracket of 32 movie soundtracks from 1976-85 and we'll match them against each other, round by round, until a winner emerges. I based the seedings on each soundtrack album's peak position on the Billboard magazine album charts. For your enjoyment, a printable bracket is available by clicking on the thumbnail below:
Here's a look at the Siskel side of the bracket, which includes the 1 and 4 seeds:
I'll be out of pocket for a bit, so in the meantime, fill out your bracket(s) with your personal favorites and check back next week for the Sweet Sixteen round.
Most of these match-ups are total no-brainers for ol' Dirk. And for those of you looking to fill your brackets out CORRECTLY, feel free to copy off of my test (it's okay, teacher's got his back turned). – Hey, look... I've even provided handy little letter grades below!!
ReplyDeleteSiskel Bracket:
Saturday Night Fever — [Soundtrack: A+ / Movie: A+]
Thank God It's Friday — [Soundtrack: A- / Movie: D (But in a grrreat way!)]
St. Elmo's Fire — [Soundtrack: C / Movie: D-]
The Breakfast Club — [Soundtrack: B / Movie: A]
Streets Of Fire — [Soundtrack: C+ / Movie: C-]
Car Wash — [Soundtrack: B+ / Movie: (See "TGIF" above)]
The Blues Brothers — [Soundtrack: C+ / Movie: B-]
Footloose — [Soundtrack: A- / Movie: C+]
Ebert Bracket:
Grease — [Soundtrack: A / Movie: A]
Heavy Metal — [Soundtrack: C+ / Movie: C]
Flashdance — [Soundtrack: B- / Movie: C+]
FM — [Soundtrack: B / Movie: C-]
Beverly Hills Cop — [Soundtrack: B+ / Movie: B+]
Xanadu — [Soundtrack: B / Movie: D]
Vision Quest — [Soundtrack: B+ / Movie: A]
Purple Rain — [Soundtrack: A- / Movie: D+]
In closing... If "Saturday Night Fever" doesn't march straight through to that winner's circle, Dirk's gonna' picket MFD headquarters (and that ain't no "Jive Talkin'")!
Siskel: Saturday Night Fever, Thank God It's Friday, St. Elmo's Fire, Urban Cowboy, Streets of Fire, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Blues Brothers and Footloose.
ReplyDeleteEbert: Grease, Fame, Flashdance, FM, Beverly Hills Cop, Xanadu, Vision Quest, and Purple Rain.
Note: Can't Stop The Music would have made another round for me at least had it been paired against someone else other than Prince, but for me Prince is a big big win.
I guess The Force wasn't with you guys when you picked the soundtrack of St. Elmo's Fire over Star Wars. Sure it may have only had one hit but it remains one of the most iconic soundtrack songs of all time! And if you don't get all tingly whenever you hear "The Throne Room/End Title" I just don't know what to say. I'm sorry?
DeleteLet's see what's on St. Elmo's Fire... Oh yeah, that John Parr track that has absolutley NOTHING to do with the film. Good stuff. But the rest of the album? Please.
And to add insult to injury, Brother Dirk picks the one-hit wonder The Breakfast Club over the genre defining Urban Cowboy. Other than that though, we are like Gerry Rafferty - right down the line!
Over on Brother Martin's bracket, he chose the Sgt. Pepper debacle over Car Wash and Fame over Heavy Metal but other than those, we cool, we cool. Also in agreement that some of these match-ups were tougher than they needed to be as I would have liked to have seen Can't Stop The Music and Fast Times At Ridegmont High both advance a little farther then they did.
Anxious to see what Brother Mark throws down for his Sweet Sixteen.
Spoiler alert!
My Final Four has Saturday Night Fever up against Streets Of Fire and in an all Olivia Newton-John showdown, it's Grease versus Xanadu. Might have to make this album the WINNER!
Herc, while I did own Star Wars (because back when it came out I was all over Star Wars) on vinyl, I hardly listened to it. For replay value, it did not do it for me. Thus why I went St. Elmo's over it. In any case, it never would have won round two for me anyway.
DeleteFor me, I loved Fame. I saw it dozens of times on HBO. I loved the TV show. So it wins over Heavy Metal (I loved the magazine - no so much the movie). Sgt. Peppers has so many great musicians in in plus Beatles songs, so sorry Rose Royce (I do love you).
Martin, because of your seniority I will take your word on the replay value of St. Elmo's Fire cause I just don't hear it.
DeleteI apologize for ruffling your feathers a bit but it seems that for you soundtracks are deeply rooted and linked to their video source material whereas my opinion of said soundtrack albums is based solely on the music contained within regardless of my love or dislike for the inspiration. I certainly admire your passion.
For the record, I could give a rat's 'you-know-what' about how many hits are on my favorite soundtracks (or albums, for that matter). While I do love many of the songs on "Urban Cowboy" (and would've picked it to advance under different circumstances), "The Breakfast Club" is an all-time favorite movie for Dirk, and the soundtrack (regardless of hits, or the lack thereof) reminds me vividly of the film, and represents it perfectly. After all, isn't that what soundtrack albums are supposed to do...represent the film?
DeleteAs movies go, I'd put "Urban Cowboy" just a hair ahead of "Battlefield Earth", "Moment By Moment" and the horrible "Look Who's Talking" films, as among the worst of Travolta's career (and that's coming from a massive Travolta fan). As a result, the "Cowboy" not only gets knocked off the mechanical bull, but Dirk's soundtrack bracket as well. So there you have it... My opinion, and I'm stickin' to it. :)