Well, after what could only be described as a bloodbath, a display of violence so grotesque it rivals the Mortal Kombat tournaments, only two Eugene Levys are left standing in our Ultimate Eugene Levy in American Pie Showdown: the old guard, the wily veteran, Jim’s Dad in American Pie, and the new kid on the block, the upper and comer but still older and wiser, Jim’s Dad in American Reunion. It’s not just a clash of titans, it’s a clash of generations, a clash of millennia. For over a decade Jim’s Dad in the original American Pie has been known as the preeminent Jim’s Dad in American Pie, but Jim’s Dad in American Reunion is looking to change all that. Two Jim’s Dads in American Pie will go in, but only one Jim’s Dad in American Pie will come out.
Don’t get any on you.
The finals start…right now! Vote early and vote often.
Last week the New York Yankees headed down to D.C. for an interleague matchup with the Nationals, just a week after the Mets also visited the nation’s capital to take on their division rivals. Now we’re generally enormous Mets fans, but this year our enthusiasm is even more fervent than usual, with a roster that’s featured thus far an especially young, gritty and fun team, a Mets team we’re proud to watch. And not only do we watch religiously, we also spend far too much time following Mets beat reporters on Twitter, obsessively checking the Mets blog, and reading articles by local sports columnists. So with the amount of attention we grant to NY baseball, we couldn’t help but notice some similarities on the city’s back pages when the Mets and Yankees each took a turn against the Nationals.
It’s not out of the ordinary to see two very similar headlines among the city’s big three commuter papers (and sometimes three similar headlines), but those instances usually occur on the same day, when they can point to the rapid speed of overnight journalism as a reason for the doppelgänger. When you have three hours to turn around a newspaper, and, often, much less time to write and set the back page, it’s not surprising that the Post may print the same or a very similar headline as Newsday (like yesterday, for example) – great journalistic minds think alike – but in the triad above the Newsday super-headline was printed the day after the Daily News‘s “Capital Pains” headline (and after a different but still excruciating Mets loss). The Post headline, “Capital Gains,” came nearly a week later (after the Yankees handed the Mets three more excruciating losses), so certainly there was plenty of time to see the two prior “Capital” back pages and brainstorm some other DC-related copy. But, we reckon, in the newspaper world you just can’t turn down a good pun. And we respect that.
The Final Four in the Ultimate Eugene Levy in American Pie Showdown is set! Following an explosive, dramatic, electric opening round we’re left with Jim’s Dad in American Pie, Jim’s Dad in American Pie 2, Jim’s Dad in American Reunion (a controversial win over Jim’s Dad in American Pie: The Naked Mile), and, in a stunning upset, Jim’s Dad in American Pie: Band Camp. Can the number six seed continue its cinderella run and shock the world by taking down the original Jim’s Dad? Will the older, wiser Jim’s Dad in American Reunion be able to overcome his younger, more agile, less gray self? The only thing that we know for sure is that when it comes to Eugene Levy as Jim’s Dad tournaments anything can happen.
We joke a lot on this blog about people ripping us off – Stephen Colbert, Entertainment Weekly, Paul F. Tompkins (which resulted in a bitter Twitter feud) – but when were never as wounded as we were when we saw a new Vulture post presenting their “Map of the Comedy Zeitgeist.” Why did we find this so alarming, so soul crushing? Well, because it’s essentially an updated (and much, much prettier) version of our Judd Apatow Chart, which we used to launch this blog those three years ago. Sure, the idea that there are these overlapping connections in the comedy world, most of which are tethered to the likes of Apatow, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, and Paul Rudd, has been oft-explored for several years now. But never before has there been a graphic representation that feels so close to ours, so similar (and yet so much more visually appealing). Thus, we will not rest until we receive the credit we are due. In protest we will continue to read, appreciate and occasionally steal from Vulture.
Are we being paranoid? Hyperbolizing? Take a look and you decide.
Earlier this month we saw the release of the eighth installment in the American Pie franchise, American Reunion, and Eugene Levy holds the noble distinction of being the only actor to appear in the four theatrical films and also in the four straight-to-DVD movies. Thirteen years into his lifetime contract as “Jim’s Dad,” we thought it was time to pit all the Jim’s Dads together in a definitive tournament to decide which is the greatest Eugene Levy as Jim’s Dad in an American Pie movie of all time. No surprise, Jim’s Dad in the original Pie is the number one seed, but, just like we’ve seen in the NHL playoffs, anything can happen and nothing can be taken for granted.
Take a look at the opening round and cast your vote now.
We just thought of this randomly one day, but let’s just say this is in anticipation of Sunday’s Girls premiere. At the very least, it gives us a coule extra tags.
Inspired by some of our peers, we thought we’d run our own pop culture tournament. We are proud to present The Best Aunt Viv of All-Time Tournament. Check out the bracket below. There are some killer first round match-ups!
Cast your ballot now! The polls close Friday at 5pm.
Jumped The Snark 