Eight-Titled Films for March Madness
We’re in the home stretch of March Madness , so hopefully your brackets are still intact and you’re crushing the office pool. If not, blame Purdue and promise to make better picks next year.
To honor the Elite Eight teams that are still in the tournament, we’ve compiled a list of “eight-titled” films for you to watch on your Control Center home theater hub + universal remote before, during, or after you cheer your team to victory (or rip up your bracket in a fit of rage). And if you still haven’t gotten your fill of courtside drama, we have 16 films featuring NBA stars for you to enjoy!
Ocean’s 8
The all-female reboot of the famed Ocean’s franchise is sharp-witted and funny. Boasting a star studded cast from Cate Blanchett to Mindy Kaling, this flick is a fun heist film that sits perfectly within the ‘Ocean’s Universe.’
8mm
A crime/mystery that follows a private investigator (played by Nicholas Cage), who gets roped into the world of snuff films. This movie is very eerie and creepy, and once the credits start rolling, you may wonder if you should take a shower to wash away what you just watched.
Super 8
Before we had Stranger Things, we had Super 8, which also happens to follow a group of youths who need to save their town when a dangerous presence gets released. An homage to such classics as The Goonies and Stand By Me, Super 8 is a combination of a sci-fi mystery mixed with a coming-of-age film.
8 Mile
Named after 8 Mile Road, the highway that separates the predominantly black city of Detroit and the predominantly white Oakland County and Macomb County suburbs, this film is loosely based on Eminem’s (Marshall Mathers) life during his early days as he honed his skills in the underground rap battle scene. If you’re a hip hop fan, this film is not one to miss as it boasts a solid soundtrack— Eminem won an Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Lose Yourself.”
8 ½
For all you film nerds out there, you already knew this was going to be on the list. This avant-garde classic is considered one of the most important films in cinema history and is included in BFI’s list of Top 10 Greatest Films of All Time. Named after the number of films Fellini had directed up to this point, 8 ½ follows a famous Italian filmmaker who suffers from stifled creativity as he attempts to direct an epic science fiction film.
48 Hours
Bad Boys, Rush Hour, Lethal Weapon, 21 Jump Street. If you’re a fan of the buddy cop genre, then 48 Hours is a must-see. Having been credited as the first film to kick off the buddy cop genre, this flick stars Nick Nolte and a young Eddie Murphy (in his film debut and Golden Globe Award-nominated role) as a cop and convict who team up to catch a pair of cop killers.
Hateful 8
Quentin Tarantino’s like the Mike Krzyzewski of filmmakers. He’s good at what he does and he knows how to put together a team. He’s yet to make a bad movie and Hateful Eight is no exception. Samuel L. Jackson leads the cast as eight strangers seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover sometime after the American Civil War. What follows is a series of twists and turns as the group bands together to figure out the mystery at the stopover, all while accompanied by the great Ennio Morricone’s musical score.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Although it technically doesn’t have a number 8 in the title, it is the eighth movie in the franchise. We don’t need to say much about this movie because we all know about Star Wars, but the new trilogy has been a breath of fresh air, especially after A Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.