by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Die Hard (1988)
Patrick: #2: Everly (2015)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Xmas Action
Patrick: Theme: Invasion U.S.A., Running Scared (1986), I Come in Peace
Patrick: This is so obvious I’m almost ashamed to put it on here, but I thought the second feature plus the cool trailers would make for a double feature that would actually be a ton of fun to watch. I’m sorry for being so basic but I’m not sorry for getting a Joe Lynch movie in here.
Adam: Yeah, I’m trying to balance “what will be fun to watch as a double feature” more now over just being a clever theme. Also, it’s the holidays so you deserve to put your guy Joe Lynch in there as a present to yourself.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: Thief (1981)
Adam: #2: Defiance (1980)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: American Gigolo, Young Doctors in Love, Thief of Hearts
Adam: Theme: Early ‘80s Bruckheimer
Adam: I thought it would be interesting to program a night of Jerry Bruckheimer productions before he became a brand and firmly established his aesthetic. I had no idea he produced Thief, which is great because I’ll take any excuse to watch Thief. I’ve never seen Defiance, but it seemed of similar gritty pedigree. A double feature of Michael Mann and John Flynn seems like a solid evening at the movies.
Patrick: Defiance is a Brian Saur favorite and is pretty great. I like these early Bruckheimer movies a lot, but it’s pretty interesting that his signature “style” wouldn’t really be developed until he teamed up with cocaine vacuum Don Simpson. This early period is great (these movies would be really fun to watch together), but I’m partial to the slick trash he made later in his career. Do you have a preference?
Adam: Simpson/Bruckheimer is my favorite era (era) of Jerry Bruckheimer’s career (which includes Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Bad Boys, Crimson Tide, The Rock).
Double Feature 3:
Adam: #1: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Patrick: #2: Welcome to Mooseport (2004)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Phantom Thread, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Aliens
Patrick: Theme: I Quit
Patrick: I was trying to program a double feature of movies that drove their creative team away from the business, because I know League made both Sean Connery and director Stephen Norrington quit. It didn’t quite work out that way, but I guess I came close. I would not want to watch this double feature I don’t think.
Adam: I would watch this double feature in a heartbeat. I’m curious to revisit The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen next year when I do my 2003 rewatches. I know it won’t be good, but I remember almost nothing about that movie after seeing it on opening night. Plus, I’ve never seen Welcome to Mooseport so this is a good excuse to finally do so.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Harlem Nights (1989)
Adam: #2: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Karate Kid Part III, Road House, Speed Zone, Star Trek V VHS commercial
Adam: Theme: 1989 Razzie Worst Director Nominees
Adam: First off, the Razzies suck so this is in no way celebrating them. I’m doing this to thumb my nose at their reactionary taste. I’ve never seen Harlem Nights but always meant to (I probably should this month since it’s leaving HBO Max at the end of December) and I’m one of the few fans of Star Trek V, so this seems like a good double feature for me at least. I also like the pairing because it’s two actors directing to little acclaim. And Eddie Murphy’s a Star Trek fan from what I’ve heard in the past. Do you think we can get William Shatner and Eddie Murphy to attend? How does a voting body pick Road House as one of the worst movies of 1989, let alone any year? They really didn’t know how bad it was going to get in the 2020s.
Patrick: I haven’t seen Speed Zone in a lot of years and I’m not a big KKIII guy, but to call it one of the worst movies of 1989 is such small thinking. Razzies gotta Razzie. To show just how little they know, I actually really like this double. They for sure singled out these directors because they were the stars, too.
Double Feature 5:
Adam: #1: Street Kings (2008)
Patrick: #2: The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Sphere, The Recruit, Salt
Patrick: Theme: Written by Kurt Wimmer
Patrick: Kurt Wimmer is someone whose career I don’t totally get. I’m not crazy about his movies as a director and I think we’ve paired up his two best movies as a writer (it helps that he’s not the sole credited screenwriter on either). I would have much rather turned this into a double feature of Bad Guy Corbett, but it turns out he didn’t go Heel too often.
Adam: Yeah, the only other bad guy Corbett I can think of is Tombstone where he’s like “Hey, where’s Curly Bill?” and gets shot immediately. I don’t have much of an opinion of Kurt Wimmer, but I can’t say he’s made much that I’ve enjoyed (The Recruit is fun in a trashy thriller way). Then again, so is Street Kings! I love how over the top Forest Whitaker goes in that movie. I like the pairing with The Thomas Crown Affair. This double feature will be 2 hours of sleaze followed by 2 hours of class.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Dead Man on Campus (1998)
Adam: #2: Wild Things (1998)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Saving Private Ryan, Urban Legend, Psycho
Adam: Theme: 1998 Movies I Tried to See in Theaters but Got Carded
Adam: Not getting into R-rated movies in junior high was one thing, but not getting into R-rated movies in high school (when girls started to become involved) was another. This double feature is pure revenge on all the dorks in 1998 suburban Illinois movie theaters who abused their power and didn’t let me see these movies. I think “closure” is the right word. Also, this double feature would be so much fun! Fun fact: I did end up seeing Wild Things, Saving Private Ryan, Urban Legend and Psycho in theaters in 1998 but it took a second attempt at different cinemas. Dead Man on Campus is my white whale.
Patrick: I saw DMoC twice in theaters opening weekend (once with an appendicitis!), so let’s count one of those as yours. We’ll be showing two of these movies as part of Smash Cut, so our dream of running a movie theater grows closer every day!
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Welcome to Mooseport (2004)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Phantom Thread, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Aliens
Patrick: Theme: I Quit
Patrick: I was trying to program a double feature of movies that drove their creative team away from the business, because I know League made both Sean Connery and director Stephen Norrington quit. It didn’t quite work out that way, but I guess I came close. I would not want to watch this double feature I don’t think.
Adam: I would watch this double feature in a heartbeat. I’m curious to revisit The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen next year when I do my 2003 rewatches. I know it won’t be good, but I remember almost nothing about that movie after seeing it on opening night. Plus, I’ve never seen Welcome to Mooseport so this is a good excuse to finally do so.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Harlem Nights (1989)
Adam: #2: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Karate Kid Part III, Road House, Speed Zone, Star Trek V VHS commercial
Adam: Theme: 1989 Razzie Worst Director Nominees
Adam: First off, the Razzies suck so this is in no way celebrating them. I’m doing this to thumb my nose at their reactionary taste. I’ve never seen Harlem Nights but always meant to (I probably should this month since it’s leaving HBO Max at the end of December) and I’m one of the few fans of Star Trek V, so this seems like a good double feature for me at least. I also like the pairing because it’s two actors directing to little acclaim. And Eddie Murphy’s a Star Trek fan from what I’ve heard in the past. Do you think we can get William Shatner and Eddie Murphy to attend? How does a voting body pick Road House as one of the worst movies of 1989, let alone any year? They really didn’t know how bad it was going to get in the 2020s.
Patrick: I haven’t seen Speed Zone in a lot of years and I’m not a big KKIII guy, but to call it one of the worst movies of 1989 is such small thinking. Razzies gotta Razzie. To show just how little they know, I actually really like this double. They for sure singled out these directors because they were the stars, too.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Sphere, The Recruit, Salt
Patrick: Theme: Written by Kurt Wimmer
Patrick: Kurt Wimmer is someone whose career I don’t totally get. I’m not crazy about his movies as a director and I think we’ve paired up his two best movies as a writer (it helps that he’s not the sole credited screenwriter on either). I would have much rather turned this into a double feature of Bad Guy Corbett, but it turns out he didn’t go Heel too often.
Adam: Yeah, the only other bad guy Corbett I can think of is Tombstone where he’s like “Hey, where’s Curly Bill?” and gets shot immediately. I don’t have much of an opinion of Kurt Wimmer, but I can’t say he’s made much that I’ve enjoyed (The Recruit is fun in a trashy thriller way). Then again, so is Street Kings! I love how over the top Forest Whitaker goes in that movie. I like the pairing with The Thomas Crown Affair. This double feature will be 2 hours of sleaze followed by 2 hours of class.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Dead Man on Campus (1998)
Adam: #2: Wild Things (1998)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Saving Private Ryan, Urban Legend, Psycho
Adam: Theme: 1998 Movies I Tried to See in Theaters but Got Carded
Adam: Not getting into R-rated movies in junior high was one thing, but not getting into R-rated movies in high school (when girls started to become involved) was another. This double feature is pure revenge on all the dorks in 1998 suburban Illinois movie theaters who abused their power and didn’t let me see these movies. I think “closure” is the right word. Also, this double feature would be so much fun! Fun fact: I did end up seeing Wild Things, Saving Private Ryan, Urban Legend and Psycho in theaters in 1998 but it took a second attempt at different cinemas. Dead Man on Campus is my white whale.
Patrick: I saw DMoC twice in theaters opening weekend (once with an appendicitis!), so let’s count one of those as yours. We’ll be showing two of these movies as part of Smash Cut, so our dream of running a movie theater grows closer every day!
Patrick: #2: New Year’s Eve (2011)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Hall Pass, Horrible Bosses, Final Destination 5
Patrick: Theme: New Line 2011
Patrick: I wanted to pair this with FD5 just so we’d have a better time at the movies (though now I’m remembering that you HATED 5 [you did not hate 5]), but New Year’s Eve seems more in line with the holiday theme. Also, I’ve never seen New Year’s Eve, but I know it stars Robert Fucking De Niro who once was in Raging Bull but has been reduced to playing a man who’s dying but wants to see the ball drop. Maybe there’s a reason I never saw it.
Adam: I’ve never seen New Year’s Eve but feel like I have because you’ve joked about Robert De Niro in that movie on the podcast enough over the years that it’s become firmly planted in my mind that he wants to see the ball drop. Was this the last year New Line was New Line as we grew up knowing it?
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: Avatar (2009)
Adam: #2: Waterworld (1995)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Spider-Man 3, Titanic
Adam: Theme: $299M Budget or Higher (Adjusted for Inflation)
Adam: It’s exciting that you programmed Avatar with Avatar: The Way of Water coming out this week. Are we playing it in 3D or 2D? This night will be exhausting but who cares. If we’re going maximalist, let’s go super maximalist. Also, not enough theaters play Waterworld, so I’m taking matters into my own hands.
Patrick: I mean, if there’s ever been a double feature that’s right up my alley this is it. We’re showing Avatar in 3D because we call the shots. And we’re showing Waterworld with that technology that everything at Disney uses where you get squirted with water every so often. I hate that but I’ll do it for The Mariner.
Double Feature 9:
Patrick: #2: Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Larger Than Life, Dumbo, Shrek, Francis
Patrick: Theme: Elephant vs. Donkey
Patrick: This is a disaster of a double feature and I’m sorry. It’s a political theme but none of the movies are political. Except Shrek.
Adam: I didn’t know anything about Au Hasard Balthazar until you programmed it, but now that I’ve googled an image for it for this column and read the plot summary it sounds kinda great. P.S. If they rebooted Shrek, I bet it would make an embarrassingly large amount of money. There’s a bubbling underground fanbase for that franchise I don’t think can be contained much longer.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: Lipstick (1976)
Adam: #2: Class of 1984 (1982)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Possession of Joel Delaney, The Lords of Flatbush, Search and Destroy, Tales from the Crypt “Came the Dawn” episode
Adam: Theme: Perry King Night
Adam: I didn’t realize I liked Perry King as much as I do until this summer when I saw Class of 1984 and “Came the Dawn” for the first time. He’s like Bill Pullman’s slightly darker older brother. I came close to making this a Video Archives podcast tribute double feature (because they recently covered Lipstick) but the New Beverly Cinema has that covered already so I’m making this one for us. We should probably name our theater where we show all these double features. Any suggestions? Maybe our readers can leave some in the comments!
Patrick: I support the reader idea because I’m bad at names. I’m the one who named the site F This Movie. Also, I’ve had Lipstick in my “to watch” queue for a long time now and I’m mad I didn’t watch it yet because now it feels like I’m only watching it because VA covered it even though I haven’t listened to the episode yet. These are the things that keep me up at night. I’m full of stupid thoughts and regret. I’m the one who named the site F This Movie.
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