Friday Night Double Features Vol. 38

 by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley

Ten 1994 double features to get you ready for F This Movie Fest!

Double Feature 1:

Adam: #1: Pulp Fiction
Patrick: #2: Sleep with Me
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Natural Born Killers, Somebody to Love, “The Coriolis Effect” short film, Killing Zoe
Patrick: Theme: QT and QT Adjacent

Patrick: 1994 seems like the first year where Tarantino Fever really exploded – where his presence was felt in a ton of movies (even rip-offs like Love and a .45) and not just his own. I’m excited to revisit Sleep with Me because I haven’t seen it since the ‘90s and it’s not available to stream anywhere. I only watched it as a teenager for QT’s cameo.

Adam: I’m looking forward to this because there’s still an element of discovery for me. I haven’t seen any of these besides Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers. QT was on my radar only after Pulp Fiction opened but that was more led by John Travolta’s resurgence than Tarantino. I wanted to see Pulp Fiction so badly in theaters but couldn’t (I did eventually the next spring after its Oscar nominations) so my answer in 1994 was to watch Reservoir Dogs and Look Who’s Talking Now on cable, which made sense to me at the time as being close to the same thing. The fact that there were QT antecedents was lost on me at that point.

Double Feature 2:

Patrick: #1: Blink
Adam: #2: Radioland Murders
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Baby’s Day Out, Hoop Dreams, I Love Trouble
Adam: Theme: Chicago 1994

Adam: I was going to program a night of movies featuring married Hollywood couples that had movies from 1994, but I couldn’t find enough examples. To my surprise, I still could manage a Mr. and Mrs. Brian Benben double feature by using the city of Chicago as a sneaky theme! You’ve been telling me for months to watch Blink so here’s my chance. To be honest, I kinda want to watch Hoop Dreams again the most of this bunch after Blink, but that’s a weird pairing and I can’t not program a Mad About Stowe double feature. P.S. I was convinced Baby’s Day Out would gross $100M domestic without breaking a sweat. I never saw it so I’m part of the problem.

Patrick: This is probably my favorite double of the month because I really like both of these movies AND it’s a double theme! I hope you like Blink. I probably oversold it. I never saw Baby’s Day Out either! Or I Love Trouble for that matter, but I have that one on hold at my library for 1994 month.

Double Feature 3:

Adam: #1: D2: The Mighty Ducks
Patrick: #2: Little Giants
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Angels in the Outfield, Blank Check, Getting Even with Dad, Little Big League
Patrick: Theme: You Know, For Kids

Patrick: I was going to try to program all family sports movies for this one, but I was short on trailers, so I just went for an all family movie theme. I can’t believe how many kids/family movies were released in 1994, back when that was a regular occurrence. I know you’ve talked about this phenomenon before, but we don’t really get these kinds of live action family films in theaters anymore. Now they just go straight to Disney Plus and the world is worse for it.

Adam: This would be a fun night at the movies. Not only were there a lot of live-action kids movies in 1994 but there were so many live-action kids sports movies! I’d need to rewatch the Mighty Ducks trilogy to decide which is best (it’s either 1 or 2, definitely not 3) but D2 might be the most memorable. It’s where I learned that Iceland is green and Greenland has ice.

Double Feature 4:

Patrick: #1: Speechless
Adam: #2: The Paper
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Ed Wood, Little Women, The Shadow
Adam: Theme: Beetlejuice Alumni

Adam: This was difficult to pare down because the main cast of Beetlejuice were in A LOT of movies in 1994. Speechless (Michael Keaton & Geena Davis) and The Paper (Michael Keaton & Catherine O’ Hara) had the most juice per square frame (?) so I went with them as a pairing. Remind me to bring Kleenex because the trailer for Little Women (1994) alone makes me cry. Shout out to that movie and Ed Wood which are two of my 10 favorite films of 1994. I call them films on purpose because respect. 3 Ninjas Kick Back is a movie.

Patrick: Little Women is on my list for this month because I’ve never actually seen that version. I’m excited to check it out. This is kind of an incredible double because I like both of these movies and Michael Keaton is great in them. Well done.

Double Feature 5:

Adam: #1: Drop Zone
Patrick: #2: Gunmen
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: No Escape, Men of War, On Deadly Ground
Patrick: Theme: Action ‘94

Patrick: I know I’ve often made the case that 1991 was the high point for action movies in Hollywood, but 1994 certainly gives it a run for its money. So many good ones, and almost everyone was at the height of their powers! Seagal was slipping and Stallone was making The Specialist, but I don’t even mind because everyone else was doing such cool stuff. I’m already rethinking my position on 1991.

Adam: This sounds amazing. You know I’m ride or die for Drop Zone, and I’ve been wanting to see Gunmen for 30 years but never got around to it. I will this year! And I’ll double it with Drop Zone! 1994 is an underrated year for action movies. I always thought it was sort of fading because the new school of action heroes was only a couple of years away but I’m wrong in that opinion.

Double Feature 6:

Patrick: #1: Wyatt Earp
Adam: #2: Maverick
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, The Cowboy Way, Wagons East
Adam: Theme: Summer ‘94 Westerns

Adam: People: Why don’t they make more Westerns?
Hollywood: We released five Western movies in one summer on the heels of the success of Unforgiven. People: But most of them weren’t good, so we didn’t go. If they were good, we’d go.
Hollywood: I call bullshit. Wyatt Earp is good, and you didn’t support that.
People: But it’s the same story as Tombstone, which came out 6 months prior!
Hollywood: Two? Two movies are too much for you?
People: It was the same weekend as the wide release as The Lion King! I have kids. They wanted to see Simba.
Hollywood: This is why we don’t get along. And yet we depend on each other.
People: How did you screw up City Slickers II so bad?
Hollywood: Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby had a falling out. It’s sad.

 
Patrick: No wonder 1994 was so good! So many westerns! What was the Crystal/Kirby falling out over? I’ve never heard this story.

Adam: Not sure exactly but it’s something I’d heard over the years. Wikipedia says it had something to do with Kirby refusing to sign on to the sequel unless script changes were made, so he was replaced by Jon Lovitz.

Double Feature 7:

Adam: #1: Color of Night
Patrick: #2: Exit to Eden
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Cowboy Way, Major League II, Interview with the Vampire
Patrick: Theme: Dishonorable Mentions at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards

Patrick: Until I was trying to come up with a theme for this double, I had never heard of the “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards” and my life was better. Bad movie awards like the Razzies are already the worst, but these take it to a new low. Pulp Fiction was nominated for one. That’s all I need to say.

Adam: How the hell is Pulp Fiction nominated for a Stinkers Award? I love this theme and a double feature of Color of Night and Exit to Eden seems like a rowdy good time at the Linderground.

Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: Clean Slate
Adam: #2: Renaissance Man
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Inkwell, Junior, The Ref
Adam: Theme: Debuted at #4

Adam: I was thinking of programming an SNL ‘94 night but wasn’t sure there would be enough movies, so I went with movies that debuted at #4 at the box office during their opening weekend. Is Clean Slate good? I’m excited to see my beloved Renaissance Man in a theater too. I’m a little afraid to see if it holds up (I haven’t seen it in probably 20 years) but I bet it will.

Patrick: Clean Slate is not great. The dog is cute! I’d put it behind Trapped in Paradise as far as 1994 Dana Carvey movies go. And this will finally be my chance to see Renaissance Man! I don’t know why I missed it in ‘94 because I was still in on Penny Marshall.

Double Feature 9:

Adam: #1: The Getaway (1994)
Patrick: #2: Body Snatchers
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Miracle on 34th Street, True Lies, My Father the Hero
Patrick: Theme: ‘94 Remakes

Patrick: Funny how people complain about remakes these days when that shit has been going on for over 30 years. I really like both of these movies and I don’t feel like either one gets enough credit.

Adam: Huh. I didn’t know True Lies was a remake. The more you know. I still need to see The Getaway but plan to soon and pairing it with Body Snatchers is awesome because that movie’s really good and short too. P.S. I watched Miracle on 34th Street (1994) on Christmas Day last year and it insists upon itself. Like, I love how old fashioned it is and it succeeds admirably on its terms but also, it’s super “look how modest I am!”

Double Feature 10:

Patrick: #1: Surviving the Game
Adam: #2: The Chase
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Blankman, North, Serial Mom
Adam: Theme: $7M Domestic Grossers

Adam: This should be fun. They both have the same mainstream exploitation vibe that would play well together. This is the double feature I programmed most with you in mind.

Patrick: I appreciate it! There won’t be a more entertaining four hours at the Cinemarink this month. The fact that these movies only $7 million makes me sad, like we let the filmmakers down. I saw them both twice in theaters, so I did my part.