Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Friday Night Double Features Vol. 40

 by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley

Ten new double features to check out when you’re stuck at home because there’s April showers.

Double Feature 1:

Adam: #1: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Patrick: #2: Strange Brew (1983)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Lion King, The Bad Sleep Well, Ethan Hawke’s Video Store soliloquy from Hamlet (2000)
Patrick: Theme: Hamlet References

Patrick: I originally planned on general Shakespeare quotes as the theme because that’s what I remember most from The Undiscovered Country for some reason but thought it better to zero in on the specific Hamlet references just so I could program Strange Brew in the second slot. Remember when we did our 1983 series last summer? That was fun.

Adam: I do! That was my first time seeing Strange Brew. Hopefully we can do a 1984 series or something this summer.

Double Feature 2:

Patrick: #1: Tarzan (1999)
Adam: #2: Toy Story 2 (1999)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Doug’s 1st Movie, Inspector Gadget, My Favorite Martian, The Straight Story
Adam: Theme: Walt Disney Pictures Class of 1999

Adam: I have a lot of nostalgia for late-'90s Disney because I was about to graduate high school and I would watch this stuff without telling anyone because I was worried it would make me seem immature (which in hindsight was dumb). Tarzan was one of the first DVDs I ever watched (it’s been a while - been a while - so I can’t remember if I like it) and Toy Story 2 was one of the first DVDs I owned (I could get my friends to go with me to see that but not any of these other movies). This would be a fun trip down memory lane for me.

Patrick: Weirdly enough, Tarzan was the first Disney movie I rewatched when we got back from our trip. I missed it in theaters but caught up with it on DVD and thought it was decent. It’s actually better than I remember. It’s really good! I definitely saw Toy Story 2 alone in theaters as a double feature with Deuce Bigelow. It’s my favorite of the Toy Story movies and probably my favorite of all the Pixar movies, so you really can’t go wrong playing it second.

Double Feature 3:
Adam: #1: Field of Dreams (1989)
Patrick: #2: Apollo 13 (1995)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Braveheart, Titanic, Glory
Patrick: Theme: James Horner Nominations for AFI’s 2005 Top 25 Scores

Patrick: James Horner was nominated 5 times out of 250 nominees for AFI’s Best Scores of All Time list. He didn’t make the top 25 for any of them. Not even Titanic? That’s crazy. That and Glory are probably the only ones I can remember by heart, but that’s because I’ve only seen Field of Dreams once. I don’t have the attachment to it that a lot of men our age and older seem to have.

Adam: His Aliens score should’ve been nominated too. This would be a great night at the movies. I like Field of Dreams but it’s a movie that feels on the verge of falling apart throughout its entireity. The fact that it doesn’t is sort of miraculous.

Double Feature 4:

Patrick: #1: Breathless (1983)
Adam: #2: Days of Heaven (1978)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Internal Affairs, Pretty Woman, Unfaithful, Chicago, Arbitrage, Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer
Adam: Theme: My Favorite Geres

Adam: I saw Breathless (1983) for the first time a few years ago when the New Beverly programmed it, and wow was I impressed, especially by the ‘shot out of a cannon’ Richard Gere performance. I have a soft spot for his sad bastard movies, but I also wanted to use this double feature to point out how awesome he is in a lot of movies devoid of any irony. I haven’t seen all his classics, American Gigolo for example, but of the ones I’ve seen these are my favorite movies and/or performances of his.

Patrick: Richard Gere kind of rules, right? I mean, he makes a lot of bad movies, but if I were just to see this double with these trailers, I’d be convinced he’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m so glad you included Internal Affairs because I liked it so much on my recent rewatch. Breathless and Days of Heaven might have to be my pick of the month because both movies rule so hard.

Double Feature 5:
Adam: #1: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Patrick: #2: Grown Ups 2 (2013)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Alice Through the Looking Glass, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
Patrick: Theme: Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Worse

Patrick: I feel mean doing this theme, but I really didn’t know how to follow up my least favorite Spider-Man movie. Isn’t it crazy that Andrew Garfield is the MVP of No Way Home when his two Spider-Man movies are kind of terrible? Will liking his performance in that movie so much retroactively make me like his entries better? A night devoted to sequels worse than their predecessors seems like punishment. I’m full of self-loathing.

Adam: This is my fault. I picked The Amazing Spider-Man 2 because I haven’t seen it since the theaters (why would I?) but now between Andrew Garfield kicking ass in No Way Home and the entire Spider-Man series coming back to theaters, I kinda want to revisit it. It’s my kind of crap I guess. This night is funny if we don’t have to watch it. P.S. I walked out of Grown Ups 2!

Double Feature 6:

Patrick: #1: The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000)
Adam: #2: George of the Jungle (1997)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Jay Ward Shorts (“Snidley’s Monster,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Phox, The Box, and The Lox”)
Adam: Theme: Jay Ward Productions

Adam: I had Jay Ward Productions on the brain because it was one of the Blank Check March Madness Patreon series choices. I’ve never seen The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, but I remember being impressed by the teaser trailer (?). When the movie came out it seemed like damaged goods, so I never took the dive. I’m also not the biggest fan of George of the Jungle but I’m due for a revisit since it’s been 27 years.

Patrick: I’m so down for this double. I like both movies and I love the trailer block, mostly because I like Jay Ward cartoons. I’ve been meaning to give Dudley Do-Right a rewatch because I haven’t seen it since 1999. I don’t remember it being great but I’m sure the trailer would play well in a night devoted to Jay Sherman.

Double Feature 7:
Adam: #1: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Patrick: #2: The Majestic (2001)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Truman Show, Doing Time on Maple Drive, The Number 23
Patrick: Theme: Serious Jim Carrey

Patrick: I came close to programming Truman Show as the second feature but then thought better of it and instead slotted in The Majestic for my good friend Adam. Both of these movies rule and I’m realizing I might like Jim Carrey better in serious stuff than in comedies. He seems to have better taste in dramatic material, The Number 23 notwithstanding.

Adam: I’m due for a rewatch of Eternal Sunshine for a 2K Replay this month so I was selfishly trying to get you to pair it with something for when I have this double feature. You couldn’t have picked a better choice than my beloved The Majestic. I really like serious Jim Carrey too although I don’t have a preference between his dramatic or comedic work…I like most of both. I so wanted The Number 23 to be good, but wow is it not.

Double Feature 8:

Patrick: #1: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Adam: #2: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: A Good Day to Die Hard, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Jason Bourne, Rambo: Last Blood, Underworld: Blood Wars
Adam: Theme: 5 Movie Action Franchises

Adam: I’ve only seen it once, but I have a soft spot for the last Pirates movie. It had zombie sharks and Kaya Scodelario! I’m due for a rewatch so this gives me an excuse. I don’t like most of these movies, but the theme made sense to me (they’re all past their expiration date) and I can sleep through Indiana Jones and the Dead Mutt.

Patrick: I kind of like the last Pirates movie too, if only because it’s not On Stranger Tides. We might be the only two people in the world who like it, though. It’s my favorite of all the stuff playing as part of this marathon. Most of these franchises should not have gone to #5 – or, in some cases, even longer.

Double Feature 9:
Adam: #1: Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Patrick: #2: Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Viva Las Vegas, Carnal Knowledge, Kitten With a Whip, The Flinstones episode “Ann-Margrock Presents”
Patrick: Theme: Holy Shit Ann-Margret

Patrick: Holy shit Ann-Margret.

Adam: Holy shit Ann-Margret.

Double Feature 10:

Patrick: #1: Living in Oblivion (1995)
Adam: #2: Johnny Suede (1991)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Box of Moonlight, The Real Blonde, Double Whammy, Delirious
Adam: Theme: Tom DiCillo Night

Adam: I keep meaning to see Living in Oblivion so I’m glad you booked it, so I have an excuse to finally watch it. I’m maybe the world’s biggest Johnny Suede fan so this is a night just for me. Do you like any of the movies in the trailer block? I’m wondering how deep of a DiCillo dive I should do.

Patrick: Tom DiCillo deserves his own night! I haven’t seen Delirious, but I like all the rest of these movies, especially The Real Blonde which is really good in a ‘90s walking and talking kind of way. We should reverse the order of the two, though, because James LeGros is supposedly doing a riff on working with Brad Pitt in his Living in Oblivion performance. If you like Johnny Suede, I think you’ll dig DiCillo’s filmography.

1 comment:

  1. A Good Day to Die Hard is the 3rd best Die Hard movie (I'll see myself out)

    ReplyDelete