by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
New double features to be thankful for when you carve your turkeys.Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Taking Care of Business (1990)
Patrick: #2: Armageddon (1998)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Regarding Henry, Gone Fishing, Joy Ride
Patrick: Theme: Written by JJ Abrams
Patrick: It’s pretty incredible to me that before he became a producer and director and all-around titan of Hollywood, JJ Abrams was a pretty mediocre screenwriter of pretty mediocre movies. Except Armageddon. And Joy Ride. Those are good. I thought a night dedicated to the least successful aspect of his Triple Threat status might be fun…or, at least, educational. Also, I couldn’t think of other movies that depended on a Filofax for their plots, otherwise it would have been Filofax night at the Cinemarink.
Adam: It’s weird that Abrams' directorial career is objectively better than his output as a screenwriter and yet I’d much rather revisit some of the movies he’s written than rewatch the ones he’s directed. Filofaxes rule. At least in the initial rush. Once you need refills it loses its luster.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: The 400 Blows (1959)
Adam: #2: Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Bad Seed, Blackboard Jungle, Girls Town
Adam: Theme: ‘50s Juvenile Delinquency
Adam: I’ve owned The 400 Blows on Criterion Blu ray for years but have never watched the entire thing. I didn’t think it was bad or anything, I just watched the first hour and then moved on to something else and never went back to it. In short, I need the excuse to watch it in a theater to ensure I finally see The 400 Blows. I think theming it this way will help since I’ve seen Rebel Without a Cause a few times, so I know I have a movie I like waiting for me at the end of the evening. BTW…. have you seen The Bad Seed? I watched it for the first time this Scary Movie Month and couldn’t believe how weird the last 2 minutes of that movie were. It ends (SPOILER) with the kid being struck by lightning, the cast coming out to take individual bows like it’s a play and then the actress playing the mother being all “come here you” and play-acting spanking the girl who played her evil daughter to show the audience everything’s okay and it was all just make believe. All movies should end this way, especially The Mist.
Patrick: You’ve totally sold me on The Bad Seed because I need to see that ending. I do hope you’ll watch The 400 Blows and that you like it because it’s a favorite of mine, as douchey as that sounds. I really like the pairing of Rebel Without a Cause, too, so that we get both a French and an American look at the same theme. You’re very good at this!
Double Feature 3:Adam: #1: Lady in the Water (2006)
Patrick: #2: The Wicker Man (2006)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Employee of the Month, Deck the Halls, Basic Instinct 2
Patrick: Theme: 2006 Razzie Nominees
Patrick: Hear me out: until the Basic Instinct 2 trailer, I feel like this Razzie-themed lineup had our number. These are movies we like or at least – as in the case of Lady in the Water – find to be fascinating failures. I just rewatched that one hoping for the magic viewing, and it hasn’t happened yet, but I continue to want to study it. I feel like these two movies would play well together and further prove that the Razzies are stupid and impossibly lazy in their choices. Also, Basic Instinct 2, aka Risk Addiction.
Adam: This is the double feature I’m most excited about. I’ve only seen Lady in the Water once and that was in theaters so I’m eager to revisit it at some point soon. I’m also a fan of The Wicker Man remake, which is creepy, funny and weird. This is a collection of gems…and Risk Addiction.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: That Thing You Do! (1996)
Adam: #2: One Fine Day (1996)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Down Periscope, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Jingle All the Way
Adam: Theme: 1996 20th Century Fox Comedies
Adam: This would be a pleasant evening at the movies. I love That Thing You Do! and like all the movies in the trailer block to varying degrees. I chose to pair the headliner with One Fine Day because I want to give it another shot (it’s fine, but it’s also one of those movies I always want to watch because it shows off New York in an appealing way) and it would be nice to bask in movie star glow for the night.
Patrick: I haven’t seen One Fine Day since a sneak preview back in 1996 when I couldn’t get into the Mars Attacks sneak preview because it was sold out. It’s fine? Watching it second after That Thing You Do! would actually work really well because there’s no pressure for it to be good or substantial, only – as you already pointed out – pleasant. It’s at least that much.
Double Feature 5:Adam: #1: The Bodyguard (1992)
Patrick: #2: For Love of the Game (1999)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Message in a Bottle, Bull Durham, The Upside of Anger
Patrick: Theme: Costner Romances
Patrick: Looking over Kevin Costner’s filmography, it’s amazing to me how few straightforward romance movies he made. I couldn’t even fill out a whole night at the Cinemarink without dipping into his sports movies, which are sometimes sneaky romances. Because it’s our theater, I think we should show the Full Frontal cut of For Love of the Game because of courage.
Adam: Costner should make a movie called Courage Under Fire but instead of it being about the Congressional Medal of Honor it’s about brave studio executives letting Costner show his 35mm junk or at least a DCP (aka Dick Courage Print).
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Belly (1998)
Adam: #2: Ticker (2001)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: House Party 3, Hav Plenty, Bamboozled
Adam: Theme: Movies Featuring Members of TLC
Adam: I don’t have much history personally with Belly other than being aware of its reputation (especially the opening sequence which is all anyone talks about when talking about Belly). I usually don’t like showing DTV movies, but I couldn’t resist pairing Belly with Ticker because they both star Nas and the double still fits my theme. Were you a fan of TLC? I really liked them back in the '90s, especially the CrazySexyCool album. I miss Left Eye.
Patrick: I wasn’t much of a TLC guy, though I did like Left Eye. I’m in favor of following Belly (that opening is great) with Ticker because it’s a Pyun! And it has Ice T which means sooner or later we will end up doing a podcast on it.
Double Feature 7:Adam: #1: Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael (1990)
Patrick: #2: A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Destination Wedding, Alien Resurrection, Great Balls of Fire!
Patrick: Theme: Underrated Winona
Patrick: This was an easy theme to come up with because I had just tweeted about Underrated Winona in honor of her birthday that just passed. These movies all rule and she rules in them.
Adam: I love Winona Ryder and have always wanted to see Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael. I’d also like to watch A Scanner Darkly again, which I remember being solid. Winona’s just underrated in general. I know the internet loves her (which trust me I’m happy about) but it seems like they don’t know why they love her when people who’ve always loved her understand what makes her special.
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: Goodfellas (1990)
Adam: #2: Something Wild (1986)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Unlawful Entry, Cop Land, Narc, Observe and Report
Adam: Theme: Great Liotta
Adam: Fairly obvious but sometimes the best double features as an experience are the ones that are the least clever. I miss Ray Liotta. There’s really not many actors of his generation (and especially this generation) quite like him. He was always tough and often threatening but it also felt like such a win when he played a sensitive or nice or moral guy. He had a real spark on screen and it’s a shame he didn’t catapult off Goodfellas to become a bankable leading man for several decades. That’s not to disparage his career, which was eclectic and noteworthy. I just always thought he was overshadowed e.g. how was he not nominated at least for Best Actor in Goodfellas? What the hell more does a guy need to do?
Patrick: Having just shown Goodfellas to a film class, I completely agree that Ray Liotta should’ve been nominated for his performance and probably should have had another 5 or 6 more nominations over the course of his career. He was the absolute best and I’m so sad he’s gone. He was supposed to be Harvey in The Substance, maybe the only thing that could make that movie better. Did you ever see Heartbreakers? OMG is he funny in that movie. Now I want to marathon Ray Liotta movies.
Double Feature 9:Adam: #1: Double Team (1997)
Patrick: #2: Broken Arrow (1996)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Expendables, Furious 7, Predator
Patrick: Theme: Action Movies with Athlete Co-Stars
Patrick: A lazy theme, for sure, but a good excuse to double two ‘90s action movies that would be a blast to watch back-to-back. Dennis Rodman and Howie Long have about the same amount of screen presence, which is to say not much. Howie Long fares better in Broken Arrow because he’s asked to do less, but Rodman is more fun because he has so much stupid dialogue. Next month we can do a double of the starring vehicles these supporting roles launched them into: Firestorm and Simon Sez.
Adam: This would be so much fun. I’m a bigger fan of what Rodman is doing in Double Team than Long in Broken Arrow but Long also has the fake death over the radio (which is terrible but all the actors in the movie are complimenting him on) and he has a dope Wilhelm Scream towards the end.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987)
Adam: #2: Coupe de Ville (1990)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Streets of Gold, America’s Sweethearts, Christmas with the Kranks, Freedomland
Adam: Theme: Joe Roth: The Whole Bloody Affair
Adam: Joe Roth has a cool ass career. Not only has he produced countless movies, but co-founded Morgan Creek, founded Revolution Studios, and was an executive at Caravan Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Walt Disney Pictures. He also directed Christmas with the fucking Kranks (which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year). Let’s do a career retrospective tonight on his career as a director. I’ve never seen Coupe de Ville, but the cast is intriguing enough (Daniel Stern!) and it will be nice (?) to revisit Nerds II since I know I’ve seen at least some of it on cable in the late '80s many times while never having seen the original movie.
Patrick: This theme is worth doing just because the name of the night is so funny. I’ve never seen Coupe de Ville, so that gives me an excuse to be excited. Nerds in Paradise is one of those movies I like by the end because the credits song (“Back to Paradise” by .38 Special) convinces me the movie was better than it was. Do you think we can get Joe Roth to come do a Q&A?
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