by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Ice Princess (2005)
Patrick: #2: EuroTrip (2004)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Black Xmas, Harriet the Spy, Mysterious Skin, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Blood Ties”
Patrick: Theme: Michelle Trachtenberg Tribute
Patrick: I was kind of trying to follow your lead here and pay tribute to the late Michelle Trachtenberg. I’ve missed a couple of her movies, including Ice Princess, but I thought she was great in EuroTrip and always really liked her on Buffy. It’s so sad that she’s gone so young, and I hope we can do right by her at the Cinemarink.
Adam: Yeah, I stacked the deck on this one and double feature 3. It felt right to dedicate an evening to Michelle Trachtenberg, who I’ve always liked on screen. She had a lot of energy and charm. I picked Ice Princess to headline because it’s surprisingly pretty great and EuroTrip is wonderful, so this should be a great night at the movies honoring a talented actor gone way too soon. Plus, I wasn’t watching Buffy when she was on the show so I’m looking forward to checking out one of her episodes.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: Out of Africa (1985)
Adam: #2: Amadeus (1985)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Last Emperor, Terms of Endearment, Gandhi, Chariots of Fire
Adam: Theme: Unseen '80s Best Picture Winners
Adam: For someone who calls themself a movie fan (I do, just ask everyone) there’s a lot of '80s Best Picture winners I haven’t seen. I could use the excuse that they were mostly before my time, but honestly, I’ve had time to catch up by now and just haven’t. The one I want to see the most is Amadeus (which I’ve been waiting to see both theatrically and in the theatrical cut) and that will be my reward for eating my Out of Africa vegetables. Have you seen Out of Africa? If so, are you a fan? What’s your favorite '80s Best Picture winner? I think mine is Platoon of the ones I’ve seen.
Patrick: We are in the same boat, bro! I just looked at the Best Picture winners of the ‘80s and I’ve missed quite a few of them (on purpose, I suspect). I know Out of Africa is on Netflix right now so E and I are going to finally check it out, but I’m not in any big hurry to finally see Driving Miss Daisy or Chariots of Fire. I have seen Amadeus and it’s easily my favorite of the decade’s Best Picture winners because I think it’s like one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I totally love it and I’m so excited to see it on the big screen at our theater.
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Prime Cut (1972)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Quick and the Dead, Unforgiven, Runaway Jury
Patrick: Theme: Gene Hackman Tribute: Scumbag Gene Hackman
Patrick: I went for a theme within a theme here, not only paying tribute to the late, great Gene Hackman (who really might be the best movie actor of all time), but to a specific kind of Gene Hackman villain performance. He played a prick better than just about anyone. I like the idea of pairing Absolute Power, which a lot of people will probably have seen, with Prime Cut, with which the audience might be a little less familiar. It’s so good.
Adam: This is the double feature I’d go to first. It’s amazing. I’m due for a revisit of Absolute Power, which I haven’t seen since the theaters, and I’ve never seen Prime Cut though I’ve heard it’s good and would gladly check it out. He really was the best at playing someone who’s the worst. My favorite of the bunch is Unforgiven because he plays it as a bad guy that deluded himself into thinking he’s an upstanding good guy, which is interesting.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Short Cuts (1993)
Adam: #2: The Piano (1993)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Schindler's List, Farewell My Concubine, Menace II Society
Adam: Theme: Gene Siskel Top 5 1993
Adam: I’ve wanted to see Short Cuts for a while but it’s hard to track down these days. I’m glad I have the excuse to finally check it out at the Linderground Cinemarink. Same goes for The Piano, which I’ve also never seen. 1993 was a weird year. From Siskel’s list, you’d think it was all heavy subject matter films but my recollection of it was it was a great year of fun tentpoles and programmers.
Patrick: This is a very heavy night of movie watching! It’s hard to pair Short Cuts with anything because it’s such a long, sprawling, emotionally draining experience that you’re kind of doing a disservice to anything that comes after it. Why not pile it on and watch The Piano? I weirdly think this would be a cool way to see both for the first time – not an easy night, but a rewarding one. I don’t think my ‘93 list would have any of these movies save for Short Cuts, which is why I’m no Gene Siskel.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: Blue Velvet (1986)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Stand by Me, Detroit Rock City, Pretty in Pink
Patrick: Theme: Movies Named After Songs
Patrick: I like both movies a lot and they have some things in common in that they’re both mysteries with a lot of sexuality to them and are both named after really cool, dreamy songs. For some reason I thought they would pair together well. Plus, I got to work some KISS into the night!
Adam: Unbelievable double feature. No notes. Bought a ticket immediately. I’ll bring the Pabst Blue Ribbon. I’m also looking forward to building a playlist to listen to around this theme as part of our pre-show.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
Adam: #2: Tune in Tomorrow (1990)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Sommersby, Copycat, Entrapment
Adam: Theme: Directed by Jon Amiel
Adam: Nothing makes me happier than to dedicate an entire evening to people who don’t necessarily deserve it. This isn’t meant to be a slight, but Jon Amiel’s filmography isn’t a barnburner exactly. I paired The Man Who Knew Too Little (which I’ve been told has a solid Blockbuster Video joke in it) with Tune in Tomorrow because it’s also a comedy and one of my unseen Keanus.
Patrick: This is amazing. I kind of fucked up by programming The Man Who Knew Too Little because it appears to be Jon Amiel’s worst movie; the rest are all pretty solid programmers. I didn’t realize he made so many decent movies. I stupidly sold off our DVD of Tune in Tomorrow probably 20 years ago and now I want it back.
Double Feature 7:
Patrick: #2: Klute (1971)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Working Girls, Pretty Woman, Midnight Cowboy
Patrick: Theme: Sex Worker Night
Patrick: There are so many movies about sex workers! I wanted to pair the Oscar-winning Anora with something that would feel like a change of pace (instead of another romcom like Pretty Woman) so I went with Klute because it rules and because Jane Fonda won Best Actress for her work in it just like Mikey Madison did for Anora.
Adam: I’m all over this. Not because sex workers (though I’m not judging) but because I need to revisit Anora (which I currently am) to see if I go from just liking it to loving it (update: I still just like it, don’t love it). I’ve also never seen Klute and have always meant to so this is a great opportunity. This makes me want to fire up the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack, which has some bangers (pun intended) on it.
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: The Beyond (1981)
Adam: #2: From Beyond (1986)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: From Hell, Hellraiser, Raising Helen
Adam: Theme: Wordplay
Adam: Sometimes I just wanna have fun with a theme. I do think The Beyond and From Beyond would play well together, though. This will be a night of vivid colors between The Beyond blues and From Beyond pinks. We should schedule the showtime late for this double because I want some freaks to come out for it.
Patrick: Only freaks are coming out for this. The opportunity to split up The Beyond and From Beyond with the trailer for Raising Helen is an experience you can only get at the Cinemarink.
Double Feature 9:
Patrick: #2: Slap Shot (1977)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Hoosiers, Miracle, Rudy, The Natural
Patrick: Theme: Famous Sports Movies Patrick Has Never Seen
Patrick: There are so many big sports movies I’ve missed; I’m guessing because I was never a big sports guy. Or maybe it’s because so many of them are the same so I skip them because I know what I’m getting. Either way, this is a great chance to check off two of the big ones and to no longer have to deal with the incredulous reactions of people when they find out I’ve never seen Slap Shot.
Adam: You can’t bring up hockey movies without an incredulous reaction that you haven’t seen Slap Shot. I made a Favorite Hockey Movies list on Letterboxd once and it remains one of the only comments I’ve ever gotten on one of my lists. I haven’t seen these movies either so this will be a fun night at the Cinemarink since we’re in the same boat here. I’ve seen a lot of baseball movies but never got around to Pride of the Yankees, which in my brain only consists of that single scene with Lou Gehrig’s speech at Yankee Stadium.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: To Die For (1995)
Adam: #2: A Kiss Before Dying (1991)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Singles, Mr. Wonderful, Wild Things
Adam: Theme: ‘90s Matt Dillon
Adam: Almost went with Columbia Pictures Kidmans or Written by Buck Henry for the theme but picked the Dillion theme as an excuse to finally see A Kiss Before Dying. I really like him in To Die For. Poor guy. Also, lucky guy? (because Kidman).
Patrick: I wasn’t really a Matt Dillon guy in the ‘80s but I’ve come to appreciate him as an adult, particularly since his ‘90s run. He has a self-awareness that I really appreciate, especially in movies like Wild Things and There’s Something About Mary (which E and I just rewatched for 1998 month and in which he’s really, really funny despite not being known for comedy). I need to see A Kiss Before Dying too, so we both get a first timer paired with an all-timer! Is To Die For the best Kidman’s ever been on screen?
Adam: It’s real close for me between To Die For and Eyes Wide Shut.
One time, me and my friend accidentally did a 'movie named after a song' theme night, we watched Brazil and Blue Velvet
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