by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Thunderheart (1992)
Patrick: #2: Mindhunters (2004)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Hard Cash, The Thaw, Felon
Patrick: Theme: Unseen Val Kilmer Tribute
Patrick: Since I’m guessing you, like me, want to pay tribute to the great Val Kilmer this month at the Cinemarink, I want to use this opportunity to check off a few boxes. I still have never seen Thunderheart despite wanting to see it SO badly in 1992 for some reason. Looking at his filmography, though, I realize I’ve seen pretty much every other wide release he ever made save for Mindhunters, a favorite of Elric Kane’s. This means I had to dig into his lesser-known late ‘90s and 2000s period, and while I tried to avoid movies that went DTV, some of the other titles in the trailer block may as well have. I’m excited to spend some time with Val Kilmer and honor one of my guys.
Adam: I definitely wanted to pay tribute to Kilmer, an actor I’ve always liked and a very nice & funny man when I got the opportunity to meet him at a con about 15 years ago. I’ve seen Mindhunters (which I don’t love but could be worse) and I’ve always wanted to see Thunderheart as well but never have. The time around when Thunderheart came out was too packed -- it was Wayne’s World this, My Cousin Vinny that, White Men Can’t Jump this, Ladybugs that. There I was, 9 years old, being like “When can I see Basic Instinct, Thunderheart, and Rock-A-Doodle?”
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: Johnny Handsome (1989)
Adam: #2: In Country (1989)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Uncle Buck, Shirley Valentine, When Harry Met Sally
Adam: Theme: Playing at Woodfield Mall - 9/29/89
Adam: I thought it could be fun to do a time capsule of movies playing at the Woodfield Mall on the opening day for Johnny Handsome. I saw that movie for the first time a few years ago and liked it but don’t remember much about it. This is a nice mix of summer holdovers and new fall releases. Have you seen In Country? I’ve always wanted to, but my memory is that it was hard to track down. I see it’s now available to rent on Amazon and YouTube. Also, are you an Uncle Buck guy? We’ve never had the Uncle Buck conversation. I want to like it more than I do being a John Candy fan.
Patrick: I’m a big Uncle Buck guy! I used to watch it every Christmas Eve for some reason. I think one year it was on USA and then it just became my movie that I watched on Christmas Eve when I would spend the night at my mom’s. I’m also excited that you programmed In Country because I’ve owned a DVD of it for years but never watched it despite loving Bruce Willis. I remember it being one of his first super dramatic roles at the time and it blowing my mind that he was doing something so heavy. I’m also super excited to see Johnny Handsome on the big screen finally because I love Walter Hill, I love Mickey Rourke during this period, I love the supporting cast, and I love this movie.
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Excessive Force (1993)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Running Scared, Rapid Fire, The Hunter
Patrick: Theme: Windy City Heat
Patrick: I love an action movie set in Chicago. Code of Silence is the best Chuck Norris movie, and Excessive Force is a sneaky great starring vehicle for Thomas Ian Griffith that I got turned onto for a Heavy Action piece a few years ago. I have a theory that TIG was just too tall to be a huge action star. It looks so weird when he spin-kicks a motherfucker, like a giraffe doing karate. If not for the next double feature you programmed, this would probably be the double I do first.
Adam: Seeing Thomas Ian Griffith kicking someone is one the wonders of the world. I’d love to go to this double feature. It sounds like a fun evening and a great excuse for me to finally see Code of Silence for the first time.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: C.H.U.D. (1984)
Adam: #2: Dreamscape (1984)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Firestarter, Ghostbusters, Gremlins
Adam: Theme: Summer 1984 Sci-Fi-/Horror
Adam: I was originally going for a John Heard-Daniel Stern collaboration theme but there weren't enough movies they starred in together even including two Home Alones. That’s ok because this is better. I’ve never seen C.H.U.D. or Dreamscape, so this will be a fun night at the movies for me in a Fangoria/Starlog/Junesploitation kind of way.
Patrick: Yeah, I’m getting a ticket for this one Day One. I know it’s partly childhood nostalgia talking, but I love sci-fi/horror movies from this period. Even a so-so movie like C.H.U.D. is going to play better when paired with an underrated banger like Dreamscape. These are cool movies meant to be seen on 35mm with scratches and cigarette burns and everything. I love this double.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: Miracle Mile (1988)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Gotcha!, The Fall Guy, Drive, Top Gun
Patrick: Theme: Goose and Gosling
Patrick: I know I’ve seen Fracture but I can’t remember a single thing about it, so I decided to pair some Gosling with some Anthony Edwards movies. Have you seen Miracle Mile? It might be one of the best movies of the ‘80s and I love it even more now that co-stars Edwards and Mare Winningham recently reconnected and got married after years of being married to (and eventually divorcing) other people. It’s such a sweet story.
Adam: I’m in the same boat as you as having seen Fracture but not remembering much about it. Oddly, it’s one of the movies I’m most excited to revisit during this whole 2K Replay run I’ve been on this decade. I only have to wait until 2027 to watch it again! I’ve never seen Miracle Mile because I know the plot and it made me really sad just hearing about it. I need to get over that and give it a chance because I know it’s supposed to be very good and I’m an Anthony Edwards guy -- the actor and the basketball player.
Patrick: Go Wolves.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Spanglish (2004)
Adam: #2: Funny People (2009)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Punch-Drunk Love, Reign Over Me, Uncut Gems
Adam: Theme: Elevated Sandlers
Adam: We’re gonna hate rich people so much by the end of this evening. I’m mixed on both movies (my memory is I prefer Funny People to Spanglish, which I didn’t love in theaters) but I thought it would be cool to put together “auteur”/serious Sandler’s all into one evening. I originally had Punch-Drunk Love as the second feature but Funny People fit so much better with Spanglish because first-world problems and they’re both overlong dramedies.
Patrick: I don’t know what I was thinking programming Spanglish, a movie I kind of liked in 2004 but now mostly can’t stand. It definitely has stuff in common with Funny People in that they both have rough edges and scenes that are great but feel bloated and entitled, just as you point out. We should give out Yankee Candles or some shit to the audience that comes out for this double.
Adam: I call dibs on the Chocolate Layer Cake Yankee Candles. They’re legit.
Double Feature 7:
Patrick: #2: The Naked Spur (1953)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Winchester ‘73, The Man From Laramie, Bend of the River, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Patrick: Theme: Jimmy Stewart Westerns
Patrick: One of my favorite sub-genres of movies (like Elvis musicals and buddy cop movies) is Jimmy Stewart westerns. I can watch one anytime. I’m due for a rewatch of Liberty Valance, which I’ve seen but not recently. Pairing with another one was tricky because anything might have worked, so I chose a second feature practically at random. I thought Naked Spur would work best because it’s in color. I made sure to include the Fievel Goes West trailer for you.
Adam: I love his westerns too, though admittedly I haven’t seen many besides Liberty Valence. I saw some of Winchester ‘73 and really liked it so I want to finish that movie soon and see The Naked Spur. Thanks for the Fievel trailer. I have a full set of trading cards and holograms if you ever want to see them.
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: A Better Tomorrow Part II (1987)
Adam: #2: Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Red Cliff: Part II, The Crossing: Part II, The Killer (2024)
Adam: Theme: John Woo Sequels & Remake
Adam: This was a stretch, but I barely got there. I’ve never seen the Better Tomorrow movies so this will be a good opportunity to do so. To be honest, early John Woo movies are a pretty big blind spot for me other than Hard Boiled, which I kinda liked but probably need to see again. I’m not a big Mission: Impossible II guy but I’ll always have nostalgia for it because I saw it a billion times on Hoosier Cinema 7 when I was in college. That was the in-dorm movie station that was a mix of modern classics and whatever big new release had just come on home video. M:I II played three times a day, every other day, for like two months.
Patrick: They’re a big blind spot for me too! I’ve seen his American stuff and Hard Boiled and The Killer but that’s basically it. I know Shout! Factory is releasing some of his Hong Kong titles so I’m excited to finally see a bunch of them. My most recent watch of MI:2 made me think it’s a pretty good John Woo movie but not a great Mission: Impossible movie, so I think it would play really well in the context of a John Woo night.
Double Feature 9:
Patrick: #2: Q&A (1990)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Prince of the City, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Serpico
Patrick: Theme: Sidney Lumet’s New York
Patrick: I really like Sidney Lumet and I really like every one of these movies. Are his best movies set in New York? I was originally going to pair this with Prince of the City because it’s so good and underrated but it’s also really long for a second feature, so I went with the equally underrated Q&A, a great dirty cop movie with a great Nick Nolte performance that for some reason still doesn’t have a Blu-ray. Sidney Lumet might be the best director of actors to ever do it.
Adam: This is a great double! I love most of the Sidney Lumet movies I’ve seen but still have a ways to go finishing his filmography so getting the opportunity to finally see Q&A sounds great. I also want to revisit Dog Day Afternoon since this year is its 50tha anniversary and I’ve only seen it once and am due for a rewatch.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: Up in Smoke (1978)
Adam: #2: Big Man on Campus (1989)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Devil’s Rain, Poison Ivy, Knight Moves
Adam: Theme: Tom Skerritt’s In This?
Adam: I was trying to be clever and avoid a stoner theme which seemed too easy and then when I reminded myself of the cast for Up in Smoke, I asked myself “Tom Skerritt’s in this?” (because I didn’t remember him being) and a new theme was born of movies I feel like Skerritt is too classy (?) preppy (?) respectable (?) to be in. He’s always the Top Gun guy to me first and the Alien guy second. Seeing him in the cast for these movies is still slightly jarring.
Patrick: I’m glad you went with this theme because even though I like Up in Smoke, I don’t love weed humor and a night full of it might be tough to take. I’m excited to finally check out Big Man on Campus because it’s a Brian Saur movie and I’ve never seen it. Plus, we’ve got two themes on this month’s schedule that are Top Gun-adjacent without ever showing Top Gun. Good job, us!
James Stewart westerns, Code of Silence, John Woo action... All good ideas for Junesploitation, Adam.
ReplyDeleteI just watched Miracle Mile. It is such a surprising film, alternately touching, funny, and frightening. I loved the location shooting, which grounds an over-the-top story to a physical space. The setting makes everything seem more plausible.
Those are some great double features! Winchester '73 is excellent. I really liked Thunderheart which I just saw recently. I briefly considered watching all of Graham Greene's movies, but there's a lot of trash in there. And DTV movies that might be hard to find. And Asylum movies. I'm sure he's great in all of them. I'm glad he's still getting work.
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