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Thursday, April 23, 2009
What weird double features have you seen?
It’s not uncommon for a movie buff like me to mix and match genres in the films I watch. At home recently, I’ve seen everything from acclaimed vampire movie Let the Right One In, to the 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to the 70s thriller Three Days of the Condor.
I didn’t see those movies back to back, though. A few times I’ve pulled strange double features in theaters that made even me blink.
The undisputed king of all weird double features has to be the time my best friend and I saw Seven and Showgirls back to back, in that order, on opening weekend. Having experienced Seven, my friend and I were already fairly well wiped out when Showgirls started unreeling - and unraveling.
When Elizabeth Berkley pulled a knife on a guy, with the stupidest steely-eyed expression you’ve ever seen, my friend leaned over to me and whispered “We’re in deeeeeeep trouble.”
The movie wasn’t even 10 minutes old at that point. You can only imagine what we were like by the time the whole ordeal was over.
Then there’s the Columbus sci-fi marathon the same friend and I usually attend together. That marathon always has an interesting mix of movies, but by far, the strangest one-two punch was the brain-melting MST3K-worthy combination of Fire Maidens from Outer Space and The Apple.
What made that duo memorable was the audience reaction. The titular Fire Maidens were a gaggle of girls in short skirts that trotted onscreen every 10 minutes or so. Each time they did, the audience broke out in a fit of purposeful giggles. “hehehehehehehehe.”
But by the time The Apple was under way, however, the stunning awfulness rose to new heights (or sunk to new depths, depending on how you look at it.) This cheesy sci-fi musical made Xanadu look like Singin in the fricken Rain. By the time the insufferable twit of a male lead was warbling a song about lost love from a high window, the audience started chanting “JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!”
So those are just two of the odder doubles I’ve pulled. Now, as ever, it’s your turn to share. What bizarre double (or more) features have you pulled, in the theater or at home?
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What’s opening Friday. April 24?
The last week of spring (on Hollywood’s calendar, anyway) brings us a rather strange mix of movies with only one truly decent new prospect.
Fighting: A young counterfeiter (Channing Tatum) is introduced to the world of underground street fighting by a seasoned scam artist (Terrence Howard) Some say this holds promise because of the two leads and director Dito Montiel, who directed Tatum to good notices in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Reviews are none too encouraging.
Obsessed. A successful business man (Idris Elba) with a beautiful wife (Beyonce Knowles) becomes the target of a female stalker (Ali Larter). The movie may be called Obsessed, but I am called Actively Disinterested.
The Soloist: Jamie Foxx plays a schizophrenic musician taken under the wing of a troubled reporter for the Los Angeles Times (Robert Downey Jr.) True story. Review posts Friday.
At the arthouses
Neon opens Che, Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour-plus opus about the man who helped lead the Cuban revolution. The film is only occasionally excellent, as the director’s reach exceeds his grasp. The first half, about the Cuban experiences is much more energetic and involving than the second half, which becomes monotonous and lethargic as Che devolves in Bolivia. Benicio Del Toro’s outstanding performance holds it together, but the enterprise as a whole is more ambitious than effective. Part 1: B+ Part 2: C+
The Little Art opens the underrated Sunshine Cleaning, with Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.
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