At around this time nearly two thousand years ago, a very important dude was having a particularly crumby day. I don’t care who your Dad is or what kind of sweet ride you’ve got waiting for you in the afterlife: being crucified has got to suck.
Now being the staunch, fence-sitting agnostic that I am, Good Friday doesn’t have any particular spiritual importance for me personally. But any excuse to get together with family and friends for the weekend and stuff yourself with chocolate makes it a very good day indeed; another edition of Double Feature Friday is just the icing on the cake.
The rules of the game go like this: I give you five titles – a combination of the weeks new releases and a couple of older films – and you try and come up with the most interesting or esoteric pairing for a double feature. We also ask that you get your answers in by Thursday April 12, so the judges have enough time to make their decision.
I’ll get to the movies for this week in just a second, but first it’s time to list off last week’s winners. Fingers crossed you are among them.
ROUND 5 WINNERS:
Andrew Crump, who paired Wrath of the Titans with Jason and the Argonauts and The King’s Speech with The President’s Barber.
Courtney Small, who paired Mirror, Mirror with The Princess Bride.
Squasher88, who paired Goon with Happy Gilmore.
Sam Fragoso, who paired The Birds with Take Shelter.
Well done winners, bad luck losers, and go get ‘em future competitors. Your films for this week are:
American Reunion
Titanic 3D
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Bonus: The Hurt Locker
Special Easter Bonus : Ben-Hur
Time to put on those thinking caps! Sound off in the comments section below as to what movie you’d like to see paired – and why – with each of this week’s selections.
DOUBLE FEATURE FRIDAY LEADERBOARD:
Courtney Small (5)
Andrew Crump (4)
Squasher88 (3)
Andy Hart (2)
Dan Heaton (2)
Glen H. (2)
Sam Fragoso (2)
Simon Columb (2)
Helen Geib (1)
Jandy Stone (1)
Steve Honeywell (1)
Wayne (6)
John (4)
Mette (4)
Nic Cage (4)
Sebastian (4)
steve (4)
Nick (3)
Chip Lary (2)
Dan (2)
Twitter: agracru
April 6, 2012 6:50 am
Holy moley, this week’s brutal. Between the awful current releases and the bonus picks, I’m not sure if I’ve got anything in the tank for this week’s feature.
…but there’s only one way to find out!
American Reunion with Galaxy Quest: A movie that reunites a bunch of has-been actors, and a movie that’s about the reunion between a bunch of has-been actors. The difference is subtle but present; imagine if Reunion was a movie about getting the cast of American Pie back together for one more movie and you’re there.
Titanic 3D with Avatar: See if you can sit through five punishing hours (and change!) of Cameron spectacle overload! It’s like trying to subsist only on a diet of cheeseburgers with nothing else to sustain you.
Comic-Con Episode Four with Fanboys: Because I’m being lazy and uncreative here. I’m not winning this pick for sure.
The Hurt Locker and The Wrestler: Two films about two men in two very different situations/circumstances who can’t help but do what they do for a living– even if it could kill them.
Ben-Hur and Spartacus: Again, not reaching very deep into my creative comparisons bag, but they still make a pretty solid (if grueling) double feature.
Hope springs eternal…
AMERICAN REUNION with THE BIG CHILL
TITANIC with 1972′s THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
COMIC-CON with 2009′s FANBOYS
THE HURT LOCKER with 1994′s BLOWN AWAY
BEN-HUR with THE LIFE OF BRIAN
Twitter: ptsnob
April 6, 2012 7:38 am
American Reunion with Grosse Pointe Blanke
Titanic 3D with Creature from the Black Lagoon (old-school 3D!)
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope with Leonard Part 6 (Bill Cosby!)
The Hurt Locker with Sniper
Ben Hur with Gladiator
American Reunion with Scream 4 – unnecessary fourth films
Titanic with A Night to Remember – two versions of the Titanic sinking; one highly fictionalized, the other as historical accurate as possible
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope with Galaxy Quest – a real-life convention and a fictional one…with consequences
The Hurt Locker with Dr. Strangelove – a movie about defusing bombs and a movie about setting them off
Ben-Hur with Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – the sound version with the original silent version (which I think is actually better)
American Reunion with Romi and Michelle’s High School Reunion–should be obvious (but Nolahn and Dan took my first and second choices).
Titanic with Lifeboat–so what happens after the ship goes down?
Comic-Con with The Gamers: Dorkness Rising–fans in all their forms.
The Hurt Locker with Danger: UXB–What happens when a bomb doesn’t go off?
Ben-Hur with Quo Vadis–sorry, I got nothing here. All of my ideas were taken.
American Reunion with Loser (Jason Biggs/Mena Suvari combo … with apt title about reuniting failing-acting careers)
Titanic 3D with Revolutionary Road
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope with PAUL (Comic-Con-inspired projects)
The Hurt Locker with All Quiet on the Western Fron (Oscar Best Picture Winners about War)
Ben Hur with Planet of the Apes (Charlton Heston ’59 and roughly ’69)
American Reunion with Grown Ups (comedic reunions)
Titanic 3D with Romeo and Juliet (Leo and ill-fated romance)
Comic-Con Episode IV with Big Fan (movies about fans)
The Hurt Locker with Man on Wire (daredevil men)
Ben-Hur with Lawrence of Arabia (famous epics)
Twitter: fandangogroover
April 6, 2012 12:51 pm
American Reunion with American Pie (the start and (hopefully) the end of the franchise.
Titanic 3D with John Carter (a 3D extravaganza about a sinking ship and a 3D extravaganza that sank like a ship)
Comic-Con Episode IV with The Dark Knight (a movie about comics and the best movie ever based on a comic)
The Hurt Locker with Warrior (two great movies associated with the Iraq war)
Ben-Hur with Kill Bill (its all just about revenge really)
The Hurt Locker with Essential Killing: Two films which are set during the Iraq War and whose makers declare them to be apolitical.
American Reunion with Blues Brothers 2000: Belated, warmed-over sequels attempting to get by on people’s fondness for earlier entries by focusing on the idea of a reunion.
Comic-con Episode IV… with The People vs. George Lucas: Shameless Star Wars-related pandering.
Ben Hur with The Gospel According to St. Matthew: Religious film as spectacle and religious film stripped of all spectacle.
Titanic 3D with Gone with the Wind: Epic and epic length romance which every generation will get the chance to see on a big screen owing to constant re-releases.
Twitter: smallmind
April 11, 2012 8:02 am
American Reunion – Diner (reunion comedies where men reflect on the past and look at the new stage in their life)
Titanic 3D – The Perfect Storm (boats taken out by mother nature)
Comic Con Episode IV – Chasing Amy (a comedic look at the fans and artist who attend comic con)
The Hurt Locker – The Kingdom (films where a team is trying to stop a series of bombs)
Ben Hur – The Ten Commandments (Epics that feature Charlton Heston owning every scene he is in)