For those of you too young to remember, there was a time when you could actually go to the movie theater and pay a few bucks to watch two films back to back (aka: a Double Feature). You used to be able to drive up to theaters and watch from your car but that’s a lesson for another time.
A while back, a friend of the site posed a question about what films would make for a great double feature. While I gave it a bit of thought, and answered the question quickly, the idea kind of stuck with me and ruminated into this list I’m presenting you with today. It’s an interesting question because while I love movies, I actually HATE(!!!) going to the movies. So, the idea of sitting in a theater through two films is what I imagine hell is like. It would take some pretty awesome films to make me endure that suffering. However, the idea is even more loaded than that…
You can’t just take two films you like and throw them into a double feature. There’s no point in that. And we are not doing the sequel thing. That would just make for a boring list. Double features, the good ones, always had themes. So, for this list, the idea was to find two films you like that also compliment each other well and make for a kick-ass movie going experience. I’ve assembled my Top 10 below. Here they are (in order):
10. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON & HERO.
I don’t know about you but I love me some Kung-Fu! Especially this newer style that is like a ballet of fighting while flying through the sky. Crouching Tiger made it famous. Many have tried to copy it and failed for many reasons, usually foresaking story for the fighting. Hero is one of the few that did the opposite. These films are both great stories that are insanely fun to look at!
9. 13 GOING ON 30 & BIG.
These two go together for obvious reasons. However, one gives you the male perspective and the other the female. One helps lead it’s main character to find her lifelong love, the other reminds us we don’t need to be in a rush to grow up. Sometimes, you need to just be a kid. Ultimately, they both entertain and differ just enough to keep you interested for several hours.
8. THE FOG (1980) & THE MIST.
Another set of films paired for obvious reasons but also on the list because they are both really good films. Both have supernatural elements but one focuses on it while the other takes a look at what these situations can do to the human element involved. On a sidenote, if you haven’t seen The Mist, you are missing out. It’s an insanely underappreciated film that you will not regret having taken the time to see.
7. BRICK & L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.
I’ve never been a fan of older or classic films. I usually exercise a 1970 cut-off when sitting down to enjoy a film. However, one genre I have always dug, that found it’s hay-day in the early years of talkies, is Noir films. They’re just so effing cool. How can you not? I like this pairing of a modern-day take on the genre in it’s day coupled with a film that reimagines that genre in a modern-day setting. One will hurt your brain a bit with it’s throwback dialogue but it’s well worth the mental workout!
6. GALAXY QUEST & FANBOYS.
Where my Fanboys at? This double feature could easily find a cult following. Both are based off or around two of the biggest franchises ever made (Star Wars & Star Trek) but tell their stories from the viewpoint of crazy fandom that surrounds them. Made up of countless geeks that frequent conventions and fill their dwellings with posters and memorabilia. Geeks like me!
5. SUPERMAN (1978) & BATMAN (1989).
I love comic book movies! I really wanted to do a comic double feature but it’s kind of hard to find two that match up well. Spiderman 2 and X2: X-Men United was the only one I thought might be fun but those are sequels. That’s no fun. Then it hit me. While these two films are 10 years apart they are actually quite similar in style. They also remain two of the most respected comic book adaptations to predate the comic book movie movement from the turn of the century.
4. SCHINDLER’S LIST & INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.
These films don’t seem like an obvious pairing but I think this would make for a great time at the cinema. Schindler’s List is a great and moving film told through the eyes of a man trying to save Jews being slaughtered in the Holocaust circa WWII. It’s one of the few films that almost manages to get tears from me every time I watch it. How great would it be to see the end credits finish and then que up on a Tarantino film where we go and get payback on those Nazi bastards… er, basterds?
3. GOODFELLAS & CASINO.
Scorcese night at the theater! Regardless of the countless other great films he’s made, Goodfellas will end up being the film that defines Scorcese. I’m of the opinion that Casino is an equally good film if not a superior one. They are very similar films but manage to maintain their own identities with their storylines. What makes them great together is they are both so utterly watchable. You can sit down at any moment in either of these films and just start watching to the end and feel super-satisfied for having done it.
2. THE THING & ALIENS.
Both of these are great Sci-Fi alien films. Arguably two of the best. I think they’d be great shown together though because while their subject matter is similar, the way they tell their stories is cool in their own ways (much like The Mist/ Fog combo earlier). One starts out like a horror film but turns quickly into a great paranoid thriller. The other is a balls to the wall action film that steps on the gas at the gate and never looks back.
1. THE MATRIX & DARK CITY.
Sci-Fi is my favorite genre and these are two of my favorite Sci-Fi films. They were released about a year apart. Had they not been released so close to one another, I would’ve sworn the latter had stolen some pages from the former. They are very similar stories but use different forms of Sci-Fi to tell their tales. And even though they are very similar, I can’t get enough of either and couldn’t imagine a better night at the cinema.
So, what would your favorite double features be?
You say no sequels, then put Aliens on the list? 😛
Twitter: manilovefilms
July 11, 2011 9:01 am
Pretty sure he meant he wouldn’t program Alien and Aliens as one of his double features, not that all sequels were banned from inclusion.
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:42 pm
Yes… what Dylan said!
I love ‘Galaxy Quest,’ but I think a better DF matchup with ‘Fanboys’ would be ‘Free Enterprise.’
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:42 pm
You could go Trekkies too I suppose but I like the tone of those two films together. And I need a little Star Wars to wash the Trek out of my mouth! 😉
just watched fanboys tonight and thought it was hilarious. i was hoping for a cameo from mark hamill also!!!! and i do like SOME of the star trek movies, but STAR WARS always wins out.
As it turns out, I watched both Schindler’s List and Inglourious Basterds in the last week.
The double feature I have planned for later this week is This is Spinal Tap (fictional metal band that doesn’t quite make it) and Anvil! The Story of Anvil (real metal band that doesn’t quite make it).
@Nick–I don’t always consider Aliens a sequel, since it’s almost a different genre from Alien.
Spinal Tap/Anvil??? You just let me know where and when!
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:43 pm
Tell ’em Steve-Dave!
That’s a great double feature BTW!!!
Twitter: DantheMan610
July 11, 2011 8:20 am
Great double features! I like how you used the two posters for Schindler’s List and Inglorious Basterds to show two hands, but used in two different ways. Cool Stuff!
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:44 pm
That Inglourious poster was a great find. I had never seen it before writing this post.
The Warriors and Assault on Precinct 13 would be my dream double feature.
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:44 pm
The original P13? I’ve tried watching that 3 times and turn it off every time.
Oh Big and 13 Going on 30 (a guilty pleasure for me), nice matchup. Not sure about The Matrix and Dark City though, they are too similar maybe?
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:46 pm
Did you really just applaud me for Big & 13 Going on 30 and then shit on my Matrix. Dark City combo for being too similar, Castor? Seriously? 🙂
Personally I can watch those two Sci-Fi films over and over so that’s my number #1. What’s yours?
Best double feature – The Boondock Saints and The Way of the Gun. It is a little slice of heaven wrapped up in 227 minutes with witty dialogue and lots of guns!
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:47 pm
LOVE LOVE LOVE both films. Especially Way of the Gun. Listen to the Tournament of Champions podcast we just did if you want to get really frustrated about how underappreciated that movie is! Still, not sure if I like them together. Good theme but one is a bit more methodical and the other is very smash mouth.
Twitter: smallmind
July 11, 2011 12:57 pm
Really like this list, especially the combos of The Fog/The Mist and Hero/Crouching Tiger….
The only things I would change would be:
13 Going on 30 would ruin the Big pairing for me. I would probably do Big and Freaky Friday or something
Also Goodfellas and Casino are pretty much the exact same film. For me something like Goodfellas and Gomorrah would work better
Other pairings:
Lethal Weapon/Bad Boys
Critters/Gremlins
Boyz in the Hood/Menace II Society
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:49 pm
Great choices. Love Menace II Society! Boyz, of course, as well.
I considered doing 13/30 with 17 Again which was actually a really good movie but Big won out.
And GFellas and Casino are similar but they’re like one big 6 hours GREAT movie!
Twitter: manilovefilms
July 12, 2011 9:19 am
No…17 Again is not a “really good movie.” Your standards have been lowered too much. It’s a really passable Big knockoff with little that’s memorable in it outside of maybe Thomas Ian Lennon, but that’s about it.
“BRICK & L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.” is a great pick. That would be an awesome screening.
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:50 pm
It would be. Let’s do it!
Schindler’s List and Inglorous Basterds? You are one sick puppy.
Twitter: kaiderman
July 11, 2011 4:50 pm
Are you kidding, James? I make a compelling argument! 🙂
Having watched both films almost back-to-back…I have to agree. It’s an interesting double feature, not one that’s obvious. The fact that it isn’t obvious is what makes it such a solid choice.
My only objection to it is that it would be nearly six hours long.
The Big Lebowski and Footlight Parade
The Killer and The Wild Bunch
I’d pair Lebowski with any classic noir–The Maltese Falcon, The Asphalt Jungle, maybe Gun Crazy–just for the comparing of what the Coens did with the classic noir formula.
Twitter: kaiderman
July 12, 2011 2:53 pm
I’ve only seen one out of each of those so I will defer to Honeywell’s expertise!
I especially like the pairing of Lebowski with Murder My Sweet on the film noir front
My ultimate pairing comes from the fact the Busby Berkeley-inspired bowling-themed musical dream number is my favorite part of Lebowski and Footlight Parade is my favorite of Berkeley films
Twitter: fandangogroover
July 12, 2011 12:36 pm
Kai, you hate going to the movies, you have never mentioned that before. I have always wondered how big your TV is, you have never mentioned that either.
I have never seen 13 Going on 30 and could never get into Galaxy Quest. How about Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as an alterative pairing with Fanboys.
Always good to see Dark City on any list, more people should see it.
I would suggest a few of my own but am keeping my powder dry for Marc’s “Double Feature Theatre”
Twitter: kaiderman
July 12, 2011 2:54 pm
Smartass! 😉
The Emigrants and The Settlers (Utvandrarna and Nybyggarna).
Swedish emigrants goes to the US, its probably the closest to real Swedish Western films.