Double Feature

Eric and Michael finally dig their hooks into I Know What You Did Last Summer films 1-3. Is it a slasher franchise or a hooker franchise? The fisherman Ben Willis. The plot is largely ignored in service of some broader elements of the franchise, so here’s the spoiler-inclusive run down in case it’s useful. A group of kids hit a man on the road and leave him for dead. One twist later, it turns out he’s alive. The plot thickens as David appears to have committed suicide after he was in an accident in which his girlfriend Susie died. In another stunning development, it wasn’t a suicide at all and David was actually murdered. As it turns out, the murderer is Susie’s father, who was the man the teenagers hit on the road and now THEY’RE NEXT.

Lang’s Fairy Books meet Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Rhyming Doo-wop films, Donkey Skin and The Brothers Grimm. Eric hates fun. You watch Jacques Demy’s Donkey Skin carefully. French New Wave. The phone is fine, but why’s there a helicopter? Flaying a donkey and wearing its skin can be off-putting. Also something about incest. Most importantly, cake-baking. Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm is very American. Major Hollywood film look and feel. Grim reboots. The evolution of fantasy films into superhero films. Lost franchise potential. Unique inaccessibility. The battle between arthouse and blockbuster franchise choices. Will Johnny Depp have another Killapalooza? Production hell as a film motif. Suggest a film to cover by joining the Patreon.

A very British double feature. Well, a somewhat British double feature. Ok so like, half a British double feature anyways. The English make bad coffee (sorry, Charles). Double Feature Year 12 is the year of plots that don’t adequately summarize the film. Blowup has intrigue, murder most foul, and a simple plot. Photography, mimes, and controlling a narrative. Leaving Existentialism 101 to discuss murder. A man searching for a literal and metaphorical propeller. Control and powerlessness. Eric finally learns what Barry Lyndon is. The Kubrick photography. Narration. Not being sure if a film is comedy or not. The epic film, but without the typical arc or lessons. Reading situations wrong. Literal temporarily embarrassed millionaires, for a change. Intimate candlelight.

Two tense films about survival in family dynamics in two very different genres. One, Force Majeure, about an impulsive barrel of the gun decision. The other, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a film at the extreme end of premeditation.

Living your identity! Tangerine is deeper than you may have heard. At least this once, let’s make sure we all know the full title of Priscilla Queen of the Desert is actually The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Eric cuts Michael’s Dunkacinno jokes. Usually. Tangerine and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. How Hugo Weaving ended up in The Matrix. Tangerine is a Christmas film, shot by Alec Baldwin. The public’s focus on unusual film trivia to the detriment of the actual film. Trans women are just people. Making a genuine, non-exploitation film. A different representation of L.A. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is mostly just trying to be fucking fun. Thinking otherwise misses the point. Australian Rocky Horror Picture Show. Having to be drag queens to exist in 1994. Some gay people sound different and it’s not a big deal. Michael tries not to be problematic. Coming to terms with cultural change and acceptance. Michael does not know anyone in West Virginia. A time before Internet-sanctioned language.

Narratives vs numbers. Eric uses his tease voice. When you money some ball and win a sport. People who think they’re changing the world versus people who actually have an impact, for better or worse. Segway segue. The Sorkin trope of people working at their peak. Fictionalized reality. The importance of winning the final game. Scrappy revolutions. Betting on Zero and learning about multi-level marketing. The heroic wealthy white hedge fund man. Michael’s summary of Clint Eastwood films. The tragic victim at the top of the victim pyramid. Actual human suffering isn’t funny. Temporarily embarrassed millionaires. Anecdotes are the best friend of survivorship bias. Correctness is irrelevant to successful persuasion.

Maybe Gaspar Noé and Harmony Korine can be friends. Michael Climaxes all over a Beach Bum. The never-ending journey to give Harmony Korine a playmate. Eric has not figured out how to release Disposition. If you’re a Patreon, send in lists of films you want on the show. Climax is not a good time. The alternative to art is sometimes suicide. Building up to hell, then hell. Leaving the audience outside the character’s experience. Dancing. Leaving the alarming things unexplained. Maybe there aren’t drugs in Climax, as opposed to Beach Bum. Finding places in that feel like another planet. Secret wealth, privilege, and accomplishments. Pushing wheelbarrows of weed. Tripping into a Pulitzer without showing any labor. Eric gets upset that others might have wild success without doing much work. (No one tell him about his president.) Not letting the audience see how the character sees the world. Shit’s gonna work out, though. Michael on sharks.

The writing and cinematography adventure gets difficult! The Verdict and Doubt. The David Mamet, writer, and Roger Deakins, cinematographer, Year 12 journey continues. Even Mamet gets demands for rewrites. Convoluted plots that may not really matter without the core character. Writing a courtroom drama. Classic three-act structure. Deakins does what a film needs him to do. The things that happened on screen. Semi-ambiguous pedophilia returns to Double Feature. Foreground versus background. Subtle camera work allowing the story to advance. Revisiting the hypothesis. Ghosts versus sledgehammers.

Change through antagonism! A delightful experience with Assassination Nation and Hail Satan? Everybody who saw Assassination Nation died. Deliberately antagonizing people without just being a bigot. The trailer for Assassination Nation. A misunderstood teenager of a film. A Trojan horse full of challenging ideas for the audience. Check out this article. Hey Man, Nice Shot. The satanic church. Pink masses and turning the dead gay. The case for and against evangelism. When all your costume just amounts to wearing a fedora. Michael’s glad for the guy dressed as squirtle next to him in the theater, but doesn’t covet him. Satanic panic is dumb, but did lots of harm. On dismantling systems from within. Pigs heads are scary. Sign up for the Patreon and tell Eric and Michael what films you want them to cover.

Double Feature ends the decade with a very personal look at nostalgia. Mike’s Special Episode to close out the Year of Our Lord 2019 feat. the exploitation of nostalgia via Space Jam and The World’s End. The retroactive viewing of Space Jam. The differences 25 years makes. Michael Jordan used to be huge; now he’s just tall. The belief that things were better back when. Eric is still optimistic about the world. And loves Edgar Wright’s The World’s End. Darkwave and New Wave. Wanting to relive your past versus wanting to live forever. Nostalgia and the Internet. Michael’s message of hope: there is no God and it sucks for everyone right now. Death to Double Feature. Chip in a few bucks to keep Double Feature alive.