by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: Love & Basketball (2000)
Patrick: #2: Bamboozled (2000)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: State & Main, Boiler Room, Frequency
Patrick: Theme: New Line 2K
Patrick: This year might have been peak New Line. They had found box office success in the ‘90s and were cranking out movies but were also able to attract auteur filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson and Spike Lee. They (and we) really had it all. Their 2000 slate is insane. They could greenlight a first film from Gina Prince-Bythewood and lure Spike Lee to make what is still maybe his single most audacious movie that’s somewhat frozen in amber thanks to its digital cinematography. I think both of these movies rule.
Adam: I love this theme. New Line Cinema was the best back in the day. I've only seen Love & Basketball once a long time ago so I'm looking forward to revisiting it this month. It has an amazing song called “Dance Tonight” by Lucy Pearl on the soundtrack, so the movie's stuck in my head since 2000 because of that. And Omar Epps, of course, who I'm a fan of. I really like Bamboozled, but I agree with you that I don't revisit it often largely because of how it looks with its low-fi digital photography. It's a powerful movie, though, and one of Spike Lee's most underrated. I love this double.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: The Gift (2000)
Adam: #2: What Lies Beneath (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, The Cell, Unbreakable
Adam: Theme: I Still See Dead People
Adam: The Sixth Sense took the movie world by storm in 1999 with Haley Joel Osment being all “I see dead people.” Was it just a coincidence or a trend that so many main characters in the year 2000 movies had a gimmick where they saw either dead people, evil people, killers, etc.? I’ve seen The Gift once and didn’t like it very much, but I’m interested in giving it another shot as long as it’s part of a double feature and Patrick is there and I can have a medium popcorn. Pairing it with What Lies Beneath seems fun since they both have a woman trying to solve a ghost story of sorts. You know who’s really fun in What Lies Beneath? Remar!
Patrick: What a double. I like The Gift, Giovanni Ribisi’s insane overacting aside, and I like What Lies Beneath even though the air kind of comes out of the balloon at the end. I miss the supernatural thriller for adults. These days it’s all trauma ghosts and MTV disco dancing.
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Mission: Impossible 2, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Highlander: Endgame
Patrick: Theme: 2000 Sequels
Patrick: I’m probably due for a rewatch of Next Friday, right? My memory is that it’s the weakest one. I was really surprised to see just how few sequels there were in 2000 considering it’s now such a staple of our moviegoing ecosystem. I know I could have paired Next Friday with a stronger sequel than Klumpers (someone Erika and I knew called Nutty Professor II “Klumpers” back in 2000 and I have refused to call it anything else ever since) but it seemed appropriate to put two mid movies together that might add up to three, three and a half stars all together. I know I just saw Viva Rock Vegas so it’s probably recency bias, but it might be my favorite of all the movies in this lineup.
Adam: Next Friday is definitely the weakest of the three Friday movies in my humble opinion, but it's not without its charms, like the introduction of the character Pinky played by Clifton Powell. Almost everything that guy does is funny once you get on that character's wavelength. I somehow have never seen Klumpers despite going to see almost everything back in 2000 and really liking the first Eddie Murphy Nutty Professor movie. I'll be at the Linderground for this double if for no other reason than to finally check this box. BTW, it's cool 2000 was such a lite sequel year. As I go through the 2000s for 2K Replay, I love that the DVD market allowed for so many originals that decade. P.S. You’re making me want to see Viva Rock Vegas. Keep it up.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Miss Congeniality (2000)
Adam: #2: Gun Shy (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Big Momma's House, Drowning Mona, Me Myself & Irene
Adam: Theme: You Have the Right to Remain Laughing
Adam: I’m buying a ticket for this one. Good job me! I like Miss Congeniality a lot, but it’s been such a long time since I saw it that it’ll feel new. I remember it having great Heather Burns stuff in it, which the world always needs. I paired it with Gun Shy so I can finally see Gun Shy in a theater like I was promised via the dozens of times I saw the trailer in theaters before it was unceremoniously dumped on VHS. I know law enforcement is a thorny subject these days but hopefully a Sandy B Double F(?) makes the theme go down smoother.
Patrick: The name of this theme makes me want to go to this one first. Good job you! Here’s something weird about me: I turned on Sandy B. in the late ‘90s because of movies like Practical Magic and Speed 2 and In Love and War and Two if By Sea. The one-two punch of 28 Days and Miss Congeniality won me back in 2000 and I’ve been a big fan ever since. I, too, saw the Gun Shy trailer countless times at the AMC and thought it looked kind of terrible. It’s not terrible but it’s not very good. Sandy B. only has a few scenes but at least Oliver Platt has the great “narcosleepy” joke.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: Disney’s The Kid (2000)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Chicken Run, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, An Extremely Goofy Movie
Patrick: Theme: You Know, For Kids
Patrick: It’s so weird how much movies have changed since 2000. I keep thinking of it as a more recent year because there’s a “2” in front of it but it was a long time ago and the business has totally transformed. There was a variety of movies made for kids – live action, animated, and, in the case of Rocky & Bullwinkle, a mix of both. More than two studios were releasing them. I haven’t seen The Little Vampire and I’m going to rewatch The Kid this month for the first time since theaters, but I like the idea of devoting a night to a kind of movie that really doesn’t get made anymore.
Adam: I love that so many kids’ movies back then had actual people in them. I haven’t seen The Little Vampire either, but I once sent a birthday message to a friend of mine from Jonathan Lipnicki (because it was in my price range) and he did a great job on it and seemed really nice so I’ve kinda been a fan of him again since. I’m on the record as loving The Kid so I’m hoping it goes well on rewatch for you. I think the movie is sneakily emotionally resonant and now that Bruce Willis is ill it’s even more poignant. I love that movie. I cry every time I watch it.
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: The Crew (2000)
Adam: #2: The Replacements (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Chocolat, The Gift, Red Planet, The Watcher
Adam: Theme: Trinity & Neo
Adam: Trinity & Neo are so cute together. They’re like when high schoolers fall in love. They’re like when you decide two of your teddy bears are married. A night where they’re separated but together seems fun because it’s like we’re doing the rom com work in between the lines during these movies and trailers. I haven’t seen The Crew. Is it good? I’m a snapcase owning member of the Mickey Blue Eyes fan club so I feel like there’s a chance it’s up my alley. Good thing Keanu had a comedy in 2000, too, otherwise it would be a real awkward pairing of something funny with something dark, although The Watcher is unintentionally funny.
Patrick: I just watched The Crew for the first time (after I had programmed it) and it kind of sucks. Carrie Anne Moss innocent, though, and a Neo/Trinity night sounds amazing. I had an accidental Double Moss night when I doubled The Crew (which I didn’t realize she was in) with Red Planet, which I liked more than I remember. She’s underrated. I revisited The Watcher a year or two ago with the knowledge of its production history and I just felt so bad for Keanu the whole time that I couldn’t enjoy any of it. Maybe that’s just the movie.
Double Feature 7:
Patrick: #2: The Perfect Storm (2000)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Cast Away, The Beach
Patrick: Theme: Man vs. Nature
Patrick: I had the hardest time pairing Vertical Limit because it’s so goofy and so much movie that it feels like nothing can follow it. I decided to go with a nature theme in the hopes that people on the water wouldn’t feel too repetitive after people in the snow. Is The Perfect Storm good? It’s on my list to revisit this month but now I can just see it at our made-up theater.
Adam: As a fan of Man vs. Nature movies I’m all about this theme and pairing. I’ve seen Vertical Limit at least three times and have never liked it but I want to like it so much that I keep giving it chances. I think The Perfect Storm is pretty great. It’s among my favorite disaster movies and one of the best Clooney being a movie star movies.
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: What Women Want (2000)
Adam: #2: The Ladies Man (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Lucky Numbers, The Next Best Thing, Wonder Boys
Adam: Theme: Paramount Comedies
Adam: Mel Gibson had a big 2000 at the movies but it felt weird to do a night with him as a centerpiece, so I went bland and chose Paramount Comedies. Although, pairing What Women Want with The Ladies Man worked out nicely since they’re both rom coms that were marketed as also “for the boys.” Speaking of For the Boys, Midler’s in What Women Want. This was meant to be. P.S. Wonder Boys rules and I used to like a Christina Aguilera song on The Next Best Thing soundtrack, but I think that was more a product on my circa 2000 Aguilera fever than anything else. P.S.S (?) Movies like You’ve Got Mail, What Women Want, and The Family Man were what I thought working in Business was going to be like. And thus, a career was born. For the record, working in Business ended up nothing like those three movies.
Patrick: I like how you framed this double. It was a good save after I stupidly programmed a Mel Gibson vehicle. Is it possible I’ve never seen The Ladies Man? I’m not sure I have. WWW is my least favorite Nancy Meyers joint so I’ll be ready to laugh when it’s over and I’m sure The Ladies Man will get the job done!
Double Feature 9:
Patrick: #2: In the Mood for Love (2000)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Amores Perros, Me You Them, The Vertical Ray of the Sun
Patrick: Theme: 2000 International Movies I Still Haven’t Seen
Patrick: I’m a bad movie fan. I still haven’t seen any of these. I’m definitely seeing In the Mood for Love this month, but I might not get to the others. You’re so much more cultured. You probably never wasted your life seeing Coyote Ugly three times.
Adam: You’re in for a solid, emotionally draining evening. I can lend you In the Mood for Love, which is a movie I like as much as many but don’t love as much as most. I’m just more of a Chungking Express guy. However, I just saw 2046 again last year which is a semi-sequel to In the Mood for Love, so the timing is right. Yi Yi was a bit of a thing for me during my Blockbuster Video days when I would use my five free rentals each week mostly on international films, especially ones from Asia. I think it’s a pretty powerful movie, especially when you think about it after the fact. I just rewatched it last week and, while I liked it a little less than before, it hit me harder emotionally this time because I’m the parents' age and no longer the age of the children in the movie. I recommend it especially if you like early Ang Lee stuff like The Wedding Banquet or Eat Drink Man Woman. Now I’m just showing off. P.S. I’ve seen Coyote Ugly at least three times too. I can’t get enough of my girls. Just kidding. I was thrown out of Coyote Ugly in Miami on New Years Eve 2006. Not kidding. I sniped back at a coyote who made fun of me, and she had me thrown out. You know what they say…you can’t fight the moonlight.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Adam: #2: The Tigger Movie (2000)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Road to El Dorado, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, Titan A.E.
Adam: Theme: Hand Drawn Animation
Adam: Another one “fer da kits.” I’ve seen The Emperor’s New Groove but don’t remember if I liked it or not back in the day. I paired it with The Tigger Movie because they’re both from Disney and hand-drawn animation, which I dearly miss in movies. Remember when Dreamworks used to try to make their animated movies seem cool to adults? Like, Road to El Dorado was all “We got Kline and Branagh, this isn’t for babies. No good? Then check out this Stallion of the Cimarron!”
Patrick: I tried going back and seeing some of the Dreamworks animated movies I skipped in the late ‘90s and early 2000s after reading The Men Who Would Be King and I haven’t liked them very much. Road to El Dorado probably comes the closest. I’m looking forward to checking these two Disney movies off my list! I miss real cartoons. I miss my dog Max.
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