by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley
Double Feature 1:
Adam: #1: The Blues Brothers (1980)
Patrick: #2: The Stunt Man (1980)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Animalympics, Urban Cowboy, Up the Academy
Patrick: Theme: June 1980
Patrick: I guess with enough distance every month in the past becomes an amazing month. I’m not saying Up the Academy is amazing, but it does have Robert Downey Sr. adapting MAD magazine. I watched Animalympics about 200 times on cable as a kid. Urban Cowboy obviously rules and was very nearly the second feature I wanted to program, but then I saw that The Stunt Man was released the same month as The Blues Brothers and couldn’t resist pairing those two. I love the idea of watching a big, expensive Hollywood musical and then a movie that totally deconstructs the movie making process. I’ve never seen either movie on the big screen and I’m excited to see them together.
Adam: This sounds great. I don’t think I’ve seen The Blues Brothers in a theater either and this will be my first viewing of The Stunt Man. I miss when movies had legacies. Not to entirely knock current movies, but they really struggle with remaining resonant in subsequent years. I can’t wait to hear that Blues Brothers soundtrack on the Linderground speakers.
Double Feature 2:
Patrick: #1: The Fury (1978)
Adam: #2: The Entity (1982)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Fists of Fury, Mad Max: Fury Road, Iron Eagle, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Adam: Theme: “The Fury. The Furie”
Adam: It’s sort of a nonsensical theme since these movies have nothing to do with Marlon Brando or Apocalypse Now but I nonsensical’d my way into pairing two movies that I think will play well together. Plus, The Fury is one of my unseen DePalmas and I’m becoming more of a Sidney J. Furie guy with each new movie of his I watch so I gotta keep that ball rolling. Are you a fan of these two movies?
Patrick: This is a pretty incredible double even beyond the title/theme because these movies would play really well together. The Entity is one of SJF’s best in large part thanks to the Barbara Hershey performance, but it can be a tough watch because it’s very ghost rapey. Like Ghostbusters but less hilarious. The Fury is one of the great underappreciated De Palma movies that lives on mostly because of its ending but there’s so much more to love than just that. It’s the movie that gave me my first crush on Amy Irving. I’ve never been able to see it in a theater, either, so this will be so cool.
Double Feature 3:
Patrick: #2: Chloe (2009)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Alpha Dog, Lovelace, Jennifer’s Body
Patrick: Theme: Trashy Seyfried
Patrick: Amanda Seyfried is quietly amassing a pretty amazing body of work. I like that she’s still willing to make trashy movies like The Housemaid even when she’s also making super respectable and audacious stuff like The Testament of Ann Lee. Before anyone gets angry or offended, please know that just because I say something is trashy doesn’t mean I think it’s bad; The Housemaid and Chloe and Jennifer’s Body are all “elevated” trash – movies that know exactly what they are and lean into what the audience wants and expects while simultaneously offering something deeper and more thoughtful.
Adam: Amanda Seyfried is great. I’m looking forward to this double so I can no longer be the only person who hasn’t seen The Housemaid. I remember Chloe being decent and kinda hot. It’s like Atom Egoyan was making up for the fact that Exotica wasn’t all that hot.
Double Feature 4:
Patrick: #1: Dragonslayer (1981)
Adam: #2: The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Corvette Summer, Batteries Not Included, Bingo
Adam: Theme: Matthew Robbins: The Whole Bloody Affair
Adam: I’ve never seen Dragonslayer or The Legend of Billie Jean so this might be my first choice for the month. I’m interested since I know they both have their fandom. Do you like them? It’s also cool to have a night dedicated to a director’s entire filmography. I think Batteries Not Included was the first sneak preview I ever saw in theaters and my Dad had to explain the concept of a sneak preview to me. P.S. I’m so happy Matthew Robbins made Bingo because now Rosalie, Andy, and I can talk about our beloved Bingo the entire night.
Patrick: I love it when we devote a FNDF to an uncelebrated filmmaker, so this has me very excited. I haven’t seen The Legend of Billie Jean in years so I can’t remember if I like it or not, but that Pat Benatar song is a real banger. I’m a big Dragonslayer fan; it’s one of the best of all the ‘80s fantasy films and has the best dragon ever put on screen. Matthew Robbins filmography makes no sense to me. I really wanted to see *batteries not included as a kid because of the Spielberg connection but even back then I didn’t much like it and I’ve never actually seen Bingo. Please don’t tell Rosalie and Andy. I need them to keep respecting me.
Double Feature 5:
Patrick: #2: CB4 (1993)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, How High, Fear of a Black Hat, Pootie Tang
Patrick: Theme: Hood Comedies
Patrick: I thought about pairing Friday with How High and passing out joints at the Cinemarink, but seeing as I’ve never tried weed before I don’t think now is the time to start. Do I need to rewatch How High? E and I saw it in theaters, and I remember laughing a lot when they smoke the corpse of John Quincy Adams or something but nothing else. I decided instead to double Friday – a movie I liked more until I had to see Ice Cube writing it in Straight Outta Compton – with CB4, a somewhat underrated ‘90s Universal comedy (only you get what this means) about the gangster rap scene. I think this would be a really fun night at the movies.
Adam: I saw How High once and don’t remember much about it other than a couple of jokes that were really funny. The guys in my fraternity liked it for what it’s worth. This is a great pairing. Friday is one of my favorite ‘90s comedies. It’s a great hangout movie and different jokes get me each viewing (“What the hell you stealing boxes for? You trying to build a clubhouse?”). I’m of the opinion that CB4 is better than Fear of a Black Hat. Am I crazy? That might be because I’ve seen the former maybe 10 times and the latter only once. Wacky D’s in the house!
Double Feature 6:
Patrick: #1: Cruising (1980)
Adam: #2: Author! Author! (1982)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Scarface, Revolution, Sea of Love
Adam: Theme: '80s Al Pacino
Adam: I went with '80s Al Pacino as a theme because he made relatively few movies during that decade and it was a weird time for him. I’ve seen Cruising a couple of times and it’s one of the more unsettling movies I can remember seeing even if it doesn’t connect all the way story wise (to me at least). Following it up with Author! Author! was intentional because that movie is pitched like a sitcom (how will Al Pacino raise all these kids!???) and will allow the audience to decompress after the intensity of Cruising.
Patrick: OMG the Pacino whiplash we are going to get. There are some days where I might call Cruising my favorite Friedkin even though I know it’s not; it’s just one that I revisit a lot because I love the early ‘80s NY sleazcore vibes and that ZZ Top song kicks so much ass. Pacino’s ‘80s were so nuts. Did you ever see Revolution? I haven’t but kind of need to. I know he was semi-retired during the decade, but why did he come out to make stuff like that and Author! Author!?
Adam: Revolution is one of the few Pacinos I have yet to see. I think that was the movie that made him semi-retire and not come back until Diane Keaton forced him to make Sea of Love.
Double Feature 7:
Patrick: #2: Hairspray (1987)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Can’t Buy Me Love, Cocktail, Bird on a Wire
Patrick: Theme: Erika Night
Patrick: Sometimes you just want to devote an entire night to movies your wife loves more than anyone else. I like most of them (never Cocktail), but they will always belong to her.
Adam: I love it! I like that I’ve known you two long enough to immediately associate most of these movies with Erika’s love of them. I need to revisit Hairspray. I haven’t seen it since cable in the ‘80s where I remember being afraid of it because I found out Divine passed away and for some reason, I thought that made the movie scary. We need to play the Cocktail soundtrack as part of the pre-show. For goodness sake, let’s give the Cinemarink the hippie hippie shakes. P.S. Do I need to see Bird on a Wire? I used to like that poster. It popped whenever you’d see it as an ad in Premiere Magazine.
Patrick: You should totally see Bird on a Wire. It’s a fine movie that becomes a three-star banger in hindsight. Plus, it’s 1990 Universal and that shit just hits different.
Double Feature 8:
Patrick: #1: Hook (1991)
Adam: #2: The Fisher King (1991)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Doors, Hudson Hawk, Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Adam: Theme: Tri-Star 1991
Adam: I credit studios like early '90s Tri-Star for being gateways for me as a kid to watching movies made for grown-ups. For example, Terminator 2 was the first R-rated movie I ever saw in a theater and when I saw the preview for The Doors where Val Kilmer is all “Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin…” I was fully ready at 8 years old to be walked through the doorway of my own oblivion. Hook is a movie that’s kind of a joke in my family because I got food poisoning before we saw it on Christmas Day 1991 and I spent most of the movie and after the movie throwing up all over The Catlow theater. Good times. I’m a Hook guy. I actually like it more as an adult than I did as a kid. Back then I sort of needed to will my way into liking it, but I saw it a few years ago in 70mm at the Music Box and was connecting to the Robin Williams arc a bit. I paired Hook with The Fisher King because it’s a Williams movie I own and have meant to see forever but have never watched.
Patrick: I’m much more of a Fisher King guy than a Hook guy (as has been well established) so I’m excited that we have, as La Bianda says, one for you, one for me. I keep waiting for my magic viewing of Hook, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m sure a 70mm Music Box screening would help so hopefully they do it again. It’s so weird how much I like Robin Williams as an actor when he made so many bad movies (these are not them) and never really makes me laugh despite being a mostly comic performer. I will watch him in just about anything. The Fisher King is one of his best.
Double Feature 9:
Patrick: #2: Purple Rain (1984)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Princess Bride, “Kiss” music video, Graffiti Bridge
Patrick: Theme: Princes and Princesses
Patrick: This was a tough one so I hope our audience will go with us on it. I don’t think I’ve seen The Princess Diaries since a sneak preview in 2001 (I never saw the sequel either) so I had to zag and take a different direction. There’s never a bad time to watch Purple Rain, and you can definitely introduce the movie and tell the Cinemarink about the words the movie taught you.
Adam: Lol. I just revisited Purple Rain over the weekend on my smoky, snap case DVD just as everyone should. It’s like vinyl. The last concert in Purple Rain might be some of the best cinema ever put on film. It’s incredible. I’m also (as you already know) a huge Princess Diaries guy so this evening is all nutmeg to me. I like the theme a lot too. Do I need to see Graffiti Bridge? I’ve been tempted but never took the dive.
Patrick: I’ve never seen Graffiti Bridge or any Prince movie outside of Purple Rain. Our Cinemarink speakers are really getting a workout this month, and I am here for it.
Double Feature 10:
Patrick: #1: Far and Away (1992)
Adam: #2: The Age of Innocence (1993)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: L.A. Story, Sweet November, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Enya music video block
Adam: Theme: Enya Music
Adam: I programmed this evening not as an Enya fan (I’m not a detractor either for the record) but because she’s had songs in a lot of movies. Her song in Far and Away is pretty badass. It’ll get you through the last three pumps when you’re bench pressing. I’ve seen Far and Away maybe three times, and it never clicked for me but the promise of being in the company of Cruise and Kidman is enough to keep going back to it. I’m also using this as an excuse to revisit The Age of Innocence, which I’ve only seen once and probably should have liked more than I did. I really wanted to like it because of the cast and Scorsese of course.
Patrick: I love this. She should come play live. I need to rewatch Far and Away, so I programmed it here because I don’t remember loving it but regret not seeing it in 70mm when it played at Woodfield 1&2 because it was one of the last movies that ever did. I only recently saw The Age of Innocence and was pretty knocked out by it despite it not being my thing. That Scorsese is pretty good.
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