Ryan McNeil
For the second week in a row, I went to a theatre to enjoy a double-feature.
Nowadays, such events are rare – and I’d imagine outside of major cities such events are like bigfoot sightings. Even if a small theatre has the means to program two films back-to-back that share a common theme (or even tell a continuing story), so few want to do it because there’s very little market for it anymore. Very few paying customers are going to hire a babysitter for a whole night, double down on the price of admission, and sit in the dark for three-to-four hours.
This saddens me a little bit.
It especially saddens me this week since the double-feature at hand was one long story broken into two parts. Through the last decade or so, this has happened a few times. Kill Bill comes to mind, as does the final instalment of Harry Potter. In the case of the latter, you may even recall that I gave the first half of the film an “incomplete” score because it didn’t feel like a story…just the first several chapters. I wanted to watch Harry, Ron, and Hermione for 4+ hours. When I finally did this past year on New Year’s Eve, the full grandeur of that final tale washed over me. I actually found myself wishing that Warner had allowed me the option to do that in the summer of 2011. Alas.
Is it just a matter of time commitment? Is it only that we don’t want to be sitting in one spot in the dark for four hours, even if we’re given a nice long thirty minute break in-between? Somehow I doubt it, since I know a lot of people who won’t even sit on their couch and watch two blu-rays back-to-back.
What is it about a double-feature that seems so daunting? Why don’t more people give over an entire night to cinema and lose themselves to one long story, or two complimentary ones? If you could see any double-feature theatrically tonight, is there one you’d choose?
What I’m saying is that I had so much fun walking into Lightbox after work on Thursday and not leaving until almost midnight. I hope I get to do it again sometime soon.
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL – Lindsay has promised to attempt Mendl’s pastries for later this spring.
NYMPHOMANIAC vol. I – I thought I’d feel irtier watching this alone.
NYMPHOMANIAC vol. II – Ah, there’s that dirty feeling!
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
VIGIL – Thanks again to Stevee Taylor for pointing me towards this gem.
THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING – A week without Lubitsch is like a week without sunshine.
THE LINCOLN LAWYER – Plays so much better in the wake of the McConaissance.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
BEN-HUR – Still a favorite classic.
BULL DURHAM – It is baseball season now, isn’t it?
THE FOUNTAIN – In the wake of NOAH, I returned to the Aronofsky movie I originally shrugged off.
I’ve been watching a whole lot of Supernatural but film-wise there was Field of Dreams, probably the first basketball movie I’ve seen. It was nothing like what I expected but wow, what a unique and cool movie. It’s hard to imagine it ever got made – and became popular! Also, it reminded me of how much I miss Kevin Costner, he’s just the epitome of an old school hero for me.
I could type for hours, but instead I’ll just nudge you towards this link:
http://www.thematinee.ca/elsewheremoviesyoulovefieldofdreams/
I will listen to this ASAP so either tonight or tomorrow morning!
Let me know if you feel like I talk about baseball too long.
I actually watch these television shows that run two episode arcs and their episodes can have screen time as long as an hour and 20 minutes. So it’s not exactly what your talking about but it’s close. And I routinely watch two at a time. It’s been a really different experience compared to American television and movies where so much is put on completing the full arc of something in one sitting. It feels so much more like life and how we all have chapters of our life that unfold and we have to close them and put parts behind us as we move forward. Cheers.
Your point about long television arcs sorta underlines my point: People don’t have the energy or attention to go to a theatre and sit in the dark for two hours…however they’ll think nothing of watching an entire 13-episode-season of Mad Men one rainy afternoon.
I sorta wish there was more balance.
First-Timers: Noah, The Remains of the Day, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, The We & the I, and later tonight, Dave Chappelle’s Block Party.
Re-Watches: The Godfather, The Shining, She’s the Man, In Her Shoes, and later on, WrestleMania X.
I’ve been meaning to get my hands on the soundtrack for Block Party for years. Thanks for the reminder.
I had exactly the same feelings towards the two Nymphomaniac films.
All firsts this week. I’ve finally started Buffy the Vampire Slayer so yaay! It’s awesome 🙂
Blow Out– Brilliant!
Dom Hemingway– Not as amazing as I thought it would be but still pretty funny.
American Gigolo– In spite of Richard Gere looking hot as hell, the movie was a bit dull.
Anchorman 2– Too much going on.
Captain America 2– LOVE! So good.
Birth– I liked it, especially Kidman’s performance and the score.
Stranger than Fiction– I adored it. I was just weeping buckets by the end.
Lindsay would be wickedly proud of your dive into the Buffy pool. FWIW, the tone of the series changes after season one, so try to power through those episodes and reserve judgement until you get to season two.
I keep meaning to get around to BIRTH, but my friend Kurt’s love for it leave me skeptical over how much I’ll enjoy it. Perhaps I’ll finally pull off the band-aid.
Double features are awesome. I am sometimes hesitant to watch two movies in a row sometimes, as it is a challenge to get through just one at times, but it has always been a great experience whenever I manage it. They should totally still be “a thing.”
And finally after two one-movie weeks, I seem to have gotten my own groove back!
First time:
Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 – speaking of films broken into two parts, the new Troma film does just that! I can’t wait for part 2!
Who’s That Knocking at My Door – March’s blind spot… I’m behind.
Man Of Iron
Thor: The Dark World – people didn’t like this?
Power of the Press
And I re-watched:
The Evil Dead – still amazing, and oh so much better than that paltry remake.
The Cannonball Run – ugh. It was a lot better when I was 6.
I liked The Dark World, I just didn’t love it. In the wake of The Winter Soldier, I’m still quite solid in my stance. Anyone who says it’s “bad” though needs to give their head a shake.
If you put up a post for “Who’s That Knocking…” drop a dime and I’ll add it in to March’s links.
This week I kept my promise to myself that I would watch more important films and I sure did.
Goodfellas – As great as they say it is. My favorite Scorsese and gangster film so far.
Casino – Felt like the ugly sister of Goodfellas. I liked the performances especially Stone, but some characters were very similar to Goodfellas. Also, music was overused and there were moments when it tired me. More details in my Films of March 2014 post.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – I liked it for a while, but then the jokes became too strange. I liked Steve Carrell’s Brick but they overused his weirdness.
In America – Beautiful and sad. The guys from Filmspotting love this film, they even have it in their Pantheon. The actors were just wonderful especially Morton and the girls. Touching film.
In The Bedroom – More of an actor’s film. All the performers were at the top of their game. Still, I don’t know how to feel about the story and the pacing which at times was too slow. I was tired when I watched it, it could also be that problem.
I would like to mention the Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man. You can catch it on Youtube. 20 minutes well spent.
Wow – talk about a great week of film-watching! I skipped Anchorman 2, so I’m judging based on everything else.
CASINO has always had an odd distinction within Scorsese’s canon. You’re right in pointing out that it feels like GOODFELLAS’ watered-down-stretched-out redheaded cousin. The fact that it arrived just five years later, with two of the three leads in tow didn’t help matters since it was constantly compared.
And yet, I feel like there are still a lot of good things about it that GOODFELLAS couldn’t do – specifically the mechanics of how The Tangiers operates. What’s more, I think it’s frenetic energy, length, and musical hyperactivity were mirrored quite a bit in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. Maybe give that one a rewatch in light of your recent experience with CASINO and see how it informs your opinion of both films?
If I have enough time I might watch WOWS. I remember I had a good time watching it, despite the length.
I also forgot to mention my rewatches
Psycho – First time rewatching it. I noticed some flaws but I still love it.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 – I had a lot of fun with this series. Showdown Scene is amazingly choreographed. It must have been hard work.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 – I thought this one was the boring one. It’s just as great as Vol. 1. Maybe better as a film, while Vol. 1 is more fun. Also, the music works perfectly. I love the soundtrack.
I didn’t watch a ton due to work last week, but I had one new film and one re-watch:
NEW – SAVING MR. BANKS – I’m a big fan of the Disney theme parks, which makes me interested in Walt Disney. I think Hanks are Thompson were great, but the movie was a bit too obvious. It really hit the notes of Travers’ past on the head, and that got old. Still, I liked it overall.
RE-WATCH – EIGHT MEN OUT – It’s still my favorite baseball movie, and checking it out again didn’t change that feeling.
I got to watch “Kill Bill” as a double feature a couple years ago, and doing so made me really truly realize for the first time how much the opening scene of Vernita & her daughter led into the closing scene of Beatrix & her daughter. Like, that was the arc of the whole film and it resonated in a way unified that it never did split into two. It cracked the movie open even wider for me. It was amazing. That alone makes me a fan of the double feature.