Friday, June 9, 2017

Thursday Movie Picks #152: Double Features (Movies that go well together)



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.


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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Double Features (Movies that go well together)

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Don't you ever watch a movie and think it goes well with another...I do. But of course as I sit here trying to think of three pairs of movies...they all escape me..except these 3 pairs.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) and Byzantium (2012) 
Love both of these movies and so many reasons why these go well together. Both are vampire movies with period setting directed by the same director. Both feature a pair of vampires (each of the pair has a child vampire turned by the other) on the run and a coven of vampires with ill will towards them. 

The Babadook (2014) and Under the Shadow (2016) 
In the Babadook, a single mother attempts to cope with the death of her husband and her son's fear of a monster in their house. In Under the Shadow, a mother and her young daughter lives under the threat of bombs in 80's Tehran while also being plagued by an evil presence. I prefer Under the Shadows; I was a little bored with The Babadook. 

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) and Ella Enchanted (2004) 
So enough with the doom and gloom, my next pair is going to be fun. I've said before Ever After is my favourite Cinderella movie; it takes the fairy tale and try to place it in a real period setting and I think it worked real well. My second favourite is Ella Enchanted. It gives a little twist to the Cinderella story making her a girl cursed with obedience and the story is set in a fun fantastical fairy tale world.


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15 comments:

  1. I watched Interview with the Vampire a few days ago and I liked it, so I'm willing to give Byzantium a try. I loved The Babadook and Under the Shadow sounds good. I guess I'll have to check out that one as well.

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  2. UGH The Babadook is SO GOOD. I've heard good things about Under the Shadow, too. Ever After and Ella Enchanted would be a fun pairing.

    LOVED this theme!

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    1. I must be in the minority...did not like the Babadook. I think Under the Shadow is available on one of the streaming platforms, so I hope you do get to check it out.

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  3. No Queen of the Damned to go with Interview? Just kidding. Both Interview and Byzantium are really good. I prefer the latter. I love The Babadook. I've heard great things about Under the Shadow. I'll be taking that one in, soon. I've seen bits and pieces of both Ever After and Ella Enchanted, but never gave either a proper watch. Maybe one of these days.

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    1. Haha QotD...I don't think I've seen it...that bad reviews put me off it.

      Same...I think I like Byzantium more too. I think it's because the relationship between the characters are much stronger and complex.

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  4. Interview with the Vampire is a fun film but haven't seen the other one. I haven't seen your middle two but love Ever After and really like Ella Enchanted and great duo

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    1. If you don't like horror...the middle two may not be for you. Byzantium has some similarities with IwtV...so if you like IwtV I think you might enjoy Byzantium too.

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  5. The only film I haven't seen is Under the Shadow and it's in my Netflix queue. I like your pairs.

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  6. I still need to see The Babadook. Interview with the Vampire is solid. Never saw the one you paired with it.

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    1. Yep it seems a lot of people like The Babadook...that was the reason I saw it. Byzantium is great...hope you get a chance to see it.

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  7. Nice sounding match-ups even though I haven't seen them all. I'm not much of a horror fan nor a fan of Cruise but Interview was an okay film and The Babadook very disturbing with a great Essie Davis performance. Again not much for Hathaway but Ella Enchanted is cute though I much prefer Ever After which is my favorite of your picks.

    I went for films that shared an idea or subject line with each other.

    Filmmaker Double Feature
    Bride of Frankenstein (1931) Scientist Victor Frankenstein having survived the assault of the original film is forced by the evil Dr. Pretorius to assemble a mate for his monster. Using an electrical storm to bring the creature to life (an iconic looking Elsa Lanchester) he starts a chain of events that lead to much tragedy when it turns out the bride isn’t having any of the monster. Quintessential horror film that with the first set a prototype for many years and started a trend that made its studio, Universal a mint churning out pale imitations of other creature features.

    Paired with:
    Gods and Monsters (1998)-James Whale (Ian McKellan), esteemed director of Frankenstein and many others, is living a wealthy genteel retirement in California tended to by his faithful housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave). Lonely and unbeknownst to most ill with a condition that causes a slow diminishment of his faculties he strikes up a friendship with his handsome gardener, ex-Marine Clay Boone (Brendan Fraser). As they share stories Whale recalls making The Bride of Frankenstein among other things as his thoughts scattered and re-form. Deliberately paced but with brilliant acting, both McKellan and Redgrave were Oscar nominated.

    War Double Feature
    So Proudly We Hail (1943)-In December 1941 a group of Army nurses lead by Lt. Janet “Davey” Davidson (Claudette Colbert) and including Lts. Joan O’Doul (Paulette Goddard) and Olivia D’Arcy (Veronica Lake) are headed to Hawaii for their tour of duty but plans change radically when Pearl Harbor is bombed and they are diverted to the battle sieged island of Bataan. Once there they are confronted almost hourly with bombardments, attacks and masses of wounded calling for enormous sacrifice and resolve. Strong drama headed by three great stars with Veronica being a standout as a bitter woman hell-bent on revenge.

    Paired with:
    Bataan (1943)-Looking at the male side of the same battle. The Japanese have just invaded the Philippines and the US Army in hopes of holding them back assigns a group of 13 under the direction of Sgt. Bill Dane (Robert Taylor) to destroy a key bridge and prevent its rebuilding. Tense and grim with an excellent cast including Thomas Mitchell, Robert Walker and Desi Arnaz.

    Drive-In Double Feature
    The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)-A group of scientists on an expedition for fossils in the Amazon stumble upon the previously unknown Creature from the Black Lagoon on their journey. Not having the sense to leave well enough alone they capture the mysterious gill man but he breaks free returning later to take the beautiful Kay (Julie Adams) for his own. The surprisingly hunky and scantily clad remaining scientists (Richards Denning & Richard Carlson) take off in pursuit. A mix of suspense and hilarity ensues.

    Paired with:
    The Thing from Another World (1951)-Stationed in the Arctic a team of scientists along with a crew from the US Air Force find a crashed spacecraft in the ice as well as the frozen body of the presumed pilot. Again not having the sense to leave well enough alone they extract the body from the ice and then pay a heavy price when it thaws out and becomes THE THING!! Though he’s unrecognizable under the makeup the Thing is played by James Arness before his decades long career on TV’s Gunsmoke.

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    1. Don't think I've heard of Gods and Monsters (1998) before. Sounds interesting.

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  8. I agree that Under the Shadow is the better film, but I still enjoyed The Badadook. Great comparison by the way.

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