Author Archives: Eric Thirteen

Raging Bull + American History X

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Raging Bull + American History X

Tragic masculinity examined as Double Feature covers movies people have actually heard of!

The Hunt + Emma

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
The Hunt + Emma

EMERGENCY EPISODE. Film in the time of Coronavirus. Universal sends their theatrical releases straight to VOID as the country joins a world-wide shut down for COVID 19. Modern and period pieces on class are left in the past by a world wide pandemic.

Uncut Gems + Lowlife

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Uncut Gems + Lowlife

Low-fi crime day. Two films with an odd relationship to comedy. Contrasting personal relationships in the lives of similar characters. Why Double Feature is shelving the pandemic for a special emergency episode.

Sweeney Todd + Cold Fish

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Sweeney Todd + Cold Fish

A front for murder. Sweeney Todd (The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) finds Mr. Todd and Ms. Lovett making pies. No one asks Anthony Stewart Head to sing. Meanwhile, things are much different in the world of Cold Fish. The ever-changing rules of Sion Sono.

Blindspotting + The Devil’s Candy

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Blindspotting + The Devil’s Candy

Music as a weapon. Talking about films that leave you speechless, like Blindspotting and The Devil’s Candy. Blindspotting is more than just a film about a cop shooting a black person. Oakland’s moment in cinema. Presenting conversations through the art of film. Eric and Michael’s bad geography lesson. Gentrification. PTSD. Cultural appropriation. The White Shield. Felony convictions. The difference between armchair philosophy and lived experience. Beat beating. The importance of music bridging the gap between Blindspotting and The Devil’s Candy. A quick watch. Michael can’t every remember what happens in The Devil’s Candy, but loves it. Hating devils in film, unless they’re white. Metal as the anti-devil force for a change. Forgetting Hard Rock Zombies. The challenge of showing a character’s amazing art. Child murder returns to Double Feature. Uncertainty is scary. Being bad at murder. Deconstructing a film murder scene. Why are we still here? Ah, right. The Patreon.

Killapalooza 38: I Know What You Did Last Summer

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Killapalooza 38: I Know What You Did Last Summer

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.

Donkey Skin + The Brothers Grimm

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Donkey Skin + The Brothers Grimm

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.

Blowup + Barry Lyndon

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Blowup + Barry Lyndon

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.

Force Majeure + The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Force Majeure + The Killing of a Sacred Deer

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.

Tangerine + Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Eric Thirteen
Tangerine + Priscilla Queen of the Desert

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.