Author Archives: Eric Thirteen

Ready or Not + Would You Rather

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Ready or Not + Would You Rather

Bottle films where mad men (of various numbers) make one or more participants play a deadly children’s game. Bonus points: films that are very aesthetically of their moment (or maybe even more specifically, a moment that summarizes the most popular color grades of the prior decade). Ready or Not, a film that gets away with it by surpassing expectations. How the arc, character dynamics and overall writing make Ready or Not stand out from the usual suspects. Samara Weaving is out here winning hearts and minds and everyone knows it. Looking at Would You Rather as a midnight film, which is probably the best way to watch it today. The crushed contrast of the 2000’s hate-film. Torture, abuse, and other fun things we did in the cinemas for some reason. The particular challenges of this kind of high-concept film (and how each movie attempts to overcome them or even use them to their advantage). Continue reading →

Cockfighter + A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Cockfighter + A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

The rough and tumble birds of existential cinema. Cockfighter as the rare Corman underdog. The drifter and the road film. Holding strong onto the extended bird metaphor. Don’t call Pigeons sky-rats. The composition of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. An easy look at obtuse arthouse that you can try at home. Using a logline to figure out what a film is about (when the film itself isn’t a lot of help). What it’s like to see The Pigeon with people and the strange ambivalence to cruelty when watching in isolation. On the ground reporting: New York City has something hopeful to offer. Continue reading →

Tie Me Up Tie Me Down + The Witch Who Came From the Sea

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Tie Me Up Tie Me Down + The Witch Who Came From the Sea

Find two movies fucked up enough for each other. An interdisciplinary approach to subverting the issues of equality? Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! or Pedro Almodóvar’s ¡Átame! Representing the world as it is vs as we wish it was. Almodóvar’s observations on the nature of machismo. The storyteller’s lack of moral obligation in observing the world as it is. A mental patient representing himself as pretty normal but also sometimes having a fake mustache. A conversation about the importance of tone vs narrative via The Witch Who Came From the Sea. A cursed film. The very strange ways people come to the film and the eerie sense of mystery it ads. What (still) lurks on channel X? Lowercase double features have returned to the physical world! What difference does watching a beaten 35mm print actually make on the viewing experience?

Marihuana + Criminal Lovers

Posted on July 8, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Marihuana + Criminal Lovers

American Exploitation and The New French Extremity. Want a better understanding of these movements? Start here! Take a deep dive on the entirety of two misunderstood subgeners in this multi-part series, beginning now with Marihuana and Criminal Lovers. The complete who, what, where, when, why of exploitation. Feigned outrage as a cover to enjoy smut. Exploitation films seek to ride a wavelength of some conversation already in the public. They’re looking to hitch themselves to the zeitgeist. Whether they deliver or not, they will become a mile marker on the evolutionary path of various tropes and stories. Future writers will see them in their younger influential years or even just walk by the posters and they’ll become part of the mixture that makes up mainstream tellings of similar stories. Also by being an early form of independent cinema Continue reading →

Jupiter Ascending + Alita Battle Angel

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Jupiter Ascending + Alita Battle Angel

Failure to launch. Welcome to Double Feature! Giving love to two battle-weathered films with epic ambitions. What is a logline? How can you use loglines to get more out of films you loved? And actually, films you really didn’t? Jupiter Ascending as an underground misfit of multimillion dollar proportions. Chicago gets a moment in the sun. Lazy jokes about cleaning toilets. The (not so) hidden trans themes in Alita: Battle Angel. The possibly unintentional themes of Robert Rodriguez films. Engineering and world building. Why anime so often dabbles in trans motifs where other YA material does not. Continue reading →

Double Feature Year 13 Finale

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Double Feature Year 13 Finale

Get access to ALL previous episodes at Patreon.com/DoubleFeature – starting fresh? This is a great first episode to listen to! A full reset of Double Feature begins next episode. For now, here’s a spoiler-free retrospective of the entire last year. Each year of Double Feature is a self-contained series. The podcast looks at two movies every week in a quest to determine what’s notable about them. First up, a whole year of loglines. What is a logline, why is it important to film discover, and will this type of analysis continue? Throughout the year, additional themes, motifs, and advertising spins are considered. At the end of the year, the finale episode (this very episode) takes a look back at the entire run. Journeys, marathons, triple features, and more all get one last conclusion before the show takes a fresh start. Continue reading →

Oh, God! + Yes, God, Yes

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Oh, God! + Yes, God, Yes

For the last episode of Double Feature, the show declares victory in the war on religion. Mission Accomplished! With religion completely eradicated in the United States, Americans can focus on what really matters: self-pleasure! Double Feature takes a look at god in cinema. Once a prominent figure, god is now such a fringe part of modern life that films almost need to explain what it is. The absurdity of telling an audience what god is supposed to be isn’t much worse than telling them what the true meaning of anything is. Religion poisons everything. Masturbation as a sub-set of masturbation. Double Feature plans a look back. Continue reading →

Tammy and the T-Rex + Behind the Curve

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Tammy and the T-Rex + Behind the Curve

Good and evil nonsense. A new release honors the late John Carl Buechler’s original gore effects as the Tammy and the T-Rex Vinegar Syndrome restoration blurs the line between 1994 release and 2019 release. Freshening up an old Double Feature gag. Who will admit that Tammy and the T-Rex actually happened (also, did it?) Denise Richards rides off on a dinosaur. Why do the restoration? Behind the Curve is a flat-earthers documentary, and it’s fun, and is that ok? Why people believe weird things. The power of community, even when the word “community” mostly just means an intangible thing in a sad person’s mind. What’s the harm? Remembering the work of James Randi. Continue reading →

Porco Rosso + My Life as a Zucchini

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Porco Rosso + My Life as a Zucchini

The final stop in the Studio Ghibli stop motion adventure. The journey comes to and end as year finale questions are flirted with. What Porco Rosso means to someone who has just watched a string of Studio Ghibli films. A single adventure in a larger world. There are symbolic Studio Ghibli war movies and then there are Studio Ghibli movies wherein the war occurred or is even portrayed. Hayao Miyazaki antagonists. My Life as a Zucchini is called Ma vie de Courgette in French, which sometimes leads to the English version being called My Life as a Courgette. Especially if you’re quite British. A defense of G-rated film for fans of ugly subject matter films. The utility of motifs for visual and meditative storytellers. Various motifs in My Life as a Zucchini. Continue reading →

Deerskin + Get Duked!

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Eric Thirteen
Deerskin + Get Duked!

Country side gets fucked in to grounded movies that spin into surreal wtf nightmares. Deerskin, also known as Le daim, also known as this weird fucking Quentin Depieux film. One cannot prepare for Depieux weird. What the jacket really wants. The unlikely stars who show up for this bizarre time. Coat-wearing dysmorphia. A horror film for some, a great fantasy about filmmaking for others. Get Duked! as a Danny Brown v Run the Jewels hip-hop megacut. The music videos of Ninian Doff. The D of E! The plot of Get Duked is based on a real, no kidding Duke of Edinburgh award which is a very real thing that very real british kids can all go do. How a fast paced film can go beyond the machine for empathy and become an audiovisual adrenaline shot. Continue reading →