Spy Kids 2 + Gremlins 2

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Spy Kids 2 + Gremlins 2

Genetic experiments and incredible post-colon titles. Two films of unrestrained imagination. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. Alice gets his own correction. Reintroductions. Special effects. Returning actors, tupperware Banderas, and Ricardo Montalban. The progressive political system of Spy Kids 2. Humanity’s relationship with technology. Where Machete exists in the Spy Kids universe. The first digitally filmed movies. The main handful of digital camera you need to know. Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Michael’s evening at The Music Box. Why you should get to know directors. The themes of Gremlins 2. Breaking the 4th wall. Joe Dante’s blank check. Pleasing the critics. Continue reading →

Freeway + Nothing

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Freeway + Nothing

Better learning through coupling. Answering for Ghostbusters. Freeway: A perfect film for Double Feature. A weird film, and why it is what it is. Even more on Richard Elfman, Danny Elfman and The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Robert Crumb and Little Red Riding Hood. Before Spider-Man and after Spider-Man. Matthew Bright and Artsploitation. Doing it the hard way. First time director, incredible cast. Executive producer Oliver Stone. The return of Keifer Sutherland. Keifer Sutherland’s biggest sell. Beautiful trashy Vanessa! Giving the benefit of the doubt. Always be yourself. How to determine if someone is a serial killer. How to never jump the shark. Freeway 2 and the oddity of totally authorized sequels. From the makers of Cube…Nothing. Where audiences will accept all forms of exposition. Star Wars tales. Science fiction dealing with the implications of it’s own devices. How infinite white space is done. Special effects exclusively through sound. Not telling The Story of Gary. Agoraphobia and the terror of the outside world. Learning vs escapism. If you could forget, would you? Should you? Drink your problems away. Continue reading →

Kindergarten Cop + Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Kindergarten Cop + Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot

Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ivan Reitman produces every film, and Linda Hunt isn’t really in any of them. The humor of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop. Weird Arnold faces. Cullen Crisp. 90s moms, up to no good. Mommy and daddy issues. Who is you daddy and what does he do? A PG-13 take on R rated subject matter. The moral responsibility of Hollywood. If You Seek Amy. Detective John Kimball’s Ferret. Revisiting twenty year old franchises. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! An action comedy with action. A bit of Golden Girls History. Demasculinizing the Man’s Man. Standing up for a movie that’s no one’s favorite. THE THREE POINT SCALE. Before films could talk about gangs as more complex than simple monsters. Double Feature tries to figure out a real man. Mocking your role model. As I say, not as I do. The evolving role of masculinity in film and television. Continue reading →

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly + Godzilla: Final Wars

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly + Godzilla: Final Wars

The final chapter in a series where Double Feature takes on two genres it was not prepared for. Years later, the return to Spaghetti westerns and kaiju (Japanese monster films)! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Remembering where the dollars trilogy started. Michael pets the white cat. The approachability of film analysis. A defense of popular art films. The emotions the character defining titles take an audience though. What motivates western gunslingers? Who do they feel accountable to? Rugged individualism and the concept of trust. The unholy alliance. A getting away with pacifism in a violent western. Cowboys are allowed to cry. Appeal to the popular classic western genre. The most iconic standoff in cinema history. A anniversary monster world tour. Godzilla: Final Wars. Portraying Godzilla decades later. Double Feature discovers a secret Scientology allegory. Sure, why not add mutants. Japan destroys New York. The most destroyed cities in film. Atragon! Mothra, Anguirus, Rodan, Zilla, King Caesar, Hedorah, Ebirah, Kamacuras, Kumonga, Manda, Gigan, Monster X and Nilla. Where did Nilla come from?! Too cute to be bad. The future of Godzilla. Continue reading →

Killer Klowns from Outer Space + Blood Feast 2

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Killer Klowns from Outer Space + Blood Feast 2

Camp from the greatest of enthusiasts. Finding reality! An accidental revisit of year 1 format. The Chiodo Brothers. Big top guitar riff. Halley’s comet, Hale-Bopp, and the Heaven’s Gate cult. Two types of skepticism. Where’s our sequel? Making the difficult look easy. Making the easy look difficult. Shadowplay and magic effects. Selling simple effects. The horror! Floods of creativity. Making your audience think about your movie. A lightning quick Herschel Gordon Lewis primer. Strip away an era, remove a variable in understanding. The guts of Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat. Understanding the comedy of Herschel Gordon Lewis. A breakthrough in understanding. An understanding, but perhaps not a full understanding. A more redeemable look at gender. Is HGL becoming a better filmmaker? The towel of greater disappointment. Making John Waters work for you. The final chapter of a three year adventure. Continue reading →

Thinner + Fright Night

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Thinner + Fright Night

A Tom Holland double feature! One of the coolest things Stephen King ever did. Richard Bachman and Stephen King. Tiny kids and Godfathers. Getting Thinner in an elevator. High concept elevator pitch. Road head gypsy curse. Horror for regular people. The acne potato guy. The white man from town. Is it possible to create a serious treatment of the Thinner story? The moral of the story. A roadhead cover-up conspiracy. The ambiguous rules of Curse Pie. Fright Night shows sexy vampires are only part of the equation. The popularity of Fright Night in 1985. For the Nintendo Entertainment System! 8 bit score. Franchise stoppers. Vampire powers of seduction are honed skills, not super powers! If all else fails… Monsters and cannon. Terror in the Suburbs: It Never Gets Old Edition. Peter Vincent! Terrible old person makeup that gets worse upon each viewing. Successfully celebrating camp while becoming camp yourself. An evolving view on vampires. Mother skeptic. New Wave with guitars! Synth music cues. Ed Evil. Ghost cuddle. Continue reading →

Paycheck + Next

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
Paycheck + Next

A spontaneous Phillip K Dick double feature looks into the past and into the future. Podcasting in an artistic vacuum. Back at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. An all-star cast for what could have been a sci-fi blockbuster. Ben Affleck runs from a puzzle. John Woo and Hong Kong action films. HAMSTER DANCE. Buying into the objects. Positive looks at film continues with a potential future direction for Double Feature. Silly Hong Kong meets American Tech-Heavy Sci Fi. The influence of Minority Report. The lesser emphasized Phillip K Dick themes. Are you guilty before you commit a crime? Fixed destiny time travel. The Sacco and Vanzetti case. How you pitch Next to your friends. Going nuclear. Las Vegas magicians. Is next for you? The point of no return. At the heart of Next. Revisiting how long you can spend in a dream. An FBI agent in the real world. Designed to cop-out. Continue reading →

The Ward + Darkon

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
The Ward + Darkon

A day in fantasy to help Alice think he’s not crazy. A modern John Carpenter film in The Ward. A familiar director and a band new writer. Seeing the style and technique again. Immediately identifiable as modern and 70s. The pulsing heartbeat of John Carpenter. One prolific director’s influence on films of today’s. Where’d the Casio keyboard go? Quick, pretend you were already a fan of Rob Zombie’s latest inspiration. Unnerving commentary. Another visual movie watching experiment you can try at home! Michael overcomes a pet peeve. Sweet Amber Heard. The Id, the Artist, the Seductress, the Aggressor, the Infant and the Protector. Another way to approach the twist. Every horror movie should have one good joke. Break your own rules to create scares. The kill room. Modern violence. A professional crew surrounding amateurs. Filming a documentary as a gift to your subject. The wench from Medieval Times. Humanizing the subject you thought was strange enough to film. A universe where your choices effect everything. Is being born in the wrong time nonsense? Being boring (and other qualities of world leaders). The actual skills Darkon sharpens. In character and out of character. Is it ok to check out from the real world? Continue reading →

The Faculty + Jackie Brown

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Alice Thirteen
The Faculty + Jackie Brown

Black sheep, back to back: Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez direct two strange selections. The Faculty and the 90s. Teenage wasteland. What makes The Faculty edgy. Film making as a job. Why did Robert Rodriguez do The Faculty? Rebellion. Aliens and effects. Naked tentacle wonderment. The beginning of the CGI. Developing Planet Terror. Super 90s soundtrack, featuring a cast inclusive video from The Class of 99. The hyper 70s blacksploitation introduction of Jackie Brown. Quentin Tarantino, bringing people back. Another look at Tarantino’s dialogue. Chicks with Guns. Atypical casting and acting choices. Pam Grier! Forty year old ass-kicker. Ordell the weasel. Earning the boss. The strange line walked by a bail bondsman. Continue reading →

Gummo + Pink Flamingos

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Alice Thirteen
Gummo + Pink Flamingos

Competing looks at trash culture. Gummo and Harmony Korine. Comparisons to Larry Clark and Kids. What are the similarities and why do they exist? Storytelling sans story. Michael tries to add artistic credibility to mumblecore. Filmmaking nihilism. Making an audience ask “Why?” Answering the dangerous question. Humanists consider the opposition. The best of the worst, the making of a hero. The power of your surroundings. Self-image. Finding Gummo in reality. The Zef side! Die Antwoord. South Africa. Pink Flamingos is sooo mainstream. The classic John Waters dreamlanders. The infamy of Pink Flamingos. An incredible film-generating attic. The allure of poop. Prime lenses fix your poor filmmaking. Stop giving a fuck and start making films. Moments of genius amongst the filth. The filthiest filth. Fucking a chicken to death o-screen. Surprise trial! Continue reading →