Is It a Wonderful Life, Really?

I'll have to admit that the next pairing is likely to be a moody one, but I find it philosophically fascinating. It's a Wonderful Life and Donnie Darko. Obviously the second movie is informed by the older film, and so I would suggest watching Donnie Darko as the 2nd feature. Both of these films are reflections on what the world would be like without the main character. They are both meditations on the impact of one person's life--they are both about the struggle to understand your place in the world and what life is all about. And despite the holiday kitsch associated with the one and the pretentious teen angst associated with the other, I find them both to be profoundly human, profoundly moving. They make me think about my life--and that may not always leave me happy, but it makes me want to be a better person, and in that regard I think they make a great pairing for a night of contemplation. Not exactly a cheery evening, but not dark and bitter, either. Not really. Because these two films are all about how it's impossible to really know (outside of a miraculous disruption of the space/time continuum) what the measure of a person really is--and that happiness is what you get when you're doing your best to make a better world in the little ways that you can. And that's a good thing to think about now and then. I would suggest trying this pairing with buffalo burgers (with blue cheese crumbles) and a milkshake.

To Begin

I've never posted any sort of blog before, so bear with me as I figure this out...

I thought I would begin with a pairing I have enjoyed on several occasions, "Pitch Black" and "The 13th Warrior." Both are movies I stumbled upon and was surprised at how good and relatively under-the-radar they were. ("Pitch Black" has become less so in recent years.) In both movies the hero undergoes a transformation, both fight monsters of the seemingly, or truly, inhuman type, and both are assisted along their way by a motley crew of people. Both movies, as my Dad would say, are redemptive and I can never resist redemption. (Both heroes also have remarkable voices and for those who know me, you know I love a good voice.) I've also had an assortment of accompanying snacks for these two, but for the faint of stomach, I would suggest something simple. Some salted nuts and iced tea sound good - but maybe that's just because I'm craving salt right now.

As stated, I'm new to this, but please accept this first cyber-offering.

There's Nothing Like A Great Pair

Welcome to the Malcontent Movie Club (aka The Iroquois Round Table's Cinephile Society)'s new project for movie pairings.
The Project is simple, but vast. Our alleged expert consultants will be providing you with movie pairings. This is not simply a matter of double features. Each pairing of films brings out the nuances and flavors of the two films.
The suggested methodology, of course, is for an evening at home with a pair of films that will complement or supplement each other, or provide exquisite juxtapositions of taste and mood that will make for an excellent evening of entertainment or enlightenment.

There are some challenges here:
Time is a factor. Marathons are discouraged. This isn't about cramming an evening with watching the entire Godfather Trilogy and then throwing in Goodfellas, Casino and Scarface. (That's not an evening, that's half a day.) That's like going to a giant All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. A great pairing is more like an elegant dinner. In fact, a great double feature like this could even include a meal and a date. (If you can get both of those in the same place and the same time.) But like both a meal and a date, you have to be aware of timing and tastes. And while there may be a time to camp out on a couch with a half-gallon of Blue Bell's Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream and catch up on an entire season of Lost, we're going for something a bit more refined. Some pairings will be great to watch with a group of friends (or enemies), some will be great for a date, and some will be great to watch alone, but the challenge is to keep it down to something manageable--so, for instance, it's very difficult to imagine a pairing of Das Boot with The Return of the King unless dinner consisted of a bowl full of coffee grounds and oats. While it's conceivable you could plan an entire weekend festival including a barbecue and several screenings, the fact is that an interesting series of pairings is infinitely more sustainable over the long run when it comes to general interest.

I welcome all of our contributors as well as others to this project and I hope you will all experiment with these pairings and share your opinions as well as your suggestions.

And to get the ball rolling I'll start with this real life serendipitous pairing anecdote.

I saw Seven by myself one night at the Fresh Pond Cinema in Cambridge, Mass. It unsettled me. I'm not sure why. Maybe just because dinner that night had consisted of some baked beans and a bit of cole slaw. At any rate, I didn't quite feel like going home alone in that mood and I wasn't exactly hungry after what I'd just watched, so as I was driving I decided to stop at the Sony Harvard Square Theater to see something else. I ended up watching Mighty Aphrodite. I'll have to admit, the pairing worked for me. Both of the films were attempts to incorporate classical motifs and ideas into modern stories, both had their unsettling moments. The humor of the latter made up for the grimness of the former. All in all, it ended up being a good evening cinematically. I managed to make it home in a good mood. I've seen both of the films since then, but never together and never with a meal of baked beans and cole slaw. But maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea.