Double Feature Time: Oh, God!/Bruce Almighty

Another Easter has come & gone, so here's a double feature I thought would be ideal for the holiday!

Of course, both these films have 1 thing in common-a great, Oscar-winning legend playing the Almighty (George Burns in the 1977 film & Morgan Freeman in the 2003 film, respectively. In Oh, God!, John Denver plays Jerry Landers, a supermarket executive who unexpectedly finds himself picked by God to spread His Good News to others. Following some initial skepticism, Landers's committment to his new assignment soon leads to concern from his wife (Teri Garr), as well as prominent theologians. But, with his wife's eventual support, Landers ends the film happily embracing his new destiny. In Bruce Almighty, Jim Carrey plays the title character who, angered over being passed for a promotion, tells the Almighty that he doesn't care about anything anymore. This leads to a meeting with the Almighty, who decides to see what Bruce is made of by granting him His powers. Bruce initially has the time of his life with his new abiliies, which includes improving his romantic life with his girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston). But the responsible aspect of being all-powerful soon kicks in and, with God's encouragement, Bruce eventually gets his professional & personal life back in order. Both films take different approaches to someone encountering the Almighty face-to-face, which is one reason both films are charming (Carrey's film, perhaps not surprisingly, has a less subtle delivery of laughs). Both films were successful &, naturally, spawned sequels (none of which were as good of course). But perhaps what I enjoy most about both films is that they have nice messages about believing in yourself.

Double Feature Time: Topaz/Bridge of Spies

Here are 2 Cold War thrillers that I always thought could be a double feature.

Both Alfred Hitchcock & Steven Spielberg are certainly 2 of the most commercially successful directors ever! This is one reason I thought Hitchcock's Topaz, released in 1969, and Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, released in 2015, could be an interesting double feature. Hitchcock's film centers on a French agent (Frederick Stafford) who becomes entangled in a Soviet spy ring just before the Cuban Missile Crisis. Spielberg's film focuses on an American attorney (Tom Hanks) who succeeds in avoiding the death penalty for the accused Soviet spy (Mark Rylance) he's defending, just before being sent to East Germany to negotiate for the release of Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) who was shot down while flying over the U.S.S.R. in 1960. Of the two films, Spielberg's has a tighter pace (Rylance deservedly won an Oscar for his performance), while Hitchcock's actually slows down in its final act. In fairness, studio heads were unsatisfied with certain aspects of Topaz, which led to Hitchcock filming an alternate ending. Topaz, like Hitchcock's previous film Torn Curtain (1966), may have also suffered from comparison to the James Bond series, which was in full swing by 1969 (Topaz was released the same year as the 6th Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service).

Double Feature Time: Vertigo/Tightrope

Here are two films which I always felt had a bit in common.

For starters, these two films are thrillers in which James Stewart & Clint Eastwood, respsectively, play police detectives who have specific weaknesses which are exploited by the forces they find themselves combating. In Hitchcock's film, Stewart plays Scottie Ferguson, a San Francisco detective with a fear of heights who becomes obsessed with the woman (Kim Novak) whom her husband (an old friend) has asked Ferguson to keep an eye on because of fears that she may be suicidal. In Tightrope, Eastwood plays Wes Block, a New Orleans detective with a penchant for getting involved with the prostitutes of the world that he's supposed to be keeping in check, which makes his task of tracking a murderer quite difficult as the victims are prostitutes Block has been involved with. Soon, Block realizes that the killer is also targeting his two daughters, as well as the woman (Geneviève Bujold) who runs a rape prevention center whom Block has befriended. As these two films go on, the two detectives face their respective weaknesses head on, emerging as different people by the end. Both films are quite different from what audiences expected from Hitchcock & Eastwood by this point in their respective careers (I initially thought Tighrope was another entry in the Dirty Harry series when I first saw the poster for it), but both are loved by fans of both legends.

Double Feature Time: From Russia With Love/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This may seem like a strange double feature, so allow me to explain.

This past Christmas, I got my brother-in-law PS5's version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game. I couldn't help but compare it to the From Russia With Love game in terms of how great it captures the spirit of the classic film it's based on (the Bond film was, in turn, based on a classic book). Hence, I thought both films would make a nice double feature.