Double feature: introduction

Here at a raid on the inarticulate, we like to introduce new features every so often, to continually improve the quality of blog our readers have come to...

Aw, who am I kidding? I pretty much post what I feel like posting, when I feel like it. Sometimes. If there's nothing more compelling to do. When a few kind individuals offered suggestions on how to increase my readership, I pointed out that if I increased my readership to any significant degree, it would probably involve creating expectations that I would, oh, post somewhat regularly, and with some continuity of content. And that's the very last thing I want to do.

However, I did have this really cool idea, and it involves a somewhat regular posting here, on a specific subject. And since I intend to make it a steady ritual in my life, there is some faint hope that this, the premiere, won't turn into a standalone post, as nearly all my other posts that were meant to be part of a series have.

Enough preamble. The ritual is Double Feature Night. This is where I watch two movies, with suitable accompaniment of food and drink, and then write about them a little. The parameters for the movie choice: 1- at least one has to be new to me. I'm going to try to make it both most of the time, but every so often I'll pair a movie I've seen before with a new one (as I'm doing tonight.) 2- they must be reputable movies, movies that have some claim to quality. This is not guilty-pleasure-movie night. I may occasionally break this rule if there's a good enough reason, such as pairing a high-brow movie with a low-brow movie on the same subject. Which brings me to 3- they must have something in common, or at least yield an interesting juxtaposition. This I expect will be rather easy to do, since almost any two works of art can yield an interesting juxtaposition if you want them to. Part of the fun will be in seeing what unexpected things come out of the pairings.

I expect three main benefits to come out of this new ritual. First, it will lend a bit of the whole regularity/content thing to this irregular and whim-based blog (my plan is to do this once a month. Maybe twice, if I feel like it.) Second, it will get me watching movies that have been on my list for way too long. Third, it reserves a night for me to do something I enjoy all by myself. And I need that, for reasons that are too complicated to go into here.

Final note: I am indebted for this idea to Sam and Stephen of All Movie Talk. They gave me the idea in quite a roundabout way, by twice mentioning in their show pairs of movies that I thought I'd like to watch back-to-back. The second time it happened I decided to make a ritual out of it. This paragraph really exists solely to be a plug for their podcast, by the way, so it'd be a shame if you didn't at least check it out.