Maybe I'm Destined To Be A Film Professor

I) The Story

It began with a bet between Frank and Liz: "'Batman' is better [than 'Batman Returns']."
"Oh no," said Frank. "Oh no it is not. Danny DeVito as the Penguin? That's gold."

It was on. We screened 'Batman' at Frank's house after work one night. Frank welcomed us in with apple pie and a fireplace, and, after 45 minutes of work repairing the damage I'd done to the VHS tape, we watched 'Batman.'

VHS tapes, it should be noted, are more reparable than DVD players. It's not a fair comparison (we didn't have to repair the VCR, just the cassette), but it is worth pointing out: because of problems with the former, we delayed our screening and fixed the tape. Because of problems with the latter, we delayed our screening, moved the location downtown, and left the machine untouched.

We screened 'Batman Returns' in the basement of Sycamore House, a local Christian community house. Perhaps because we started later (and I fell asleep during the conclusion), I liked 'Batman Returns' less. It was, however, followed by a quick foray into the cold to watch the solstice eclipse.

The earth's shadow had just begun its transit across the moon, and we looked at the river. Liz said "Awww, guys."

Since we knew exactly what she meant, we all decided to continue this series of film pairings. We codified the idea at work one night "Not necessarily sequels or remakes," I said, "but films that have some sort of commonality. Some reason to watch them together."

"I like this," said Frank, who is always straightforward.

II) The Exercise

So now we've got some movies to watch, and I leave you, dear readers, with a task:

Name two movies that go well together for an unexpected or creative reason.

A few of mine:

• True Grit (1969) and True Grit (2010) - too easy: a remake, but I still want to watch them back to back.
• Black Swan (2010) and The Wrestler (2008) - Darren Arronofsky's athletic/body-horror movies.
• The Fall (2006/2008) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) - so many reasons to compare these two: movies that are/about children and their stories, movies with stunning visuals, movies that are about a love of movies; but mostly because I suspect that the one that I like more (The Fall) is not the one that is, categorically, the better movie
• I'm still looking for a film to pair with Fatih Akin's hilarious 2000 romantic road comedy 'Im Juli' ('In July'). Maybe another road movie, or maybe a film that can be described as "I never thought s/he'd do this but..." (Akin, for those who don't know him, is known for dark movies about the struggle of working-class Turkish immigrants in Germany).  

So, go to it, movie-lovers.