Friday Night Double Feature: Game Time

I love games. I’ve been playing them for as long as I can remember. I don’t just mean video games or role-playing games or things like those that you might associate with someone like me, although those are in there too. I’m talking about games of any sort, from Monopoly and Candy Land to Chess and Go.

Traditionally, movies and games don’t quite go hand in hand. It’s hard to concentrate on a game while a movie is blaring in the background. Try figuring out how to beat that perfect chess player while Jurassic Park dinosaurs yell, or even Merchant/Ivory romance blooming, and you’ll rapidly find yourself losing the game.

Movies about games, on the other hand, aren’t always successful, but they aren’t terrible either. We’ve already explored movies about poker in a previous column, so we’ll leave card games out this time. That still leaves a decent selection for a playful Friday Night Double Feature:

Clue

I have to admit, the concept of a movie based on the board game Clue seemed like a long-shot, and in today’s world of heavier criticism before a movie is even made, some project like this might not have the chance Clue had. Then again, it might. After all, we’ve gotten worse suggestions, including a movie based on Monopoly – at least Clue had a viable plot with its whodunit storyline. The resulting picture may not have been wildly received, but its definitely a movie that has grown a cult following in the two decades that have passed. And why shouldn’t it? Tim Curry, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Leslie Ann Warren and Martin Mull (among others) in a comedic mystery of murder, mayhem, and blackmail? And the movie is highly quotable. There’s not a time I hear the phrase, “to make a long story short” that I don’t want to shout out, “Too Late!” Even better is your chance to choose the ending you prefer, with several different selections offered. If you’ve not seen Clue, you’re really missing out.

Sleuth

There’s a remake coming later this year of this classic Michael Caine/Laurence Olivier movie, but I don’t know that it’ll be as suitable for a Double Feature as this cheesy, yet highly enjoyable thriller. Part of that is specifically why we’re including this movie in this week’s double feature: games. The original movie puts games throughout the setting of the battle of wits going on between a cuckolded old man and his younger rival. With games to be found everywhere around the two, the stage is well set for the more poignant game that’s being played between the two men as well. Unfortunately, it appears the newer movie is taking a more Spartan, technological approach to the visual. It might work, but it will definitely differentiate the two movies. Even though this movie hasn’t exactly aged well visually, it’s still a decent thriller and good proof of both Caine and Olivier’s skill at acting, as well as a solid story that many suspense pictures these days could learn from. We’ll see if the remake can claim the same thing as Caine switches sides and takes over Olivier’s part against the younger version of himself, Jude Law.

Other good games to watch: Tron, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Zathura Jumanji

Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.