Themed Triple-Features

MakeEmLaugh

A friend of mine regularly organises themed triple-features at his home. The rules are as follows; a topic is selected by whoever's turn it is in the group. Three films must then be selected, one a comedic variation on this theme; one an action/adventure variation on this theme and one a cerebral variation on this theme. So, for example

Theme: "Time Travel"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Back to the Future
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Twelve Monkeys

Obviously, there are limitations on what themes can be chosen. You cannot chose something as specific as "Batman films", it has to be broader. And you cannot choose films from the same series. Again, "Superhero films" is a fine topic, but you cannot have more than one Nolan Batman. It may look like this.

Theme: "Superhero Movies"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Mystery Men
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): The Dark Knight
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Unbreakable

Anyone have any suggestions for good triple-features?

FortuneChip

I was only thinking of an old thread with companion movies. Basically, two movies that work well back-to-back without being related. A personal example would be Another Earth & Take Shelter, two movies that just remind me of another, despite being very different in their own right

But this seems a little more specific. It's a good idea.
Heist Movies
Action - The Inside Man
Comedy - The Italian Job
Cerebral - Inception
Although you could nearly swap Action & Cerebral.
I'll give future themes more thought, I just wanted to get involved!

mikhail

Having parenthood forced on you:

Comedy: Knocked up
Action: Shoot Em Up
Cerebral: Kramer vs Kramer

MakeEmLaugh

Good examples, guys. Here's another...

Theme: "Prohibition Era"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Some Like It Hot
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): The Untouchables
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Once Upon A Time In America

FortuneChip

Theme Space
Action Star Trek (2009)
Comedy Galaxy Quest
Cerebral Moon

Theme Western
Action 3.10 To Yuma (2007)
Comedy Blazing Saddles
Cerebral The Assassination of Jesse James

madrab

Good guys out of their depth:
Cartoon: A Bugs Life
Sci-Fi:Galaxy Quest
Western:Three Amigos


... though all comedies about the same thing! :-)

DazMarz

Theme: Police films

Comedy: Hot Fuzz
Action: Lethal Weapon
Cerebral: Se7en

Theme: Alien takeover/invasion

Comedy: Mars Attacks
Action: Independence Day
Cerebral: Alien (not so much takeover or invasion... unless you're talking about an invasion/takeover of the human body itself; also on that theme, some of the episodes of The X-Files follow a similar theme)

Theme: Military/Army

Comedy: Good Morning Vietnam
Action: The Rock
Cerebral: Apocalypse Now

Theme: World War II

Comedy: Kelly's Heroes
Action: Enemy At The Gates (sort of)
Cerebral: Schindler's List

Theme: Futuristic

Comedy: Back To The Future II
Action: Minority Report
Cerebral: The Matrix

Footoo

Films about Sibling rivalries

Comedy: The Royal Tenenbaums
Action / Adventure:Thor
Cerebral: Cries & Whispers

Footoo

Films about Mental Ilness

Comedy: Punch Drunk Love
Action: Rise of The Planet of The Apes
Cerebral: Away From Her

MakeEmLaugh

Footoo wrote: »

Films about Sibling rivalries

Comedy: The Royal Tenenbaums
Action / Adventure:Thor
Cerebral: Cries & Whispers

Love this triple-bill! Here's another

Theme: "Suicide Bombers"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Four Lions
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): The Siege
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Paradise Now

mikhail

DazMarz wrote: »

Theme: Alien takeover/invasion

Comedy: Mars Attacks
Action: Independence Day
Cerebral: Alien (not so much takeover or invasion... unless you're talking about an invasion/takeover of the human body itself; also on that theme, some of the episodes of The X-Files follow a similar theme)

Alien doesn't fit well there. Perhaps one of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

e_e

Theme - Vengeance

Action - Kill Bill
Cerebral - Sympathy For Mr Vengeance
Comedic - Revenge of the Nerds

krudler

Fascism:

Comedy: The Great Dictator
Action: Starship Troopers
Cerebral: American History X

DazMarz

mikhail wrote: »

Alien doesn't fit well there. Perhaps one of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers?

Yeah, I was kinda struggling to think of a 'Cerebral' alien invasion film, so I took a stab at Alien. I think your suggestion would fit in better.

johnny_ultimate

Childhood Imagination
Action / Adventure: The Goonies
Comedy: The Red Balloon
Cerebral: Where the Wild Things Are / My Neighbour Totoro

I'm cheating here picking four, but any combination of three would provide a fantastic evening's viewing. All films seen through the eyes of young protagonists (and some teenagers in the case of The Goonies), and all completely different tonally. But they all celebrate the creativity, innocence and adventurous spirit of youth. They all brilliantly blend between reality and fantasy, and for a final added benefit they're all ****ing fantastic films.

krudler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Childhood Imagination
Action / Adventure: The Goonies
Comedy: The Red Balloon
Cerebral: Where the Wild Things Are / My Neighbour Totoro

I'm cheating here picking four, but any combination of three would provide a fantastic evening's viewing. All films seen through the eyes of young protagonists (and some teenagers in the case of The Goonies), and all completely different tonally. But they all celebrate the creativity, innocence and adventurous spirit of youth. They all brilliantly blend between reality and fantasy, and for a final added benefit they're all ****ing fantastic films.

Pans Labyrinth? kinda falls in there too.

thebostoncrab

Happy Birthday!

Action / Adventure: Logan's Run
Comedy: Liar Liar
Cerebral: Falling Down



You Can Get Buy With A Little Help From Your Friends

Action/Adventure: Stand By Me
Comedy: Shaun of the Dead
Cerebral: Requim For A Dream



One Man Can Make A Difference

Action/Adventure: Die Hard
Comedy: Hobo With A Shotgun
Cerebral: Visitor Q

DazMarz

Drugs/Narcotics

Comedy: Cheech And Chong
Action: Scarface
Cerebral: Requiem For A Dream

Superhero

Comedy: KickAss
Action: Iron Man
Cerebral: The Dark Knight

Legal

Comedy: My Cousin Vinny
Action: The Devil's Advocate
Cerebral: Twelve Angry Men

Films adapted from novels

Comedy: The Commitments
Action: First Blood
Cerebral: The Shawshank Redemption

MakeEmLaugh

DazMarz wrote: »

Legal

Comedy: My Cousin Vinny
Action: The Devil's Advocate
Cerebral: Twelve Angry Men

The Devil's Advocate is an action movie?

DazMarz

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

The Devil's Advocate is an action movie?

I was clutching at straws to find an action-y Legal film...

It has more action than most legal films, but it wouldn't be your stereotypical action film, obviously...

Icarus Wings

So many options with this one...can't really resist! Depends on what mood yourself and your mates are in.

Theme: Hitman/Assassin

Comedy: Grosse Pointe Blank or In Bruges

Action: Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill Vol 1 or The Bourne Supremacy or Collateral

Cerebral: The Professional/Leon or No Country For Old Men or Road To Perdition

MakeEmLaugh

Icarus Wings wrote: »

So many options with this one...can't really resist! Depends on what mood yourself and your mates are in.

Theme: Hitman/Assassin

Comedy: Grosse Pointe Blank or In Bruges

Action: Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill Vol 1 or The Bourne Supremacy or Collateral

Cerebral: The Professional/Leon or No Country For Old Men or Road To Perdition

Ha, I was thinking of making a very similar list! I was going to list Le Samurai as the cerebral option, though.

Icarus Wings

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

Ha, I was thinking of making a very similar list! I was going to list Le Samurai as the cerebral option, though.

No doubting that Le Samurai is a masterpiece! Personally, just have a special spot in my heart for The Professional and Road to Perdition! Might be something to do with another side of the assassin being revealed through the bond with a child.

norrie rugger

Bloody hell, I have most of these films at home and never though of something like this.

Could be a fairly cool night in some weekend

FortuneChip

American Football
Comedy - The Longest Yard (original)
Action - The Express
Cerebral - Any Given Sunday

Now, this is a little subjective, I found The Express to have a lot of on-screen football, but you could substitute a lot of movies in for Action and Cerebral.

Soccer
Comedy - Ladybugs (just for Rodney Dangerfield)
Action - Mean Machine
Cerebral - The Damned United

quickbeam

Shakespeare:

Comedy: 10 Things I Hate About You
Action: Richard III (1995 one with Ian McKellen)
Cerebal: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

MakeEmLaugh

Theme: "The Holocaust"

First Film (Comedic Variation): Life Is Beautiful
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): Defiance
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Schindler's List

Skerries

Christmas

Action: Die Hard 1/2
Comedy: Scrooged
Cerebral: Brazil

MakeEmLaugh

Anyone have any fresh ideas for this?

Theme: "Film Noir"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): L.A. Confidential (the climactic shootout at the Victory Motel is pretty epic)
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Chinatown

FortuneChip

Go one then...

Time-Travel Movies, all from within the last year too

Comedy - Safety Not Guaranteed (An absolute gem of a movie that's funny, but oh so very charming. My favourite movie of the year)
Action - Looper (A smart and pretty tidy action movie given the premise)
Cerebral - The Sound Of My Voice (Not a fantastic movie, and it feels a little rushed, but it definitely toys with the brain a little)

MakeEmLaugh

Theme: "The Troubles in Northern Ireland"
First Film (Comedic Variation): An Everlasting Piece
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): The Devil's Own
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): Hunger

Admittedly, the first two aren't great examples. If anyone has better suggestions, I'm all ears!

Reg'stoy

FortuneChip wrote: »

Go one then...

Time-Travel Movies, all from within the last year too

Comedy - Safety Not Guaranteed (An absolute gem of a movie that's funny, but oh so very charming. My favourite movie of the year)
Action - Looper (A smart and pretty tidy action movie given the premise)
Cerebral - The Sound Of My Voice (Not a fantastic movie, and it feels a little rushed, but it definitely toys with the brain a little)

Comedy- Bill and Ted's excellent adventure or Time Bandits
Action- Twelve Monkeys and the daddy of them all Terminator
Cerebral- Time Crimes and the head melting Primer, in fairness Twelve Monkeys could also slot in here.

MakeEmLaugh

Theme: "Existentialism"
First Film (Comedic Variation): Groundhog Day
Second Film (Action/Adventure Variation): The Matrix
Third Film (Cerebral Variation): The Thin Red Line

FortuneChip

Reg'stoy wrote: »

Comedy- Bill and Ted's excellent adventure or Time Bandits
Action- Twelve Monkeys and the daddy of them all Terminator
Cerebral- Time Crimes and the head melting Primer, in fairness Twelve Monkeys could also slot in here.

Primer should never be put on a list with other movies!

Only people who are actively seeking to watch Primer should watch Primer!
Imagine the shift from Bill & Ted to that!

Reg'stoy

FortuneChip wrote: »

Primer should never be put on a list with other movies!

Only people who are actively seeking to watch Primer should watch Primer!
Imagine the shift from Bill & Ted to that!

You get your monies worth with it, watching it a couple of times and I'm still going "but when they went back that time..........".