BINGE-WATCHING OF RELATED FILMS

The other day I mentioned that I had watched two films, the 1935 Roberta, and 1952 make-over, Lovely To Look At.  Over the next month or so, if I can find the time, I'll repeat this with films that closely relate to each:

• Casablanca (Rotten Tomatoes:  98/95) followed by Play It Again Sam (RT:  97/89)  
• Ninotchka (RT: 97/89), then Silk Stockings (RT: 100/69)
• Pygmalion (RT: 94/86)and My Fair Lady (RT: 95/90)

Perhaps all three Show Boats:

• 1929 original (RT:  no rating)
• 1935 with Irene Dunn, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson (RT:  100/74)
• 1951 with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner and Paul Warfield (RT:  89/71)

Maybe the Rogers and Hammerstein Broadway shows converted to the big screen:  Oklahoma (RT: 88/76), Carousel (RT: 83/61), State Fair (RT: 83/78), South Pacific (RT: 89/69), King and I (RT: 96/83), Flower Drum Song (RT: ?/73) and Sound of Music (RT: 84/91).

I go to regular Sunday twin-bills, so watching them back-to-back at home should be especially enjoyable, for I can  press pause and go to the loo or drink and eat whatever I want at any time.  Of course, I can also spend the whole day and binge watch all the Frankensteins:

            1931 Frankenstein

                       Boris Karloff (poster to right)

                       (Rotten Tomatoes:  100/87.  

                          WOW!)

-->

            1935 Bride of Frankenstein

                       Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester

                       (RT:  100/87...Yes, just as 

                                               high!)

             1948 Abbott and Costello Meet 
                       Frankenstein                        

                           with Bud & Lou

                           Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney

                        (RT:  89/85...no kidding!)

            1971 Lady Frankenstein (Italian)

                        (RT:  so bad that only Audience 20%)

            1973 Andy Warhol’s 

                          Flesh forFrankenstein
                             X rated & in 3D
                         (RT:  86/56)

          1974 Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks)

                       (RT:  94/92....not making 

                                             this up)

            1985 The Bride  

                        Sting, Jennifer Beals

                        (RT:  25/32...need to avoid this)

            1990 Frankenstein Unbound  

                        Roger Corman, John Hurt, 

                        Bridget Fonda
                        (RT:  44/34)

            1990 Frankenhooker  

                        bizarre comedy

                        (RT:  62/57)

            1994 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein  

                        Ken Branagh

                        Robert de Niro
                        (RT:  38/49)

            2004 Van Helsing  

                        Hugh Jackman
                        (RT:  24/57)

            2015 Victor Frankenstein

                         James McAvoy

                         Daniel Radcliffe
                         (RT:  26/35)

Well, Rotten Tomatoes made the choice easy.  Only watch the first six and avoid all the new ones.  Of course, I'll still need to find those classics.

There some others worthy of consideration:

• There are nine Wizard of Ozs, starting with a silent in 1910.  Here is all 13 minutes of it.  The entire 1925 silent film, 85 minutes long.  Oliver Hardy was the Tin Man and Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave it an 80% rating.  The 1939 Judy Garland version was #5 in chronology (RT: 98/89).

• King Solomon's Mine is another well-saturated offering, with at least a dozen films.  The most remembered is the 1950 Deborah Kerr and Steward Granger production.  RT:  92/60.

The list of potential combinations is lengthy, and when I complete watching one, you'll hear about it.

By the way, 61% of you out there binge-watch.  This is bad for your health and a sign that you are potentially addictive to certain facets of your life.

-