Thursday Triple Features

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies With Abe, Thursday Triple Features. Throughout college, I would often head to the movies for three films in a row on a Friday or Sunday, and I’m excited to recall some of my most memorable experiences. I don’t necessarily advocate that you try this at home, but I’ll explore that as well.

My tenth triple feature experience, I’m sad to say, came over a year after my ninth. That’s what graduating from college and getting a full-time job will do to you. Like the two before it, this was also a trio of press screenings. Most interesting about it was the fact that there were two R-rated features, and the other was rated G. These three films couldn’t have been made for more different audiences, yet I got the unique opportunity to process them all together.

July 6, 2011  Movie #1: A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
Theatre: Magno Review 1
Time of Day: 2:00pm
Runtime: 95 minutes
My experience seeing this film was inarguably and unfavorably influenced by having seen the very funny “Horrible Bosses” the night beforehand. This film is actually fairly well-done, and contains a number of humorous scenes. It’s not as flat-out hilarious as it should be, yet it does make good use of its ensemble and probably deserves a second look.

Movie #2: Winnie the Pooh
Theatre: Disney Screening Room
Time of Day: 6:30pm
Runtime: 68 minutes
It’s almost impossible not to love Winnie the Pooh, and this new take on the classic character was quite warm and familiar. Clocking in at just over an hour, this film managed to revisit a beloved personality with a light yet perfectly amusing tale of his latest search for honey with the best of friends.

Movie #3: The Future
Theatre: Broadway Screening Room
Time of Day: 8:00pm
Runtime: 91 minutes
This off-kilter comedic drama looked terrific, and Miranda July proved herself as a director, writer, and actress in “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” This entry, however, was extraordinarily intriguing but not nearly as fulfilling, containing glimmers of glory but never quite reaching its full potential as a quirky independent experimental film.

The review: A decent and unobjectionable slate of films.
The grades: B, B+, C+
A good lineup? I never would have chosen it had the screening times not been offered, but these three films were all relatively smile-inducing, which made them enjoyable even if two of them weren’t as satisfying as I might have hoped.