Whether you’re trying to avoid the releases this week or augment them with even more movies, Your Alternate Box Office offers some options for movies that would play perfectly alongside of (or instead of) the stuff studios are shoving into the megaplex this weekend.
This week features one major release that has blue naked women, a political subplot, and huge action set pieces. Avatar 2? No! It’s X-Men: First Class, and it’s a movie that demands to be double featured.
Plus, if you see something you like, you can click on the image and buy it over at Amazon.
X-MEN (2000)
The Pitch: Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Bryan Singer helped launch the current super hero movie craze with a strong first live-action film featuring our favorite mutants, and there’s a great opportunity here to compare an 11-year-old film set in modern times to a brand new film set 50 years in the past. Different directors, different styles, (some of the) same characters.
Despite what your neighbors tell you, there’s nothing wrong with burying yourself in all things X-Men this weekend. Watch the entire trilogy. Hell, watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine if you can stomach it. Paint yourself blue, strap on some kitchen knives, and dig in for a long and thrilling quintuple feature.
How to See It: Watch Instantly or Buy It
THE FOG OF WAR (2004)
The Pitch: Why watch a political documentary alongside a comic book-based, dramatic action film? Hear me out.
The main event that the world of First Class revolves around is the Cuban Missile Crisis, and this incredible documentary features the man that was at the center of it. Former Secretary of Defense for JFK and LBJ, Robert S. McNamara, speaks with shocking candor about his career and work. Errol Morris finally won an Academy Award (after years of dominating documentaries), and this thoughtful doc might just be the perfect (if unexpected) pairing for a movie with people in yellow leather jumpsuits.
How to See It: Watch Instantly or Buy It
BATMAN: THE MOVIE (1966)
The Pitch: Instead of watching a superhero movie set in the 1960s, why not watch a superhero movie from the 1960s? Frankly, there aren’t many options that don’t involve shark repellent, but if you need a solid antidote to the stylized version of the decade as seen by Matthew Vaughn and company, Adam West can disabuse you of the notion that everything back then was sexy and full of Fassbender.
If you’re truly bold, triple feature with The Wild World of Batwoman, a movie that totally exists.
How to See It: Watch Instantly or Buy It
Come back next Friday for more alternative box office tips
Related Topics: Comics
