Top 5 Movie Duos and Why ‘The Last Duel’ Rules

The Last DuelRidley Scott, $5 million opening weekend, a lot to defend

The Last Duel 2021

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's first produced screenplay together since Good Will Hunting (with Nicole Holofcener), based on Eric Jager's 2004 nonfiction book. Damon plays medieval knight Jean de Carrouges, Jodie Comer his wife Marguerite, and Adam Driver the nobleman she accuses of rape, a charge settled under 14th-century French law by trial by combat. Told in three chapters, one per character's account, each headed 'the truth according to...' until Marguerite's, which drops the qualifier. Both hosts loved it; it opened to $5 million against a $100 million budget, which they spend most of the segment trying to make sense of.

Sean's Top 5 Movie Duosranked best to worst

No. 1

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969

No. 1. Robert Redford and Paul Newman, who made only two movies together (this and The Sting) but treat each other as equals throughout. Sean says the chemistry comes from neither one needing to win every scene.

No. 2

Toy Story 1995

No. 2. Woody and Buzz, voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, though Sean picks the characters rather than the actors. His nephew's obsession with the movies got him reconnected to them.

No. 3

The Thin Man 1934

No. 3. Myrna Loy and William Powell, picked on behalf of Sean's wife Eileen, a devotee of the boozy detective franchise (based on the Dashiell Hammett novel, directed by W.S. Van Dyke) that ran for years afterward.

No. 4

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 2006

Tied for No. 4 with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who Sean says need to make a third movie together after this and Step Brothers.

No. 5

See No Evil, Hear No Evil 1989

Tied for No. 4 with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Not necessarily the best Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder movie, but the one Sean watched on HBO as a kid that made the pairing click for him.

No. 6

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie 1980

No. 5. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. Sean isn't a stoner or a weed guy, he says, just someone who loves the absurd premises and the punchlines.

Amanda's Top 5 Movie Duosranked best to worst

No. 1

Adam's Rib 1949

No. 1. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy: the run of Woman of the Year, Adam's Rib, Pat and Mike, Desk Set, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is, Amanda says, the best of any screen duo. Adam's Rib is her pick for the best of the bunch, Pat and Mike her sentimental favorite.

No. 2

Top Hat 1935

No. 2. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who made ten films together; Amanda says she remembers the dance sequences more than any individual movie, alongside Swing Time and Shall We Dance.

No. 3

Sleepless in Seattle 1993

No. 3. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, quintessential modern romantic comedy chemistry, also covering Joe Versus the Volcano and You've Got Mail.

No. 4

Good Will Hunting 1997

No. 4. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Amanda traces the impact of the Good Will Hunting press tour on her own moviegoing, plus School Ties, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the EuroTrip cameo.

No. 5

Bad Boys for Life 2020

No. 5. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, her franchise pick. She almost went with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones instead, but Men in Black 3 didn't do it for her.

In conversationThe Velvet Underground, streaming on Apple TV+

Todd Haynes on

The Velvet Underground 2021

Haynes' first documentary, produced with Christine Vachon and Motto Films for Apple TV+. Built around interviews with people who were actually there (John Cale first, then Jonas Mekas just before his death) rather than decades of admirers, and styled after the experimental, multi-frame film language of Warhol and his circle rather than a conventional talking-head structure. Lou Reed, who died in 2013, appears mostly through archival tape, including phone calls he made to Danny Fields.

Todd Haynes on

Safe 1995

Haynes' 1995 film had a resurgence during COVID lockdowns; he says he didn't rewatch it himself but heard from people finding its themes of contagion and isolation newly resonant.

Also mentioned raised along the way

Comparisons in The Last Duel review Ford v FerrariHalloween KillsThe DuellistsRashomonGladiatorMarriage StoryFree GuyHouse of GucciNo Time to Die

Also mentioned in the duos discussion Little WomenTo Have and Have NotThe Big SleepDark PassageKey LargoRaging BullGoodfellasThe IrishmanFrench KissIn the Cut

Also discussed with Todd Haynes Dark WatersWonderstruckChelsea GirlsOuter and Inner SpaceThe Boston StranglerThe Thomas Crown AffairWoodstockEating RaoulGimme Danger

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV Killing EveThe Underground Railroad

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