美国国家公共电台 NPR Movie Twins? Weirdly Similar Films That Came Out Within Months Of Each Other

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The new movie "Life," which opens next Friday, is about a group of astronauts who discover an alien life form and live to regret it.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LIFE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) That is beautiful.

CORNISH: So is "Alien: Covenant¹."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ALIEN: COVENANT")

CARMEN EJOGO: (As character) Faris, please open up.

AMY SEIMETZ: (As Faris) I can't do that.

CORNISH: "Life" and "Alien: Covenant" were originally scheduled to open on adjacent Fridays. They'll now be a few weeks apart, but that close call has critic Bob Mondello remembering other times rival studios stared each other down and no one blinked.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE²: They are showdowns that didn't need to happen, Earth-snuffing asteroids³ blown up in the nick of time by nuclear warheads not once but twice in 1998, with much beeping in "Armageddon."

(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)

MONDELLO: And slightly higher beeping in "Deep Impact."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DEEP IMPACT")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Three, two, one, now.

MONDELLO: That same year, animated⁴ insects skittered onto movie screens in "Antz"...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANTZ")

WOODY ALLEN: (As Z) My father flew away when I was just a larva.

MONDELLO: And also in "A Bug's Life."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A BUG'S LIFE")

DAVID HYDE PIERCE: (As Slim) Come on, Francis, you're making the maggots cry.

MONDELLO: And all of this just one year after dueling⁵ lava⁶ flows erupted in "Dante's Peak"...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DANTE'S PEAK")

PIERCE BROSNAN: (As Harry⁷ Dalton) That is a pyroclastic cloud.

MONDELLO: ...And "Volcano."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "VOLCANO")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) I know this sounds crazy, but it almost looks like lava.

MONDELLO: Hollywood is not a big town. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing. And movies that cost millions of dollars require many people and many months of development. And still they end up with "Red Planet" and "Mission To Mars" in the year 2000, two romantic comedies about presidential daughters in 2004, and even two animated penguin⁸ movies in 2006 - "Happy Feet" with animated dancing penguins⁹.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HAPPY FEET")

ELIJAH WOOD: (As Mumble) Yeah, see?

HUGH JACKMAN: (As Memphis) Oh, that feels good.

MONDELLO: And just a few months later, "Surf's Up" with animated surfing penguins.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SURF'S UP")

MARIO CANTONE: (As Mikey Abromowitz) Does anyone in this entire frozen wasteland surf?

SHIA LABEOUF: (As Cody Maverick) You've got to see what I can do. Please?

CANTONE: (As Mikey Abromowitz) You can actually stand on a board?

LABEOUF: (As Cody Maverick) You're going to be happy and everything's going to be good. And I'm coming with you.

CANTONE: (As Mikey Abromowitz) I can't imagine a better day.

MONDELLO: One film in each of these pairs will necessarily emerge victorious¹⁰ at the box office, but both will arguably be damaged by their proximity¹¹. So why bring them out together? Well, it can sometimes make a perverse¹² kind of sense. Say, in 1992 when there were rival movies about the guy who sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Entirely¹³ understandable. Five hundredth anniversaries don't come around often. And with everyone figuring there was a chance they'd sail off the end of the earth, it's at least theoretically a good story.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) You are a passionate¹⁴ man, Senor Columbus.

MONDELLO: Still, both "1492: Conquest Of Paradise" and "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery" sank like stones at the box office, even though one had Marlon Brando, the other Gerard Depardieu - don't ask me which was which. At least there was a reason for them to come out at the same time, as opposed to two presidential kidnapping movies - "White House Down" and "Olympus Has Fallen." Or competing high school nerd comedies - "Real Genius" and "Weird¹⁵ Science." Or dueling Christ story musicals.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "GODSPELL")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #1: (As characters, singing) Day by day.

MONDELLO: "Godspell" was still a hit off-Broadway in 1972. And if it had waited a year, it might have been one on screen. But put it in a multiplex opposite big-budget Andrew Lloyd Webber and it's bound to look puny¹⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As characters, singing) Jesus Christ superstar.

MONDELLO: Hollywood history is littered with the corpses¹⁷ from other double dust-ups. And sometimes lightning doesn't just strike twice. Three vampire¹⁸ flicks¹⁹ opened in '79 - "Nosferatu," "Dracula" and "Love At First Bite." And then there was the year that audiences had to choose between four body-switching comedies. George Burns had an accident that made him, as the title had it, 18 again. Judge Reinhold touched a magic Tibetan skull²⁰ and switched places with his son in "Vice²¹ Versa." Dudley Moore took a potion to do the same thing in "Like Father Like Son." And in "Big," it was an amusement park wish...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BIG")

DAVID MOSCOW: (As Young Josh Baskin) I wish I were big.

MONDELLO: ...That turned a little boy into Tom Hanks.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BIG")

MERCEDES RUEHL: (As Mrs. Baskin) Sweetheart, it's 7:30. Are you up?

TOM HANKS: (As Josh Baskin) I turned into a grownup, mom.

MONDELLO: Now, there have been times when Hollywood duplication involved a bit of duplicity. When "Gone With The Wind" was still auditioning²² Scarlett O'Haras, the Brothers Warner decided²³ to steal MGM's thunder by beating them into theaters with a confederacy epic²⁴ of their own. They bought the rights to the Broadway play "Jezebel," cast Bette Davis as its vain, self-destructive southern belle²⁵, and opened it while "Gone With The Wind" was still shooting.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JEZEBEL")

BETTE DAVIS: (As Julie Marsden) Banging on a lady's door. I'm scandalized at you.

HENRY FONDA: (As Preston Dillard) How long must we go on like this?

DAVIS: (As Julie Marsden) Like what, Preston?

FONDA: (As Preston Dillard) Fighting and fussing all the time like a couple of children.

DAVIS: (As Julie Marsden) Why do you treat me like a child?

FONDA: (As Preston Dillard) Because you act like one, a spoiled one.

DAVIS: (As Julie Marsden) You used to say you liked me like that once. You never wanted me to change.

MONDELLO: "Jezebel" won Bette Davis an Oscar, which gave Warner's bragging²⁶ rights in February of 1939 that pretty much evaporated a few months later.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAX STEINER'S "TARA'S THEME - GONE WITH THE WIND")

MONDELLO: Close on Scarlett and Rhett's heels came two biopics about the guy who ended their way of life, "Young Mr. Lincoln" and "Abe Lincoln In Illinois." Biopics often seem to inspire a herd²⁷ instinct in Tinseltown. 1960 saw both "Oscar Wilde" and "The Trials Of Oscar Wilde" coming out, as it were. And more recently, there was a big year for another gay icon²⁸ with two stars not only doing Truman Capote impressions, but telling the same stories - Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPOTE")

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN: (As Truman Capote) Humphrey had just about moved into the hotel bar...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #1: (As character) Humphrey Bogart.

HOFFMAN: (As Truman Capote) ...Where he and John...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #1: (As character) John Huston (laughter).

MONDELLO: And here's Toby Jones in "Infamous²⁹."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "INFAMOUS")

TOBY JONES: (As Truman Capote) And I was struggling to write a scene for Bogie (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Bogie? You mean Humphrey Bogart?

JONES: (As Truman Capote) Yes. And so John...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Wayne?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #2: (As character) Garfield?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #3: (As character) Kennedy?

JONES: (As Truman Capote) Huston.

MONDELLO: "Infamous" was a tiny indie, while Capote was from a major studio, which explained their overlap³⁰. Also true of the competing blonde bombshell biopics about Jean Harlow, one starring Carroll Baker³¹ and the other Carol Lynley, two Carols in films released months apart called - believe it or not - "Harlow" and "Harlow." It's like the producers had a death wish. If films are sufficiently³² different in tone, there won't be audience confusion even with similar plots. In 1964, shortly after the Cuban missile crisis, there were two movies about the start of World War III. Nuclear annihilation played straight in "Fail-Safe" and for laughs in "Dr. Strangelove."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DR. STRANGELOVE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) Hey, what about Major Kong?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character, screaming).

MONDELLO: There were no reports of moviegoers laughing at the wrong movie. It was about a decade after that that for the first time in Hollywood history, wiser heads prevailed. Two best-selling novels about burning skyscrapers³³ had been optioned, "The Tower" by Warner Brothers and "The Glass Inferno³⁴" by Twentieth Century Fox. Irwin Allen, who'd just made "Poseidon Adventure," suggested that they do something that no major studios had ever done at that point - join forces to make...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE TOWERING INFERNO")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) The towering inferno.

MONDELLO: Not that there weren't issues. Fox had Steve McQueen under contract, Warner's had Paul Newman. And both insisted on top billing, which was tricky³⁵. McQueen also insisted not just that his salary equal Newman's but that they have the same number of lines. You can almost feel the screenwriters divvying them up.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE TOWERING INFERNO")

PAUL NEWMAN: (As Doug Roberts) I want jacks³⁶ on every floor.

STEVE MCQUEEN: (As Chief O'Hallorhan) I want to plug into your PA system.

NEWMAN: (As Doug Roberts) No sweat.

MCQUEEN: (As Chief O'Hallorhan) How about your emergency setup?

NEWMAN: (As Doug Roberts) Battery-powered standby system.

MCQUEEN: (As Chief O'Hallorhan) All right, now, can you take these lines and splice³⁷ them into our two-way communication band?

NEWMAN: (As Doug Roberts) Sure.

MCQUEEN: (As Chief O'Hallorhan) And no problem?

NEWMAN: (As Doug Roberts) No problem.

MONDELLO: Riveting³⁸, though. Still, audiences got a bigger movie, and Fox and Warner's got the biggest attendance of 1974, roughly the same as for one of the "Lord Of The Rings" movies. So everybody won, proving that it is profitable to not go head to head, which is not to suggest that Hollywood has learned that lesson. Witness last year's twin terrible opera singers, "Marguerite" and "Florence Foster Jenkins." And the not two, but seven - seriously, seven - "Robin³⁹ Hood⁴⁰" movies currently in development, including feminist⁴¹, punk-pop and dystopian future versions because the more than 100 previous ones listed in the Internet Movie Database just weren't enough. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE GREATER LOS ANGELES ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF KAMEN'S "OVERTURE AND A PRISONER OF THE CRUSADES")

1 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

4 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

5 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

6 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

7 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

8 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

9 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

11 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

12 perverse   

adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的

参考例句：

• It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
• She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

15 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

16 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

17 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

18 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

19 flicks   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• 'I shall see it on the flicks, I suppose.' “电影上总归看得见。” 来自英汉文学
• Last night to the flicks. 昨晚看了场电影。 来自英汉文学

20 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

21 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

22 auditioning   

vi.试听（audition的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was auditioning for the role of Lady Macbeth. 她试演了麦克佩斯夫人的角色。
• Which part are you auditioning for? 你试音什么角色？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

24 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

25 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

26 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

27 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

28 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

29 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

30 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

31 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

32 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

33 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

34 inferno   

n.火海；地狱般的场所

参考例句：

• Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
• The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。

35 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

36 jacks   

n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃

参考例句：

• Hydraulic jacks under the machine produce the movement. 是机器下面的液压千斤顶造成的移动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front end is equipped with hydraulic jacks used for grade adjustment. 前瑞安装有液压千斤顶用来调整坡度。 来自辞典例句

37 splice   

v.接合，衔接；n.胶接处，粘接处

参考例句：

• He taught me to edit and splice film.他教我剪辑和粘接胶片。
• The film will be spliced with footage of Cypress Hill to be filmed in America.这部电影要和将在美国拍摄的柏树山乐队的音乐片段粘接在一起。

38 riveting   

adj.动听的，令人着迷的，完全吸引某人注意力的；n.铆接（法）

参考例句：

• I find snooker riveting though I don't play myself.虽然我自己不打斯诺克，但是我觉得它挺令人着迷。
• To my amazement,I found it riveting.但令我惊讶的是，我发现它的吸引人处。

39 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

40 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

41 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。