Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we set about on our now-apparently-annual tradition of watching three pairs of twin movies — same subject matter, same year(ish). We took in the power and limits of an Old West lawman in TOMBSTONE (1993) and WYATT EARP (1994). We asked how creatively CAPOTE (2005) and INFAMOUS (2006) ought to treat the epitome of creative non-fiction. And we’ve seen what can go wrong — in plots and in whole films — when magicianship is about more than just tricks in THE ILLUSIONIST (2006) and THE PRESTIGE (2006). If you want, skip around using these timestamps:

2:20 – A leading TOMBSTONE scholar guests on the show.
23:45 – Three hours of WYATT EARP is flunked in a few minutes.
31:20 – CAPOTE peers grimly and carefully at the world.
41:25 – INFAMOUS lightly reimagines Truman Capote as theater.
49:45 – Why won’t you reveal your trick, THE ILLUSIONIST?
1:01:35 – How to watch THE PRESTIGE if you know the twists.