Two for One
by the Numbers
Interested in which movies tend to be the favorites? Some say the original is always better, but Hollywood always loves a remake. At Two for One, we evaluate each movie on its own terms, but we also keep track of data on what we've liked best.
All data below is updated through Seasons 1-3 of Two for One
Do we even like the same movies?
Each season, we watch and review ten sets of films. Over the years, it's become clear that even though we often feel similarly about these movies, we've had our share of disagreements.
However, since we agree the majority of the time, it seems fair to say that sometimes there's just an objectively better film.
Is there a best decade of film?
Trends come and go. Technology improves. Prominent directors and phenomenal actors can define an era of filmmaking.
Over the seasons of Two for One, David & Claire have watched movies spanning from the 1930s (the oldest movie being Scarface, 1932) to current releases (the newest being Death on the Nile, 2022). The percentages below will show you, for all the movies we've seen in any given decade, how often we have ended up saying a film from that decade was best.
Is the original always better?
Remakes are often released to plenty of grumbling that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The movies we review as part of Two for One aren't necessarily direct remakes; they are reimaginings of the same source material which may be a work of literature or even a historical event. But we were still curious to present this data -- how often do we say the older or newer film is better?
Comparing David & Claire's Choices
How well do films translate?
Hollywood is often skewered for poorly executed English-language versions of foreign classics. But things can be gained as well as lost in translation. We know this because usually we have at least one or two examples per season of an American remake of another country's film; or, though less often, the other way around.
As you can see below, in these particular cases it does seem even more likely that the original will be better. We'll keep testing this rule, though, because the exceptions are always interesting, inventive takes on old themes.
Original films: Beowulf & Grendel (Canada/Iceland), Death at a Funeral (UK), Oldboy (Korea), REC (Spain), Seven Samurai (Japan), The Italian Job (UK), Romeo and Juliet (Italy/UK), The Wages of Fear (France/Italy)
Original films: The Virgin Queen, My Best Friend's Wedding