Long-lost cousins, maybe?
Archive for the Doppelgängers Category
Doppelgängers: Dave Grohl and Reggie Watts
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Dave Grohl, Reggie Watts on 11/29/2025 by Kurt OrzeckDoppelgängers: Louis CK’s and David Cross’ Nearly Identical Jokes on Male Rollerbladers
Posted in Comedy, Doppelgängers, Essays, Features with tags David Cross, Louis C.K. on 08/31/2025 by Kurt OrzeckLouis C.K. and David Cross were roommates in the ’90s, so it’s not shocking that they came up with nearly the exact same bit on men with mustaches rollerblading in public with a sense of superiority to those they passed on the sidewalk.
From David Cross’ comedy album Shut Up, You Fucking Baby (2002):
From Louis C.K.’s first full-length broadcast special, Shameless (2007):
This post is dedicated to Dan Stevenson.
Doppelgängers: David Cronenberg’s ‘Scanners’ and Brian De Palma’s ‘The Fury’
Posted in Doppelgängers, Essays, Features with tags Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg, Scanners, The Fury on 08/30/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Can’t seem to find much discussion about this online, but does anyone else notice that David Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981) and Brian De Palma’s The Fury (1978) – both films that come very, very highly recommended – are virtually identical? Both movies revolve around young adults who possess telekinetic powers that can control people à la The Force from Star Wars. These outcasts keep their potentially threatening, manipulative abilities on the DL, find solace living in secret societies, and are hunted by malevolent thugs out to kill them.
The exploding cherry on top of this theory? How often do you see self-combustion sequences onscreen?
Scanners:
The Fury:
De Palma would be the obvious plagiaristic culprit here, as his 1981 John Travolta classic (not an oxymoron!), Blow-Out, copped copiously from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) – two even greater masterpieces. ‘Cept The Fury came out three years before Scanners, which Cronenberg himself wrote.
Please share any insights if you got ’em, so long as they don’t cause anyone’s head to explode.
15 Best QOTSA Parody Ideas for ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic to Create
Posted in Comedy, Doppelgängers, Lists with tags Bily Ocean, Owen Wilson, Queens of the Stone Age, Weird Al Yankovic on 06/15/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Sure, they may be one of the biggest rock bands in the world, but let’s get real: Have Queens of the Stone Age truly “made it”?
Some would argue no for the simple reason that, some 30 years into their career, “Weird” Al Yankovic still hasn’t made a parody of even one QOTSA song. It’s a critical rite of passage in pop music, and until it happens, a musical act really hasn’t achieved irrefutable commercial success.
In an effort to help QOTSA finally break that glass ceiling, and to inspire Al to write some quality new parodies, here are The Bad Penny‘s Top 15 choicest ideas for QOTSA parody songs:
Original: “Regular John”
Parody: “Regular John Tesh“
Original: “Go With the Flow”
Parody: “Go With the Flomax“
Original: “Better Living Through Chemistry”
Parody: “Better Living Through Home Ec“
Original: “I Think I Lost My Headache”
Parody: “I Think I Lost My Keys“
Original: “Avon”
Parody: “The Avon Lady”
Original: “I Sat by the Ocean”
Parody: “I Sat by Billy Ocean (On a Plane)”
Original: “You Can’t Quit Me, Baby”
Parody: “You Can’t Quit Me, Baby Ruth“
Original: “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret”
Parody: “The Lost Art of Wearing Secret Antiperspirant“
Original: “The Way You Used to Do”
Parody: “The Way You Used to Do the Mountain Dew“
Original: “Sick, Sick, Sick”
Parody: “Mick, Mick, Mick” (tribute song to Rocky Balboa’s deceased trainer/ manager)
Original: “My God Is the Sun”
Parody: “My God Is the Hamburger Bun”
Original: “Long Slow Goodbye”
Parody: “Long Slow Fart“
Original: “Keep Your Eyes Peeled”
Parody: “Keep Your Oranges Peeled“
Original: “How to Handle a Rope”
Parody: “How to Handle a Rope-a-Dope“
Original: “No One Knows”
Parody: “Owen’s Nose” (referring to actor Owen Wilson’s unusual facial appendage)
• Fun fact: QOTSA frontman Josh Homme told me he especially enjoyed this one.)
Go here for more QOTSA coverage.
Yeah, Vince McMahon Sure Is In ‘Big Trouble’
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features, Fun And Games, Polls with tags Big Trouble in Little China, Vince McMahon on 10/06/2024 by Kurt Orzeck
Lest there remain any doubt that the makers of Netflix’s new six-part docuseries about disgraced multibillionaire Vince McMahon, take a look at the kitschy movie poster that almost surely inspired Netflix’s advertising for Mr. McMahon.
The uncanny similarities between the docuseries poster and the movie poster for 1986’s Big Trouble in Little China beg a bizarre question that you’re welcome to answer in this poll:
Hollywood’s Creepy Critter Clones Capture Cinemas
Posted in Doppelgängers, Fun And Games with tags Alien, Alien Romulus, Infested on 09/10/2024 by Kurt OrzeckOpen your eyes and espy these pricey billboards for two of the summer’s scariest blockbusters. With Alien Romulus and Infested sharing almost nothing in common (we won’t spoil you with any surprises), how did this odd billboard coincidence come to pass? Could it be that the marketing execs at both studios chose to borrow (or even rip off) each other’s idea? Nah. Hollywood ain’t that cynical. Right?
This novice mistake (or prank … or whatever it is) deserves a special place in the annuals of the chronicles of cinematic history.
Check out the posters:
Alien: Romulus and Infested
Doppelgängers: Mastodon and Metallica
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Mastodon, Metallica on 02/17/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
Metallica, the biggest metal band ever; and Mastodon, one of the best metal bands of this century, share a lot in common.
For starters, Mastodon started publicly crediting Metallica as major influence shortly after the Atlanta crew became a band in 2000. Six years later, Mastodon covered Metallica’s instrumental classic “Orion” for a tribute album tied to the 20th anniversary celebration of Metallica’s Master of Puppets.
James, Lars and the gang returned the favor a couple of years after that. The thrash gods gave the Atlanta sludge-rockers a huge break by crowning them as the openers for two of Metallica’s European tours. For good measure, 2009’s Guitar Hero: Metallica featured Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder” as one of its playable tracks.
But the common bonds don’t stop there. There’s a truly uncanny coincidence in two songs by the metal bands, both of which deserve to sit on the Iron Throne. The numbers will be familiar to fans: “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” from Metallica’s best (or second-best) record, 1986’s Master of Puppets; and “Megalodon,” a gem of a track from Mastodon’s breakthrough record, 2004’s Leviathan.
Continue readingDoppelgängers: ‘It Follows,’ ‘Hereditary’ and ‘In the Mouth of Madness’
Posted in Doppelgängers, Favorite Films, Features with tags Ari Aster, David Robert Mitchell, Hereditary, In the Mouth of Madness, It Follows, John Carpenter on 01/31/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
Three of the scariest horror films from the past 30 years deeply affected audiences for radically different reasons.
Continue readingWoods Of Ypres’ David Gold And Crash Test Dummies’ Brad Roberts: Doppelgängers
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Brad Roberts, Crash Test Dummies, David Gold, Woods of Ypres on 03/21/2012 by Kurt Orzeck
Since David Gold is no longer alive, we’ll never get to hear him sing Crash Test Dummies’ “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.”
But that shouldn’t stop Brad Roberts of fellow Canadians CTD from tackling Woods of Ypres at some point.
Long live the bass-baritone.
Berkfinger (Of Philadelphia Grand Jury) And Rob Bell: Doppelgängers
Posted in Doppelgängers, Features with tags Berkfinger, MC Bad Genius, Philadelphia Grand Jury on 02/09/2010 by Kurt Orzeck
Philadelphia Grand Jury’s Berkfinger already has a partner in MC Bad Genius, his childhood friend who makes up the other half of the pop duo. But from a visual standpoint, Berkfinger seems to have more in common with an unlikely personality: Christian motivational speaker Rob Bell. Continue reading
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