Sgt. Angle reporting for duty!

The news, as recently reported in The Hollywood Reporter, is that “Fight Club” director David Fincher and dark childhood memory thriller writer Andrew Kevin Walker (both of Se7en and Fight Club fame) will be joining forces yet again, this time for a remake/new adaptation of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. Story centers on a dude who starts to have visions of one of his past lives, and the dark places these visions lead him. The concept and powerhouse duo got me thinking of some other great film collaborations. I’ve compiled a list below, in no particular order.

1. Steven Spielberg and John Williams (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List). Spielberg’s always hitting audiences with the semi-fantastical yet always grounded in reality stories of human wonder, whether involving children or hopeful adults. John Williams has composed the musical scores of nearly all of Spielberg’s films (notable exception being “The Color Purple”). Without his melodies and memorable themes we might all still be able to enjoy swimming in the ocean.

Don’t steal his sandwich.

2. Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, The Third Man, The Magnificent Ambersons) A kind of bizarre choice for a filmmaking creative team, but when you look at their films together, Welles and Cotton — both part of the same radio performance group who brought the world to its’ knees when they broadcast War of the Worlds — dominate every scene together, and apart. Welles as Harry Lime has one of the best character introductions, anticipated through the first half of “The Third Man,” and the impact is felt when looking at Cotten’s reaction to seeing his childhood friend alive.

Ride the Stache.…

3. Tom Selleck and his Mustache (Quigley Down Under, Mr. Baseball, Three Men and a Baby) Don’t whine how this doesn’t qualify. Sure, it’s a mustache. Sure, it goes where Selleck goes, all the time. This team is inseparable — and unbeatable. Nobody messes with the stache, and, therefore, you do not mess with the Selleck.

It’s the secret ingredient.

4. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon (The Apartment, Some Like it Hot) In film, Comedies are always hard to make funny. It’s a fact. You have to worry about the shot you’re getting, what you’re going to show the audience, the characters in the scene, and the timing of the actors. Wilder gets it right nearly every time, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have Jack Lemmon, one of film’s greatest physical and verbal comedic actors, every step of the way. Lemmon is believable and sympathetic as an average schlub in love in The Apartment. We root for him to win Shirley MacLaine’s heart, and our own hearts break as she falls for the jerk instead. Despite the tugs on the heartstrings, nothing relieves an audience more than the comfort of Lemmon straining spaghetti through a tennis racket.

The Western’s western makers.

5. John Ford and John Wayne (The Searchers, Stagecoach, The Quiet Man) Men, and Westerns, and women. John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on 20 films (at least), defining an American film genre, and crystallizing the mere idea that our landscape and the stories it tells can be captured and remembered on celluloid.

6. Sylvestor Stallone and Montages (Rocky III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa) You cannot — and should not — have a Sly film without a montage. It’s a law, I believe.

I watch. You read.

7. Humphrey Bogart and John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre) This duo helped define Film Noir, and if there’s a detective movie out there without at least one reference to The Maltese Falcon, I dare you to show me.

8. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) Male-themed bonding over finger-guns may be the all-time favorite collaboration here. Wright’s slick editing style, along with Pegg’s wit and quick-thinking, make for a perfect team for the not-so-perfect 20s crowd.

Nom-Nom-Noms.

9. Woody Allen and various young women under the age of 35 (including Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Mira Sorvino, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz) The Wood-ster is a jack-of-all-trades, leading ten of his actresses to Oscar nominations since the 70s (four of them won).

The dude playin’ a dude.….

10. Robert Downey, Jr., and himself (Tropic Thunder, Chaplin, Iron Man, Zodiac) There is no other actor working today who has as much on-screen chemistry when he is alone as he has when he is acting with other people. Check out this scene for an example.

Sound back in the comments below with your preferred filmmaking team, with recommendations.

Until next time,

Sgt. Angle