About Double FeatureDouble Feature is the title of a column that I write for the newsletter of Lehigh Pocono Mensa, the local group to which I belong. It gets published monthly in "Magniloquence." I used to belong to Central PA Mensa, so I offer the column to the editor of "Penn Central" and it shows up there pretty regularly. As the title implies, each Double Feature column features brief reviews of two movies that I have seen. I try to find a connection between the two films - subject matter, stars, awards, etc. - but, since it's my column, I reserve the right to occasionally choose two films that have no connection to each other at all. The reviews found in the Movies section of this Web site serve as the basis for Double Feature. I try to keep each column somewhere around 500 words (which fills about one page in the newsletter), so I usually have to edit the original reviews to fit into the space allotted. If you'd like to read the individual reviews for the films mentioned in Double Feature, you can do so here. The rating scales are a little different. The conversion chart is as follows:
|
Current ColumnMay 2025 - Spring has sprung, and it's a good thing, too. This past winter was COLD. I mean, like the coldest winter we've had in a decade. That meant lots of time to literally Netflix and chill with some dark, twisty shows set in lands with plenty of ice and snow. We'll start with The Åre Murders. This five-part series from 2025 is rated TV-MA. The first three episodes follow one story, the next two follow a second. The main character here is Hanna Ahlander, a detective in Stockholm. She's jammed up at work, so she heads to her sister's vacation home in the ski resort town of Åre to lay low for a while. But, soon, a high-profile case involving a missing teenage girl draws her interest, and Hanna finds herself teaming up with the local cops to investigate. They're wary of her at first, but she eventually wins them over. Things go so well, in fact, that Hanna stays on and helps solve another crime that's even more depraved than the first. Overall review: Liked It. I'd love to see a second season featuring Hanna and her new friends. Each episode is an hour or less, so it's a quick watch. Just be prepared for a level of on-screen violence that you may not be accustomed to. I watched the English translation with English subtitles. Not to be outdone by fiction, actual facts in Scandanavia can be just as dark. For proof, look no further than The Lørenskog Disappearance. This five-part mini-series from 2022 is rated TV-MA, and it's based on an actual case in Norway. A billionaire's wife went missing in 2018 and she hasn't been seen since. That billionaire is named Tom Hagen and he, of course, becomes the prime suspect. The series follows Hagen as he proclaims his innocence despite lots of circumstantial and anecdotal evidence. Other main characters here are the police detective who's trying to carry out the investigation while also caring for her aging dad; a pair of investigative journalists who don't trust each other; and the attorney trying to keep his client out of jail. Overall review: Ehhh, it was OK. Not terrible, but not great, either. I realize this series is based on a true story, but do all the characters have to be so unlikeable? It also never seemed like the police were doing what they should have been doing when they should have been doing it. And the fact that no body was ever found and no one was ever arrested makes the whole thing very unsatisfying. I watched the English translation with English subtitles. For a better docudrama, check out The Breakthrough, also based on a sensational case in Sweden. It’s more suspenseful, easier to follow – and its only four episodes instead of five. |
All Columns |
| "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough." »» Roger Ebert | ||
