Double Feature—a Winner of a Podcast

I had a small difference of opinion with a podcast last December over a piece of hate mail I wrote in reaction to a “review” from a second and separate podcast. The original review did not do service to a favorite film of mine (Touch of Evil), and it galled me a bit. It was a situation that could only happen in the inner connected world of internet radio and blogging. I will not bore you here. If you are curious you can go back to What Did I Expect? post.

I come to you today to praise a show that gets it right. The Podcast is called Double Feature (Check them out. Click here.).

I’ve listened to several of their shows and they also covered Touch of Evil and other films noir. They discuss two movies per podcast. I was intrigued enough with their review of Kinky Boots to give it a rent and it was quite an enjoyable night at the movies. Thanks guys! But back to noir. They are young reviewers, but they show some respect to the old films. They do a bit of research. They explain how they came to the noir and the interesting back story for the picture they discuss. They also, like another podcast I know, show their youth by not being familiar with the old-time actor's careers (Edward G. Robinson). They habitually tie some action, plot, or visual from an older film to something created in their lifetime. (probably from the horror genre), but it is impossible to fault Double Feature for this. It is natural enough to compare something unfamiliar to something familiar, and this is a good entré for others their age or younger. What raises these fellows above a host of others is they do not come the to older material with an attitude. They are not sneering or bored, like punks. They take a real interest in their own topics. Yay!

They are also creative. They recast Touch of Evil with Robert Rodriguez actors. At first I thought that I wouldn't enjoy this exercise, but I was surprised by their efforts. I could imagine the alternative version of Touch of Evil, and it was still good.

I will be talking about Double Feature again I know. Right now I'm heading for ITunes to rate them five fingers.

For the Kiddies

Though I keep this blog clean, many of the podcasts I review use adult language. The shows do this mostly for shock and because the Peter Pans who make up the male audience for these shows, still think rude is rad. I am often surprised when a stream of rudeness comes out of a podcaster’s mouth, followed closely by a reference to their young children just upstairs. Well this posting is definitely for those dudes who also happen to be charged with raising children. If they really want to shock someone they should bring home this book for the tots. Not because the book is shocking, but because their wife will be astonished to find there is unexpected maturity and caring beneath that veneer of retarded behavior.

What To Do About Alice? is the story of Teddy Roosevelt’s eldest daughter and the shenanigans she gets into before, during, and after her father's presidency. It's a picture book for young readers. The writing is clever and presents the events in Alice’s life like bullet points as easy to absorb as M&Ms in the trail mix. The illustrations are topnotch with a great deal of energy and movement. The story would be a great story for a father to share with his daughter. I think young boys would be less interested in the book for the central story, but may be curious about Theodore Roosevelt as a person. And again the pictures hold a lot of fun for boys and girls.

The book is written by Barbara Kerley; illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham; Published by Scholastic Press. It's for ages 4-8, It's hardcover, 48 pages. 12.1 x 8.4 inches.

It is $11.55 new and as low as $7.00 used on Amazon.