Double feature: If nothing else, “Nebraska” and “Late Spring” have in common the ability to serve as post-Fathers Day food for thought, inspiring reflections on the varieties and potentialities of father-child relationships. But the links connecting these two films go deeper than that.
Double feature: Swagger, casts that are an embarrassment of riches in terms of star wattage, and characters trying to tap into the power of an American dream enervated by recent history – these are some of the things that “American Hustle” and “The Misfits” have in common.
Double feature: I’m late to the party, but I saw “Inside Llewyn Davis” about a week ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. And the more I think about it, the richer an achievement it seems to become.
Double feature: The prevailing genealogy of “Blue Jasmine” and its eponymous heroine involves “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the Madoffs, and the personality/mannerisms of a New York art gallery owner who came within Woody Allen’s ken. My personal theory involves the director (subconsciously?) crafting a take on the personality of, and everlastingly contentious end of his relationship with, Mia Farrow.
Double feature: For its soundtrack, imagery, and expression of a generation’s possibly prevailing mood, “The Graduate” deserves the adjective “iconic.” It’s also one of several antecedents of a more recent entry in the annals of post-grad (or non-grad) male ennui: “Magic Mike.”
Double feature: If you live in a cold climate, it’s easy to feel stuck at this time of year. The temperatures aren’t exactly encouraging outdoor exploration. Things seem to have shrunk. The world feels reduced to a circumscribed bare minimum circuit between the same points A, B, and maybe C.
Double feature: “Felliniesque” has become shorthand for a kind of disjointed grace, with bizarre/ fantastical non-sequiturs and detours into characters’ mental landscapes, both dreaming and awake.
Double feature: Goodness knows, “The Godfather” doesn’t need anything else written about it. And, of course, the natural, undeniable impulse is to follow any viewing of it with its own sequel/prequel. But for something less conventional and equally evocative, try double-featuring it with the 1970’s German TV production of Thomas Mann’s “Buddenbrooks” – another multi-generational saga with literary roots.
Double feature: There really aren’t that many movies featuring the Thanksgiving holiday, even tangentially. If you’re looking to branch out beyond “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” “Home for the Holidays,” and “Hannah and Her Sisters,” consider a double feature of “The Birdcage” and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
Make it a Double...Feature 