Double Down: The Appendix

This whole Double Down thing has become my most popular post ever, so I figured I'd write a short follow-up.

My friend Ruth sent me a link to a review of Double Down by one Rick Hodgin on Geek.com, which is a website. As far as I can tell, it's the only other substantial piece of writing about Double Down on the web. I am all for a healthy diversity of opinions, and as I noted in my previous post, my sincere wish is for the movie's stature to grow.

Having actually watched Double Down, I have the rare distinction of being in a position to respond to some of Rick's statements (he invites responses on the site, but I don't feel like burdening my cyberself with another login):

[Breen's] character is kind of a cross between The Operative from “Serenity” (bring back “Firefly”!) and your basic high-knowledge super-spy...

Uh... really? The Operative from Serenity? That man was an A-1 badass. Props to Breen for being Breen, but he's not in the same league. I would rank him an A-5 badass. A-4 tops.

“Double Down”'s running time is 103 minutes, and it goes by very quickly.

Rick didn't mention that he was playing Halo on a second television for those 103 minutes.

...there are honestly some truly amazing scenes, especially when he's out in the desert plotting and planning.

Get a grip, Rick: he's hanging out in the back of a sedan with three laptops. That aren't turned on. This is kind of like praising the realistic portrayal of police work in Plan Nine.

So, to sum up: If you're in the mood for a B movie about an independent computer/satellite genius, one who's working for the various governments of the world (pretty much at his own choosing because of the Doomsday-like weapons he's implanted in all of the computer systems he's developed)...

Rick, that's a really specific mood. That's sort of like being in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich made in a climate controlled kitchen kept at a constant temperature of 67 degrees by a 45-year old postal worker using an Australian cheddar, one slice of rye bread from a Polish bakery on the south side of Chicago, and one slice of toasted Pepperidge Farm 12-Grain. Just saying.

Hopefully, Rick doesn't mind the nitpicking. Really, I'm happy for any Double-Down content on the web.

Here's a picture. Enjoy it.

Neil Breen's Ferrari Testarossa, courtesy the Ferrari Club of Las Vegas. It makes a cameo in Double Down. License plate: Farrari (sic).