George Sidney directs Ann-Margret, Dick Van Dyke Janet Leigh in this comedy musical where a rock singer travels to a small Ohio town to make his “farewell” television performance and kiss his biggest fan before he is drafted.
Pop art sexy stupidity. Very camp. Teenagers didn’t exist before Ann-Margaret wore capri pants.
7
Perfect Double Bill: The Pajama Game (1957)
Fritz Lang directs Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas and Robert Ryan in this drama where a woman returns to the port town she grew up in and finds herself caught between two middle aged losers.
The Filmhouse did a Rare Marilyn season and we caught this early appearance. She is smoking hot in her half a dozen scenes and actually turns in a vivid, legitimate performance as a cannery worker orbiting all the adultery and toxic masculinity. The main story itself is a stew of immorality. Kinda like if Ayn Rand tried to write a Steinbeck novel. It is a little overblown for a domestic drama and false reminded me of the self important plays about the working man I always imagined Barton Fink wrote.
6
Perfect Double Bill: You Only Live Once (1937)
I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin
David Wain directs Will Forte, Domhnall Gleeson and Martin Mull in this irreverent biopic of the creator of National Lampoon.
The screenwriter of Caddyshack did too much coke. Boo hoo! The tone of this is all over the shop. Joel McHale as Chevy Chase is a cheeky wriggle in every direction your brain wants to take it though.
5
Perfect Double Bill: Caddyshack (1980)
Brian De Palma directs Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold and John Lithgow in this thriller where… Vertigo. OK… Vertigo.
Bit disappointed after finally catching up with this Brian blindspot. After a strong start it just meanders. Looks as if it was intentionally filmed to resemble a Flake advert. Cliff Robertson was allegedly a real shit on set and he leaves a void where a proper star should be. The ending feels abrupt like they ran out of money and rushed something… anything. It ends up being enigmatic and creepy. But not in that good way… just leaves you with too many lingering questions you don’t really want the answers too. Icky but still De Palma.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Sisters (1973)
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Tilman Singer directs Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens and Jessica Henwick in this mystery where a 17-year-old is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem.
Creepy little chiller that only lets slip what the fuck is actually going on by the third act. Stevens (as always) is the MVP. Nice dark sense of humour to this one.
7
Perfect Double Bill: Apostle (2018)
Louis Malle directs Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau and George Hamilton in this zany historical adventure set in Central America where an Irish terrorist’s daughter joins a burlesque show but also stokes a revolution.
Wild, one of a kind movie that could only be made in 1965. A struggling studio clearly wanted to fund a Euro epic and get in on that already past it Nouvelle Vague stylee. What they get is a pop art blast as silly as it is sexy. Moreau and Bardot!! Come on. It was never gonna be unwatchable. Grubby spaghetti western visuals. Makes violent civil war seems like a frilly kids movie anarchist romp.
7
Perfect Double Bill: …And God Created Woman (1956)
I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin
Kelly Reichardt directs Lisa Donaldson, Larry Fessenden and Dick Russell in this lo-fi “lovers” on the run flick.
Shoestring Reichardt is probably better than overrated, critically lauded Reichardt. This is indistinguishable from dozens of calling card debuts from the first half of the Nineties. I like its grimy, languid, feminist atmosphere.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Fun (1994)
Robert Hiltzik directs Vincent Pastore, Felissa Rose and Michael Gibney in this cheap slasher legacy sequel.
Amateur hour cash-in. Ludicrous kills but (hey) poorly executed. Gets a few of the original actors in but doesn’t really acknowledge how badly they have aged over 20 plus years. Get a real job! Has maybe the most annoying character ever to grace the screen front and centre in Alan. “Your ass stinks!” Compellingly awful.
2
Perfect Double Bill: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
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David Robert Mitchell directs Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor and Maisy Stella in this throwback sci-fi adventure where the Platt family bands together to navigate their new surroundings after a cosmic event transports their suburban street into prehistoric hunting grounds.
He sure takes his time between projects but David Robert Mitchell is now three in a row for highly entertaining cult favourites. This is everything a slowly decaying adult kid wants from a movie openly inspired by Jaws, Poltergeist, Gremlins and Jurassic Park. Hard candy for Gen X-ers. Intense build -up, superb thrill sequences, shocking FX that lean as much towards threat and gore as wonder, McGregor’s retro short shorts. Feels both precise and chaotic. In an alternative universe this is the blockbuster of the summer instead it is a dog days oddity primed for those in the know. Sledgehammer versus Allosaurus! I’m in. Even the final shot is a subversion and celebration of the Amblin template.
8
Perfect Double Bill: Hope (2026)
Gregg Araki directs Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman and Mason Gooding in this BDSM sex farce where a kinky conceptual artist makes one of her assistant’s her new bedroom muse.
Surprisingly slick, focussed and sweet for Akari.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Fucktoys (2025)
I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 