W. S. Van Dyke directs William Powell, Myrna Loy and Maureen O’Sullivan in this comedy mystery where a married couple of sleuths take on the case of a missing scientist accused of murder.

Listen now kids, the creaky mystery farce around them is pretty mid. Old Hollywood doing what it does whether you like it or not. Nick and Nora Charles though are so money, baby. Drunk, in love, cute dog, still drinking, living out of hotels. Why let a little private detecting get in the way of the second most perfect couple I’ve ever encountered? Powell and Loy are a dynamo of chemistry and timing. I really should track down those sequels. Glamorous gal-wise there are at least two hard smashes burning up the screen here and pre-code jokes-wise there are three risqué corkers that stand the test of time.

9

Perfect Double Bill: After The Thin Man (1936)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson directs Ewan McGregor, David Bradley and Gregory Mann in this stop motion animation adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale transposed to fascist Italy.

Looks beautiful – full of rivulets of detail and Del Toro’s distinctive trademark creature design. But that’s about it. Most annoying Pinocchio ever. Chop that prick up. Very naive and grating. I’m not sure the fable about fascism adds much more than a worthy backdrop. Reminded me often of the very middle class, very dull children’s book adaptation that clog up Channel 4 on Boxing Day. More stop motion please, pretty please, but this sadly ain’t the one.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb (1993)

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Oliver Stone directs Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones in this blockbuster speculative essay on the theories, conspiracies and inconsistencies around the infamous assassination of President Kennedy.

Long, dense with two fantastic monologues. How often did Costner play white boy obsessives? His clean cut All American image frequently got channelled into stable men who could not give up… to the point of ruination. Stone cleverly just overloads you with evidence. Some of it contradictory, some of it so speculative it invites ridicule. Yet the ultimate point is we do not know the truth about one of the defining events of the 20th century. Whether you believe Cuban freedom fighters supported by CIA funded homosexuals killed JFK or one lone Russian sleeper agent, the fact is we don’t know. All we ultimately know is that the average marksman Lee Harvey Oswald could never have made three rifle shots in that timeframe with that accuracy by himself. And bullets aren’t THAT magic. “Back and to the left. Back and to the left.” So what happened? With a mixture of film stocks, breathless storytelling and a dozen uncredited A-List cameos, Stone sets out an epic case for the curious in this mega hit. There’s a clear influence on Oppenheimer here, and while Nolan’s unlikely smash is nowhere near the stamp of JFK, it is at least heartening that the mass public can still have their imaginations stirred up by these gargantuan cinematic reshapings of recent history.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Nixon (1995)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Sean Durkin directs Zac Efron, Holt McCallany and Jeremy Allen White in this sports drama based on the tragic true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s.

There’s a shot, a loaded shot, a sustained shot of the Von Erich’s dancing at a wedding. And even if you know nothing about this true story and you’ve only ever seen half a movie before you’ll know they are absolutely doomed from that point onwards. Just too happy. Efron and McCallany give brooding awesomeness. I love Durkin as an auteur but this might be too sad to pop on for regular revisits. A male weepie.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Martha Marcy May Arlene (2011)

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Luis Buñuel directs Zachary Scott, Bernie Hamilton and Key Meersman in this drama where an underage orphan girl finds herself pulled between a lecherous caretaker and a black musician on the run.

Race and lust in a garden of Eden (of sorts). Simple for Buñuel yet pretty exciting. Morally complex for its time.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Death In The Garden (1956)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Karyn Kusama directs Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody in this Diablo Cody written teen succubus horror.

On paper, 100% my type. Yet both attempt to love JB and it hasn’t really wowed me. I recognise its growing cult status (and who say cult movies have to be perfect). Yet it just never builds to the right head of steam. I feel part of the problem is the horror aspect is so weak. The kills have no build up or unpredictability. Even Heathers has a little suspense to it. Once Jennifer decides to seduce, well… that boy is toast. No stalk, no chase, no prolonging the attack. Still has pleasing moments, the potential just promises so much more.

6

Perfect Double Bill: A Nightmare On Elm Street Part Two: Freddy’s Revenge (1986)

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Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee directs Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff in this Walt Disney animation following two princess sisters… one of whom has icy magical powers.

The big one, the barnstormer which made Disney cartoons tentpole release events again. Bell and Menzel’s voice work does the business and every other aspect (romance, adventure, songbook, comedy, wonder) feels fresh and spruced up. Just impeccable mainstream entertainment. Hard not to get goosebumps when Let It Go begins.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Frozen II (2019)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Spike Lee directs Harvey Keitel, Delroy Lindo and Mekhi Phifer in this crime thriller where a dogged cop puts the heat on a young drug dealer when his hard working brother confesses to a gangland shooting that makes no sense.

This felt so like what a studio wanted Spike Lee to make in the Ninieties that it came across as a little predictable and underwhelming on release. These days Clockers is powerful and his wild moves are pretty spellbinding. I doubt the execs at Universal really wanted the opening credit sequence of murder scenes photos zooming in and out of bullet holes in real young black men’s corpses though. Like I say powerful. The murder mystery aspect is strong and entertaining. This feels like a wet run at what The Wire later achieved in a similar milieu. Lee is more expressionistic, more personal. With vibrancy comes mess. Sure, the soundtrack is discordant and the ending prolongs the impending tragedy to the point of incredulity… But no one then or since has been making cinema like Lee and it is hard not to marvel at his big, bold swings within the studio system. Delroy Lindo’s stand-out turn as the fatherly kingpin is convincing and depressing.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Copland (1997)

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Joe Carnahan directs Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley in this big budget remake of the goofy 80s TV show that launched a million lunchboxes.

Not sure why this doesn’t gel quite so well. The set pieces might rely on CGI a little too obviously but they are ambitious and bombastic. They try to fly a tank!!!The best sequence has the names of a million producers playing over it. Boo! None of the key actors would be my first draft choice, yet no one shits the bed, Cooper is probably in peak form even though I’m not a huge fan. Could have been so much more, probably deserved a sequel? A 90 minute sequel?

6

Perfect Double Bill: Miami Vice (2006)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Jane Campion directs Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin in this New Zealand based period erotic drama about a mute mail order bride who enters a sexual relationship with her neighbour to retain her beloved piano.

What does The Piano represent? Not her voice but romantic love in my opinion. She sacrifices the hope of such a love to ensure a happier future and there are hidden clues to its import written on the keys. Was I too young to appreciate all this at 14 years old? Of course I fucking was. Now I love all the inevitable tragedy, fairy tale myth and muddy toxic masculinity. It isn’t a particularly subtle piece of storytelling and I’d say it is the actors who manage to stop it from being entirely heavy handed. There is an unconventional heat between Hunter and Keitel that I doubt many could have predicted and it stands the test of time surprisingly well. Campion’s best.

8

Perfect Double Bill: An Angel At My Table (1990)

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