Danny DeVito directs Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and himself in this black comedy where a long married couple battle each other to the death when their love goes sour.

Strange to think that this bleak, cynical anti rom-com was in steady rotation with Twins and The Three Amigos in my childhood viewing habits. My sister and I loved it as an alternative sequel to the Joan Wilder / Jack T. Colton adventures, and I realise looking back Michael Douglas was the one movie star who could get both my Mum and Dad to drop us off at the grandparents and go see a new release on opening weekend. He’s a slick scumbag here. It is hypnotic experiencing such an arrogant piece of shit watch his world fall apart. Whereas in your standard Douglas thriller the trauma is mainly psychological, here the whacks are escalating pratfalls with a co-star he has long established heat with. Turner is a classier prospect, always has been. She felt out of sync with Eighties – her flawless beauty and all-rounder talent base feeling more akin to a Rita Hayworth or a Lauren Bacall. So watching her crack is like watching a priceless Ming Dynasty vase slowly be crushed in a vice. DeVito’s sensibilities and pacing are spot on. His palette is just as expressionistic as Burton or Sonnenfeld were in this period. He still feels like an underrated director. There are some scene transitions and deadly slapstick set pieces here that are all-timers. And the whole thing is strangely moral. Homunculus.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Serial Mom (1994)

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

Ol Parker directs Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Kaitlyn Dever in this romantic comedy where a long-divorced couple go to Bali to stop their daughter’s spur of the moment wedding.

Expensive fluff with relaxed stars and enviable locations. The best you can say about it is it finds screentime time for the always wonderful Billie Lourd. If it were black and white and starred Grant & Hepburn we’d think of this as a Golden Age classic but times have moved on.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Runaway Bride (1999)

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Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre directs Emma Corrin, Jack O’Connell and Matthew Duckett in this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s classic, controversial fuck novel.

An unnecessary remake. Every generation needs their period frolic in the sunshine I guess. Lashings of sex and nudity. Duckett as the cuck and Joely Richardson (stunt casting) as Mrs Bolton put in the best shifts. Have a slither of ambiguity about them. The costume design and production is very bright and tactile. Understands Lawrence’s vision, politics and philosophy but then again so did the Ken Russell’s mini series.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Lady Chatterley (2006)

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

Alan Parker directs Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne and Maria Doyle in this Irish musical comedy where a young hustler recruits a soul band from the estates of North Dublin.

Iconic and very quotable. Foul mouthed as opposed to genuinely gritty. A rainy fairytale. The music makes it. Mad to think Robert Arkins who carries the ensemble with charisma and timing never really worked on a big film again.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Sing Street (2016)

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Janeen Damian directs Lindsay Lohan, Ed Speleers and Alexander Vlahos in this romantic comedy set in “Ireland” where a book editor’s wish to marry her dream man disrupts the wedding she has crossed the ocean to attend.

Nobody drinks wine in Ireland… allegedly. Why are all the actors British? Truth be told, if Lindsay Lohan turned up in a small Irish town they’d declare a three day holiday and worship her as a returned pagan goddess. She works her way through about 50 fetch fits here. So as a delivery system to look at stunning Li-Lo, mission accomplished. In all other ways a failure of a film. Is it trying to replicate the blocky textureless tone of her tween films from two decades ago? On purpose? The cliches, the immature characterisations, the non-jokes. It is like Lohan has been stuck remaking Just My Luck on a loop for twenty years. Blarney edition.

2

Perfect Double Bill: Just My Luck (2006)

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

David Chung directs Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada and Michael Wong in the kung-fu thriller where three young law enforcement officers find themselves pulled into a deadly spiral of revenge after they foil a plane hijacking.

Nightclub fights through shattering glass. Skyscraper dangles. Dynamite versus tank finale. Unpredictable plotting – I’d struggle to give you a plot synopsis until the end of the second act when things coalesce. Young Michelle with dork hair and loads of class. Amazing stunts between moments of high melodrama and goofy romantic comedy. Full fat entertainment where nobody is safe and there’s always a more deranged villain waiting in the wings.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Yes, Madam (1986)

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Kornél Mundruczó direct Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf and Molly Parker in this drama following a grieving mother after she loses her child during a home birth.

Grief as glacial display case. Apes a lot of big, gruelling emotions and devastations without much insight or consistency. Exists only to get actors award nominations. What is in this for me?

4

Perfect Double Bill: Rabbit Hole (2010)

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

Mikio Naruse directs Hideko Takamine, Masayuki Mori and Mariko Okada in this Japanese classic following two jaded lovers as their fortunes waver and their lives intersect while Japan rebuilds itself post-WWII.

Feels shockingly mature, emotionally intelligent, pragmatic for its time. Non-judgmental of its bureaucratic cad and yearning everywoman. A saga but sexually frank and unromantic until cold, brute melodrama closes the criss crossing threads. Something unique, something special.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District (1956)

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Moritz Mohr directs Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe and Michelle Dockery in the action sci-fi spoof where a mute orphan is raised into a killing machine to take down a family of tyrants.

Again… self aware to the point of distraction. There are times when the constant internal monologue from Bob from Bob’s Burger really distracts from some pretty extravagant gun-fu. Game support cast with a hot Rothe (who knew motorcycle helmets could be so sexy?) and new-to-me Andrew Koji standing out. Absolutely relentless, I’m too old for this shit, slow it down man!

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Man From Nowhere (2010)

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

Rose Glass directs Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian and Ed Harris in this neo noir nightmare where a gunrunner’s daughter and a female bodybuilder enter into a deadly tryst.

Neo-Noir is my jam. Massive soft spot for Stewart (she’s a little under served here and allows newcomer O’Brian the spotlight). Plotwise this does nothing unexpected but where it stands out are the frequent lurches into surrealism. This becomes pure terror fuel at times. The deeper we go, the more adoring the visual shout outs to David Lynch become obvious. Night road. Slat door closet. Deformed cheeks. Glass really revels within the diseased mind, manages to keep things grungy and composed as sanity falls apart. I dig what she does. The set pieces can be a little piecemeal but this is about slippery characters with no code, great bodies and nothing but violence in their love language. Will rewatch soon.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

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