Darren Aronofsky directs Austin Butler, Zoe Kravitz and Regina King in this Nineties set crime caper.

Aronofsky is oh so much better when he just goes pure genre. This is essentially a love letter to True Romance only set in New York and with Patricia Arquette recast as a cat. Full of quirky crims, constant threats and broad, bold character work. I am no longer on any kind of fence about Butler. Exactly my jam. Going to have to read some of Charlie Huston’s Hank Thompson books now.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Killing Zöe (1994)

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Michael Shanks directs Alison Brie, Dave Franco and Damon Herriman in this body horror relationship comedy.

As much War Of The Roses as Society. The disgusting FX are excellent apart from one shot at the end. Brie and Franco are electric together. Nice lore, not over explained but let you know just enough to fill in the blanks. A gleefully uncomfortable satire on marriage and a nasty blast of fun. I laughed a lot.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Society (1989)

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

Celine Song directs Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal in this romance where a high end Manhatthan matchmaker must chose between her ideal man and her flawed (poor) ex.

Beautiful looking movie with a stunning three header of honeys. The satire on entitlement and expectation would work better if it wasn’t so deadpan and full of pregnant pauses. The funny lines have zero zip. There is a strong story here but it is too in love with its own themes to really chime. Celine Song thinks subtext is for cowards. Shout out to Chris Evans’ tall, handsome, emotionally intelligent underdog with a full head of hair and only… ONLY… two thousand dollars in savings. What a pauper! Hope he makes it.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Hitch (2005)

Mike Flanagan directs Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jacob Tremblay in this magical realist drama set around the slow end of a world.

Flanagan’s house style is patient. Melodrama, monologue and cosmic tumblers clicking into place. So… much like Weapons, the drip feed nature of the storytelling does grate on the occasions when you are ahead of the reveal. It is all just a beat too drawn out. The positive I went home with was there was a lot less Tom Hiddleston than the marketing suggested. Damp praise? The ensemble is cosy and comforting, there are some visually exciting sequences. But we don’t need any propaganda that white kids invented the moonwalk, thank you very much Quantum Leap!

6

Perfect Double Bill: Weapons (2025)

Zach Cregger directs Julia Garner, Josh Brolin and Alden Ehrenreich in this horror mystery where an almost entire classroom of school children disappear one night at the exact same time.

Very Twilight Zone, very Stephen King. I’m not entirely sure the time hopping / different perspective structure will add much on a rewatch but the third act villain is a powerhouse play. Brolin also is wonderful casting. The wacky gore moments kept this Pied Piper Of Lost alive for me.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Life Of Chuck (2025)

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Jag Mundhra directs Chad Everett, Michelle Johnson and Michael Sabatino in this erotic thriller where a middle-aged cop must find the serial killer that preys on glamour models before his estranged daughter catches the maniac’s eye.

Super trash. All seemingly filmed in and around the same warehouse. A proper sweaty scumbag villain. A second act twist where an unlikely stag-do game cracks the case. An alcoholic Dirty Harry who pretty much ruins everyone’s life with his insecurities. His and the psycho’s behaviour is mostly farcical. While some of this is intentional tongue-in-cheek nuttiness it does feel like a veil to cover up the ineptitude and unoriginality of the project. I’m not the biggest advocate of “so bad it is good” snark but this fits that bill snugly.

3

Perfect Double Bill: Night Eyes (1990)

Mark Waters directs Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mark Harmon in this remake of the Disney live action body swap family classic.

Glossier but wittier. It is pretty much neck and neck with the original.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Get A Clue (2002)

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

Otto Preminger directs Carol Lynley, Keir Dullea and Laurence Olivier in this thriller where a young mother drops her daughter off at a new school in London only for the child to disappear without a trace.

A creepy, unsettling thriller. You cannot tell what is going on but share Carol Lynley’s desperation and frustration throughout. London is turned into a murky Wonderland filled with dirty eccentrics and increasingly eerie locations. A all-consuming rainy Sunday afternoon mood.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Angel Face (1953)

Gil Junger directs Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this beloved teen movie where two sisters have an overbearing father who will only let one date if the other does so a keen suitor hires a local tough to date the more abrasive girl.

That might be the longest synopsis I have ever written for one of these diary entries. Colourful, perfectly cast, poppy. Star making turn from Ledger and some very funny adult support. Busy but cherished.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Easy A (2010)

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Whit Stillman directs Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman and Tushka Bergen in this indie romantic comedy following two American cousins looking for love in Eighties Europe.

Stillman’s second film of social faux pas and small societies is probably his best. The interplay between the two adult cousins is rich with many running threads and jokes. You truly care about them by the third act which has an event that derails the status quo. Stillman makes the sorta films you get the feeling Woody Allen was aiming for in the 90s but the famous comic turned director was scuppered by being a bit too old and bit too tired plus the weight of expectation. Stillman’s gets the urbane dialogue driven farce right by being nimble and light. Intellectual, deadpan yet somehow also warm and also cosy.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Metropolitan (1990)