Peter Cattaneo directs Steve Coogan, Vivian El Jaber and Jonathan Pryce in this true story about a British teacher who taught at a boys’ boarding school in Argentina in the 1970s who finds himself begrudgingly looking after a penguin.

Mid level apocalypse. If there is one glimmer of hope in the obliteration of cinema for adults that is neither arthouse or blockbuster, it is Steve Coogan’s standing in the international market. His status as a comedy legend in Britain coupled with his ‘just about recognisable’ status in Hollywood and the global sphere means he has a rare freedom. Every couple of years he can make a modestly budgeted bittersweet drama (The Look Of Love, Philomena) and it can be sold in multiple markets for theatrical release and even make enviable matinee bucks in the U.K. Not Paddington or Bridget Jones sequel mad moolah but more than enough to justify itself and the next one. More importantly they can launch these mature leaning flicks outside the awards race season. The Penguin Lessons is a fine example. Coogan plays a curmudgeon who softens with flair, there’s a mop from Dead’s Poets Society and a smidge of the hard hitting milieu of Missing. It blends together nicely into a confection that mostly avoids saccharine. And has a cute penguin to boot. Why isn’t Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise taking a salary cut to do one of these in between streaming blockbuster series and action extravaganzas? Now I’m not saying either would be better in the package than Coogan is here. But what now feels tailor made for him might revive the market on a grander scale if you still had someone… anyone… with a bit of A-List global juice who started taking the same long game risk….

6

Perfect Double Bill: Philomena (2013)

Ryan Coogler directs Michael B Jordan, Michael B Jordan and Jack O’Connell in this period horror film where twin brothers return to Mississippi to set up a jook joint only for a wandering vampire to take an interest.

Lush camera work and near constant music blend into a powerful, rich gumbo. The quality and simplicity of Sinners is intoxicating. It owes a fair shout to From Dusk Till Dawn and The Faculty but Coogler acknowledges that. What he delivers is a premium tribute to Rodriquez. Is it scary? Not really. The vampires remind of Near Dark and Doctor Sleep. The night siege is more psychological than an onslaught. Sinners has a heart and pulse and it has Michael B Jordan on double duty. He is a fantastic screen presence. You don’t really need much else. The third act delivers so much more than you’ll expect and really elevates this. Coogler’s finest. The music never stops.

8

Perfect Double Bill: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

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Christopher Landon directs Meghann Fahy, Brandon Sklenar and Violett Beane in this thriller where a first date is ruined for a therapist when her phone keeps receiving messages telling her to kill her dining partner.

Attractive if unlikely one watcher. Christopher Landon didn’t get to direct Scream VII so he re-did a Red Eye instead.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Red Eye (2005)

Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman direct Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, and Jennifer Babtist in this cheapo superhero spoof where the mop boy at a gym is bullied into falling into toxic waste and becomes a mutant vigilante.

Absolute OTT trash. Yet it knows it is trash so leans into the bad acting and schlubby gore with admirable gusto. So it pans out charming. Bad taste but charming. The romance subplot between Toxie and the blind girl is cute and sex positive. Everything else is snark. Even the average kung-fu sequences where no kill is unacceptable. Hard not to like and it doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Street Trash (1987)

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

Amy Holden Jones directs Jamie Lee Curtis, James Keach and Matt Clark in this drama where a young DJ discovers her mother had a torrid affair and tries to replicate the passion with a married man.

A surprising amount of sex and nudity. Also a fair degree of emotional complexity. Made by the director of Slumber Party Massacre. Roger Corman ponied up a small budget for Amy Holden Jones as long as there was enough titillation to book it into the grindhouse theatres. Aside from all the flesh though Jamie Lee spends most of the movie moping about… which puts a dampener on the erotic content.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Terror Train (1980)

Phillip Noyce directs Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and Rade Serbedzija in this romantic thriller where an enigmatic thief tries to save the life of an energy scientist.

There should be a long-running modern day franchise in the Simon Templar concept. Globe trotting master cat burglar who changes his face more often than he saves the lady. Instead we get a cold dog’s dinner. Reshoots and miscasting sap all the life out of this. Master Of Disguise Kilmer is ridiculous in each of his new personas and absolutely blank out of costume. RIP Val but your lack of charisma here hobbles proceedings. He’s definitely no Roger. The action is weak but could have been promising, the plot has clearly been chopped up and switched about. Poor test screening scores meant we never really settle in. Should at least work as a romance but Shue and Kilmer spend two of three acts apart. The best stuff is them running around an icy Russia together in constant mild peril. A sloppy, poor man’s Mission: Impossible. Good soundtrack though.

4

Perfect Double Bill: M:I 2 (2000)

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John Waters directs Kathleen Turner, Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard in this dark comedy where a sweet-as-apple-pie suburban housewife slaughters those with bad manners.

The camp is turned down just one click but this is still drooling and scathing and singular. You may argue this is Water’s classy period but I actually feel other directors started tooling around in his garage at this point. Kevin Smith, Todd Haynes and even Gus Van Sant legitimatised that Baltimore vision more than movie stars joining his casts. I see Serial Mom as a return to bad boy form after Hairspray and CryBaby (both of which I think are great) were so multiplex friendly. Turner is incredible here. Her enthusiasm for mayhem makes this very rewatchable.

7

Perfect Double Bill: To Die For (1995)

Robert Zemeckis directs Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer and Christopher Lloyd in this cartoon / live action crossover movie where a private detective tries to solve the murder that a famous animated bunny is framed for in an alternative 1940s Hollywood where toons and humans work together.

An utterly massive movie from my childhood that does seem to have faded away a smidge in terms of popularity. The FX to combine animated characters into live action scenes is revolutionary and seamless. Jessica Rabbit is an amazing creation. The trip into ToonTown is probably the highlight of the film. But… it does spin its wheels in the middle act… the best visual gags have been used up and the big action is saved until the final gallop. It makes for an uneven experience, even as a nostalgic rewatch.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Mask (1994)

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

Billy Wilder directs Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Judi West in this dark comedy where a sharp injury lawyer convinces his brother-in-law to sue and exaggerate his injuries.

Strange watching a non-period movie that chooses to still be in black and white after Technicolor became the dominant format. Orson Welles would argue that black and white captures the acting and expressions better. Does Wilder hold with the same theory? There is lots of mugging to camera. Either way there also is a self aware joke about not being able to afford colour. The first pairing of Matthau and Lemmon is broke up into cute chapters and is pretty cynical. A pleasingly misanthropic watch but not gold standard.

6

Perfect Double Bill: A New Leaf (1971)

Pitof directs Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt and Sharon Stone in this superhero spin-off that imagines what would happen if Catwoman was a bit shit.

A derided flop – this should never have seen the inside of cinema screens. A project that went through a million rewrites and then some rushed reshoots it bares very little relation to the classic Batman comics anti-hero. You can see why Warner Brothers wanted to cash in on Pfeiffer’s electric performance in Batman Returns but once she passed that should have been the end of the development process. Instead it freed a bunch of paycheck screenwriters to nudge proceedings too far away from both the canon and Burton’s world building. What we are left with are a fudge of risible scenes, probably the ones the executive liked the most. Little narrative cohesion. Terrible costume design. Awful CGI. A forgettable finale. Hairball!

3

Perfect Double Bill: Steel (1997)

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