Sidney Lumet directs Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney in this crime drama where two middle aged brothers plan a robbery at their parents jewellery store.

Lumet’s last film is a slight return to form. Seeing him re-explore his old safe stomping ground of New York crime. It is a bit cheap, so strange to see an old master reduced to making a calling card indie debut during a period when Scorsese was making your Hugos and Spielberg his War Horses. There is a fractured time hopping structure that holds few surprises. Maybe the inevitability of the downfalls is the overall take home. This is more Shakespearean than Tarantino rip-off. The stacked cast of gold standard talents tower over the material. Hoffman and Marisa Tomei being especially on form.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Derailed (2005)

Ken Hughes directs Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes and Lionel Jeffries in this children’s musical fantasy about an Edwardian flying car from James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

I’ve caught chunks of this often over the years, and yet, this might just be the first time I have sat down and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang teeth to tits. It is overlong and shapeless. There are some catchy tunes and I have nothing but love for Dick Van Dyke but this is shamelessly a poor man’s Mary Poppins in every respect.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971)

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James Cox directs Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth and Dylan McDermott in this true crime story where washed up porn legend John Holmes is involved in a brutal drug den massacre in L.A..

Would this exist if it were not for Boogie Nights? Probably no. An all star ensemble slum it, this was possibly the last Val Kilmer headliner to get a wide international theatrical release, certainly the fag end of his A-List reign. He is rarely my cup of tea but well cast here as the desperate, unreliable and abusive former sex flick legend. The film is pretty unvarnished. Sad, degenerate and vicious. No holds are barred in its recreation. The tragic crime is explored from multiple perspectives (Rashomon style) which becomes deadening after a spell. You can see what they are going for, they get there, but it ain’t an enjoyable ride. Still admirably nihilistic.

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Doors (1991)

George Cukor directs Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Judy Holliday in this romantic comedy where husband and wife lawyers find themselves at opposing ends of a high profile attempted murder trial.

Didn’t grab me quite as firmly as other Hepburn & Tracy pairings. It is cute, they’re still great together, but I had issues. I know it’s a comedy but I struggled with the court case not being taken more seriously. I couldn’t fathom what the point scoring proved to the final verdict. And David Wayne’s predatory neighbour is annoying as fuck. Spencer Tracy should have run him and his piano out on a rail the first time he knocked around. Co-written by Ruth Gordon of Harold & Maude fame.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Born Yesterday (1950)

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Mel Brooks directs Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle and Teri Garr in this spoof of the 1930’s Universal monster series.

Young Frankenstein is a strange one. If it catches me in the right mood then it is very funny. Yet more often than not, at least until the madcap final stretch, I just find myself admiring the loving forgery. The visual lifts and replication of the gothic originals are bang on. It also bizarrely reminds me of childhood Christmases. This always seemed to be scheduled on TV well past my bedtime on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day or New Year’s Eve. So watching even the first 10 minutes of Young Frankenstein at a cousin’s house or a party meant a taboo was being broken. These days I just enjoy watching peak Madeline Kahn or Teri Garr. They’re enough to raise the dead.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Blazing Saddles (1974)

James Parrott and Lloyd French direct Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, Charlie Hall, Tiny Sandford and Dick Gilbert in these slapstick shorts where Stan and Ollie cause chaos trying to complete jobs.

I love Laurel & Hardy. Here’s the famous one where they have to push a piano up some steep stairs. And another with some of their tricksiest visual gags (a car is sawn in half, Ollie gets sucked through a pipe). Whatever violence they commit on each other, and the wider world around them, it is their chemistry that always wins the day. The comedy equivalent of a nice hot bath. Or a glass of milk and dark chocolate digestives. Or eating salt and vinegar crisps on your parents’ sofa.

10/9

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Robert Eggers directs Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult and Bill Skarsgård in this period gothic horror remake of the bootleg Dracula adaptation.

Dankly lush! Every frame a visual masterpiece. The dread is constant, each short scene building to a nasty crescendo yet never releasing the tension. Robin Carolan’s scratchy impatient score does tremendous work matching the relentless pace of the first hour. It is also surprisingly erotic with Lily-Rose Depp nailing her possessions and near pornographic convulsions. Sideburned cuck to hell, Nicholas Hoult is having a great year. Lacking the kitchen sink camp of Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula and the stage bound creak of Bela Lugosi’s oldest version I’m going to bet the house and say this is not just the best take on Nosferatu but also the finest big screen Bram Stoker adaptation. Eggers previous endeavours have always felt a little overly composed… precious show-off projects… This is a living breathing, fully entertaining classic horror flick in its own right. His first movie where the storytelling and perverse emotion tower over the artistic intent. A fascinating talent comes of age.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Justin Kurzel directs Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult and Tye Sheridan in this crime thriller based on the true story of a FBI agent chasing a white supremacist gang that plans to overthrow the U.S. government.

Very much the same Eighties true story as Joe Eszterhas exploited back in the day as Betrayed. Only here the vibe is more aiming for a pared down Heat or Point Break than a Neo-Nazi Jagged Edge. Kurzel tries to avoid too much hand wringing judgment over the far-right splinter group. There is no cartoon villainy here. They are evil but undemonised and in a way that makes their existence even more terrifying. The matter of fact brutality holds the flick in good stead whether you consume it as a testosterone fulled drama or a high minded B-Movie thriller. Was the unpopulated emptiness of the streets where the action thunders about in a choice or a budgetary necessity? I had no idea The Order even existed until a week before it’s limited cinema release and it ended up being one of my multiplex going highlights of 2024. Haunting and pulse raising in equal measure.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Believer (2001)

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

Jon M. Chu directs Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum in this musical fantasy prequel where the future Wicked Witch Of The West and Glinda The Good become university roommates in the land of Oz.

Ariana Grande’s delightfully off key performance made this for me. Camp, self absorbed and knowingly unaware she really injects fun into every scene she’s in. What if Jim Carrey played an all singing, all dancing, all pink wearing Mean Girl? Impressive production design and a fealty to cinematic Ozs of past eras meant Wicked really hit the spot.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Wicked: For Good (2025)

Luca Guadagnino directs Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey and Jason Schwartzman in this period romantic drama based on William S. Burroughs novel set in South America.

You couldn’t imagine a Roger Moore flick with this much simulated semen. Hmmm… Craig stretches his acting muscles here. The sex scenes are strong with the former Bond grabbing crack and nuzzling schlong. There are ebbs at surrealism. I liked the miniature FX work. We all lust for youth, infatuated with what we have lost to time. There is beauty and ugliness in obsession. As an entertainment it is quite boring and one note. Lingering far too long on its points and beats, making them almost redundant. Frustrating, eventually exhausting.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

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