Charles Shyer directs Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard and Harold Ramis in this Eighties comedy where the life of super-yuppie J.C. is thrown into turmoil when she inherits a baby from a distant relative.
Very much a product and satire of its time. In a strange way the sheer Eighties-ness of it all is its greatest strength.
7
Perfect Double Bill: Working Girl (1988)
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Mark Steven Bosko and Wayne Alan Harold direct Toby Radloff, Tony Zanoni and Mimsel Dendak in this cheapo video indie exploitation flick.
Remember the guy from American Splendor who loved Revenge Of The Nerds so much he based his entire life around ‘the culture’? Well… he starred (ahem) in a horror film. Made on cheap VHS camcorders. Where he is bullied for an hour. And then kills everyone. Absolutely amateur with few redeeming features. Apart from when he goes to a new wave bar. That bit just soaks in the atmosphere. Otherwise this is dire and draggy. And there was a sequel… (!?)
2
Perfect Double Bill: Bride Of The Killer Nerd (1992)
2. Ghostbusters
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple Of Doom
8. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
9. Repo Man
10. Starman
11. Gremlins
12. Streetwise
13. Once Upon A Time In America
14. The Pope Of Greenwich Village
15. Paris, Texas
16. Body Double
17. Amadeus
18. 1984
20. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
Bubbling Under: Blood Simple / The Company Of Wolves / Tightrope / The Natural / Broadway Danny Rose
Round-Up
Razorback (1984)
Russell Mulcahy directs Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley and Bill Kerr in this nature horror where a vicious wild boar terrorizes the Australian outback.
Wake in Fright meets Jaws. Future Highlander director Mulcahy makes this an almost neo-expressionist visual delight. Tons of backlighting, dry ice and fans. The content itself is a bit too icky. Though the third act is very similar to The Terminator’s finale… only in a pet food plant full of skinned kangaroos.
6
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Nick Castle directs Lance Guest, Robert Preston and Kay E. Kuter in this teen sci-fi fantasy where a kid completes an arcade game and is recruited to fight an alien armada in space.
A childhood favourite that I haven’t seen since back then. Also an early CGI groundbreaker. The concept is stronger than the execution. Though… if I still watched TV, and still channel surfed, if this happened to be on, I would definitely not switch channels. There’s good adventure and nice humour and decent fantasy here. It probably is the most Amblin-esque release Spielberg had zero involvement with.
7
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Woody Allen directs himself, Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte in this comedy about a hustling agent whose one successful client needs him to bring his mistress to a make-or-break show.
One of Woody’s last “funny ones”. Admirable and charming that it isn’t trying to be anything more than a very witty comedy.
7
Silent Night Deadly Night (1984)
Charles E. Sellier Jr. directs Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin and Gilmer McCormick in this festive slasher that follows the break down of an orphan teen who watched his parents attacked and killed by Santa.
Takes it’s time to get inside the head of its young killer. Wallowing in the long term and the short term causes of the eventual rampage. The missing link between Halloween and Henry. A jolt too cheap and grubby to be a classic… Christmas or late night.
5
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
W.D. Richter. directs Peter Weller, John Lithgow and Ellen Barkin in this cult sci-fi classic where adventurer, brain surgeon, rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil alien invaders.
Absolutely insane cult bobbins. Dense nonsense poem plotting. If ever there was a way not to tell a story it is this. Hard to know which character we are following, what is lore and what is of narrative prescience. There are quirky interruptions but the stellar ensemble gets lost in the precious mix. Also an over abundance of the shots which have no emphasis on the action they are supposed to be depicting. When people say Howard The Duck is a bad movie I wonder if they have even considered how impenetrably busy this all is. Still like a code sheet with familiar symbols, there is iconic stuff to enjoy if you just let it all wash over you. Self conscious enough that I do want to unlock it one day. I just can’t see that happening with revisits at 20 year intervals.
6
Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)
Jeff Kanew directs Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards and Timothy Busfield in this college comedy where a group of bullied outcasts resolve to fight back for their peace and self-respect.
Dated and in incredibly bad taste. We laughed a ton at this. Equal measures at it and with it. Energised by a shockingly strong soundtrack of hits.
6
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
Richard Linklater directs Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley and Bobby Cannavale in this “one night in a bar” biopic of Lorenz Hart.
I genuinely think this is Hawke’s best performance in a career of great ones. Showy, intimate, bruising and hilarious. He is surrounded by a complimentary ensemble of people I have a lot of time for. The oner looks sumptuous as we move around the bar. As inviting and glowing as a freshly poured shot of rye. But that special effect to make him a short guy is laughably bad. He won’t win an Oscar due to some awfully terrible images the movie could have done without. Poor Ethan Hawke. Poor Lorenz Hart. At least the music stands up tall.
8
Perfect Double Bill: Nouvelle Vague (2025)
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Clint Eastwood directs himself, Gene Hackman and Ed Harris in this thriller where an art thief witnesses the President Of The United States of America murder his lover.
A ponderous flick. Classy but daft. The hook is better than the end product. The opening, half hour long, one scene first act is very good. Then Clint goes on the run in a lot of barebones disguises. Then it all resolves itself without any of the major players sharing a room. No big scenery chewing face-offs? “How dare you, sir!”. The big suspense scene in the middle is interrupted in the silliest way possible. Turns out that was a rewrite to avoid Clint’s anti hero from disappearing from the plot for the second half. Still, it is a perfect ensemble. Who doesn’t want to watch Eastwood and Hackman cook even on a low heat?
6
Perfect Double Bill: The Bridges Of Madison County (1995)
Nisha Ganatra directs Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Julia Butters in this body swap legacy sequel.
High end rerun of the sitcom fun. Lohan and Curtis have nice chemistry together so it is certainly pleasant to see them get plenty more shared screen time this spin of the wheel. Inessential but adorable. Pink Slip rule!
5
Perfect Double Bill: Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
Halina Reijn directs Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas in this erotic drama where a high powered CEO risks it all to explore her sub/dom sexual fantasies with her enigmatic young intern.
The sort of movie where the lead man sports Nike and Adidas at the same time and you know it is so visually measured that it must mean SOMETHING. The sort of movie where they have definitely spent more time on the colour scheme than the writing of the third act. The sort of movie that gives good trailer moments but doesn’t have much more to it over the 90 minutes of filler in between. Nicole is being brave, the kink scenes have heat but never go too far, the whole thing is a HR nightmare. Why shouldn’t toxic parasite girlbosses have it all too? This is what keeps me up at night. A dual near miss between cult classic and flat out disaster.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Bombshell (2019)
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
Sion Sono directs Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella and Bill Moseley in this Japanese pop art post apocalyptic western.
Absolutely indulgent bobbins. But it has both Cage and a fantastic look. Those two combined make it more potentially rewatchable than most movies. I made my favourite Nic Cage demented laugh impression about a million times while watching this and he found love on set. We both won.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Gunslingers (2025)
Jeremy Summers directs Tony Hancock, Sylvia Syms and Ronald Fraser in this British dramedy where a grumpy seaside entertainer struggles against polite society.
A curious film, made once Hancock had cut loose and shunned all his best collaborators, that found no love on release. I can see what he is trying to achieve and that is admirable. Ultimately, The Punch And Judy Man can’t quite shake loose from the expectations and format of what a British seaside comedy film from this era should be. There are pitch perfect moments of comedy amongst all the ennui but the longest sequence is quite enigmatic. A sad Hancock takes a lonely boy out of the rain and buys him an ice cream. The ice cream parlour owner takes an instant dislike against Hancock but not the boy. The serving and eating of the ice creams becomes a subtle, silent battle of wills told in shifting expressions and deliberate movements. It is a really amazing five or so minutes of misanthropic cinema. Truer than anything else in the film. I get the feeling if the whole movie was like this it would be hated even more.
6
Perfect Double Bill: The Rebel (1961)
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Stephen Sayadian directs Madeleine Reynal, Laura Albert and Gene Zerna in this avant-garde erotic film loosely based on the silent German expressionist classic.
Former pornagraphers take a crack at a Hollywood remake. There are some very beautiful women and very ugly men. They spout “satirical” nonsense directly to camera, deadpan. The sets are day-glo barebones. A few scenes feel like if Cronenberg directed a B-52s TV video. Hopefully, even though bizarre and explicit, they should be available on YouTube or TikTok. Eighty unending minutes of this though is dull and deadening. A cult item to avoid.
2
Perfect Double Bill: The Fruits Of Passion (1981)
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 