Luis Buñuel directs Zachary Scott, Bernie Hamilton and Key Meersman in this drama where an underage orphan girl finds herself pulled between a lecherous caretaker and a black musician on the run.

Race and lust in a garden of Eden (of sorts). Simple for Buñuel yet pretty exciting. Morally complex for its time.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Death In The Garden (1956)

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

Karyn Kusama directs Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody in this Diablo Cody written teen succubus horror.

On paper, 100% my type. Yet both attempt to love JB and it hasn’t really wowed me. I recognise its growing cult status (and who say cult movies have to be perfect). Yet it just never builds to the right head of steam. I feel part of the problem is the horror aspect is so weak. The kills have no build up or unpredictability. Even Heathers has a little suspense to it. Once Jennifer decides to seduce, well… that boy is toast. No stalk, no chase, no prolonging the attack. Still has pleasing moments, the potential just promises so much more.

6

Perfect Double Bill: A Nightmare On Elm Street Part Two: Freddy’s Revenge (1986)

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Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee directs Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff in this Walt Disney animation following two princess sisters… one of whom has icy magical powers.

The big one, the barnstormer which made Disney cartoons tentpole release events again. Bell and Menzel’s voice work does the business and every other aspect (romance, adventure, songbook, comedy, wonder) feels fresh and spruced up. Just impeccable mainstream entertainment. Hard not to get goosebumps when Let It Go begins.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Frozen II (2019)

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

Spike Lee directs Harvey Keitel, Delroy Lindo and Mekhi Phifer in this crime thriller where a dogged cop puts the heat on a young drug dealer when his hard working brother confesses to a gangland shooting that makes no sense.

This felt so like what a studio wanted Spike Lee to make in the Ninieties that it came across as a little predictable and underwhelming on release. These days Clockers is powerful and his wild moves are pretty spellbinding. I doubt the execs at Universal really wanted the opening credit sequence of murder scenes photos zooming in and out of bullet holes in real young black men’s corpses though. Like I say powerful. The murder mystery aspect is strong and entertaining. This feels like a wet run at what The Wire later achieved in a similar milieu. Lee is more expressionistic, more personal. With vibrancy comes mess. Sure, the soundtrack is discordant and the ending prolongs the impending tragedy to the point of incredulity… But no one then or since has been making cinema like Lee and it is hard not to marvel at his big, bold swings within the studio system. Delroy Lindo’s stand-out turn as the fatherly kingpin is convincing and depressing.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Copland (1997)

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Joe Carnahan directs Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley in this big budget remake of the goofy 80s TV show that launched a million lunchboxes.

Not sure why this doesn’t gel quite so well. The set pieces might rely on CGI a little too obviously but they are ambitious and bombastic. They try to fly a tank!!!The best sequence has the names of a million producers playing over it. Boo! None of the key actors would be my first draft choice, yet no one shits the bed, Cooper is probably in peak form even though I’m not a huge fan. Could have been so much more, probably deserved a sequel? A 90 minute sequel?

6

Perfect Double Bill: Miami Vice (2006)

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

Jane Campion directs Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin in this New Zealand based period erotic drama about a mute mail order bride who enters a sexual relationship with her neighbour to retain her beloved piano.

What does The Piano represent? Not her voice but romantic love in my opinion. She sacrifices the hope of such a love to ensure a happier future and there are hidden clues to its import written on the keys. Was I too young to appreciate all this at 14 years old? Of course I fucking was. Now I love all the inevitable tragedy, fairy tale myth and muddy toxic masculinity. It isn’t a particularly subtle piece of storytelling and I’d say it is the actors who manage to stop it from being entirely heavy handed. There is an unconventional heat between Hunter and Keitel that I doubt many could have predicted and it stands the test of time surprisingly well. Campion’s best.

8

Perfect Double Bill: An Angel At My Table (1990)

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Toshio Matsumoto directs Peter, Osamu Ogasawara and Yoshio Tsuchiyain in this Japanese art film following trials and tribulations of Eddie and other transvestites in Japan.

Experimental, meta and flip. Made for the exploitation market but way too candid, compassionate and playful to really satisfy the gore and nudity crowd. Startlingly ahead of its time in terms of representation but also very of its time in terms of form.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Street Of Shame (1956)

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

Noah Baumbach directs Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in this adult comedy where a highly strung sister arrives at her old family home to disrupt her slacker sister’s wedding.

Some real bitter nasty here. Everyone plays an absolute weak willed scumbag. I don’t think it is intended as an eat-the-rich satire. There are moments with potent ambiguity (what is going on behind that fence, for example?) Maybe the ultimate point is humanity is awful whether you know them intimately or at a remove? There are a couple of times that characters repeat small gestures in different contexts. Baumbach clearly intends a deeper meaning here than just “look at this set of bastards”.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Marriage Story (2019)

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Alfred Hitchcock directs Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave and May Whitty in this classic British comedy thriller where a young traveller is convinced the kindly old lady who helped her onto the train has been kidnapped when everyone on board denies she even existed.

Brexit stopover. Potential threesomes just aren’t cricket. Noisy meet-cute. Rotten behaviour but I think they’ll warm to each other. Death by serenade. Flowerpot assassination attempt. Tea packet clue. Where did she go? Teaming up. Bandaged red herring. Murderous magic tricks. Fake nun. At least everyone isn’t a fascist?! Obligatory clinging to the outside of a moving train stunt. Shoot out under siege on the side line. “Pacifist, eh? Won’t work, old boy. Early Christians tried it and got thrown to the lions.” Race to the foreign office. Fun, fun, fun.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Flightplan (2005)

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Reinaldo Marcus Green directs Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch and James Norton in this musical biopic of Bob Marley.

Love the man, love the music. This is a flat, family approved whitewash which really struggles to hold the attention. Maybe alright if you care about the deeper story behind certain lyrics but even then only if you believe the fairy tales being conjured up here. Lacks the immersive sensuality of an Ali or a Marie Antoinette. Misses the epic cheese of a Bohemian Rhapsody.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Marley (2012)

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