Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie direct Arielle Holmes, Caleb Landry Jones and Buddy Duress in this true tale of a heroin addict living on the streets of New York City; her day-to-day grind, her abusive men and her intense shifts in emotion.

… And she essentially plays herself. This is based on Arielle Holmes’ unpublished memoirs. I watched it to be a Safdie completist. There are sequences that have the overbearing quicksand threat and chaos of their later modern classics. But it is unrelentingly grim. How do you survive when you have nothing but bad choices left to make? The Safdies are wizards at taking outsider talent and blending them all together into these visceral emotional rollercoasters. But they work best when explicitly tooling around in the crime genre. Is it this continually bleak as that is the truth of the matter or because they know it makes the most palpable impact on a straight, safe audience?

6

Perfect Double Bill: Gridlock’d (1997)

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

Kelly Reichardt directs Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim and John Magaro in this low key crime movie about a struggling family man who plots to steal art from a suburban museum.

Muted, realist take on The Passenger and The Thomas Crown Affair. The lackadaisical free wheelin’ pace is unlike any heist movie you’ve ever seen. Really this is a character study of a blank, albeit a blank trying to be a somebody. In that respect Chaplin’s dishevelled Little Tramp feels like an undertone. There are pregnant moments as our cypher abandons the standard life. O’Connor does a lot with a little. By close of play we are clinging onto, almost aggressively, a frippery. With Reichardt all out challenging you to care about a nobody embracing quiet oblivion while the world around him turns violently.

6

Perfect Double Bill: American Animals (2018)

John Michael McDonagh directs Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle and Liam Cunningham in this buddy cop comedy about a misanthropic small town Irish cop who gets involved in an FBI drug smuggling stakeout.

A riot. Endlessly quotable and gruffly whimsical. Never has cynicism been so cosy. McDonagh and Gleeson’s follow up Calvary is probably the better flick and best performance but this is a sheer blast. Both films work in tandem with each other as explicit investigations of humanism and corruption through dark and stark humour.

10

Perfect Double Bill: Calvary (2014)

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Lee Sang-il directs Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama and Ken Watanabe in this Japanese epic following the careers of two kabuki actors and their on-off friendship / rivalry.

Utterly beautiful but also distant and patience testing.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Kokuho is enough!

David Frankel directs Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci in this legacy sequel where Andy Sachs reunites with Miranda Priestly as they navigate their careers amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing.

Is it needed? Is it essential? Is it even fashionable? D Wears P 2 at least has something to say. About? The end of print journalism. The gobbling up of culture by philistine billionaires. Career perspective at the midway point of the tunnel. The couture is excellent and Tucci gets the best moments. Would I have liked more Emily Blunt? Yes. Should Emily be framed as an antagonist? No… Emily should get to go to Paris. At least a cheeky obvious reshoot coda redresses her and Andy’s relationship. Utterly charming when it is frothy and not too shabby when it toughens up.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Verity (2026)

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

Donna Deitch directs Joan Severance, Anthony Denison and John Allen Nelson in this erotic thriller where a tough cop begins an affair with a murder suspect.

Gender reversed Basic Instinct from the director of lesbian romance classic Desert Hearts. This isn’t exactly a feminist exploration of the sub genre but the extreme varieties of 90s masculinity in the squad room is near satirical. If you can tune out Deitch’s authorial intent there’s a handsome time waster here. Statuesque Severance goes all in – striding around crime scenes in billowy Armani rip off power suits and cruising the streets to dole out vigilante justice to roving misogynists. The sex scene are better than average. The downside? Our male leads are a bit too stock and wooden for you to care who the killer actually is. AKA Criminal Passion.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Lake Consequence (1993)

Peter Jackson directs Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody in this epic, cutting edge yet nostalgic remake of the classic where a greedy film producer sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they capture an unusually large ape.

The pinnacle of digital cinematic world building. The terrifying “Bad Taste” natives. Kong’s arrival. Dinosaur chases and fights. The valley of killer insects. The middle hour of this unabashed love letter is some of the finest and edgiest big budget spectacle monster mash extravaganza ever committed to celluloid. Sexy, dangerous, gripping. None of the cast would be my first or second casting choice but Jack Black probably gives his best (read: least annoying) performance here. The issue is indulgence. The first act is decent but could be tighter. The expansion of that famous New York finale though is gruelling. By elongating the runtime we really are watching the drawn out death throes of a magnificent beast we care about. It goes from tragedy to torture. And that ain’t popcorn, Jackson. Goes from being indisputably sublime to leaving a bad taste in your mouth. Sad face. Something so brilliant, fumbled by hubris.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Kong Is Enough!

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Anthony Russo and Joe Russo direct Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in this spy movie cliche megamix with CGI settings and CGI set pieces.

Anonymous content. Evans makes a decent manosphere dork villain. Doesn’t know when to end.

5

Perfect Double Bill: 6 Underground (2019)

Roland Joffé directs Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney, and Mary-Louise Parker in this neo noir sex comedy.

A better movie poster than viewing experience. The plot is tangled up to the point of obsolescence. The wacky tone way off. Patricia Arquette looks stunning at least.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Trouble Bound (1993)

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

Frank Coraci directs Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan and Cécile de France in this brash kids film adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic adventure.

Soft play steampunk with creaky stunt work. Watched for Jackie. And Coogan. And Arnie’s cameo. But I stayed for Cécile de France’s saucy tooth gap. Filler movie, unguardedly made for lowest common denominator international audiences. But to everyone’s credit they never give up… even after the point of no refund.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Wild Wild West (1999)