Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Sam Raimi directs Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien and Edyll Ismail in this thriller where a put upon employee and a useless CEO engage in a power struggle when they find themselves washed up on a desert island.

The headline… This is Raimi so you WILL have a blast. I obnoxiously laughed out loud at the first two big shocks of extreme gloopy gore. Also, McAdams is in career best mode in this tangy mix of John Locke from Lost and a classic psycho biddy. I had reservations… the CGI is substandard and took me out of the fun. And, avoiding spoilers, it think a better finale would involve exploring the dynamic once they return back to everyday world they used to inhabit. Audiences seem to be seeking this one out so hopefully that means Raimi back regularly making cartoonish nasty for the foreseeable. And that’s all I want. This sits comfortably with Darkman and The Gift as a movie that’ll play better in your memory than actually sitting down to it again.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Swimming With Sharks (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

Jacques Becker directs Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, and Claude Dauphin in this noir-ish romance where two gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque Paris.

Takes the crime milieu and explore love in it. Signoret and Reggiani have instant sexual chemistry together. The underworld only knows how to take. It ends in beautiful tragedy. Almost gothic, almost hardboiled.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954)

Alfred Sole directs Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton and Paula E. Sheppard in this early slasher where everyone suspects a troubled young girl of being the knife wielding killer stalking a community of freaks.

More like a giallo than a Halloween. This shares Black Christmas’ lax mysterious plotting and a seedier atmosphere. Paula E. Sheppard is particularly good as the baby faced prime suspect. There are surprises and it leaves you feeling disturbed. Which is the ultimate grubby intent. Notes: 1. Brooke Shields big screen debut. 2. No single parent family should have to share a stairwell with Mr Alphonso and his feral housecats.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Black Christmas (1974)

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Quinn Shephard directs Zoey Deutch, Mia Isaac and Dylan O’Brien in this comedy where an influencer exploits a terrorist attack for personal gain.

I like Zooey Deutch. She is a spunky and ambitious screen presence. I get the feeling this vehicle was intended to be her Easy A. But it is just a bit too abrasively satirical and self aware to have fun after a strong set up. Is it terrible that I wanted this stay vapidly easy breezy with a side of dark dipping sauce. PTSD exploration? No! Thank! You!

5

Perfect Double Bill: Buffaloed (2019)

Vincent Gallo directs himself, Christina Ricci and Ben Gazzara in this indie drama about a recently released convict who kidnaps a young woman and forces her to pose as his girlfriend on returning home.

I rented this from Vogue Video back in the day but I never remember finishing it. It is very mannered. Wannabe Scorsese, beginners Cassavetes, homeopathic Lynch. Awkward unreality mundanity. With cinematic flourishes. Some clunky, some bravura. This is the closest to Bukowski anyone has ever gotten without directly adapting Bukowski. Gallo is an unctuous presence. An emperor’s new clothes talent. Allegedly he was a shit to Ricci making this.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Brown Bunny (2003)

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

Ridley Scott directs Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Eric Bana in this modern war movie recreating the siege fought by U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu in October 1993.

For the first ninety minutes this is some of the most intense and relentless filmmaking of its time. Vibes more like a Tony than a Ridley. The final act is very repetitive and fumbles that tension and energy. It is a story where character or context does need to emerge. Instead we get even more faceless hordes overpowering nice clean cut boys. Wearying.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Warfare (2025)

Simon Stone directs Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce and David Ajala in this mystery where a journalist stumbles upon a gruesome secret while traveling aboard a luxury cruise ship.

Wealth porn The Lady Vanishes with no sense of humour and minimal fealty to logic. Forgettable aside from Keira. The sort of movie that isn’t just made for “Second Screen” viewing but really needs for you to be distracted and half invested to work.

4

Perfect Double Bill: The Aftermath (2019)

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Robert Duvall has passed. He was someone I always scored the highest of highly. Boo Radley. Tom Hagen. Boss Spearman. Often cast as the mentor figure in Hollywood fare (even before he hit middle age) he elevated cinema acting . Days Of Thunder is a trashy treat. But Duvall’s seen-it-all-before expert raises it up beyond its craven summer blockbuster instincts. He sometimes represented corrupt corporate America in lauded hits like Network and The Conversation (Hell, even to a large extent in The Godfathers) but more often than not he was the sage who had tried the tough stuff and now proffered a little sweetness… a measured restraint… as the alternative to bullying violence. Not that he couldn’t mix things up. Even in his later years the highlight of his appearances was never the whispering grandstanding or scenery chewing. It was when the devil came back to him. He’d rub his hands with glee and marvel at the chaos of the young bucks. A twinkling “Oh, here we go again.” Sometimes he would join in, earned wisdom be damned. Plus his take on Richard Stark’s Parker in the underrated The Outfit holds its own with Lee Marvin, Mel and The Stath. Check out that and The Paper for underrated deep cuts.

Colors (1988)

Dennis Hopper directs Robert Duvall, Sean Penn and Maria Conchita Alonso in this buddy cop drama where a police veteran and his rookie partner try to navigate Los Angeles gang violence.

We chose this as our In Memoriam evening viewing. It is a quintessential Duvall role. The Merlin / Obi Wan to a reckless thug we are supposed to see as the hero. While Penn’s preening dickhead wobbles between aggression and all out assault, Duvall preaches and exemplifies community spirit. Engagement. Fairness. So obviously, they clash. The film itself was cutting edge in its day but now feels like a camp relic. The Cripps and the Bloods plus the non racist mixed gang are unlikely caricatures… “Homes!” The movie is wildly uneven delivering action, drama, exploitation and even lighthearted comedy in spunky measures. All quite effectively but never gelling. Ice-T raps the theme song, Herbie Hancock delivers a zany jazz score. Closer in intent to The New Centurions than either Boyz N The Hood or Lethal Weapon. The casting and the unpredictable energy filmed out on those streets now keep this one alive past its sell by date.

7

Barry Levinson directs Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey in this period comedy about two hustlin’ aluminium siding salesmen who go to war after a car prang.

Now here is a film from my childhood that I definitely saw but I had no nostalgia for. When 10 year old me was first getting obsessive about movies I probably watched it for Danny DeVito, possibly Richard Dreyfuss but most likely just because it was on. Now… well now, I love it. Even more so than Diner!? It is my favourite type of plot. The petty escalating rivalry. Both characters are scumbags who are given complexity and grace notes. Barbara Hershey’s trapped housewife is pinged between the dicks like a pinball. The bantering dialogue is laser accurate, especially in the scam sales sequences. And it seems to be saying something forensic about America, greed and an innocence that never really existed. Can’t wait to rewatch.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Quiz Show (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

Bart Layton directs Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry and Mark Ruffalo in this heist thriller where a lone high end thief pulls a disrespected cop, an undervalued insurance broker and a psychotic wannabe into his previously ordered world.

Based on a Don Winslow story. They don’t make them like this anymore. Reviews keep comparing this to Heat but really Thief is the Rosetta Stone here. The takes are vibrantly intense yet the half hours in between prove rich with character details and clean visual storytelling. The movie is generous to Berry’s performance. This may very well be the most rounded and perfect role of her entire career. Whenever Barry Keoghan enter the mix the movie shunts away from its neat, cool lines. Again, this is (so far) his best work in a mainstream genre fil-lum, reminding me of Oldman’s chaotic villains of the Nineties. The resolution is a tad fantastical but all in all a movie worth going to see at the multiplex… that may even have that rare compulsive future rewatchability of The Fugitive or Speed. My meaning: whatever point you start watching it you may find it difficult to tag back out. All this and Nick Nolte too! Documentaries or narrative fiction, has Bart Layton ever directed an average, let alone bad, movie?

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Score (2000)