Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Arne Glimcher directs Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne and Blair Underwood in this thriller where a Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death.

Hat Sweat Cinema. Lurid, pleasingly bonkers. I guessed the twist way too early. But it is a lark seeing the original action hero Connery get violently put down by a bunch of modern “serious” actors. Everyone is up at 11. Ed Harris is batshit as a hillbilly Hannibal Lecter in a camp extended cameo. Larry Fishburne probably does the best job as the living embodiment of ACAB. This was a throwaway filler release back in the day. Now it sits a whole lot better. On location, proper A-Listers, nasty shocks. Ends on a superfluous car chase and a heated stand-off. Where are these movies now?

6

Perfect Double Bill: Primal Fear (1996)

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Andy Tennant directs Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson and Donald Sutherland in this screwball comedy romance adventure where a lost treasure hunt rekindles a married couple’s estranged romance.

Nobody’s best work but the locations are nice. Expensive floss that would kill a Bank Holiday afternoon pleasantly.

5

Perfect Double Bill: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (2003)

Kantemir Balagov directs Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina and Andrey Bykov in this Russian drama follow the entangled lives of two female friends in post-war Leningrad.

Drip feed storytelling and mysterious colour coding. Goes to some achingly dark yet pragmatic places. A very good art house film but not a rewatchable.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Lore (2012)

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

John McTiernan directs Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo and Denis Leary in this art heist caper romance remake.

Just glides along. Mahogany seduction. Pierce and Rene have tangible heat. Top tier sex scene. The robbery aspects are a little forgettable and ultimately superfluous.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Entrapment (1999)

Ringo Lam directs Chow Yun-Fat, Yueh Sun and Danny Lee in this Hong Kong action thriller where an undercover cop infiltrates a gang of thieves who plan to rob a jewellery store.

Better known these days for being one of Tarantino’s key sources for Reservoir Dogs. It is only really the final act that has the parallels… though there are later sequences that are shot for shot. The first hour is more of a light melodrama than bullet fest with Yun-Fat rejected by the cops he is supposed to be on the same team with and struggling to get quality time with his gal. When action does happen Lam comes to life.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Tiger On The Beat (1988)

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Deon Taylor directs Hilary Swank, Michael Ealy and Mike Colter in this erotic thriller where a successful married man finds himself entangled in a cunning police detective’s latest investigation after hooking up with her in a ill advised one night stand.

Flat and lifeless. Wants to fit in all the twists in of a Channel 5 late night “boobies in the first 5 minutes” flick. Without the boobies. It is admirable that with Fatale and The Intruder, Deon Taylor seems hellbent of resurrecting the 90’s “XXX from Hell” sub genre for black audiences. But he ain’t very good at doing much with ‘em but tracing over with a thick soft pencil. His PG instincts, squeamishness around nudity, skewed morality and offensive wealth obsessions really deflate the balloon. And Michael Ealy is and always will be too bland to lead movies. There’s a better movie here that focuses more on Swank’s sociopathic cop.

3

Perfect Double Bill: The Intruder (2019)

Andrea Arnold directs Nykiya Adams, Franz Rogowski and Barry Keoghan in this British magical realist drama about an troubled estate kid who crosses path with a man who might be a bird.

A Canterbury Tale on E-scooters. Poverty porn but as constant vulnerability rather than a glamorisation. Not that the Barry Keoghan’s bad behaviour / sweet Daddying sequences aren’t fun. Coming Of Age rough and tough with a low key mythical side quest. Possibly my favourite Andrea Arnold flick so far.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Fish Tank (2009)

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

Mark Obenhaus and Laura Poitras direct Seymour Hersh, David Obst and Bob Woodward in this documentary portrait of political journalist Seymour Hersh.

A mensch.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Citizenfour (2014)

Christopher Nolan directs Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank in this neo-noir where a corrupt Los Angeles detective chases a murder suspect in a remote Alaskan town.

This gun-for-hire Hollywood remake of a Norwegian thriller is the ‘forgotten man’ of the Nolan filmography. It is a morally aggressive cat and mouse thriller. Memorable setting, wounding blurts of violence and an aptly subdued Pacino. We get lost in oblique hazes of mist, a timber yard’s freezing deathly waters and timeslip sunshine. Once he finally reveals himself, Williams is amazing as the crime writer who tries out a perfect murder then toys with the detective on his trail. Arrogant and coiled. There is a meta thread not fully explored about the criminal being a pulp mystery writer, trying to orchestrate a complicated plot onto a simple sad case of misogynistic deadly assault. Nolan’s biggest achievement is really placing us deep within Pacino’s exhausted cop’s increasingly frazzled and paranoid mindset. Not quite the stamp of his classics (the only defining auteurist trademark is a whole lotta chilly blue in the visual palette) but a fine Saturday night special.

8

Perfect Double Bill: One Hour Photo (2002)

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Allan Moyle directs Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler and Rory Cochrane in this teen movie exploring twenty-four hours in the lives of the young employees at a struggling record store.

The mosaic structure of Dazed And Confused, the retail setting of Clerks and a whole series worth of Party Of Five’s soapy traumas crammed into one day. It is craven in its soundtrack and on-point outfits but somehow remains an alluringly fun blast. It was a guilty pleasure of mine back in the day (I was exactly the target demographic for this one and wore my VHS out) and it is an easy flowing nostalgic blast now. The Rex Manning storyline actually feels ahead of its time in 2026.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Reality Bites (1994)