Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Daniel Roher directs Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu and Dustin Hoffman in this romantic thriller where a talented piano tuner who suffers from hyperacusis discovers an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.

An expertly entertaining movie – made for adults, shot on location and with beautiful leads. These used to be a dime a dozen when I was a teenager. Now it feels like the rarest of rare bird. Gets the harmony of the stakes, the heart and the drama pitch perfect.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)

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Curry Barker directs Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette and Megan Lawless in this demonic horror where a shy guy wishes his crush loved him back and that wish comes way too true.

Hand me that One Wish Willow. I wish that not every up and coming horror director felt that Hereditary’s lighting scheme was the Tabula Rasa. SNAP! Two strong, career making female performances. One deliciously nasty sustained blast of gore. Takes too long to get truly horrible, the sold out audience we saw this with were silent during the shocks. Most straight men in their twenties have been in this terrifying relationship. But I’m not entirely sure that is what the Gen Z director is intentionally satirising. Gleefully paranoid in its best moments.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Backrooms (2026)

Jon Favreau directs Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White and Sigourney Weaver in the continued sci-fi adventures of TV’s cutest duo.

Hey kids… wanna see the guy from The Bear play a sensitive yet maxx’d Jabba The Hutt? Where are you going kids? Come back…He has won Emmys and three consecutive Golden Globes?! Kids? KIDS!!… Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder should sue. Top billing Pedro Pascal in this is like saying Bruce Campbell is the star of Darkman. Baby Yoda’s puppeteers should sue. They carry this movie on their backs up the mountain and I can’t find their names anywhere. Sigourney should… Nah, she does alright outta this. It is perfectly pleasant mid-tier space adventure. I think The Mandalorian Disney+ show is the best thing to happen to the franchise since Rogue One. So Favreau and Filoni deserve their multiplex summer spin-off. The only time the comfort blanket slips is when the scale goes up a notch to grand Star Wars battles. What a mad thing to type up about the first Star Wars movie in seven years. Will sell Lego kits. This is the way.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

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

Tarik Saleh directs Fares Fares, Mari Malek and Yasser Ali Maher in this Egyptian cop thriller where a maid witnesses a murder at an upscale hotel and a corrupt policeman is assigned to the case.

On the take … But I don’t want to be THAT corrupt. A loose adaptation of a true story. An all too believable paranoid air. Classy rather than exciting.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Boy From Heaven (2022)

John Carpenter directs Chevy Chase, Sam Neill and Daryl Hannah in this sci-fi misfire where a feckless executive is turned invisible and pursued by a shadowy intel agency.

The big problem with forgotten flop Memoirs Of An Invisible Man is it is accidentally “non-genre”. Chevy is trying to be more serious but his instincts are comedy… and broad comedy to boot. The strain is obvious on both him and the project. Hannah’s character is superfluous and exists for marketable romcom sub genre reasons. Neither star was at the height of their success by 1992 and any on screen heat is the most invisible aspect. The narrative is in the vein of Marathon Man or The Fugitive but has no sense of urgency. The VFX by Bruce Nicholson are technically impressive but lack wonder. How can you tell the man at the hot dog concession that what he cannot see is groundbreaking stuff? Imagine what a nightmare Chevy would have been getting those second exact composite shots every other take? I would have rented this for Chase back in the day. These days I watched to see if any of Carpenter’s signature style was apparent? Not really. He states he had a hellish time with the uncooperative leads. Both of whom had too much Prima Donna power on set. That scans. But Carpenter has never been… diplomatic… when it comes to blaming others for his failures. Here he did “one for them”, took the devil’s dollar and it felt like work. Shocker! At least he met Sam Neill and they formed a relationship that led to In The Mouth Of Madness. His sole top tier movie of the Nineties. Many of his other, later, weaker flicks didn’t have Chase and Hannah’s egos to excuse their iffyness.

4

Perfect Double Bill: The Deal Of The Century (1983)

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Rob Reiner directs Michelle Pfeiffer, Bruce Willis and Rita Wilson in this romantic comedy following a once in love’s couple’s separation.

Handsome, moves at a clip. Only it isn’t particularly romantic. And the stars don’t have any noticeable chemistry. Separately they earn their keep, look lovely. There just isn’t a lot of joy here. The Break-Up covers this ground with more abrasive zing, Forget Paris is the better When Harry Met Sally… rehash. Did Bruce have a running bet with Sam Jackson in the late Nineties that if one had to wear a toupee then it had to be even more ridiculous than the last?

5

Perfect Double Bill: One Fine Day (1996)

Stanley Kramer directs Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark in this true courtroom drama investigating Weimar Republic’s judges complicity with the Nazi regime after Hitler took power.

A serious piece of heavy, epic drama. The Holocaust, eugenics, justice, post-war healing. A delivery system for massive names delivering A grade performances. Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift and Marlene Dietrich all wow in smaller showy roles as people whose lives have been irreparably shattered in different ways by the regime. Transcending their stunt casting with emotionally effective star power revivals. It ain’t an easy ride but Judgment At Nuremberg never feels stage bound or merely filmed theatre. Morally complex and even handed. Weighty but undeniably good for you.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Judgment At Nuremberg is enough!

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

Brian Yuzna directs Mark Frost, Isabel Brook and Jeffrey Combs in this horror superhero comic adaptation where a man sells his soul to the devil to gain superpowers and avenge his girlfriend’s brutal murder.

So The Crow but on an Eighties VHS rental gonzo kinky gorehound tip. Made during a weird era where the Re-Animator guys headed off to Spain and made a few cheapo movies. This isn’t a million miles away from Spawn or Blade but much more trashy. The positive is eighth billed horny henchwoman Mónica Van Campen steals every scene and knows the assignment. It ain’t an easy ride… there’s a lot wrong more here than right (terrible digital effects when the practical stuff is so much more fun, emo editing, blank lead, distracted storytelling)… but it has insanely extreme moments that you just don’t get in comic book adaptations these days. An 18 certificate miasma of madness.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Guyver (1993)

Damien Leone directs Katie Maguire, Catherine A. Callahan and Marie Maser in this anthology movie that spawned the Terrifier series,

Damien Leone strings together two Art The Clown shorts. Art is way more misogynistic here and played by someone other than the wonderful David Howard Thornton. He might have the look but he ain’t got that kook. So let’s call this a preliminary sketch. To make it all feature length there is an awful middle story involving fake ass aliens that really lets the side down. But the framing tale about a babysitter trying to protect her kids from a found VHS of Art’s exploits is strong. Paranoia party. The fact that the babysitter looks like a Black Mirror Amy Adams doesn’t hurt the watchability. Love or hate Leone, he has excellent taste in casting unknown female leads with magnetic star power.

6

Perfect Double Bill: V/H/S (2013)

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Gillies MacKinnon directs Iain Robertson, Joe McFadden and Laura Fraser in this British period coming-of-age movie where Glaswegian teenager Lex is torn between the artistic life of middle brother Alan and the thuggish world of elder brother Bobby.

The forgotten man of Scottish cinema. It wasn’t quite Trainspotting. What is? But it was marketed as such. This is a more mediative cinematic memoir. Anti-nostalgic despite a thumping Sixties soundtrack and some sharp fashions. All the characters are given complexity… they are more rounded than their obvious stereotypes and have moments that question even these definitions. For a low budget production it hits some deep feelings. The thrill of the chase, the danger of a gang brawl and the melancholy of fractured families. And Small Faces introduced the world to Laura Fraser who competes with Kevin McKidd to be the best thing in this.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Beats (2020)