Sam Raimi directs Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand and Larry Drake in this superhero movie where a disfigured scientist kills the gangsters who left him for dead.

The first Raimi I rented. An early lead role for Neeson that feels more akin with his current career. Part of the initial big comic book movie boom after Tim Burton’s Batman… even though it isn’t actually based on a pre-existing funny book. This feels very akin with Dick Tracy, Robocop, The Crow and Judge Dredd. Hyper-violence gilded by baroque set dressing, effects and storytelling. The visual overkill of this is overwhelmingly camp, lovingly parodic of Universal horror. Rubbery style over substance was the garish fashion of the day. It is a film that sits better in your memory than when you actually watch it. Everything about it seems slighter, flimsier, misjudged in the moment but all it strengths stick in the brain afterwards. A giddy, colourful freak out with a genuinely extravagant helicopter stunt sequence near the end. Nobody’s finest hour apart from maybe the marketing department!

6

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Joe Lynch directs Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie and Marcia Gay Harden in this buddy action comedy where a nurse must keep an injured mercenary alive to rescue his kidnapped wife.

An unoriginal film that takes place in a cartoonish, soft-play world. For every nice shot, there are moments that promise a level of action which is never really delivered. Grillo feels under-utilised and the central hook is never exploited. He and Mackie have zero chemistry. The film feels too distracted and self satisfied to make good on a pretty simple remit.

4

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Richard Tanne directs Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter and Vanessa Bell Calloway in this romantic drama where the Obamas’ first date in the summer of 1989 is recreated.

A sweet little movie dramatising a gossipy footnote in history. Parker Sawyers makes a decent fist of Barack Begins… his scene addressing a community group replicates the authority and affability that saw 44 comfortably into the White House. The Before Sunset format is well renovated for this project’s needs but the small talk and big talk within never hits the iconic heights of Linklater’s classic.

5

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Rowdy Herrington directs James Spader, James Spader and Cynthia Gibb in this thriller where a twin gets a psychic vision of his brother’s death but finds the police suspect them both of a series of prostitute murders.

A loopy little thriller where a goody two shoes James Spader tags out and bad boy James Spader takes over at the end of the first act. The whodunnit aspect churns up some decent red herrings and the set pieces have some genuine peril to them. Spader seems a little spaced out in his leather jacket variation of himself. Forgettable but fun.

5

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Pedro Almodóvar directs Penelope Cruz, Lluís Homar and Blanca Portillo in the Spanish drama where a blind movie director remembers his affair with an actress being ‘kept’ by a jealous titan of finance.

A rather staid and unmemorable melodrama. Feels like Almodóvar spinning his wheels. There are some nice shots of torn photos and private moments.

4

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Kenny Ortega directs Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in this Halloween kids comedy where witches from the past are unleashed into the mid-90s.

I was a little too old for this back in ‘93 so it passed me by. I’m way too old for it now and its rising cult baffles me. Standard product from Disney – formless adventure, punchline-free jokes, shrill performances, uneven tone (bloodthirsty yet somehow bloodless).

4

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Steven Spielberg directs Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss in this adventure movie where a shark terrorises a tourist island.

The summer blockbuster invented. The unsettling, persuasive threat of John Williams’ score. The expert jump scares. A timeless on-location, at sea adventure. COVID-19 politics played out at a micro level, just replace the shark for the virus. A study in masculinity… three very different heroes emerge… all human. Robert Shaw’s barnstorming, movie shifting, iconic powerhouse as Quint. The sea shanties and the shooting stars. I first watched Jaws with my cousins at a holiday camp in Cornwall. Nothing compares though to the magic of seeing it on the big screen. It is flawless, flowing from note perfect scene to impeccable set piece. A cinematic storytelling masterclass. “Smile, you son of a…” KA-BOOOOM!

10

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Aaron Sorkin directs Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this dramatic recreation of a Sixties civil rights landmark case where political activists where put of trial for the violence their protest ended in.

A pageant of well attuned casting and smart dialogue this should be a backboard shattering slam dunk. Sorkin, in his political and courtroom wheelhouse, letting illuminated, impassioned people monologue, dialogue and make statements. It never really thickens though. Scene after scene pass out abruptly never finding their ultimate point. The fine work by the leads is usurped by showier one or two scene roles from Michael Keaton and John Doman. Frank Langella’s dangerously combative judge all but dominates the movie. You walk away knowing you have seen an intelligent film but not entirely sure why you were supposed to care. The Bobby Seale narrative feels like the more Hollywood friendly tale to tell but here it is a garnish to the white nerds of history. Very watchable but somehow not worthy of the pedigree of those involved.

6

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Steven Brill directs Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Julie Bowen in this broad comedy where the town joke protects his community from a Halloween night full of unseen terrors.

Big, dumb, unrelenting stupidness. This is the first time in a while Sandler has played one of his Jerry Lewis inspired man-child schmucks. It is the strong, forgotten, kid friendly flavour he founded his stardom on and it opens his unique formula up to having a lot more gross out jokes and unabashed saccharine heart. Probably not particularly good for you but very entertaining to watch. Littered with silly memorable roles, especially for Steve Buscemi, Julie Bowen and Ray Liotta. Hubie Halloween outstays its welcome by forgetting to end but everyone is having a ball so you just have to wait them out.

6

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Woody Allen directs Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Liev Schreiber in this romantic comedy where two erudite but callow college lovers visit New York and have their worldview expanded.

What looked for a while like it might have been Woody Allen’s last hurrah. Thank goodness it wasn’t as this is a pretty weightless and musty epitaph to a fantastic career. A teen comedy where the kids only reference points are Yasser Arafat, Greta Garbo and their ridiculous inherited wealth. The conspicuously old fashioned dialogue, mores and flitting, unstable nature of the plot suggests this is just a lot of off cuts and half realised ideas for scenes that Woody never found a plot for. 50 years worth of notes and uncompleted drafts strung together. That might explain why the highly punchable Chalamet, Liev and Jude Law are all simultaneously playing the “Woody Allen” role in this. The jarring anachronism of the characters and plotting means it proves very hard to settle into the few witticisms and seductions that land. Elle Fanning, once again, turns mince into steak… her innocent wannabe film journalist swings from pretentiousness to naïf to bimbo to mistress yet you never not want to take yours eyes off her in her random farcical scenes.

3

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/