Peter Weir directs Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini and Rosie Perez in this allegorical drama where a man who survives an air crash keeps putting his life at risk to escape his PTSD.

Again… a formative movie. One of those adult movies that really broadened my horizons as a teenager. Got me into Weir. Got me into Bridges. It is both weighty and fuzzy, psychologically sophisticated but narratively simple. The ensemble is excellent, Allen Daviau’s on location cinematography is crisp and bold. Obviously the stand-out sequence is the plane crash, used as an interrupting framing device, threaded throughout the movie. But there’s also spiritual redemption, Christ metaphors, people resetting their personalities and rewriting their personal histories for prosaic reasons. In many respects this feel like the TV show’s Lost serious, more grounded elder brother. And Lost isn’t a dirty word in my house.

9

Perfect Double Bill: The Truman Show (1998)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Rob Savage directs Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina and Vivien Lyra Blair in this adaptation of a Stephen King horror story about a grieving family who let something creepy into their poorly lit home.

Yellowjackets breakout Thatcher is fine in this dour and unremarkable massmarket horror. It is just a bit too glum and familiar to be remembered in six months time. Even if it does everything right in terms of atmosphere while you are watching. David Dastmalchian and Marin Ireland have small yet showy roles and the movie spikes whenever either are on screen.

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Babadook (2014)

My wife and I 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/

Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson direct Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld and Brian Tyree Henry in this sequel where Miles Morales discovers he is not welcome in a secret society of multiverse saving Spider-people.

Miles Morales is my Spider-Man. I still buy the comics and he’s the only Marvel character I’m currently loyal too. This looks glorious. Tri-colour, retina overkill. There’s a lot of movie here, at its best with the physics defying action sequences. Almost too much in length, I felt my mind having little time out pit stops in the slightly less frenetic emotional parts. It isn’t quite as tight as the miraculous first entry but as summer blockbusters go Across proves top value.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Martin Brest directs Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell and Gabrielle Anwar in this drama where a prep school student looks after an suicidal blind man who whisks him off to New York for one last weekend of pleasures.

“Women! What can you say? Who made ’em? God must have been a fuckin’ genius. The hair… They say the hair is everything, you know. Have you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls… just wanted to go to sleep forever? Or lips… and when they touched, yours were like… that first swallow of wine… after you just crossed the desert. Tits. Hoo-ah! Big ones, little ones, nipples staring right out at ya, like secret searchlights. Mmm. Legs. I don’t care if they’re Greek columns… or secondhand Steinways. What’s between ’em… passport to heaven. I need a drink. Yes, Mr Sims, there’s only two syllables in this whole wide world worth hearing: pussy. Hah! Are you listenin’ to me, son? I’m givin’ ya pearls here.”

Birth of the Hoo-Ha! Actually everything Pacino does is perfect. OTT but utterly entertaining. Ham and cheese, Oscar gold. The movie is about an hour longer than it needs to be – loose with silly stuff and scenes that revisit old ground. Brest isn’t entirely sure what tone to go for from one scene to the next. Do we really care about the prep school ethics trial that bookends all the meat? Yet let blind Al tango, let him call a toddler ‘a piece of tail’ or let drive a Ferrari and I’m all in. A guilty pleasure.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

My wife and I 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/

Jean Renoir directs Sylvia Bataille, Jane Marken and Georges D’Arnoux in this French comedy where a two horny rogues disrupt a family daytrip so they can get the women of the family to themselves.

An incomplete film that actually works fine in its assembled state. You get the ultimate point, there’s minimal fat and it doesn’t outstay its welcome. The pastoral satire is fun, especially the attention to detail.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Jacques Audiard directs Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup and Adel Bencherif in this French prison drama where a bottom-of-the-food-chain Algerian boy slowly climbs up the crime pecking order through cunning and patience.

This blew me away at the cinema on original release. Gritty with moments of fantasy metaphor. Well acted but never sacrificing its tension by forcing a flashy monologue. The progression of Rahim’s Malik is gentle and fraught with risk. The position he finds himself at by the end seems quite fantastical considering he was an illiterate without ‘country’ who the lower punks beat up for his shitty trainers in the opening moments. Yet his sly climb to safety is credible, with impactful small scale bursts of shocking violence. You feel his soul be challenged, pruned, nourished and strengthened by surviving the prison system. Even his little bit of second act wealth and power initially (believably) goes on porn, prostitutes and PlayStation yet eventually begins to be invested into quite a wholesome, respectable future outside. A long movie that earns every moment.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Dheepan (2015)

My wife and I 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/

Nicholas Hytner directs Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd and Nigel Hawthorne in this light drama where a pregnant woman falls for her charming gay roommate.

Marketed incorrectly as a romcom on release, this is more a pragmatic film about making the right relationship choice to avoid loneliness. It does have a certain degree of gloss in its casting and visuals – this makes it go down easy. The ultimate meat and message is a bit more heavyweight. One of Aniston’s better lead performances.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Chasing Amy (1997)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Nicolas Winding Refn directs Tom Hardy, Kelly Adams and Matt King in this British crime biopics of the U.K.’s most dangerous prisoner.

Visually stunning but ultimately a bit one-note. Hardy is out there and fantastic.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Legend (2015)

My wife and I 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/

Len Wiseman directs Bruce Willis, Justin Long and Timothy Olyphant in this belated fourth entry to the John McClane franchise where the tough cop who won’t stop takes on hackers who eradicate all of America’s infrastructure for a day.

I can see the flaws and compromises but, taken away from the high water marks of the original trilogy, this has plenty to enjoy as a big budget Friday night actioner. No swearing or gore -I give you Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s casting as Lucy McClane as adequate compensation. So the story can be a bit join the dots – some of those dots include Willis muttering to himself as he drives a police car into a helicopter, an elevator fight that grinds out the tension and the big jet fighter versus big rig demolition derby. Does action of such cartoonish scale belong in a Die Hard? The claustrophobia of the unimpeachable original might be long forgotten but it feels like the next evolutionary step from 3’s scavenger hunt across New York buddy cop mayhem. AND this plays like Mike Leigh compared to the superhero and Fast & Furious flicks that followed in its wake. Is Timothy Olyphant a good villain? Charismatic actor, weakly written part… but the general concept of his plan is surprisingly robust and has legs to carry a movie plot. My only real criticism is Justin Long’s good hacker should have been McClane’s estranged son… then the whole motivation for our reluctant hero to be involved makes a ton more sense and their relationship arc feels organic. All in all, better than its reputation. Stick some Creedence on and get with the program, Dwayne!

7

Perfect Double Bill: Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/

Ron Clements and John Musker direct Scott Weinger, Robin Williams and Linda Larkin in this Walt Disney animated adventure set around a genie in a lamp who grants three wishes.

1992: The Mouse House hit its stride just as I was outgrowing it. A teenager doesn’t want singing princesses and comedy animals when they could be watching Cameron, Carpenter or Craven. The adventure aspects of Aladdin really set this apart. Proper action set pieces told at an incredible clip, a villain worthy of a Joel Silver flick and wisecracking comedy between the fireworks. Aladdin’s reputation lives and dies by Williams motormouth genie… you ain’t ever had a voice actor like me. But the whole thing is a class act: Jasmine is head turning but her agency is palpable, the songs are toe-tapping mainstays, the world design a bold slice of enticing orientalism. Grows in my estimation with every revisit. What do spotty teenagers know anyway?

8

Perfect Double Bill: Aladdin (2019)

My wife and I 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/