Glenn Gordon Caron directs Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr and Kevin Bacon in this romantic comedy where an advertising creative uses a photo of a wedding guest to pretend she has a boyfriend.

AI generated feature films existed all the way back in 1997.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Pallbearer (1996)

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

Adrian Lyne directs Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello in this mind bending classic horror where a Vietnam veteran begins to see flashes of a demonic underworld in the shadows and alleyways of New York.

Full throttle disturbing. If there isn’t an elliptical nightmare shot momentarily glimpsed here that doesn’t chill you to your bone then maybe you are the devil. Elizabeth Peña = hot. A wonderful whispery shouty performance by Danny Aiello. Bonkers conspiracy narrative. Lyne’s masterpiece and up there with Fire Walk With Me and Se7en as one of the most scarring American horror flicks of the Nineties. If only he made another horror?

9

Perfect Double Bill: His House (2020)

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/

Martin Bourboulon directs Eva Green, François Civil and Vincent Cassel in this second half of this big budget French swashbuckling Dumas adaptation where Cardinal Richelieu’s femme fatale assassin steps out of the shadows.

Any scene with Eva Green’s titular wrong-un buzzes with dangerous eroticism and humanity, there’s a decent assault sequence on a fort and some nice side mission banter between Porthos and Aramis. Compared to the first entry though this does feel a little underwhelming. Probably will work better when watched together with its predecessor over a full day with plenty of time for tea and toilet breaks.

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan (2023)

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

Takashi Yamazaki directs Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe and Yuki Yamada in this prestige period prequel to the long running Japanese kaiju franchise.

Has the tone of a blockbuster of yesteryear. What now seems quite high minded and then had the cut of undeniable quality… yet always accessible. The comparison points from 25 years ago would be Titanic or Saving Private Ryan. Though this is still riveted to fantasy rather than pure historical recreation for entertainment. There’s something very considered and reverent about Minus One. The destructive set pieces shine – especially when Godzilla is hunted like Jaws (another impressive touchstone). I’m going to reveal my own mindless desires and say the actionless middle section did drag on. But in general, more like this, please.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Shin Godzilla (2016)

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

David Lean directs Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd and Nigel Patrick in this drama “recreating” the untrue story of the test pilots who broke Mach One.

Stodgy bit of patriotism with a decent third act shock. Considering the yanks had achieved this feat a different way before the movie was put into production I’m just not sure what it’s reason for existing is aside from using some leftover jet stock.

4

Perfect Double Bill: The First of the Few (1942)

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

Tarik Saleh directs Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Kiefer Sutherland in this action thriller where a private contract job goes sideways.

Dour real world Bourne rip-off with few surprises. The action plays pretty hard when it ignites and then is sustained well. A classy cast elevates this. You can aspire to be The Hurt Locker but sometimes you have to accept you are Taken and just have a laugh with it.

5

Perfect Double Bill: All The Old Knives (2022)

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/

Will Finn and John Sanford direct Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly in this Disney animated comedy western where some cows save their farm.

Hear me now! There’s two psychedelic minutes where a yodelling rustler hypnotises a herd of beef that calls back fondly to Dumbo’s Pink Elephants. And Tilly earns her keep. Everything else is pap. Who is this for?

4

Perfect Double Bill: Brother Bear (2003)

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-Jacques Annaud directs Jane March, “Big” Tony Leung and Jeanne Moreau in this erotic period drama covering the illicit affair between a teenage French girl and a wealthy Chinese heir in colonial Vietnam.

All hail The Sinner From Pinner. Jane March. She’s is actually very good here – carrying the complex emotions and, of course, she looks amazing in every state of undress. As sensuous as this is lensed both on-location and in the bonking studio, the international dubbing does let it down. It aligns something quite artful and poignant with a seedier, cheaper product. We wouldn’t want our sex films being tawdry now would we? If a subtitled version existed in the U.K. then this might improve on another revisit. The histrionic scenes with her manic, parasitic family really grate in their current state. We are supposed to hate them… but maybe not THIS much?!

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Color Of Night (1994)

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/

Joe Carnahan directs Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts in this sci-fi action comedy where a retired special forces soldier tries to escape a never-ending time loop that results in his death.

The movie I suspect people think they are watching when they love a Deadpool movie. Leans into the video game vibe – the best moment being a sword training session with a cameo from the glorious Michelle Yeoh. Gibson feels a little underserved in the villain role, Grillo has long since established his chops as the grizzled anti-hero with one eyebrow slightly cocked towards exasperation. Action-wise, this is more about spectacle than tension… and while I often have beef with that attitude… here it fits the tone neatly.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Palm Springs (2020)

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

Juraj Herz directs Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová and Jana Stehnová in this Czech satire where a crematorium worker rises up the ranks by selling out everyone close to him to the Nazi regime.

A delve into a sick mind. Sleazy montage crash cuts. Repugnant morals given the sheen of mundane respectability. Pretty much entirely filmed with a fish eye lens, which only adds to the grotesque central caricature’s monstrous world view. We are all in cages, all fucking the dead, all justifying our evils. Am I right? Is this thing on? Bleak.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Closely Observed Trains (1966)

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/