Julius Avery directs Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto and Alexandra Essoe in this horror where a renegade priest takes on evil with his trusty Vespa and hip flask… based on true events!

Franco Nero is the Pope! Hammy and camp, unoriginal and unhinged. The Pope’s Exorcist is as ineffective as it is OTT. Crowe’s no holds barred, no fuck given central turn is a demented delight though. You’d watch a sequel even if you’d never watch this again. The finale goes massive for a film of this budget and the possessions have a kinkiness to them. I’m not saying either factor is a positive but certainly noteworthy. “Cookoo!”

5

Perfect Double Bill: Unhinged (2020)

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

Tom Harper directs Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan and Alia Bhatt in this espionage actioner where a double agent must stop their mission solving AI from falling into the wrong hands.

Starts out on the wrong foot. A ski resort chase sequence where an algorithm plots out all the hero’s moves, the kinda stuff Bond just noticed and did instinctively 50 years ago. Netflix might love the idea that data can win the day but humans need their fantasy figures to at least have some sense of free will. Once it becomes a sub-Mission: Impossible Heart Of Stone fulfils it brief more than adequately. Some of the action is pretty eye catching (a sci-fi zeppelin heist, a bike chase) and Gal Gadot has undeniable star power. Peak perfection physicality that makes acting deficiencies sort of charming, much like Arnie before her. The final peril goes on way too long but this is better than its stinky reputation when looked straight on in the eye as a throwaway entertainment.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Red Notice (2021)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/BobbyCarroll/

Albert Maysles directs Iris Apfel, Carl Apfel and himself in this documentary celebrating the life of the New York legend and fashion icon.

Documentary with enviable, intimate access. Really gives the ninety-something iconoclast maven’s strong flavours a lovely frame. Even if this isn’t particularly revelatory or groundbreaking the subject is exactly the kind of character who should have their own personal documentary. Heart warming.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Running Fence (1978)

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

Kevin Smith directs Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and George Carlin in this comedy where a career driven publicist has to move back home to raise his daughter.

Marketed as a romcom, blighted by the press obsession with Affleck and (a barely in it) J-Lo, and a clear softening of the Smith brand, this felt like a failure on release. A betrayal even. Two decades of mature hindsight and Jersey Girl proves unspectacular but satisfying. Both Carlin and somewhat surprisingly Liv Tyler do wonders with that very specific View Askew dialogue. The kid is about as good as child leads get. Affleck is playing a real scumbag at the start so his softening never feels deserved. His big triumphant moment where he turns a town hall around with his public speaking… has fucking music drowning over the speech… err? But this is a sweet movie that gets better and better. The third act with the well tee’d up star cameo and an unlikely school pageant performance obliterates all ill will.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Gigli (2003)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/BobbyCarroll/

Alice Diop directs Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda and Valérie Dréville in this French courtroom drama where a writer witnesses a full court case with parallels to her own life as a black woman in France.

Quite a dry and depressing court case in that looser French style of legal proceedings. We definitely get a strong idea about both women’s lives. One full of success, the other tragedy. And I can see the links and big themes this is addressing. Ultimately, the intent and meaning did elude me. Maybe that’s a failing in me but Saint Omer felt anti-climatic after the courtroom scenes had engaged me so deeply. The first work of narrative fiction by an established documentarian.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Atlantics (2019)

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

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directs Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone and Robin Wright in this fantasy adventure where a princess is married in a faraway kingdom to a royal family who intend to sacrifice her to a dragon.

Could have been good. Instead very underlit and very flat. Feels like you are watching something behind museum glass, just lying there with a card next to telling you why it is important. It isn’t. It should be fun. Everyone except Millie Bobby Brown is clockwatching to some degree.

4

Perfect Double Bill: The Princess (2022)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/BobbyCarroll/

Steve Miner directs Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka and Richard Brooker in this slasher where a camp of teens are killed by Jason.

The 3-D rehash. If it can be poked at the screen it bloody well will be. The kids are forgettable, no notable nudity. Jason gets his mask. Meh!

4

Perfect Double Bill: Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)

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

Tamra Davis directs Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning in the teen drama where three disparate elementary school friends reunite and go on a road trip after their high school graduation.

A mixed bag but not as awful as its reputation. Any movie that opens with the one-two punch of prime Britney dancing in her skimpies to Madonna and then rejecting Justin Long in nothing but baby pink lingerie is gonna be worth a revisit. The melodrama that follows is pleasant enough, though the hot button big issues it invokes are rather fudged. Taryn Manning is excellent.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Burlesque (2010)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/BobbyCarroll/

Claire Scanlon directs Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell and Lucy Liu in this romantic comedy where two overworked assistants to megalomaniacs decide to set up their demanding bosses romantically to free up their schedules.

Slept on this one. The attractive stars have a strong rapport and the jokes come quick and fast. Not groundbreaking but hit all the buttons I would want a romcom to.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

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

Éric Gravel directs Laure Calamy, Anne Suarez and Nolan Arizmendi in this everyday French thriller where a single mum faces a national strike that disrupts her daily commute and her potentially life changing job interview over a week of unpredictable back and forth.

Can you make the connection that does not exist? Can you skip out of work undetected to make the important appointment? Can you stretch the overdraft to buy the new professional suit and the kids’ breakfasts? I came to this via John Waters. I don’t hold his Top Ten recs of the year sacrosanct. 2020’s list was headed up with Butt Boy which I’m going to go out on a limb and predict has little for me in it. Yet Full Time was an outlier. Not a film I expected to see make his cut and that piqued my interest. Why! Isn’t! The! U.K.! Making! Films! Like! This! Exciting dramas that reflect everyday life. Gifting talented actors complex lead roles and shining a light on the struggles of those of us who work for a living. This is a feature length stress headache. Anything that can go wrong does, and you aren’t always sure our hero is the innocent victim of this hellish rat race. The ending really reaches a bleak but believable break point and then the whole carousel starts up again. A new rock bottom awaits. Nerve racking from teeth to tits.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Two Days, One Night (2014)

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