Cinderella Man (2005)

Ron Howard directs Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti in this period boxing biopic where a family man returns to the ring during The Depression.

A lot of quality elements here (prestige-wise everyone involved was at their peak) yet it doesn’t gel together to be much more than a handsome one-watcher. There is noteworthy support from Paddy Considine, Craig Bierko and, of course, Giamatti. He was already graduating out of these third billed roles by this point. While he adds a lot, it is hard to see what more he gets out of the best friend / manager role than a paycheck? Not that he treats it that way. His chemistry with Crowe is sweet. Maybe that has as much to do with Crowe, who can do the sensitive man of violence schtick in his sleep, but always seems (overly?) generous sharing his screen with other talents.

6

Sideways (2004)

Alexander Payne directs Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen in this comedy drama where two friends go on a road trip into California’s Wine Country.

Send me to hell but I’ve watched Sideways maybe four or five times and it doesn’t click with me. Should be right up my alley, and maybe a little too close to home, yet I’m always left both distracted during it and feeling “is that it?” afterwards. Realise I’m in the minority.

5

American Splendor (2003)

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini direct Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis and Judah Friedlander in this biopic that mixes of fiction and documentary to illuminate the life of indie comic book grouch Harvey Pekar.

This chimed with me far more than Sideways. Maybe I prefer absolutely broken Giamatti over slightly flawed Giamatti. Pekar is a loveable scumbag here and I really dig that. You get an ordinary life glimpsed in dirty slithers. Plus weird Quantum Leap imaging chamber footage of the actors and the real life subjects just hanging out in a pure white room. Representing the blank page I suppose. It is a goofy conceit. Very quotable, very funny. The only real misstep is the happy ending that they find for Pekar but, hey, that’s the true story. Twenty years after enjoying this at the Edinburgh Film Festival and I still haven’t tracked down an issue of American Splendor the comic.

7

Barney’s Version (2011)

Richard J. Lewis directs Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike and Dustin Hoffman in this drama following the chaotic life of a trashy TV producer who gets married twice before finding the love of his life.

Missed this on release, and what a movie to be found sleeping on. Fantastic works from Giamatti, Pike and Hoffman. Any scenes where he shares the screen with either of them pops. So funny, so raw, so desperate. Again a very flawed character, would be a nightmare in real life. You can tell this is based on a big door stopper book – kind of a lighter hearted Philip Roth / Saul Bellow great Canadian novel wannabe. An entire adult life, warts and herpes. The pace and look of the adaptation is pitch perfect. I wanted to watch Barney’s Version straight away again the moment it ended. Horny pathos, diversions that pay off.

8

Win Win (2011)

Tom McCarthy directs Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan and Bobby Cannavale in this comedy where a struggling lawyer swindles one of his elderly clients and ends up with the man’s enigmatic teenage grandson in his home.

Another stellar lead role for Giamatti as the good man who bends the rules with unpredictable consequences. Struggle. Everyday struggle. Nobody else is inhabiting these roles with such sensitivity and detail. This plays out like a grubby static Little Miss Sunshine. Cannavale succeeds where no one else could, he steals the movie from one of my favourite modern character actors.

7

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Matteo Garrone directs Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall and Issaka Sawagodo in this African drama following two teenage cousins journeying across their continent to reach Europe.

Had fears this was going to be gruelling, worthy. Instead it is a really strong adventure. A quest. Noble protagonist, near fantastical vista, episodic peril. All based on a reality we choose to ignore. Garrone sees the magic in every location, every step of the journey. Even at its nastiest, most perilous and most emotionally draining sacrifice there’s a sense of goodness, purpose and hope to what you are watching in comfort. Great cinema puts you within the perspective of someone living an extraordinary life. Io Capitano puts you right deep in there.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Beasts Of No Nation (2015)

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

Michael Mohan directs Sydney Sweeney, Simona Tabasco and Álvaro Morte in this indie horror where a devout American nun arrives at an Italian convent where there is a conspiracy to impregnate her with something ungodly.

There is something quite classy about Immaculate. It ratchets up the tension with a mature steady crank. The camera moves insidiously through gorgeous locations but never in a way that shows off and takes you out of the milieu. There are visual callbacks to giallos. The ending is full fat extreme horror that goes all the way. Crucifixion nails are gouged into soft bits and motherfuckers are deservedly set a light. It ends on a transgressive splat. I clearly had a great time at a late night showing with my illicit gins in tins. So why not a higher score? Sydney Sweeney. She might very well be the first AI generated star snuck in by stealth so we can’t complain when avatar actors are our only future. There is an uncanny flatness, a glitch of dead emotions to her ‘acting’. Luckily before her big escape while in labour, all she has to do is look pretty in a series of nun cosplays. Every habit a sister of the lord might ever wear is squeezed into. And then we get the scenes where the nudity is implied or teased behind wet vestments. Certain boys and girls are gonna discover new kinks.

Arkasha Stevenson directs Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson and Sonia Braga in this big studio legacy horror prequel where an American woman hoping to become a nun arrives at an Italian convent where there is a conspiracy to impregnate her with something ungodly.

One week later and The Omen franchise is revived with pretty much the same movie as above. So many story beats, character types and shock deaths are repeated here shot for shot that it can feel like a bad joke has been played on Disney. It clearly is the bigger budgeted project with ambitions towards prestige and future entries. The period setting encompasses the political and sexual turmoil of the early Seventies and there be plenty of Omen-head Easter eggs to crack. The kills are good if not anywhere near as elaborate as Richard Donner’s finest. There are moments where the studio has obviously mandated reshoots or edits. The finest moments are truly shocking. There are at least two creature FX that are more transgressive than anything you’ve glimpsed in a studio release for a long old time. Think gynaecological Jacob’s Ladder. And Nell Tiger Free is a convincing and attractive presence. She acts the toddler with massive jugs who leads Immaculate off of the screen. But her Margaret has none of the survivalist agency of Sweeney’s Cecilia and here you know what the movie’s endgame has to be to get us to The Omen.

The below scores could easily be swapped around depending on which movie you watch first.

7/6

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Scott Cooper directs Christian Bale, Harry Melling and Gillian Anderson in this period mystery where a young Edgar Allen Poe and a grieving detective investigate grisly murders at a remote military academy.

Strong production values and a couple of fantastic on location shot compositions. Much like Sleepy Hollow and The Raven there’s something of an inert exercise in gothic style to this handsome potboiler. Both Melling and Bale are going for laboured, busy performances. When together their scenes can be incoherently daft. Nutty line readings akimbo! There is a tasty twist at the end of the mechanical whodunnit motions, well set up in the first volley of clues, but I was bored waiting for even that closing turn.

4

Perfect Double Bill: The Raven (2012)

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

Takeshi Kitano directs Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps and Claude Maki in this gangster thriller where a rejected Yakuza travels to LA and takes over the town.

Fish out of water. An near silent, blank faced Mick Dundee. A movie of moments. Some wonderful, some blunt and clumsy. The gangster stuff is very cartoon-ish. Lost in translation pastiche. Yet there are slabs of Takeshi’s absurdism and heartfelt visual poetry. Feels like a redundant stumble after all the palpable evolutions the director / star / writer / editor went through in the Nineties. Not that this loses the game, it just sullies the perfect batting average. At the very least has a lush Joe Hisaishi score. That incongruous aspect and Epps’ central role does give this a lot of spiritual overlap with Spike Lee’s Clockers.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Kids Return (1995)

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Renny Harlin directs Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe and Luke Albright in this found footage horror where amateur documentary makers travel to the Russia to explore the remote site of an unexplained tragedy.

A rich man’s Blair Witch with minimal tension and teen sitcom acting. Bungs a fair few Fortean theories against the wall in trying to come up with a compelling explanation of the true life mystery. Eventually… and I really mean eventually… resorts to entry level horror shocks without much gore, tension or impact. Was this meant to be PG-13? Hard to see Harlin’s imprint here on the direction.

3

Perfect Double Bill: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

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

Todd Haynes directs Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton in this drama where decades after their scandalous relationship made headlines, a couple starts to unravel when a TV actress arrives to research them for her new film.

Erotic mystery masquerading as melodrama. Consummately acted and sumptuous to look at. There is little resolution here. Unresolved subplots and interactions open to multiple interpretations. The kind of pastel coloured movie where everyone exists in a moral grey area. One of the last of this year’s Oscar contenders I needed to catch up with.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Chloe (2009)

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Sammi Cohen directs Adam Sandler, Sadie Sandler and Idina Menzel in this teen comedy where two childhood friends fall out before their big celebrations.

Nice, smart and colourful but you miss Adam whenever he’s offscreen which is too often.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Eight Grade (2019)

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

Rich Moore and Phil Johnston direct  John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman and Gal Gadot in this Disney animated adventure where Ralph and Vanellope leave the arcade and go online.

A sequel that makes me feel like the culture has now passed me by. You can feel the writers’ desperately trying to cram in one more skit, hoping to strike gold and get that hyper relevant trailer moment. And you are left with a kid’s movie constantly grasping at nothing when it could just be… fun. There was a point where all plot threads felt like they were wrapping up and when I checked the remaining time there was still nearly an hour to go!?

3

Perfect Double Bill: Wreck It Ralph (2012)

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John Boorman directs Linda Blair, Richard Burton and Louise Fletcher in this horror sequel where a faltering priest investigates the death of Father Merrin and the fate of Regan.

As with many a sequel to a classic that underwhelms, this has a toxic reputation. And to gives the haters their due ExII is silly, unpredictable and features acting that feels press ganged out of its stars. It rarely works as a horror. And yet I enjoyed camp moments like Burton doing a terrible job of putting out a small fire and Blair’s completely inscrutable revival of Regan. Is she still possessed by Pazuzu or is it just awkward acting? Whenever Boorman veers into epic fantasy the project is fascinating. Vivid, demented. Just not very The Exorcist. The IMDB trivia page is defined by everyone’s excuses as to why they did it and why it isn’t their fault. I kinda liked it.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Exorcist (1973)

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