Paco Cabezas directs Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick and Tim Roth in this quirky romantic crime comedy where an outrageous girl falls for a hitman with a heart.

A cute romantic pairing, full of charisma and the costume designers love dressing them. Like the recent The Fall Guy, this is constantly on, in overdrive. And that can be exhausting. There’s no sense of timing or scale so Mr. Right is just a constant onslaught of idiosyncrasy. At least Blunt / Gosling had a stupendous budget to zing off each other constantly in. This clearly wants to be Grosse Pointe Blank or Something Wild but there’s no breathing room. Those cult classics had their soulful downtime, just a hint of depth to them. This is all sassy, poppy surface and you just observe the end product passively wishing for Rockwell and Kendrick to find a better project together.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Accountant (2016)

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

Pier Paolo Pasolini directs Silvana Mangano, Terence Stamp and Massimo Girotti in this Italian art movie where a young man seduces every member of a bourgeoise family and they all go mad in the aftermath.

Was on my “Must Watch” list for a long ole time. Didn’t do much for me. Old fashioned values being skewered, old fashioned skewer being used. There something quite potent about a sex messiah infiltrating a house. Fucking everyone. Shifting all their personas off axis. This just ain’t that for me. Everyone looks cute in their fashions.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Visitor Q (2001)

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

Bruno Dumont directs Juliette Binoche, Jean-Luc Vincent and Robert Leroy in this French biographical drama following sculptor Camille Claudel’s life after being committed to a mental asylum.

Well made but distant.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Certified Copy (2010)

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

Life moves pretty fast…

Rebel Without A Cause (1955) 👍👍

Bonjour Tristesse (1958)

The Wayward Girl (1959)

The 400 Blows (1959) 👍👍

Cruel Story Of Youth (1960)

West Side Story (1961) 👍

A Taste Of Honey (1961) 👍

Kes (1969)

A Clockwork Orange (1971) 👍👍

Walkabout (1971)

Badlands (1973) 👍

American Graffiti (1973) 👍👍

Female Trouble (1974) 👍

Debbie Does Dallas (1978)

Grease (1978) 👍👍

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) 👍

Over The Edge (1979)

Quadrophenia (1979) 👍

The Wanderers (1979) 👍

The Warriors (1979) 👍👍

Scum (1979) 👍

Fame (1980)

Rock N Roll High School (1980) 👍

Spetters (1980) 👍

Times Square (1980) 👍

Endless Love (1981)

TAPS (1981)

Gregory’s Girl (1981)

Der Fan (1982)

Class of 1984 (1982)

Grease 2 (1982)

All The Right Moves (1983)

Bad Boys (1983) 👍

Rumble Fish (1983)

Risky Business (1983) 👍

Valley Girl (1983) 👍

À Nos Amours (1983)

Class (1983)

The Outsiders (1983) 👍

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Last Starfighter (1984) 👍

Footloose (1984)

Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)

Angel (1984)

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Breakfast Club (1985) 👍👍

Tuff Turf (1985) 👍

Weird Science (1985)

Teen Wolf (1985)

The Sure Thing (1985) 👍

The New Kids (1985) 👍

Explorers (1985)

Back To The Future (1985) 👍👍

Pretty In Pink (1986) 👍

The Wraith (1986)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) 👍👍

Pauline At The Beach (1986)

River’s Edge (1986) 👍

Stand By Me (1986) 👍👍

The Monster Squad (1987)

Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987)

Love Is A Dog From Hell (1987) 👍

Wish You Were Here (1987) 👍

Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)

Heathers (1988) 👍👍

Running On Empty (1988) 👍

Mystic Pizza (1988)

Hairspray (1988) 👍

Society (1989) 👍👍

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) 👍

Back To The Future Part II (1989) 👍👍

Gleaming The Cube (1989)

The Unbelievable Truth (1989) 👍👍

Dead Poet’s Society (1989)

Say Anything… (1989) 👍👍

Back To The Future Part III (1990) 👍

Pump Up The Volume (1990) 👍

Edward Scissorhands (1990) 👍👍

Boyz N The Hood (1991) 👍👍

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)

California Man (1992)

Benny’s Video (1992)

A Bronx Tale (1993) 👍👍

Menace II Society (1993)

The Crush (1993)

Dazed & Confused (1993) 👍👍

Hoop Dreams (1994) 👍👍

Shopping (1994)

Tammy and the T-Rex (1994) 👍

Backbeat (1994) 👍

Heavenly Creatures (1994) 👍

Clueless (1995) 👍

Now & Then (1995)

Empire Records (1995) 👍

Kids Return (1995) 👍

Whispers Of The Heart (1995) 👍

Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995) 👍

La Haine (1995) 👍👍

William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) 👍👍

Fear (1996)

That Thing You Do! (1996) 👍

Foxfire (1996)

The Craft (1996)

24-7 (1997) 👍👍

Titanic (1997) 👍

Wild Things (1998) 👍

Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)

Devil In The Flesh (1998)

Disturbing Behaviour (1998)

Rushmore (1998) 👍👍

Pleasantville (1998) 👍

Drive Me Crazy (1999)

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

Jawbreaker (1999)

Criminal Lovers (1999)

American Pie (1999) 👍

10 Things I Hate About You (1999) 👍

A Room For Romeo Brass (1999) 👍

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Teaching Mrs Tingle (1999)

Never Been Kissed (1999) 👍

Brokedown Palace (1999)

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Bring It On (2000) 👍

Battle Royale (2000) 👍

Dogtown & The Z Boys (2001) 👍

American Pie 2 (2001)

Y Tu Mamá También (2001) 👍

Ghost World (2001) 👍👍

Bully (2001)

Bubble Boy (2001)

Crossroads (2002)

Blue Crush (2002) 👍

City of God (2002) 👍👍

Sweet Sixteen (2002) 👍

The Girl Next Door (2004)

My Summer Of Love (2004)

Somersault (2004)

Mean Girls (2004) 👍

The Squid & The Whale (2005) 👍

This Is England (2006) 👍

John Tucker Must Die (2006)

She’s The Man (2006)

Superbad (2007) 👍

Water Lilies (2007)

Teeth (2007)

Juno (2007) 👍

Hairspray (2007)

Paranoid Park (2007)

The Beautiful Person (2008)

Somerstown (2008) 👍

The Class (2008) 👍

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Whip It! (2009) 👍👍

I Love You Beth Cooper (2009)

Fish Tank (2009) 👍

Easy A (2010) 👍

The Myth Of the American Sleepover (2010)

Winter’s Bone (2010) 👍

Chalet Girl (2011)

The Art Of Getting By (2011)

The We & The I (2012) 👍

The Hunger Games (2012)

Spring Breakers (2012) 👍

The Perks Of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) 👍👍

Ginger And Rosa (2012)

Stoker (2013) 👍👍

The Bling Ring (2013)

The Selfish Giant (2013) 👍

The Kings Of Summer (2013)

We Are The Best (2013) 👍

Teenage (2013)

Starred Up (2013) 👍👍

The To-Do List (2013)

The Spectacular Now (2013) 👍👍

Mommy (2014)

Boyhood (2014) 👍👍

Mustang (2015) 👍

The DUFF (2015) 👍

Girlhood (2015)

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl (2015) 👍👍

Nerve (2016) 👍

The Fits (2016)

20th Century Women (2016) 👍

Me & Earl & The Dying Girl (2016)

Edge Of Seventeen (2016) 👍

American Honey (2016)

Moonlight (2016)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) 👍

Your Name (2016) 👍

Sing Street (2016) 👍

Class Rank (2017)

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017) 👍

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Sarah Plays A Werewolf (2017)

Lady Bird (2017) 👍

Thoroughbreds (2018)

Love, Simon (2018)

Minding The Gap (2018) 👍

The Miseducation Of Cameron Post (2018)

Mid90s (2018) 👍👍

Boy Erased (2018)

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018)

Feast Of the Seven Fishes (2018)

Dumplin’ (2018)

Summer Of 84 (2018)

Shirkers (2018) 👍

Girl (2018)

White Boy Rick (2018) 👍

Assassination Nation (2018)

Bumblebee (2018) 👍

Shazam! (2019) 👍

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Booksmart (2019) 👍

Luce (2019)

Monos (2019)

Waves (2019)

Take Me Somewhere Nice (2019)

The Young Observant (2019)

Them That Follow (2019)

Psychobitch (2019)

The New Mutants (2020)

Babyteeth (2020)

Summer Of 85 (2020)

Rocks (2020) 👍

Yes, God, Yes (2020)

Lovers Rock (2020)

Education (2020) 👍

The Craft: Legacy (2020)

Ham On Rye (2020) 👍

Beats (2020)

Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

Boy’s State (2020) 👍

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)

CODA (2021)

Last Night In Soho (2021) 👍

West Side Story (2021) 👍

Licorice Pizza (2021) 👍👍

Turning Red (2022)

The Fablemans (2022)

Shazam: Fury Of the Gods (2023) 👍

Polite Society (2023)

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) 👍

Bottoms (2023) 👍

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)

Lisa Frankenstein (2024) 👍

Monster (2024) 👍

Next Sohee (2024)

My Old Ass (2024)

Alexandre Aja directs Cécile de France, Maïwenn and Philippe Nahon in this extreme French slasher flick where a family on a farm is hunted by a brutal stranger and the guest in the attic tries to rescue the eventual survivor.

In France this is called High Tension. And that sums it up. An hour long set piece. Cranked and cranked and cranked until the machine is taut and thrumming. Even on what must be my fourth watch I was utterly gripped. Nahon’s violent fuck is horrible, shows no remorse. A truly awful grotesque creation. The twist will leave you with more questions than answers but I think this works best as cinematic nightmare writ large rather than a product of sturdy logic. Aja is one of the great genre directors of the 21st century.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Creep (2004)

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

Takashi Miike directs Kazuya Kamenashi, Nanao and Riho Yoshioka in this Japanese thriller where a psychopathic lawyer enters a game of cat and mouse with an axe wielding killer dressed as a monster from a children’s picture book.

Is it my patience that has eroded? Has my attention span gone? Or are filmmakers, even voices as idiosyncratic and OTT as Miike, packing all the juice into the first act these days? Desperate for you to stream enough of their movie so you are hooked or at the very least they pass into the rubicon of algorithmic success? The first 45 minutes of this are set piece nirvana. A prologue where police raid a mansion of surgical horrors. A car chase with brass balls. A monster attacks a monster and one looks like something straight out of the Stan Winston workshop. Every time someone dies blood gushes in orgasmic fountains. And then it slowly normalises. The plot is still wacky but the form resembles a Sunday night detective drama. The geysers of crimson dissipate. The last hour is fine but who wants ‘fine’ from Miike?

6

Perfect Double Bill: First Love (2019)

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

George Miller directs Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke in this post-apocalyptic prequel following the rise and revenge of Furiosa Imperator.

Ozploitation Maximalism Goes Ben-Hur. I have gripes. The lean chase flick gives way to a decade spanning odyssey. Can something you love play overlong? As accomplished as the action is it doesn’t take you to the extreme frenetic ‘anything goes’ anarchy of Fury Road. And I love Taylor-Joy in the right role but she ain’t a physical match for Theron so doesn’t fully convince as an Angel of Vengeance. Her rise feels forced… mandated rather than earned… where as in Fury Road Furiosa’s status within this hierarchy was undisputed gospel. You never questioned it. When she and Hemsworth’s Dementus finally face off you know it isn’t going to be a fair fight to the death as there’s no possible way she can win that. Making this anti-climatic. I just felt a little removed, uninvolved from a cinematic universe I’ve always loved. There was more than enough good stuff revisited that I still enjoyed myself. Hemsworth really goes full throttle and the story can’t really breathe without him. His gang are delightfully scumbaggy. Jenny Beaven does miracles coming up with new looks for mutated crooks. I’m always going to want more Mad Max. Always. This just took me a smidgen colder than any of the previous episodes.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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

Richard Linklater directs Glen Powell, Adria Arjona and Austin Amelio in this true crime caper where a wimpy college professor becomes a fake hitman for the New Orlean Police Department’s undercover sting operations.

Works best as a dark romantic comedy with two smoking hot principals. A bit too scattershot and low energy to be anything more than a curio. Feels like a “One For Them” from Linklater though there is a nice subtextual thread about Powell’s dweeb becoming a better man… a hit as a man.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Bernie (2012)

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

John G. Avildsen directs Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue in this teen drama where a Japanese master teaches a bullied kid the art of self defence.

Here’s a VHS that was everywhere when I was kid, super quotable, but one that I very much outgrew by the time I got to secondary school. It is so long, and often inert. The performances are actually kinda awesome so it makes sense as to why it captured an entire generation’s imaginations. Macchio does an admirable job of recreating the I Was A Teenage Rocky Balboa dialogue without feeling like a baby Stallone clone. And Shue, playing young in her early twenties, is a teenage good girl dream. The ending is quite involving but it takes far too long to get to that tournament. A whole cruel summer… Wax On, Wax Off. Hurry up.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Karate Kid (1986)

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

David Cronenberg directs Peter Weller, Judy Davis and Ian Holm in this surrealist science fiction drama based on William Burroughs’ banned experimental novel.

A bug exterminator / author and his wife become addicted to the green powder that kills the roaches. She is cheating on him with other writers making him a literary cuck. He accidentally shoots her. His typewriter takes on insect form and starts to give him cheery instructions from its friendly anus shaped orifice. Will he follow the orders? Crack the mysteries of the paranoid “Interzone”? Who are the mugwumps? I rented this as a naive 13 year old expecting the star of Robocop and the director of The Fly to deliver further SFX madness in the form a comprehensible drama. Maybe even in an adventure? How foolish I was? Naked Lunch is a fully committed period mindfuck. Slow, obtuse, mature. I don’t remember my reaction to all this back then. I knew it was all beyond me. But today… it is quite boring. Testing. But with lovely creature design…and a morbid sense of the absurd. What to make of the Scooby Doo finale? I’m still not smart enough. Nowhere as near as fun or as horny as the addictive Crash.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Crash (1996)

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