Robert Aldrich directs Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert and Ed Lauter in the prison sports movie where a disgraced NFL star is tasked with putting together a team from the chain gang.

The edgiest TV sitcom never made. Everything about it is indulgent and overlong. You hope it will at least snap into shape once the big game begins, split screen and all. Even that treats every shot of coverage as essential subplot. Features early noteworthy roles for Richard Kiel and Bernadette Peters.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

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/

Wes Craven directs Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett and Kadeem Hardison in this horror comedy take on Dracula.

You can see why this had such a slating on release… it stinks of vanity, choppy as fuck, broad humour, Eddie only trying to be funny when he is hidden under latex in secondary roles, the distinct lack of scares. Yet there are admirable qualities too: gore, committed comedy support from Hardison and a brilliantly coarse John Witherspoon, amazing production design, a certain degree of fealty to the gothic romance of Bram Stoker, Angela Bassett is underserved but still resplendent. With low expectations it fills a Saturday night adequately. But if Craven and Murphy had unified and forged a clear agreement of what they wanted to achieve then this could have been so much more than a one-watcher.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Vamps (2012)

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/

Michelangelo Antonioni directs Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti in this Italian arthouse flick where a couple consider infidelity over a long sleepless night.

More empty glamour and hollow nihilism. Feels the least effective of the trilogy. The acting is sound – it is all about death and fucking again, ain’t it?

6

Perfect Double Bill: L’Avventura (1960)

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/

John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman direct Sterling Holloway, John Fiedler and Junius Matthews in this Walt Disney cartoon collecting three adventures from The Hundred Acre Woods.

A bit too insipid for adults. Cute enough to sell toys. Pooh is a dickhead. Not enough Eyeore.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Tigger Movie (2000)

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/

Adam Wingard directs Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci and Wendy Glenn in this home invasion horror movie where a rich family is stalked by masked killers and a very capable final girl emerges amongst them.

I think the slow drip ‘eat the rich’ satire and the long ramp up before any carnage starts puts some people off. When You’re Next builds up a head of steam though it really delivers. OTT kills, iconic menaces, simple tension and a fantastic genre lead in Sharni Vinson. When she starts laying out X-rated Home Alone traps and taking mutherfuckas down with gusto you quickly realise in a parallel universe she could be the unhinged psycho everyone else needs to save themselves from. Very rewatchable.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Guest (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/

Jacques Demy directs Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris and Françoise Dorléac in this French musical about two sisters who plan to leave their hometown for Paris on the weekend a carnival arrives in town.

Obviously doesn’t have the bittersweet emotional heft of The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg but proves a lot more of a lark. The various men orbiting sisters Delphine and Solange are a bit meh… but then a dubbed yet glorious Gene Kelly turns up in an ice cream pink polo shirt and I was fully invested. The narrative carousel has the ideal partners occupy a small space (a town square) yet never spend any meaningful time together over the eventful weekend. This leaves plenty of room for primary coloured song and dance. It is a truly happy film… wistful, vibrant and with a serial killer subplot. Even the dialogue scenes are done in rhyming couplets. Cute and camp pleasures abound.

9

Perfect Double Bill: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (1964)

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/

Matt Ruskin directs Keira Knightley, Carrie Coon and Alessandro Nivola in this true crime story told from them perspective of Loretta McLaughlin, the reporter who broke the serial killer story for the Boston Record American.

My, oh my! Somebody has watched Zodiac. Solid.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Zodiac (2007)

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/

Bobby Farrelly directs Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson and Kevin Iannucci in this sports comedy where a hot tempered basketball coach is ordered to perform community service… training a team of intellectually disadvantaged players.

Sweet little movie that does exactly what it says on the tin. Could it be funnier, grittier, less predictable… sure! Sweet Dee is MVP.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Ringer (2005)

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/

Ti West directs Mia Goth, David Corenswet and Tandi Wright in this gothic horror prequel to X, set decades earlier.

An electric central performance motors Pearl. Part Dorothy Gale, part Tracey Flick, all Norman Bates – Mia Goth should have been up for an Oscar for this level of sweetly deranged commitment. The movie itself is a pschobiddy flick’s flashback sequence writ large. Horny, deranged but only occasionally gory. This is all about mood and showcasing the deterioration of our eponymous character. It isn’t as pure or as satisfying as X (a more straightforward love letter to the slasher) but the scrappy ambition of it is very seductive.

7

Perfect Double Bill: MaXXXine (2024)

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/

Norman Jewison directs Cher, Nicolas Cage and Danny Aiello in this romantic comedy about a New York family of Italian-American’s led astray by the big full moon.

John Patrick Shanley’s script is a witty treat. A gorgeous, warm hug of a movie with enough salt and truth to make you feel that your heartstrings aren’t being yanked by a mercenary endeavour. A nice early full fat Cage performance really stokes the fire.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Mermaids (1990)

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/