George Cukor directs Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Doris Nolan in this romantic comedy where a whirlwind romance hits a bump when the young free thinking man obviously has more in common with the black sheep sister of his betrothed’s family.

Essentially a filmed play but Grant and Hepburn have some lovely moments together. Feels as much about responsibility and philosophical freedom as it does fancying your sister’s fiancée.

7

Perfect Double Bill: The Philadelphia Story (1940)

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/

Andy Fickman directs Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum and Vinnie Jones in this teen comedy romance where a keen footballer is shut out of her high school team due to sexism so she poses as her brother at his new boarding school to play with the boys.

Formulaic but you couldn’t accuse Bynes of going at any or every line reading at half mast. She powers through weak jokes and predictable contrivances like a spasming dynamo. More power to her.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Sydney White (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/

Peter Bogdanovich directs Cybill Shepherd, Barry Brown and Cloris Leachman in this period comedy where a young man of good standing falls for a devil-may-care American beauty as they travel through Europe.

Sought out due to a whole chapter being devoted to it in Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation. Also as Bogdanovich has always been a nagging blind spot in my New American Cinema knowledge. Starts gratingly. The rapid dialogue and awkward comedy of manners is a turn off. But once you submit to the rhythms of Daisy Miller, Cybill shines. Flighty, enigmatic, vital. This might be her best cinematic role. The ending is unexpected but there are visual clues as to where this is ultimately headed throughout. It won me over, there are some lovely pregnant shots here. And I had the nagging suspicion I had watched this as a kid, probably not knowing what it was, as it felt eerily familiar.

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Heiress (1949)

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/

Damien Power directs Havana Rose Liu, Dale Dickey and Dennis Haysbert in this mystery thriller where a recovering drug addict discovers a kidnapping in progress while stranded at a rest stop during a blizzard.

The Hateful Eight for Gen-Z. Someone’s got a red hot poker up these stranded strangers’ ass and only a hot junkie is gonna figure out whose name is on the handle. There’s no twist or turn that particularly surprises but it is slick and looks decent. I watched this with the sound down low late one night when the cat really really couldn’t sleep, let the whole world know and I wanted at least one person in the house to get a decent night’s kip. It fulfilled its brief as a 3 A.M. throwaway movie.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Bad Times At the El Royale (2018)

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/

Rick Rosenthal directs Sean Penn, Esai Morales and Clancy Brown in this teen prison movie where a young tough becomes top dog in a nightmarish reform school.

Imagine an American Scum. It doesn’t completely convince to start. The High School gangland stuff doesn’t ring true. Yet once we are behind bars that shock nastiness ramps up but so does a certain lived-in air. What is fascinating is that even though Sean is the lead, he’s kinda outshone by the ensemble. Clancy Brown makes for an imposing second string bully. Alan Ruck and Ally Sheedy are notable in early roles. A dude called Eric Gurry, who didn’t have a big career, steals all his scenes as Penn’s troubled but strong willed Jewish cellmate. Reni Santoni makes his mark as the one decent youth worker in the prison. There’s rapes, shivings, escapes and systematic brutality… yet Bill Conti’s score is way too treacly to really match the action. That’s one particular mistake that holds this good little movie back.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Scum (1979)

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/

Francis Ford Coppola directs William Campbell, Luana Anders and Bart Patton in this chiller where a family in an Irish castle plot around an inheritance.

A Roger Corman produced quickie, made to rip-off Psycho, with the leftover scraps of budget and production equipment from a biker pic. There’s very little to remember here in spite of a few generic spooky shots… the plot rarely makes sense. You know why what is happening when you realise it at least tries to match a few of the bigger story beats of Psycho in much the same order. Of note only as young Francis eventually moved onto far bigger and better things.

3

Perfect Double Bill: Burnt Offerings (1976)

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/

Larry Cohen directs Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark and David Carradine in this indie monster movie where an ancient Peruvian lizard god moves into the top floor of the Chrysler Building.

Cheap but plenty of moxy. No dashing hunks, Fay Wrays or noble scientists here. Cohen asks what if a real sleazy prick was the population of New York’s only chance against a hungry kaiju? Think Steve Buscemi as Mr Pink. Or Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo. That’s the energy Michael Moriarty’s Jimmy Quinn, a piano playing wheelman, brings to his unlikely lead. He’s oh so fantastic here, you kinda wish we got more Jimmy Quinn adventures. Him trying to con the wolf man, or brokering first contact with invading martians. The rest of the movie… adequate. Claymation FX are used sparingly but they aren’t gonna give Ray Harryhausen any sleepless nights. The New York shoot is down and dirty… they allegedly made the news for ignoring permits, getting window cleaners to dress up as SWAT guys and fire live ammo off the outside of the 50th floor. There’s a subplot with a ritual serial killer too that feels like padding. But Moriaty’s loveable little scumbag is the reason to revisit and he rocks.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Alligator (1980)

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/

Jack Nicholson directs himself, Harvey Keitel and Meg Tilly in this belated sequel to Chinatown.

There is lots of lazy filmmaking and storytelling that holds this back. It was never going to be Chinatown but does it have to be so random, scribbled. Meg Tilly and Madeline Stowe do a lot with a little as the femme fatales. Probably no surprise that the best scenes are Jack lazily seducing them or vice versa. Everything else is pretty basic, often feeling like not enough takes or coverage were shot on location for this find any kinda form in the edit suite. Not unwatchable but a sheer plummet in terms of quality compared to the original.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Chinatown (1974)

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/

Robert Bresson directs François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche and Maurice Beerblock in this arthouse drama where a French resistance fighter slowly escapes prison.

Based on a true story but it feels like we are operating in constrictive metaphor. There’s some tasks that take our protagonist months to achieve that no matter how painstakingly and cautious you did them shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. That gripe aside this is a very immersive experience that pulls and tugs at your own bravery, ethics and resolve with a surreptitious grip.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Escape From Alcatraz (1979)

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/

Wolfgang Reitherman directs Rickie Sorensen, Karl Swenson
and Junius Matthews in this Disney animated classic that retells King Arthur’s childhood being tutored by Merlin.

Very bitty but not without little spikes of excitement.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Alice In Wonderland (1951)

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/