Adam Wingard directs Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens in this Monsterverse franchise fantasy adventure where our two ancient titans clash in an epic battle as humans unravel the mysteries of the Hollow Earth kingdom.

Bursting with personality, and out Cameron-ing Avatar in terms of immersive fake spectacle. This is 80% mega budget Saturday morning kids cartoon with occasional inserts to live action humans. I came for big Kong and even bigger Godzilla and they fight and we care and our retinas explode. Tickled every mindless entertainment receptor I have. This franchise is consistently the goofy tits!

7

Perfect Double Bill: Kong: Skull Island (2017)

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

Gil Keenan directs Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon in this sequel to the legacy sequel to the greatest supernatural comedy film ever.

A frosty prologue with a decent shock, a chaotic Ecto-1 chase and then… not really enough ghostbusting comedy or action. Everything that happens is adequate, mainly as an exercise in refurbished nostalgia. One that circles a convoluted narrative with little urgency or organic set-pieces. There are far too many characters (legacy / returning / new), often with nothing to do. Two of my all time favourite stand-up comedians have prominent roles both of which are essentially there to splurge out exposition. Ray Stanz is still the heart and soul of the Ghostbusters. Ultimately a fine one-watcher with a memorable, if underexploited, villain god monster final boss. Still it is the first Ghostbusters movie I wouldn’t chose to revisit. Even the hated-on Answer The Call had more spectral FX and laughter points than this.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Ghostbusters II (1989)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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/