Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Dominique Othenin-Girard directs Danielle Harris, Donald Pleasence and Don Shanks in this slasher sequel where Michael Myers… well… you already know…

Cheap and choppy. Unimpressive teens, unimpressive kills, weird mask redesign. Squanders all that was intriguing about the end of the fourth entry. There’s a car chase in a field that is a glimmer of hope. Clearly cut to ribbons by an over zealous producer. The hints at some greater conspiracy around The Shape have little impact but do confuse… Poor old Donald Pleasance is made to play heroic Dr Loomis like a batshit crazy child abuser.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Halloween 4: The Revenge Of Michael Myers (1988)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

David Zellner directs Rinko Kikuchi, himself and Nobuyuki Katsube in this strange but mostly true story about a Japanese woman who became obsessed with the lost ransom money in the fictional Coen’s Brothers film Fargo and travelled to freezing Minnesota to find it.

A winning mixture of bleakness and whimsy. This is a tragic story of mental illness, admirably never played for laughs. Kikuchi completely sells the seductive drive of this unremarkable woman on a ridiculous quest. Often hauntingly beautiful also.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Well… Fargo (1996)… Duh!

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Jeffrey McHale directs Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Paul Verhoeven in this documentary about the production, evisceration and cult legacy of Showgirls.

Big fan of Showgirls, and not in an entirely snide way. Every time I watch it I have a memorable experience. This documentary is pretty even handed exploring its over inflated problems and celebrating its extreme pleasures. Slightly strange start to watching this documentary. The stream struggled to buffer and then played with the talking head narration overlapping in triplicate. It actually worked quite nicely, adding a woozy fever dream like atmosphere to the heightened subject matter. But then I paused it… realised it was definitely a glitch. Was slightly disappointed in all honesty that it wasn’t a stylistic choice. I rarely watch “DVD extra” Making Of Content but do feel that movies with this footprint of cultural impact deserve documentaries at least as well made, and their own thing, as this. Or nothing at all.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Showgirl (1995)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Steve Miner directs Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Williams and Josh Hartnett in this legacy sequel slasher where Michael Myers stalks Laurie Strode through a boarding school.

Notable more as a post-Scream artefact than a Halloween sequel. I have an over inflated affection for this one. Almost unjustifiable. But there we are… H20 is short and slick, certainly doesn’t outstay its welcome despite nothing at all happening in the middle act. There aren’t even enough kills but Curtis, Williams and LL Cool J bring a smile to the face and it always looks pretty. Killer filler.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Olivier Assayas directs Maggie Cheung, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Nathalie Richard in this fish-out-of-water meta comedy where a Hong Kong action star is miscast in a turbulent remake of French silent classic with a massive language and cultural barrier to overcome.

Quite up its own arse but Maggie Cheung shines. The punkish elements are the best moments but you can’t help but feel that often you are sitting through a “you had to be there” in-joke that runs for feature length. Never really solidifies into anything worth your time.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Les Vampires (1916)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Ryusuke Hamaguchi directs Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura and Masaki Okada in this Japanese drama where a bereaved spouse has to cast a play where his dead wife’s famous lover auditions for a role.

Oscar winning and quite classy. Nowhere near as erotic as Wheel of Fortune And Fantasy (despite a strong start that suggests otherwise). In fact, the 40 minute, pre-credits, prologue was easily the strongest section. The remainder is lengthy, gentile, almost ambient at times. Ultimately this is a film about the fake way we present ourselves to the world, how our actions don’t really match up to our image, how we are all performers. It is based on a short story by Murakami. Technically perfect and notably well acted, there is little to fault. At three hours, it is a literary and a cerebral experience. As I grow older my tastes lean back towards the emotive… and spectacle. I can’t see me rushing into watching Drive My Car again in spite of all its fine qualities. It just isn’t my flavour.

7

Perfect Double Bill: An Actor’s Revenge (1963)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske direct Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones and Christian Rub in this Walt Disney classic about the puppet who wants to become a real boy.

As a kid Pinocchio used to be up there with The Jungle Book as one of my Disney favourites. The evolution of the animation from Snow White to this is notable. Nearly every song is a banger. When You Wish Upon a Star / There Are No Strings On Me / Give A Little Whistle! Does the general population even remember that Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life For Me) came from this? Memorably hissable villains: Honest John, Stromboli, The Coachman, Monstro. The utter dark nightmare that is Pleasure Island. The episodic plot is a tad too repetitive. Pinocchio is too much of a sap head to really care about if you are an adult. The syrup and the nightmare don’t alway gel all that well together. But it is still a magical experience overall.

8

Perfect Double Bill: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

David O. Russell directs Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie in this period conspiracy caper (based on some true historical events) where three unlikely soulmates try to clear their names and stop fascism in 1930s New York.

Margot Robbie is like a beacon of hope in this cold mess. I admire the enterprise, but the narrative is too formless and erratic to ever hook you in. You know exactly where this is headed early doors despite plenty of long ways round and misdirections but the plot has no internal drive. It really is just an endless parade of famous faces in interwar drag. A really stellar parade of names cropping up for cameos and bits but eventually the effect wears off and you realise the shaggy dog story ain’t got all that much to say. Which is ironic for such a talky film that doesn’t ever know when to keep schtum. There are neat moments, Bale is reaching for something ambitious in his deliberately abrasive lead performance that he doesn’t quite manage. You’ll leave the multiplex talking about Mike Myers and Taylor Swift. I had a real fear at times this was going to be I Heart Huckabees as a Coen Brothers pastiche. It never hits that low, but the pretension and unruly nature of Amsterdam does bust a very expensive gamble.

4

Perfect Double Bill: A Rage In Harlem (1991)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Gina Prince-Bythewood directs Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu and Lashana Lynch in this 19th century historical epic about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

Lots to like here. Terrific Terence Blanchard score – rousing. Excellent locations and production design. The colours and detailing of the costuming by Gersha Phillips stand out – I don’t even want to guess what the seashell budget was for this? The combat work is aggressive and convincing… though maybe each set piece needed a few more beats per battle to truly feels expansive. And then there’s that cast! Everybody shines (apart from the slavers / himbo romantic interest.) Viola Davis obviously owns the film but you equally crave as much screentime from Lynch, Shelia Atim and John Boyega as the narrative can allow. Thuso Mbedu as the young warrior in training is a star in the making. Yet all these positives can’t alter the problem that the storytelling often feels rather rote at times… and the cinematography by Polly Morgan is awkwardly flat and uninspired. Her framing here doesn’t understand how to make a moment look iconic and she has little flair for action. Proof that it takes just a few out of sync technical elements to hobble a potential new classic.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Amistad (1997)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/

Anne Fletcher directs Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in this legacy sequel to the ‘olden times witches terrorise a modern day Halloween night’ kids cult favourite.

Just as shrill and convoluted as the original. The childhood prologue set in the 17th century was actually alright.

4

Perfect Double Bill: Hocus Pocus (1993)

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also 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/