Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary

Daryl Duke directs Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York in this crime caper where a bank teller realises he is about to be robbed… and so swindles both his employer and the criminal.

What if The Apartment was a heist movie? What if Elliot Gould was seemingly the most irresistible guy in the world but also a lowly bank clerk with minimal morals? What if Christopher Plummer was a sadist who really liked dressing up? What if he were the only character whose motivations you were ever truly certain of? What if every other scene was utterly, viciously unpredictable? What if the screenplay was an early apprentice job for the future director of Bad Influence and LA Confidential’s Curtis Hanson? What if you realised this is exactly the sort of movie you wanted to watch any night of the week?

10

Perfect Double Bill: The Long Goodbye (1973)

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/

Paul Verhoeven directs Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbé and Susan Penhaligon in this WWII drama following the fortunes of a group of college friends who become Dutch resistance fighters when the Nazis occupy Amsterdam.

Another one off my bucket list. Feels like a miniseries that has been condensed into feature length, a bit rough in the edit. Then you add in Verehoeven’s love of kink, filth and sympathy for the devil. It often feels simultaneously both simplistic yet sophisticated. If you approach Soldier Of Orange just as a rousing boy’s own adventure (with bonus nudity) it satisfies. Hauer’s character is a strange protagonist in that even though everyone treats him as the hero of the piece you’d struggle to put your finger on any single thing, positive or proactive, he attempts in the first two hours. He is just kinda swept along by history, ironically offering little resistance to the greater forces that drag him from one intrigue to the next. Once there is a clearly laid out mission for him to execute though the final 40 minutes takes stronger shape. Verhoeven is a fascinating storyteller in that he rarely judges any of the young people… even the Dutch friend who becomes a Nazi officer or the Jewish girl who survives by any means necessary. Except in the final shot where one forgotten cohort is revisited, his camera holds on two very different faces, and we are silently asked whether anyone should have sat out the effort to free oneself and one’s country from tyranny?

7

Perfect Double Bill: Black Book (2006)

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/

Tim Burton directs Paul Reubens, EG Daily and Diane Salinger in this road movie where single minded man boy Pee-wee Herman crosses America searching for his stolen bicycle.

A sweet, naive treat. A children’s film for adults – this has bags of confidence. The comedy comes from the lack of blinking or winking no matter how strange or goofy it gets. Reubens is fully committed to the bit, Burton keeps things visually exciting even as a gun-for-hire. Stop motion, carnival colour schemes and Corman-esque horror jut into the subject and the director’s shared love of Eisenhower-era kitsch. Will happily watch the sequels at some point.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Bicycle Thieves (1948)

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/

Kenneth Branagh directs himself, Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer in this all-star murder mystery sequel centred again around Agatha Christie’s Poirot.

I tried to have a nap midway through but couldn’t manage it. Flat champagne.

3

Perfect Double Bill: Murder On the Orient Express (2017)

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/

Ruben Fleischer directs Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Tati Gabrielle in this adventure blockbuster based on the treasure hunting video games.

A pleasant approximation of the superior gaming series. The casting works, although the banter between this Nathan Drake and Sully merely only reaches “Alright” on the buddy chemistry meter. The set pieces are OK by default too, by the end of the first hour you’ll be hankering for something a bit extra than a scrap in a Papa Johns though. Then a extended finale really delivers… an all out battle between two rotting galleons suspended in flight by helicopters. The wham bam spills over in remedying spades, almost reaching Indiana Jones levels of absurdity and excitement. Roll on number 2!

6

Perfect Double Bill: Jungle Cruise (2021)

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/

Magnus von Horn directs Magdalena Kolesnik, Julian Swiezewski, and Aleksandra Konieczna in this Polish drama following an emotionally frazzled social media influencer as the pressure to maintain her healthy, sunny image begins to chafe with her more complicated daily life.

Well acted character study that often looks great. Even though we are pretty much constantly following Magdalena Kolesnik’s Barbie doll fitness instructor in almost the first person we aren’t sure if her emotional lows are symptoms of an imminent breakdown or another gambit to broaden her social media fame. Kolesnik deftly walks the tightrope between vulnerable and calculating right up until the last shot. Not a subject I’m massively interested in but a solid exploration with some nasty twists.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Ingrid Goes West (2017)

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/

Jay Chandrasekhar directs Kevin Heffernan, Brittany Daniels and himself in this horror comedy set on an island resort where a mystery slasher is killing the sex crazed staff.

Nowhere near the stamp of Super Troopers and with very few laugh out loud jokes. Still Broken Lizard prove a hard comedy ensemble to dislike even at middling power. They are clearly having a great time together and that is infectious. They are generous to guest players Bill Paxton, M.C. Gainey and especially Brittany Daniels. The slasher stuff is on a par with any low budget straight horror from the mid-80s. “Peenolope.”

5

Perfect Double Bill: Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

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/

Douglas Sirk directs Lana Turner, Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner in this remake of the 1934 weepie following the fortunes of two single mothers; a white career woman and her dedicated black maid whose own daughter can “pass”.

My nanny’s favourite movie. Sumptuous production design. Progressive characterisation. Multiple tissues needed. The funeral epilogue is one of the best exploitations of Technicolor cinema ever. The complex performances of Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner blow the petty and vapid white characters off the screen.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967)

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/

James Wong directs Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman and Kris Lemche in this horror sequel where survivors of a rollercoaster tragedy realise Death is still engineering their demises in a series of unlikely accidents.

A series highlight. At least four stupendous kill sequences… especially the deliriously silly topless tanning booth trap. Only the cliffhanger ending feels like an uninspired afterthought. Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes her mark early into her career as a believable final girl.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Death Proof (2007)

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/

Akira Kurosawa directs Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai and Keiju Kobayashi in this sequel to the Japanese samurai classic, Yojimbo.

Not quite as action packed or as epic as the first one but Mifune gets more character shading and plenty of comedy support. The movie ends on a satisfying geyser of blood.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Yojimbo (1961)

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/