Oliver Battershall

The In-Laws (1979) 4.5/5
Decided to give this a try after watching a few Columbo episodes recently and being reminded of just how warm I feel inside whenever I see Peter Falk in anything. This really didn’t disappoint, he’s expectedly great in this screwball-ish comedy with edgy humour that never sacrifices sincerity. Alan Arkin plays the absolute perfect straight man, and he steals the show in a brilliant 3rd act that left me in stitches. Fun hijinks throughout that always leave you guessing.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) 4/5
It’s everything an Elvira movie should be. Campy, full of one-liners, a bit mental, and very very horny. The kind of movie that if it had been a box office success they’d have been doing it wrong. Raunchy and playful but earnestly warm in an Addams Family sort of way.

One Cut of the Dead (2017) 3.5/5
A charming film within a film within a film, which technically becomes a film within a film within a film within a film during the BTS stuff shown during the credits! A unique and well-executed premise with comedy that was always fun and inventive even if it wasn’t laugh out loud stuff. An entertaining ode to DIY filmmaking.

Challengers (2024) 4.5/5
A really well-casted exercise in building complex tension with a non-linear narrative. It’s rare that the characters and events in a film are as such that I’m not really rooting for any particular one of them, I just let myself get swept up in the drama of these equally unlikeable and dysfunctional (yet fascinating) perverts. The typography, the homoerotic stuff, the gorgeous Reznor/Ross soundtrack, the double entendres, the constant accumulation of sexual tension, all very fun.

Hi, Mom! (1970) 4/5
One of De Palma’s and De Niro’s first films each, this was really bizarre and enjoyable. The fact that it feels like 2 or 3 completely different stories crammed into one film put me off at first and will do for others, but by the end, with its hilarious final few lines, I didn’t really care and found myself with a big stupid smile.

Wayne’s World (1992) 3.5/5
Decided to give one of the only good SNL movies a rewatch after about 8 years. I think about 30% of every comedy movie ever made follows this exact plot, but it was quite fun when it stuck to the gags and the array of fun smaller characters was nice. Strange to hear Americans calling each other mental, that’s our thing!

The Substance (2024) 4.5/5
I’ve seen my fair share of body horror in my time. From the Saw trap compilations I watched when I was definitely too young to be doing so to the Cronenberg phase I went through a while back. But this was my first experience with it in a cinema, and I hadn’t anticipated how different it’d be. There’s no pausing for a breather, the gruesome sound design surrounds you, and every fleshy morsel of practical effects is in full HD view. But with these films I’d say I value them more on what surrounds and contextualises the actual horror, and this was one of the best for that. Considering how surface-level the concept of using body horror is for representing female beauty standards, this nails it in a surprisingly nuanced way with plenty of dark satire and symbolism. Two brilliant leading performances, great cinematography and sound, a really triumphant effort from a relative newcomer director.

Confessions of a Police Captain (1971) 3.5/5
An obscure film that had somehow ended up in the murky depths of my watchlist, I’ve no idea why or how but hey here we are! It took a while for me to get into this one, mainly because there were too many named characters introduced early on for me to easily keep up with, and also a few American judicial terms I wasn’t familiar with. What’s a district attorney! Isn’t this supposed to be Italian! Anyway I liked some of the snappy dialogue and the undercurrent of corruption throughout was very well portrayed with some memorable scenes. Plus, I love a villain that just looks like a villain. Good casting.