Oliver Battershall

Suspicion (1941) 3.5/5
I’ve seen nowhere near enough Hitchcock films, so I gave this one on iPlayer a try. It wasn’t bad, Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine are good and there’s some decent tension building, but there were lots of missed opportunities to become something more fun and devious rather than a bit tame. People with transatlantic accents calling each other “old bean” never gets old though.

The Great Gatsby (2013) 3/5
For a film set in this time period, the anachronistic soundtrack and Luhrmann’s campy style take some getting used to, and were a bit of a love/hate thing for me. Also I guess this is more of a comment on the original story than the movie but when you run through the events of the story in your head there really are a lot of convenient coincidences and illogical decisions from characters for such a highly lauded novel. I liked Tobey Maguire though and I didn’t mind the runtime despite some irregular pacing.

Rush Hour (1998) 4/5
Just a classic buddy cop movie that knows how to have fun. Great chemistry between the leads, fantastic choreography for the fight scenes, and a good sense of humour. Hollywood, bring back showing the bloopers during the credits!

B. Monkey (1998) 3/5
Quite enjoyed this little known film that’s part neo-noir and part kitchen sink drama. There’s certainly imperfections, the script isn’t the best, and the introverted jazz listening main character that shows tenderness to a femme fatale sounds like a role I’d have written for myself at age 14. But there’s a charm to it, the cast is solid and the soundtrack is fun and varied. I also feel a bit sorry for Jared Harris who isn’t anywhere to be seen in any of the film’s promo material, all of which seems to be desperate to market this as a high octane heist thriller.

The Bees (1978) 1.5/5
As you’d expect for a B-movie (hehehe) executive produced by Roger Corman, this very much does what it says on the tin. Trillions of killer bees going wild on America. Awful script and awful acting, it stands right on the precipice of being so bad it’s good for me. If there was a bit more of the limb-flailing hysteria and cheesy quips then maybe I’d be fond of this, but I think it meanders a bit much. I don’t care about the pacifist message of environmentalism in the ending, show me a bad guy getting his comeuppance with a trillion well-placed beestings to the face!

Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
I’d been a fan of the ensemble’s self-titled album for a while, so I knew I’d like the backbone of this movie. Hearing the backstories of each member was fun and hearing the music with subtitles let me fully appreciate the passion in every lyric. But sadly its merit as a documentary doesn’t quite live up to the brilliant subject matter. Digital video as a medium has aged so horribly so quickly, the constant low quality grain and dull colour pallette doesn’t do justice to the vibrant subjects and the concert footage might as well have been done by someone in the audience’s crappy camera-phone. The camerawork was tarnished by frequent shaky-cam despite some nice sweeping environmental shots. And ultimately it was nice to learn about these artists as individuals but I wanted to know more about the music itself. Its origins, the lyrics, how it ties into Cuba’s political history, etc.

Witchboard (1986) 4/5
Just a really fun and spooky movie with some cool twists and mild scares. Just as any 80s horror should, it has satanic panic theming, a synth soundtrack and a female protagonist with absolutely majestic hair.

Scrooged (1988) 4/5
I’m on holiday in a lovely cosy cottage right now, only I realised all too late there’s no wifi and sketchy signal, so TV is my bread and butter each day post-sunset here (which is a long time now!). Anyway, caught this on Film4 and thought it was great. Lots of fun, a few characters were especially funny, lots of mirth and laughs had by all. Maybe my new favourite Christmas film. By the way I had to pop up the road to get the 4G to write this review. It’s 3°C right now. Merry Christmas in advance.