Oliver Battershall

Predator 2 (1990) 2.5/5
It’s the Predator! He’s back. But this time, in the city. Why’s he in the city? Don’t ask. It made me realise how important the setting was in the first movie. It was his territory that the protagonists were invading, and he had the upper hand in battle at all times. There was also a limited cast that he could pick off one by one for sport. Here it’s cool to see the Predator interact with an urban environment and use new powers, but he’s far more vulnerable, and he’s less fun to watch when he isn’t playfully holding all the cards. As for the human characters, it’s mostly wooden performances except for Danny Glover who brings great energy as the lead and pretty much carries the movie. It’s because of him that despite all this I’m coming away thinking, wait a minute this kind of rocked?

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 3.5/5
More fun than I’d anticipated. Evans is very good and there’s plenty of decent action. Red Skull and his dodgy accent aren’t particularly engaging but I didn’t find that mattered too much.

Day Shift (2022) 3/5
A pretty bad screenplay that’s helped somewhat by Dave Franco’s ability to do the MCU-style “quirky” humour actually quite well. Also some really good action, which is enough to make this fairly enjoyable.

La Strada (1954) 4.5/5
My first and only experience with Fellini before this was of 8½ over two years ago, and I really didn’t enjoy it. So much so that for all that time I’d put off watching anything else he’d made, until I decided to finally stop being stubborn and watch one of his other highly regarded films, and I’m glad I did. It’s a film bursting with pathos. Giulietta Masina gives a beautiful performance that’s uniquely meek and lovable, and is a ray of sunshine throughout a powerfully heartbreaking story. Neorealist film can easily veer into the morbidly miserable to the point of being completely unenjoyable but the performances, screenplay and writing of the antagonist make this a must-see.

Mad Max (1979) 2.5/5
A strange one. Naturally I had the grandiose mayhem of Fury Road on my mind when I started this, and maybe it’s unfair to compare the two but even with the vast disparity in budget I was hoping for something at least remotely as action-packed. Instead, this dragged quite a bit, due in part to a lack of worldbuilding. It felt like a sequel, very little exposition or explanation as to why any of this is happening or why I should care about these people. The action was a little sparse, with much of it happening off camera. Some cool costume and set design but overall a bit puzzled at how this became an international sensation.

Gettysburg (1993) 3/5
When you surrender yourself to the divine power of online randomisation for your movie-watching choices (yes I’m still doing that) sometimes you land on a 4.5 hour US Civil War epic and you just have to be okay with that. Well then. I’d say this operated somewhere between a standard filmed re-enactment and something that can actually be called a movie. Grandiose battles, cheesy but fantastic fake beards, interesting strategic discussions and rousing speeches, but very dull cinematography and music. Because of this I wouldn’t say it had much of a bias towards either side, so I obviously would’ve liked to see the Confederates’ real motives re: slavery discussed critically a bit more. But, I can acknowledge that this is at least better than the many many movies that have a brazen loyalty to the Confederacy and the Lost Cause myth. At times I definitely suffered from simply not having enough introductory knowledge of the conflict to get invested or fully know what was happening. There were times when I couldn’t even remember the difference between the two sides’ uniforms. But, unbelievably for this runtime, I think it was decently paced and I was rarely bored. I really really did like those fake beards.

Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) 2/5
Aside from some Junji Ito stuff, The Killing Joke is the only graphic novel I’ve ever read. I reread it in prep for this and was reminded of how great it is, from the lurid colours to the numerous iconic panels. It was strange to watch this right after, not just because you’re hearing voice actors read the lines you’ve already gone through verbatim in your head many times, but also because this was so surprisingly tepid. Kevin Conroy as Batman sounds bored stiff, there’s no attempt to recreate the chilling atmosphere or beautiful art direction of the original novel, and most of all what on earth were they thinking with that prelude tacked onto the start??? It serves no purpose to the story, it’s just an insult to Barbara and gives Batman the opportunity to mansplain her own objectification to her (not before a quick rooftop shag). I mean come on! As for the rest of this, there’s only so much the ever-reliable voice acting of Mark Hammill can do to redeem a retelling that just plods along with characterless animation. I usually wouldn’t give a rating this low to a film that’s mostly just unremarkable, but the more I think about this the more annoyed I get that they somehow fumbled the original story THIS badly.

Late Night Trains (1975) 1/5
I don’t necessarily mind sleazy movies, but this is a step beyond that. Zero taste, purpose or artistic merit to the depiction of sexual violence. No attempt at a meaning or a message, just gleeful exploitation with no respite or satisfactory outcomes. The kind of film that makes you feel dirty inside.

Mississippi Burning (1988) 4/5
The leading duo of Hackman and Dafoe really makes this, the latter of whom now becomes my most watched actor ever with 17 movies. Their dynamic and different outlooks on the case was fun and well put together. I think considering the runtime there were some missed opportunities to directly show more focus and understanding of the black characters’ specific pains and angers, but aside from that it’s a gripping film that pulls less punches than many other films of its ilk.

Vacation (2015) 3/5
Not as bad as many seem to think, has a rocky start with some predictable cringe humour (the worst kind of humour to do badly) but improves with some fun cameos later on.