Oliver Battershall

Stir Crazy (1980) 3/5
Pretty dated and definitely too long but the third highest grossing movie of 1980 certainly isn’t without its charm. I really love that song in the intro, a full Gene Wilder novelty album in his heyday wouldn’t have gone amiss. This is my second watch of my favourite actor Sidney Poitier’s small directorial catalogue, and although there’s a bit less filmmaking merit to this than Buck and the Preacher, I can imagine him smiling away behind the scenes while Pryor and Wilder get silly and that’s all I need.

Klute (1971) 3.5/5
As a paranoid thriller, especially compared to Pakula’s other work in the genre, it isn’t great. But as a moody slow-burn drama exploring misogynist rage and the ethics of sex work in an imperfect but more nuanced way than you’d expect for 1971, it’s very solid. It’s beautifully lit, and I love how Jane Fonda glows in the centre of the frame but the male characters are shrouded in darkness and close-ups. Sutherland and Fonda have good chemistry though I’m not really sure a romance between them was necessary. Overall I definitely felt there was something missing here, but I enjoyed it regardless.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 4.5/5
I love Donald Sutherland. When I see him I have an overwhelming feeling that everything’s going to be okay, and I love when films like this tap into his innate tenderness (the same can be said for baby Goldblum!). He and Brooke Adams made a perfect pair. I loved the soundtrack and all its myriad chimes and whines and throbbing synths and such, really haunting. Very raw paranoid horror with the odd practical effect that’d make Carpenter blush. That ending, whew! A real gem.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) 4/5
Good silly fun with an unrelenting upbeat energy. The kaleidoscopic colours and comic book-y aesthetic were very charming and the voice talent was perfect. All of this made the central message of “social network…more like ANTIsocial network!!!!” somehow not seem tedious or pandering at all.

Car Wash (1976) 1.5/5
An ensemble comedy that revels in its raunchiness and tries to gently satirise black subcultures of the time, but to me it all felt tediously unfunny and annoying with no characters being developed or properly explored. The tonal inconsistency is odd too, at the end it tries to make a U-turn into a class-conscious heart-warming drama and just feels muddled. The cameos from the Pointer Sisters and Richard Pryor as well as the pleasantly recognisable original theme offered some respite but after 100 minutes I hadn’t cracked a smile.

The Color of Pomegranates (1969) 3.5/5
A really hard one to rate. Reminded me a lot of one of those videos you see playing in a modern art gallery and stare incredulously at before moving on. As a sheer spectacle it’s completely gorgeous, full of evocative technicolour hues and surrealist imagery. The position and movement of actors within each carefully designed set feels so indescribably impressive to me, at times like a scene from a painting or ancient hieroglyphics brought to life. It’s all very cerebral and meditative. The elephant in the room is that I had zero idea what was going on, what the intended meanings were, or how it applied to the life of its subject Sayat-Nova. But once I got over that and reminded myself that barely anyone else watching this is familiar with ancient Armenian poetry either, it was very freeing. I would like to note I at least took the liberty of reading the movie’s Wiki page afterwards so I’m not remaining completely ignorant!

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010) 3/5
It’s important to maintain an air of mystique about yourself in life, so I won’t divulge why shortly after clocking into work this morning I ended up watching Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang in someone’s bedroom. I think this came at the heyday of what I would call the British New Twee era (trademark pending) of kids films that I grew up around. There’s an inevitable warmth to anything like this with a pleasant message and silly characters. The absolutely bonkers ending slightly diminishes the gentle sincerity of it but it can only be a good thing if kids keep watching films like these.

The Beastmaster (1982) 2.5/5
The main character is a bit of a sleazebag (his first interaction with the love interest is pretty horrific), the plot isn’t particularly engaging and despite the movie’s grandeur it still comes off a bit cheap. But some great special effects and creative enemy designs really play their part in redeeming this. Sword and sorcery stuff isn’t much my thing but I have to say I never thought I’d be so moved by a protagonist’s two plucky ferret buddies.