Oliver Battershall

The Room (2003) 0.5/5
For a generation raised on ‘Internet culture’ back when that was a more novel concept than it is today, this is a film that feels as culturally influential and recognisable as any more traditionally perceived ‘classic’. A completely unabashed failure of film-making. I’ll do a review even though nothing I can say will shed any new light on this, I mean it’s literally The Room! Hilarious acting of abysmal dialogue that I come dangerously close to finding an almost sincere appreciation of every time I watch a new Lynch film. When you watch this with the meta lens of a guy trying to make a film about how women are all conniving cheaters but making it so overtly bitter that they as a director unwittingly become the antagonist it’s quite profound by complete accident. Anyway it was still a good laugh despite knowing many of the scenes already, Wiseau being desperate to show his bum during the sex scenes killed me (and so did the respective scene in The Disaster Artist).

Game Over, Man! (2018) 3/5
I think people are generally too hard on this kind of movie. It’s nothing special but parts did make me chuckle and I think there’s a fun silly heart to it! Studios haven’t listened to my pleas to stop casting quirky comedians as villains and Jamie Demetriou is sadly another victim of this, I won’t let it affect my enjoyment of Stath Lets Flats. Some of the humour is that annoying identikit modern movie humour of “guy says silly thing and everyone talks about how silly that thing he just said was” but I’m not ashamed to say I ended this movie with a smile on my face.

LA Originals (2020) 3/5
Documentaries about subjects I know nothing about are often my go-to when I’ve no idea what to watch. This piece on two big influences in LA Chicano culture was generally interesting but not without its flaws. I thought it was very drawn out, there was only so much they could say about these guys’ lives so half of it is just talking heads of varying charisma saying “They were so big for the culture!”. Ultimately I think the importance of Cartoon and Estevan’s art was more about what it represented for those around the scene at the time and less about technical prowess, so it takes effort to convey its significance to a modern day audience. I liked that they touched on that sentiment at the end but overall I think this subject could’ve been put across more interestingly.

The Witch (2015) 4/5
And with that I complete Eggers’ feature filmography. I’ve mentioned this before but his work sparks a surprising amount of negative twitter discourse considering he’s just a master of cultivating a vibe and sticking to it. You know you’re getting a spooky folkloric tale whose dependence on candlelight is a proverbial kick in the teeth to anyone watching on their laptop on a sunny day. Who can resist? I love the Early Modern English dialogue and even though I think it’s misrepresented by many as being this terrifying piece of horror the masterful performances and eery atmosphere are a joy. Eggers’ environments feel authentic and lived in despite their fantastical twinges, he’s up there with the kings of four-star movies.

Red Road (2006) 3/5
From the first ten minutes of this I was getting hyped for a thrilling CCTV version of De Palma’s Blow Out. Sadly that wasn’t what transpired. This is a harsh, pensive and messy watch that mostly burns a little too slow to build any reasonable tension. The potential for gripping mystery elements wasn’t capitalised on and there were some frustrating times when I was waiting for something to happen and then the scene just ends. There’s definite merit here though, the roughness of it adds to its effectiveness as a reflection on male rage and grief. Despite my mixed feelings I think the ending wraps it all up well and it’s a concept that was always going to be hard to pull off better than this.

A Real Pain (2024) 4/5
I definitely found this more emotionally affecting than most other “people talking” movies (the Before trilogy, My Dinner With Andre, etc). The clichéd premise of these polar opposite characters interacting and finding unexpected common ground is done very well, mostly due to its leading performances. The awkward sense of humour didn’t always hit but generally coexisted really well with the intended emotional sincerity. The character work is nothing ground-breaking since Culkin is basically playing Roman Roy and Eisenberg plays…Eisenberg, but this all really clicked and will stick with me for a while.

Superman II (1980) 4/5
Dare I say I enjoyed this even more than the first? Has its sillier and stranger moments (Superman getting his powers back immediately was a bit inexplicable) but it knew to ramp up the Clark and Lois stuff because that’s where the real magic is. Made me feel warm and reassured, a sentiment that modern superhero movies have sadly moved away from. I loved the little lines of dialogue from background civilians, it’s the little details that make the movie’s world feel really human.