Oliver Battershall

The King of Staten Island (2020) 3.5/5
Davidson strips back the irony and cool detachment from his character’s persona and indeed his own public image to make something that’s very vulnerable. At points the pity and self-deprecation get a bit much but this has plenty to say about grief and coming of age.

Operation Petticoat (1959) 3.5/5
A light and quirky, if a little long, comedy that’s worth watching just to see Cary Grant and Tony Curtis together. The comedy was pretty good, some of it even felt like Mel Brooks before Mel Brooks, but it definitely could’ve done with less of the “ah, women, what are they bloody like!” humour.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007) 4/5
Before this my only exposure to ATHF was all those samples on that (fantastic) album MF DOOM did with Danger Mouse. Now I have to check out the original show. Full of that absurd Adult Swim stupid yet smart humour that I’m very fond of. Maybe I’m over-rating this but I think I needed a bit of a comfort watch.

Kazaam (1996) 2.5/5
Okay hear me out. This is purported to be up there with the worst films ever, but it’s not THAT bad! It’s a mish-mash of genre clichés that are unremarkable but reliable and Shaq is a fun enough presence for the awful rapping and bad dialogue to not really matter. It’s got a heart and it’s easy to watch. By the way, athletes loved starring in movies in the 90’s didn’t they. Shaq is 24 here! I can’t imagine how I’d feel if Ryan Yates took a few months out of Nottingham Forest’s Champions League push to film a kids movie.

Call Me by Your Name (2017) 3.5/5
A story that didn’t do a ton for me but the aesthetic and gentle tone was very pleasing. My overwhelming feeling throughout was how much I envy the movie’s wardrobe department, I need all those high quality loose-fitting shirts in time for summer.

Smokin’ Aces (2006) 3.5/5
Very good fun with a solid ensemble cast. The editing and fast pacing made sure things never got boring and all the characters had their moments. All the best movies have at least a few things in common with Ocean’s Eleven.

Les Misérables (2012) 3.5/5
Definitely flawed, but brazenly emotive with energetic performances that are almost cathartic just to watch. The songs were good and sung with appropriate passion but by the end (inevitably for a 150-minute sung-through musical) I was starting to think “bloody hell you don’t have to sing everything”. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonhan Carter were great. Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actor despite being in about 10% of the movie and you know what, fair play. Now to see if this director has done any other adaptations of acclaimed musica- *gunshot*.

The Hobbit (1977) 3/5
When you’re used to the magnificent scale and scope of the book and the film series that tells the same story in six times as many minutes as this, a humble television special was only ever going to feel slightly underwhelming and rushed. The animation style is crude and the omission of many plot points makes for a somewhat un-epic experience but the gentle, jovial tone is quite infectious.

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) 3/5
An absolutely bewildering experience. Pure 80’s coke-fuelled mania. I gave up trying to keep up with or make any sense of what was happening at some point and opted for a meta fondness of how mental its existence is. Hard to give a rating, it’s fantastically charming and absurd yet completely garbled and messy.