Oliver Battershall

Elvis (2022) 4/5
The trailer-esque editing was a bit exhausting for a 2.5 hour movie and there are some usual music biopic pitfalls but Austin Butler’s incredible performance makes all of that feel immaterial.

Sinners (2025) 4.5/5
Finally got round to watching this and hell YEAH. Perfectly paced with layers of symbolism scattered throughout. So effectively creepy yet action-packed and sexy when it wants to be. When the aspect ratio got taller for the fight scene I became probably the most hyped I’ve been in months.

UHF (1989) 4/5
Infectiously silly and heartwarming with some big laughs from the bizarre humour that felt ahead of its time at points. A hit in all the ways you’d expect a Weird Al movie to be. Probably the superior entry in the genre of “We’ve got to raise [AMOUNT OF MONEY] via a [GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING EVENT] to save [BELOVED COMMUNITY INSTITUTION] and defeat [EVIL CAPITALIST]”.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) 4.5/5
I thought Into the Spiderverse was very good but it didn’t leave a massive impression on me. This I feel is a perfect continuation and development of that movie and affected me a tad more. The same charm, humour and stunning visuals but with more stakes and an interesting exploration of fate and personal responsibility. Marvel’s infamous quirky style of comedy is a LOT more palatable when the movie it’s in is actually good. My only note is that Wes Anderson alum Jason Schartzmann’s cheery voice doesn’t lend itself the best to a villain. Now I’m hooked for the final one which is coming in…2027? Okay it should be illegal to make people wait that long after a cliffhanger ending. Marvel need to overwork those visual effects artists even more, stat!

Shallow Hal (2001) 2.5/5
Feels like a fairly typical entry in the Romantic Comedy For Dudes genre of the late 90s to mid 2000’s in that it’s a bit too long, has good intentions handled very badly, relies on cringe humour and generally hasn’t aged the best. Parts of the first half (aside from Tony Robbins extensively plugging his books) did charm me somewhat which bumps this up a bit.

The Straight Story (1999) 3.5/5
A stark departure from the style and motifs we generally think of as “Lynchian”, but at the heart of so much of Lynch’s work lies a burning faith in the power of human compassion to pervade through trauma, and this goes full steam ahead in that direction in a way that I think he always wanted to try. Generally I didn’t find this that remarkable but those slower moments that delve into simple impromptu connections are real highlights.

Dogma (1999) 4/5
So so fun! I had felt kind of tepid about Kevin Smith but now I really see why he was hyped up as the next big thing at one point. If only he’d kept improving after this and not jumped the shark with Jay and Silent Bob (which I always thought was a non-starter anyway). Fantastic casting all round, I always knew in my heart of hearts Alanis Morissette was an ethereal entity.

Ed Wood (1994) 4.5/5
What’s better than the movies? Movies about the movies of course. For all of Tim Burton’s fondness for garish hues, he doesn’t half know how to make black and white look gorgeous. Johnny Depp is just fantastic, little details shine through like Wood’s wide-eyed wonderment at his own creations and his nervous head shakes that slowly turn into nods when he’s pressured into agreeing to something. Hold tightly onto your creative passions through thick and thin, they don’t build statues of critics (except Roger Ebert).

How to Steal a Million (1965) 3/5
I didn’t fall in love with this, my first Audrey Hepburn picture, but it’s certainly fun at times with her wardrobe and the antics of some utterly incompetent Frenchies making up most of my personal highlights.