Oliver Battershall

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) 3.5/5
Thought it was time I Czeched out some more Czech cinema. I think this film goes about the very sensitive topic really well but sadly there’ll always be people who clutch pearls at any exploration of teenage sexuality and predatory behaviour. The symbolism throughout was striking and the technicolour visuals were expectedly gorgeous in that Czech New Wave way. You know something is truly transgressive when it still polarised audiences 55 years later. That’s cinema, baby!

War of the Worlds (2025) 0.5/5
Monumentally, hilariously terrible from start to finish. So many stupid details that made me laugh. If I was forced to narrow it down to my favourites it’d be the fake dolly zoom effect on a *webcam* and the kid’s YouTube password being his mum’s first name plus the year she died. The most entertaining piece of hacker-slop media of all time. Watch it.

Hairspray (2007) 4/5
Great songs, great dancing, great energy, great fun. I had a smile on my face the whole time and I feel nice and warm inside.

The Searchers (1957) 3/5
For a film touted as such a classic I was struck by how…just fine it was? I’d struggle to see why someone would rank this highly among other Westerns. Some of the jokes were good but they just contributed to the tone feeling messy. The characters’ intentions and the general sense of passage of time felt shaky too. I think I’ve given John Wayne enough of a chance and even putting the on/off-screen racism aside (a big ask) I just find him completely uncharismatic, sleazy, emotionless and miserable!

Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) 2.5/5
I found this a real slog. There were glimpses of things I liked and I think the hijinks in the last act stretched to a standalone feature would be great, but there was just too much that I found tedious or simply didn’t fully understand. I like when films blur the line between performance and reality but I couldn’t really grasp what that theme was supposed to represent here, bluntly I’m not sure what the point of all of this was. The rating feels a tad harsh but I was just getting tired of listening to people talk and talk. I had to wait 190 bloody minutes until they actually went boating!

Friendship (2024) 4.5/5
If you’re a fairly introverted nerd like me who hyperanalyses social situations (which statistically speaking, if you’re reading this you are) then the visceral, vicarious sense of dread brought by watching a character in a cringe comedy get in a myriad of scrapes is often simply too unnerving to stomach. But for 100 minutes in a crowded cinema where so many around me were laughing, that fear dissipated and I was able to laugh (hard) with them in what felt like camaraderie in the shared battle against letting the cringe swallow us up. It was oddly liberating. I would’ve had real trouble getting through this if I’d watched it alone on my laptop. Tim Robinson is expectedly brilliant in a role that expertly plays on that vicarious fear I described in his trademark absurdist way that fans of his Netflix show will know all too well. I missed the feeling of laughing along with others at the cinema, this was a nice time.

Virus (1999) 3.5/5
Quite puzzled by all the negative reviews for this. Okay it’s not the best but it’s a very easy watch with some solid moments. A really cool concept is executed pretty well with some nice gooey practical effects and gnarly explosions. Also Donald Sutherland with an awful Irish(??) accent.

sex, lies, and videotape (1989) 3.5/5
Quietly a really impressive directorial debut from Soderbergh, who I’ve always admired. A pensive look at modern relationships, voyeurism and social conventions, accompanied by a beautifully eery score and some brilliant writing from the young Soderbergh.

Halloween (1978) 3/5
Sadly I found one of horror’s foundational texts to be quite tame. Considering how great Carpenter usually was at creating the paranoid sensation of being watched and followed, I didn’t find the character of Michael Myers as compelling as say, Jason Voorhees who has more of a recognisable motive and connection to his environment. Carpenter’s iconic score salvaged this though, along with Donald Pleasence who I just wish was in this more.