Oliver Battershall

Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965) 2.5/5
The biggest compliment I can pay this film is it seems to have more of an understanding of and sympathy for its troubled female protagonist and her behaviour than many of its contemporaries in the erotic thriller genre. Beyond that though, this was an odd one that dragged and felt a bit aimless. The voyeuristic antagonist is overly demystified to the point where he starts to lose his shadowy creepiness. Cool to see the other guy from Rebel Without a Cause in something at least. Jan Murray has Elliot Anderson eyes.

The Avengers (2012) 3.5/5
I’ve finally watched an Avengers movie as part of my sporadic chronological trawl through the MCU, and this is yet another bankable Pretty Good time that I’ve come to expect! Not much to say but I’m interested to see how long down the line these long ensemble blockbusters can retain their novel charm.

Blade (1998) 4/5
As blood-soaked and carnal as any vampire movie worth its salt, with really fun action and gloriously hokey special effects. That opening, whew! A great time. Bonus points for having some blood-sucking mofos die like the bloke from Big Trouble in Little China.

Alien (1979) 5/5
I knew it’d be sacrilege to not watch a horror film on Halloween night, so I thought it was the perfect time to FINALLY watch Alien. I got the whole series on box set a while back knowing it deserved the upgrade from laptop to telly and oh boy was this worth the wait. The sense of sheer dread this instilled in me was insurmountable, I kept having to remind myself to breathe. The fact that this was able to do that despite me knowing much of the film’s events through cultural references is a testament to Scott’s outstanding directing, H.R. Giger’s distinctive biomechanical art style and the performances of the actors all handling a crisis in myriad ways.

Bugonia (2025) 3.5/5
Much like the Forest game that I raced from into town in order to make this screening, I’ve got positive but mixed feelings about this. Like Kinds of Kindness this seems more intent on leaving you with a sheepishly satiated feeling inside through surreal scenarios and dark humour than putting across a clear message. I didn’t think this was quite as effective as that, maybe because it comes close to sticking to a conventional message so by the end I was left a little more blindsided. I still had fun though, hard not to here if you’re a general fan of Lanthimos.

The Firemen’s Ball (1967) 4/5
A fun irreverent comedy, this is one of my favourite creative ways that a Czech New Wave director has criticised the Communist government through allegory. The ending elevated this to four stars, the charmingly hopeless and absurd atmosphere really stuck with me. Very fun to see that this was done with non-professional actors, most of whom were real attendees of the ball that the film is based on! Vibes of a 30s/40s movie that’d be billed as a “comedy caper!” or even a Wes Anderson movie in its silliness played completely straight.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 5/5
This has been on my rewatch list for a long time now, and god am I glad I got around to it because this has gone from great to perfect in my estimations. Absolutely hilarious. Like, astoundingly hilarious. I had a smile on my face the whole time and was giggling so much. For a film of its time to get that from me to this extent is unparalleled. Peter Sellers is phenomenal but George C. Scott gives my favourite performance of the film. Very impressive on a technical level too, with the effects (especially on THAT shot) and the shadowy lighting really sticking with me. One of the best endings of all time?