Oliver Battershall

Force of Evil (1948) 3/5
A decent noir that had its moments but to me lacked focus somewhat. There was always some kind of ‘racket’ going on in these films wasn’t there.

The Big Knife (1955) 3/5
An interesting premise that gets bogged down by a second act that mostly consists of various side-characters entering then exiting the same room as you slowly realise this is a pure melodrama and not the noir you were promised by the title and poster. There weren’t any knives to be seen here, let alone any big ones! Rod Steiger’s brilliantly eccentric performance was a highlight though.

The Horse’s Mouth (1958) 3/5
A rather odd Ealing-y comedy with a fair bit of charm mostly owing to Guinness’ performance as the oldest looking 44-year-old of all time.

Longlegs (2024) 2.5/5
This had been on my watchlist since the pre-release hype first started and I was seeing critics calling it the scariest movie ever. This was many things but I certainly wouldn’t call it scary, yet I don’t think it was particularly concerned with being scary? Creepy yes, even almost comedic, but purely as a horror movie it wasn’t memorable. I did like the resolution of the mystery element (much more than most, seemingly), and that definitely undid some of the issues I had with this, though generally you want there to be a good push/pull between the two elements of a mystery-horror which this lacked. Other annoyances: The gimmick of characters saying vague occult stuff while expressionless lost its creepiness quickly. I thought the households having random framed pictures of the current president to signify time periods was a bit silly. Also, if you want your villain to have an eery sense of mystique about them, don’t make them talk while fully visible in the first scene right after their actor’s named in the opening credits. At its core, unremarkable horror fluff propped up by good marketing and a bit of visual style.

The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010) 4/5
I was a big fan of It Follows, and a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of Under the Silver Lake, and I’ve finally got round to seeing David Robert Mitchell’s debut! This was great, full of his typical irresistably quiet and dreamlike atmosphere the likes of which I’ve only seen in Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. Maybe my favourite teen movie since Risky Business, this examines the mythos of adolescence in all of its liminal awkwardness in a much more tender way than what you’ve seen on film before. A very respectable debut, can’t wait to see what more is to come from this guy. If no one else gets you David, I do!!!

Deadpool (2016) 3.5/5
To be honest I expected to find this movie’s notorious humour a bit irritating but it almost always worked. Not always funny but always fun. Very fun. Cool backstory and love interest, decent villain, feels like one of those early MCU movies where the simple things are done well and the comparatively grounded premise keeps you hooked.

Licorice Pizza (2021) 4/5
Finally filled in this big PTA blind spot! Listen. When you combine this guy with a 70s setting you’re guaranteed beautiful colours, dynamite needle drops and a general abundance of style. But this takes that and adds a strong dash of cuteness without compromising on that suave hotness. Few movies can hit that spot on the Venn Diagram! Cooper Hoffman is bona fide star material like his dad and Alana Haim knows I love a woman with a prominent nose. By the admittedly weaker third act I was kind of wondering what this movie is actually…about, and what overarching meaning I’m supposed to derive since this eventually just becomes a procession of new characters coming and going, but I still was really fond of this overall mostly because of that irrefutable PTA twang. This is maybe his most comedic movie next to OBAA? Bradley Cooper absolutely stole the show with the little screentime he had.