Shameless Self Expression

The story of several London kids relocated to coastal town life as a result of the ongoing WWII. The kids are raised on patriotic rhetoric and engage in ‘war games’ with other kids. They hope the war lasts long enough for them to be of active service age and do their duty for their country. Unfortunately, the fun and ‘boys own adventure’ becomes rather dangerous when Jewish Austrian refugee Oliver Grimm becomes a target of their ignorance and bullying. Martin Tomlinson, a member of this ‘gang’, is Grimm’s one and only friend, and they form a deep bond. Tomlinson is also the younger brother of a conscientious objector, which deeply upsets father Harry Andrews, a proud military captain who is bitter about being injured and inactive. Kay Walsh is Tomlinson’s mum, always getting on Andrews’ nerves, nagging and berating him. Entertaining, interesting 1962 Philip Leacock ( “The War Lover” , “The Little Kidnappers” , “13 West Street” ) film not only gives us a view of WWII from the ...

Bostonian teen Kenny Wormald moves to Bomont, Georgia to live with his Aunt and Uncle (Kim Dickens and Ray McKinnon) after the death of his mother. Bomont is a somewhat conservative town which three years ago banned unsupervised public dancing for minors and playing loud music, as well as imposing a curfew on minors. This was in the wake of an horrific alcohol-related car accident that killed several teens, including the son of the town’s well-respected preacher, Rev. Moore (Dennis Quaid). Former gymnast and dancer Wormald quickly sets his sights on the Rev’s rebellious daughter (Julianne Hough), whilst also challenging the town’s laws about dancing. Miles Teller plays the country bumpkin whom Wormald befriends and also teaches to dance. Patrick John Flueger is Hough’s abusive, a-hole boyfriend, Ziah Colon is Hough’s best pal, and Andie MacDowell is her mother and the Rev’s wife.   The good news is this 2011 remake from writer-director Craig Brewer ( “Hustle and Flow” , t...

The Nazis have started researching all kinds of theories for making the Fuhrer immortal, and scientist Dr. Mangler (Clint Howard!) has stumbled upon the idea of vampirism. Commandant Brand (Michael Paré) thinks half-human half-vampire Rayne (Natassia Malthe) would be the perfect source of blood. Rayne, for her part, has hooked up with The Résistance, led by Nathaniel (Brendan Fletcher), who is just as keen on killing Nazis as Rayne. Obviously, if Hitler gets injected with Rayne’s blood, things could really get out of hand.   Maybe I should stop watching Uwe Boll ( “House of the Dead” , “Far Cry” ) movies, because this is getting scary. The “BloodRayne” series has gotten better with each new entry, and this 2011 film is the best yet. At this rate, the fifth or sixth one will be a five-star classic, and I’m not sure I’m ready to face that. But I will say that it is wrong to call Uwe Boll the worst filmmaker of all-time, and not just because he likes to beat up his critics in...

A serial killer calling himself ‘Blitz’ (Aidan Gillen) is targeting South London cops, and hard-arse Detective Sergeant Brant (Jason Statham) vows to track the demented, but cunning and wily killer down. Brant breaks rules to get the job done, but for this case the macho cop has to deal with the new, openly gay Detective Inspector Porter Nash (Paddy Considine), who is far more by-the-book. David Morrissey plays a hack journo who gets caught up in things, whilst Zawe Ashton plays a young WPC with past drug issues and connections with young street hooligans from the seedy side of town.   If you think the idea of Jason Statham making like a Brit “Dirty Harry” sounds like fun, think again, because this 2011 Elliott Lester (only his second feature to date) film isn’t the brooding, kick-arse urban crime flick you want it to be. For once, I don’t actually blame Lionsgate (infamous for their shitty treatment of some genuinely enjoyable films like “Blood Creek” ) for keeping ...

Jake Gyllenhaal is an Air Force captain who wakes up on a train in Chicago and greeted by a sweet-faced young woman (Michelle Monaghan) who seems to know him and claims he’s a teacher. When he goes to the bathroom and looks in the mirror, he sees someone else’s face instead of his own! Then a bomb goes off, blowing up the train and everyone on board! He wakes up again in some kind of capsule, monitored by Vera Farmiga and scientist Jeffrey Wright who (after much insistence from Gyllenhaal) inform him that he is taking part in an experiment called the Source Code project. This top-secret, probably dubious project involves technology that allows him to take on the body and mind of one of the dead passengers to relive the last 8 minutes on board the train in order to track down the identity of the bomber. Not an easy task in 8 minutes on a large and busy train. It’s not exactly time travel, either. Apparently after someone dies, there’s a small eight minute window that can be opened up ...