Shameless Self Expression

  Set after the events of “The Avengers”, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is back on Asgard, and his scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is now sentenced to imprisonment. A race of dark elves (led by Christopher Eccleston) poses a new threat with something called The Aether. And this is where Thor’s human acquaintance Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) comes in. An ill-advised investigation of some kind of wormhole/inter-dimensional portal has somehow seen Jane become possessed by The Aether. Thor has a plan to use Jane as bait for the dark elves, but unfortunately this means letting Loki loose and forming a shaky alliance with his untrustworthy brother. Their father Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) has no knowledge of this plan, and won’t be happy when he finds out. Kat Dennings returns as Jane’s friend Darcy, with Stellan Skarsgaard back as their scientist colleague Erik, who has gone considerably nuts since we last saw him and has made a public spectacle of himself at Stonehenge. Chris O’...

Richard Pryor plays a ne’er do well who discovers he has an amazing affinity for computers. He even figures out a way to pinch pennies from the big-time company he has recently started working for. When big money boss Robert Vaughn catches onto what Pryor is doing…he employs his services to suit his nefarious needs, destroying his competitors and causing all kinds of chaos. This alerts the attention of the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) who attempts to put a stop to things. Unfortunately, a mishap with some subpar synthetic kryptonite sees Superman turn super-douchy and not really giving a crap about saving the world anymore. Meanwhile, Clark Kent (also Reeve) travels to Smallville to attend his school reunion, sparking up old feelings for prom queen Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole). Gavan O’Herlihy plays the Smallville jock turned loutish security guard, Pamela Stephenson plays Vaughn’s bimbo, whilst Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, and Marc McClure briefly reprise their roles as Lois L...

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a daydreamer with no social life, who works for “Life” magazine processing the photo negatives, including for the cover. When the all-important negative for the intended cover photo appears to have gone missing, Walter’s already threatened job is in even more danger from smug new boss Adam Scott (already suggesting that expendable employees will be let go mercilessly as they move to digital publication). So Walter tracks down the whereabouts of elusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) to Greenland, and sets about finding him, and get the photo. Kristen Wiig plays a co-worker whom Walter had just plucked up the courage to talk to prior to going on this voyage, which will take him to various parts of the globe. Kathryn Hahn and Shirley MacLaine play Walter’s sister and mother, respectively, whilst Patton Oswalt is an eHarmony employee who tries to get Walter to flesh out his profile, difficult given Walter has yet to do anything exciting or memora...

General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his cohorts (Sarah Douglas and Jack O’Halloran) are set free from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone by a nuclear blast from an atomic bomb Superman (Christopher Reeve) has thrown. It was planted on the Eiffel Tower by a terrorist group, and the Man of Steel was just trying to be Earth’s protector. Now he has unwittingly unleashed a trio of supervillains who use their superpowers to bring Earth to its knees. Meanwhile, while on the job in Niagara Falls, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) discovers Clark Kent’s big secret. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) also reappears, trying to uncover Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, and then lending his services to General Zod. E.G. Marshall lends sturdy support and the worst rug you’ve ever seen as the US President, and Clifton James plays hick Sheriff J.W. Pepper (his Bond franchise character) in all but name here. Susannah York returns as Superman’s birth mother because…Marlon Brando. I can’t attest to the controversia...