Shameless Self Expression

Kyle Mooney is a young man raised in a bunker in Utah by a failed kids TV show creator (Mark Hamill) and his wife (Jane Adams). One night, authorities raid the bunker, arrest Mooney’s ‘parents’ and inform him that his life has been a lie. The world isn’t toxic to human beings as he has been told, and his favourite TV show “Brigsby Bear Adventures” (an amusingly bad mixture of “The Care Bears” , “Barney” and “H.R. Pufnstuf” ) is really a failed TV series Hamill couldn’t get anyone interested in. No one in the outside world has ever heard of nor seen the show, and Hamill basically kidnapped Mooney as a kid so he could brainwash someone into liking the damn show. Mooney finds life in the real world difficult, and can’t quite relate to his real family (and vice versa). So what is a stunted man-child to do? Why, create his own “Brigsby Bear” movie of course, to express himself and share the “Brigsby Bear” love with everyone. Did I mention that Brigsby looks like a Satanic giant Teddy R...

Ashley Judd, a troubled and substance abusing bartender at a lesbian bar hooks up with brooding but gentle-natured oddball Michael Shannon in her crappy motel room. She’s still troubled by the disappearance of her son in a supermarket years ago, and is fearful of her mean and abusive husband Harry Connick Jr., whom she suspects of making nuisance phone calls to intimidate her. Shannon, meanwhile, is an AWOL war vet who claims to have been used as a guinea pig in US government experiments, and is in constant fear of capture by government agents. The two become lovers, two lonely and mistreated people finding peace in each other’s arms. But then Shannon notices the bugs...they’re beneath his skin...they’re on the bed sheets...they’re everywhere! Or are they? Exceedingly creepy, slightly stagy, slow-paced psychological horror film from William Friedkin ( “The Exorcist” and the landmark police actioner “The French Connection” ), is one of the uneven director’s better films, so l...

Mickey Rourke is King Hyperion, searching for a magical bow that will unleash the Titans from captivity and unleash hell upon the gods, whom he wants to rid the world of completely. Attempting to thwart his plans is the brave peasant Theseus (Henry Cavill), whose mother was among several killed by Hyperion and his minions. Freida Pinto plays a supposed Oracle, who can guide Hyperion to the whereabouts of bow. Instead, she hooks up with Theseus and his fellow slaves, including thief Stavros, played by Stephen Dorff (Yes, that Stephen Dorff). Luke Evans plays Zeus, Isabel Lucas is his daughter Athena, and John Hurt is credited as ‘Old Man’, who narrates the film. It looks like “300” , is about a similar subject to “300” , and at the end of the day, this 2011 flick from Tarsem Singh (director of “The Cell” and REM’s ‘Losing My Religion’ video) is pretty much as good as “300” (or “Clash of the Titans” ). And in my view, that means it’s somewhat watchable, but nothing memorable....

Johnny Harris stars as a washed-up former youth boxer and not-so reformed boozer looking to get back in the ring for desperate financial reasons. He hooks up with shady but fairly avuncular underground fight promoter Ian McShane to set up an unsanctioned fight. This despite gym owner Ray Winstone and veteran trainer Michael Smiley (profanely) telling him not to involve them in any unsanctioned bullshit. Hell, Winstone didn’t even want to let Harris into his gym in the first place. Meanwhile, Winstone is harbouring a sad secret only gradually revealed. Star/writer Johnny Harris obviously thought he had pulled a Sly Stallone and written himself to his own “Rocky” with this 2017 hard-nut Brit boxing movie. Directed by debutant Thomas Q. Napper (His legit name. He’s a 2 nd Unit guy usually), it might not even be the equal of “Rocky V” . And believe me, “Rocky V” was a total snooze. Harris has a decent hangdog look to him, but it’s tough to care about his desperate, sometimes v...

Jim Metzler and Earl Billings are a couple of LA cops (one white, one black) tracking down a couple of murdering drug dealers (pony-tailed lout Billy Bob Thornton, bespectacled African-American psycho Michael Beach) who are travelling with drug-addicted half-caste Cynda Williams. Apparently they are headed for Williams’ home town of Silver Star, Arkansas, after a stop in Houston to sell some drugs. The two big city cops get in touch with Star City sheriff Bill Paxton (whose lively character is aptly nicknamed ‘Hurricane’), who seems like a kid in a candy store getting the rub from a couple of ‘for real’ cops, conducting stakeouts and whatnot. Natalie Canerday plays Paxton’s wife, worried about him getting hurt, as he’s never even had to draw his gun before in six years as sheriff. Sometime actor Carl Franklin (who had a small, recurring role on “The A-Team” and later directed “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “High Crimes” ) made his feature directorial debut here with this crime...