Shameless Self Expression

Arthur Fleck (a perfectly cast Joaquin Phoenix) is an ex-mental patient who barely makes a living as a clown in Gotham City. Living with his infirmed mother (Frances Conroy, looking about 80 years old for like the last 30 years it seems), Arthur suffers from several illnesses, including a nervous compulsion to break out into uncontrollable laughter. He dreams of being a famous comedian monikered ‘Joker’, and hopefully one day appearing on his mother’s favourite late night show, hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro, recalling “The King of Comedy” ). Unfortunately, Arthur gets beaten up by teenagers, he is about to be out of a job, running out of meds that frankly barely help anyway, and then he gets assaulted by Wall Street jerks on a train. Arthur’s about to snap, and he wasn’t healthy to begin with. Zazie Beetz plays a young lady in Arthur’s building whom he takes an interest in, Brett Cullen plays some rich guy named Thomas Wayne that no one’s heard of.   Although I thin...

Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) takes part in an X-Men space mission (!) that results in a shuttle explosion they narrowly escape from. However, the incident has somehow left Grey with growing superpowers. And a growing, out of control anger that leads to tragedy and Grey fleeing Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. She is encouraged to embrace her newly developed powers by a mysterious alien named Vuk (Jessica Chastain), whilst Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and his students go in search of her, with at least one of them on a mission of vengeance against Jean. Also roped into things is rival mutant leader Magneto (Michael Fassbender), whose sanctuary Jean seeks at one point. Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique/Raven), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), Evan Peters (Quicksilver), and Tye Sheridan (Cyclops) all reprise their mutant roles.   I’m a bit different to you, especially in my taste in movies. Especially in my taste in comic book movies. Seriously, there isn’...

A fictionalised story surrounding members of The Weather Underground domestic terrorist group. Decades ago, members of the group committed a bank robbery that resulted in the death of a security guard. Now after 30 years in hiding as a suburban housewife, former WU member Susan Sarandon has been arrested (on her way to turning herself in anyway). She refuses to rat on any of her former colleagues though, much to the annoyance of the Feds, led by Terrence Howard. A friend and former colleague (Stephen Root) attempts to hire small-town lawyer Robert Redford to help Sarandon. Redford (too old for the part, but try telling the director that!), a former WU member himself with a young daughter (Jackie Evancho) wants nothing to disturb the life he has set up for himself and his little girl. He’s more than happy to provide the details of other just as capable attorneys, though. Enter nosy reporter Shia La Beouf, who is looking to make his mark and impress his boss. Through some digging, La Beo...

Telly Savalas is the security head of a South African diamond mine, with Peter Fonda a man under his employee who doesn’t entirely agree with Savalas’ harsh, no-nonsense methods of safeguarding the mine at all costs. With threat of a gang of mercenaries supposedly intending on robbing the mine, the mining company administrator (Victor Melleney, quite solid) gives Fonda a special task: Steal a diamond, escape the compound, and hopefully bait the mercenaries so as to infiltrate them. Seems simple enough, but that’s appearances for you. Hugh O’Brian leads the mercenaries, with poetry-reading psychopath Christopher Lee, cockney Ian Yule, and African-American O.J. Simpson playing the other mercenaries. Maud Adams plays Fonda’s main squeeze.   A fine cast and a terrific premise are badly treated in this watchable but extremely clunky, cheap 1976 crime flick from veteran journeyman director Val Guest ( “The Quatermass Xperiment” , “Hell is a City” ) and his co-writers Michael Winder (...

As the title suggests, the chronicling of the frequently entwined careers of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, from their beginnings as child stars, their tumultuous, drug-abusing ‘troubled’ periods, and their eventual reunion as ‘reality TV’ performers.   Initially I was amused at how apt it seemed that this story would be told in Lifetime TV movie format. The Two Coreys were trashy tabloid fodder at least in adulthood, so it kinda made sense to me. Given in particular the bizarre descent Corey Feldman seems to be on in the last while or so, I wasn’t surprised the story wouldn’t be told in a big splashy Hollywood theatrical release. The whole incident of people ‘out to get’ Corey and supposedly stabbing him, an incident that the police say they have no record of. That was a red flag. Then there was that trainwreck where he wanted to ‘out’ Hollywood abusers who molested himself and Corey Haim over the years, but only if he could raise the funds to make a movie about it. Yeah, The F...