Shameless Self Expression

A pilot (Kai Wulff) leads coke-snorting manager Marjoe Gortner, producer/photographer Nina van Pallandt and a bunch of fashion models (Louisa Moritz among them) into the South American jungle for a shoot. The plane crashes down, and our protagonists end up in a whole mess of trouble with drug kingpin Paul L. Smith, his sister/lover Sybil Danning, and their scumbag armed goons led by a silent Woody Strode. Alex Cord and John Vernon play Smith’s visiting American mob associates, whilst Dana Elcar is on the phone back home as an FBI man.   There aren’t very many people who will have heard of this 1984 jungle exploitation pic from director Ernst von Theumer ( “Hell Hunters” with Maud Adams, Stewart Granger, George Lazenby, and William Berger), let alone seen it. If you’ve heard of it, it’s likely because a) A massively drugged-out Dennis Hopper was arrested, fired, and replaced in a naked incident that the actor apparently had no subsequent memory of, or b) Its infamous, nasty gr...

Kevin Kline stars as Donald Woods, the chief editor of liberal South African newspaper Daily Dispatch who gets involved in the case of his black activist friend Steve Biko (an Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington). For his digging into the case and wanting to have a book published about it, Woods finds himself and his family in grave danger and needing to flee the country. John Thaw plays a local Minister for Justice, Penelope Wilton is Woods’ wife, Zakes Mokae makes his obligatory appearance as an African minister, Aussie actor John Hargreaves plays a colleague/mate of Woods, and Josette Simon plays a passionate doctor who was a close associate of Biko’s.   Overlong but solid Apartheid drama from 1987 by Sir Richard Attenborough (whose “Gandhi” was a masterpiece) was one of Denzel Washington’s first real showings in cinema. While his forgettable film debut “Carbon Copy” showed glimmers of his talent, this film definitely would’ve had people at the time sit up and take notice o...

We begin with a gynaecological shot, as a procedure goes fatally wrong, forcing the abortion doctor to dispose of the body, with the help of misogynistic photographer friend Nino Castelnuovo. It’s not long before a motorbike-riding, leather-clad killer is bumping off people from the modelling agency our pervy photographer works at. Junior photographer Edwige Fenech attempts to get to the bottom of it all, whilst for some reason also romancing the frankly loathesome, smug Castelnuovo.   I like a good, sexy giallo as much as the next person, but this provocatively-titled 1975 effort from director Andrea Bianchi (the popular zombie movie “Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror” ) isn’t so much sexy as it is sleazy . I felt rather put off by it, and felt somewhat unclean by the end of it. That includes the supposedly funny anal sex joke at the end that I just found puerile, unnecessary, and unfunny (It’s misogynistic). I honestly couldn’t believe it. I figured I’d love this. It’s well...

Mel Gibson stars as a multimillionaire husband (to Rene Russo) and father (to Brawley Nolte) whose son gets kidnapped and held for ransom. FBI man Delroy Lindo is on hand to help resolve the situation, but runs into a stumbling block: Gibson, who fearing that his son will die either way, refuses to pay the ransom and instead heads to the media to place a bounty on the heads of the kidnappers. Neither the law nor the kidnappers – nor wife Russo for that matter – are happy about this. Then there’s this business in Gibson’s recent past about potentially dodgy business dealings and a currently incarcerated former associate (Dan Hedaya).   ***** SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION ***** Since the big twist isn’t really a twist, and is revealed quite early in the piece I probably don’t need to provide spoiler warnings but if ever you read a review after seeing the film, this is probably a good occasion to do so. Ye hath been warned.   This Ron Howard ( “Splash” , “P...

Eleven years ago, a young boy (Jacob Tremblay) secretly corresponded with troubled TV star John Donovan (Kit Harington). Said Mr. Donovan was apparently a closeted gay man who eventually died of a drug overdose. Now the young fan has become a grown man (and played by Ben Schnetzer), and he has written a book about the whole experience. Thandie Newton plays a hard-nosed reporter who interviews Schnetzer, though feeling the story is gossipy tabloid trash and beneath her. Natalie Portman plays the boy’s mother, with Susan Sarandon turning up as Donovan’s mother. Kathy Bates and Michael Gambon have small roles.   This 2019 flop is the English-language debut of French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan ( “Mommy” ), who co-writes with Jacob Tierney (writer-director of “Good Neighbours” , co-starring Dolan). It’s a dreary, pretentious mess that wildly overestimates the charisma and acting ability of lead actor Kit Harington. The first twenty minutes alone are dreadfully repetitive, it’s t...