Shameless Self Expression

We begin in a South American prison (really the Philippines), where tough revolutionary Margaret Markov and tough African-American hooker Pam Grier are subjected to the usual WIP lesbian warden (Laurie Burton) shenanigans and whatnot. The main thrust of the film has Markov’s revolutionary buddies spring her from the prison bus she’s currently being transported to a supermax prison in. Unfortunately, at the time she’s currently chained to Grier. The two women hate each other vehemently, but must work together to evade the authorities, a government-hired henchman/thug (Sid Haig), as well as a sleazy pimp (Vic Diaz) looking for Grier.   Extremely loose 1973 Blaxploitation/exploitation retelling of “The Defiant Ones” from AIP, pretty much dispensing with the character depth of the 1958 original. Directed by Eddie Romero ( “The Twilight People” , “The Woman Hunt” , “Savage Sisters” ) from a script by H.R. Christian (the vile-sounding “Rape Squad” ), this Philippines-set B-movie act...

Keira Knightley stars as Katharine Gun, an intelligence whistle-blower who leaks a highly sensitive NSA memo to the press revolving around the US and the UK governments (illegally) attempting to strong-arm the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Matt Smith plays the crusading journo from The Observer who attempts to get the story published. Conleth Hill plays an editor for The Observer, with Matthew Goode and Rhys Ifans as employees of wildly differing temperament. Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma play Gun’s not-for-profit lawyers when she is put on trial for violating the title Act (Which is so incredibly bullshit that it doesn’t allow Gun to discuss very much of her case with her own lawyers!). Jeremy Northam turns up as Fiennes’ politician acquaintance who isn’t terribly happy with his friend’s involvement with Gun’s case.   I’m not normally overly fascinated in the second Iraq War (partly because of media saturation at the time), and I’m not a fan ...

New kid Chester Rushing falls in with Erin Sanders and her somewhat wild friends. One night they decide to take the new kid on one of their pranks. They visit the home of disgraced former daycare owner Edith Cranston (Lin Shaye) and her beloved husband Edward (Tobin Bell), and harass the poor old woman. She takes it poorly and commits suicide later that night. A few days later, the gang of wayward youths is called by Edward, who claims Edith wanted them to inherit some of her money (Um, OK…that sounds plausible). There’s a catch, however. To earn $100,000 each they must enter a room and receive a call supposedly from Edith herself. If they last more than a minute, the money is theirs. Sounds easy, right? Yeah, they think so too…   I get the feeling that I was supposed to be excited for a teaming of veteran character actors Tobin Bell and Lin Shaye in this 2020 horror pic from director Timothy Woodward Jr. ( “The Outsider” with the bizarro teaming of country singer Trace Adkins...

American teenager Jennifer Connelly arrives in Switzerland to attend a boarding school where students are being stalked and killed. She spends time with a wheelchair-bound Scottish entomologist (Donald Pleasence, barely attempting an intermittent Celtic brogue), who learns the girl has some kind of telepathic link with insects. A young-ish Patrick Bauchau plays a cop, whilst Daria Nicolodi turns up as an associate of Connelly’s father.   Often brutal, occasionally bizarre, sometimes disgusting 1985 film from director Dario Argento and co-writer Franco Ferrini ( “Once Upon a Time in America” , “Demons” , “Two Evil Eyes” ) is one of Argento’s best films. It’s very slick, bravura filmmaking with top-notch cinematography by Romano Albani ( “Inferno” , “Troll” ), and at times has a real dream/nightmare-like quality. It’s also got a little of the wonderfully energetic camerawork of Argento’s very good “Opera” . As with Argento’s two other best films “Suspiria” and “Inferno” , this ...

Set in the early 1900s, Christopher Lee stars as the diabolical head of the title Chinese crime syndicate. Our reluctant hero is British boat captain Geoffrey Toone, who gets caught up in it with the Tongs after his daughter and faithful servant are killed in Hong Kong. Yvonne Monlaur plays an imprisoned slave, Barbara Brown is Toone’s dippy daughter, Ewen Solon plays Lee’s right-hand man, Milton Reid plays Lee’s hulking ‘Guardian’ and chief torturer, and Burt Kwouk appears early as ill-fated diplomat Mr. Ming.   Hammer Studios casting of Christopher Lee and several other non-Asian actors in Asian roles will taint this crummy 1961 crime flick from director Anthony Bushell (An occasional TV director who was more prolific as an actor) for some people. I generally try to take into account the era in which a film was made and the attitudes of that era, so I’m not quite as bothered by the racial stuff here as some of you likely will be. That can be easier to do at times than others,...