Shameless Self Expression

Flyboy Cliff Robertson and co are on an RAF squadron mission to bomb and destroy a Nazi rocket fuel munitions factory in occupied Norway during WWII. George Chakiris and Maria Perschy are brother and sister Norwegians (!), the former a freedom fighter on loan to the RAF, the latter Robertson’s love interest. Angus Lennie and smart-arse John Meillon play English and Australian RAF pilots, whilst the bigwigs and decision makers are played by Harry Andrews (as an Air Vice Marshal), Donald Houston, and Michael Goodliffe.   Quite enjoyable WWII RAF film from director Walter Grauman ( “Lady in a Cage” with Olivia De Havilland, and a lot of “Murder She Wrote” episodes) boasts solid performances from most, has plenty of action, and gets in and out in fairly good time. You can definitely see the influence on “Star Wars” in the dogfight scenes here. They’re not exactly “The Blue Max” in terms of quality, but exciting nonetheless. The excellent Ron Goodwin ( “Murder at the Gallop” , “...

Scott Adkins plays Iraq war deserter Colt MacReady, who has been living off the grid since leaving the war. Colt rescues his niece from a nasty Mexican drug lord (Tony Perez) and taking her back to his estranged sister (Caitlin Keats) at her remote Arizona property. Unfortunately, Colt is unwittingly in possession of an important flash drive that the drug lord wants back, bringing violent trouble their way. The drug cartel is aided by a crooked dipshit sheriff (Nick Chinlund) to boot. Thankfully, Colt is somewhat of a one-man Army and is ready to defend his family at all costs.   If you enjoyed the Jean-Claude Van Damme action-drama “Nowhere to Run” , you might also enjoy what director Isaac Florentine ( “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , “Undisputed III: Redemption” and “Ninja: Shadow of a Tear” ) and star Scott Adkins deliver with this 2015 action film. As scripted by Chad Law (Van Damme’s quite good “6 Bullets” ) and Shane Dax Taylor it’s very similar in plot to that 1993...

An aging Sherlock Holmes (Sir Christopher Lee) is about to prepare for his retirement from sleuthing to pursue a hobby of beekeeping in the country. However, he is first asked by King Edward VII (a cameo by Joss Ackland) to accompany the Star of Africa diamond on a safe journey to Cape Town, South Africa. Unfortunately, the diamond is stolen and someone is murdered. Sounds like a case for the world’s greatest detective, accompanied as always by Dr. John Watson (Patrick Macnee). Also making appearances are real-life figures Guglielmo Marconi (Steven Gurney), U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (Claude Akins), and socialite-actress Lilly Langtree (Jenny Seagrove). Alan Coates plays a South African hotel owner who seems to be up to something , whilst Anthony Fridjhon plays a shifty Greek definitely up to no good, Richard Todd (in his last role) is a stiff upper-lip military type named Lord Roberts, and Claudia Udy plays Roosevelt’s niece.   Although it’s similarly overlong, this 19...

Raul Julia plays a German (!) criminal named Strom, who is the head of a car theft ring. Clint Eastwood is the auto theft cop trying to bring him and his cohorts (Tony Plana, Sonia Braga, and Xander Berkeley among them) to justice. After homicide takes over the case, Eastwood is reluctantly teamed with rookie Charlie Sheen, who is a good cop but riddled with anxiety issues. Tom Skerritt plays Sheen’s dad, Lara Flynn Boyle is Sheen’s main squeeze.   Probably one of the worst films director-star Clint Eastwood has ever been involved in, but so boring that most people tend to forget about it. This 1990 clunker tries for some kind of weird blend of “Dirty Harry” film, Richard Donner action flick ( “Lethal Weapon” ), and Timothy Dalton-era James Bond film. It’s an obnoxious mess when it’s not entirely dull – which is most of the time. Eastwood has directed some very fine films ( “Play Misty for Me” in particular), but he’s also directed a lot of shit – “The Eiger Sanction” , “Fire...

Guilt-ridden pilot James Stewart and hard-drinking navigator Sir Richard Attenborough are transporting employees from an oil rig company, British army personnel and other assorted passengers from Libya. The plane experiences engine trouble due to a sandstorm and Stewart is forced to crash land the plane in the Sahara desert. There the assorted passengers and crew have personality clashes, and face both mental and physical strains as their situation appears dire and helpless. Or is it? Ernest Borgnine is a mentally fatigued oil rigger, while Peter Finch is the army man who wants to go marching off to find an oasis. Hardy Kruger plays a German plane designer with zero people skills who gets on Stewart’s nerves. Stewart, for his part carries guilt from the crash which resulted in a few deaths and one severe injury.   Highly entertaining 1965 all-star disaster movie from director Robert Aldrich ( “The Dirty Dozen” , “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” ) is exciting, harrowing, and pretty ...