Shameless Self Expression

American surgeon Douglas Fairbanks Jr. winds up in the fictionalised Eastern European nation of Vosnia to perform a surgical demonstration. However, he finds that he has been hoodwinked into operating on the nation’s leader (Walter Rilla). When General Niva (Rilla) dies, the doctor knows he’s in trouble and needs to get the hell out of Vosnia. Glynis Johns plays a showgirl who aids Fairbanks in his escape, whilst an intimidating but urbane Jack Hawkins plays the sinister Colonel. Karel Stepanek plays the Colonel’s cohort Dr. Revo, whilst Herbert Lom turns up late as a shifty smuggler who may just be key to getting Fairbanks out of the country.   Although its fictional location is a touch silly and forced, this 1950 Sidney Gilliat (director of “Green for Danger” , co-writer of Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes” ) thriller is an easy watch. I’m a sucker for this Hitchcockian mystery-thrillers, and this is a pretty enjoyable one. If you enjoyed films like “Foreign Correspondent” or...

Rutger Hauer is the title hobo, sick of the violence, sleaze, and corruption in the ironically named Hope Town where even the local law is depraved. Finally deciding to do something about it, Hobo makes an enemy of local gangster The Drake (Brian Downey, from TV’s bizarre “Lexx” ) and his psycho idiot sons (Gregory Smith and Nick Bateman, both awful), after saving a hooker (Molly Dunsworth). Armed with a shotgun, the hobo decides to wipe the streets clean of Drake, his family, and all the other scumbags in town. It’s Howard Beale time! (Yes, I did just paraphrase John Singleton’s “Shaft” . I feel no shame).   In the grand “Grindhouse” tradition of “Machete” comes this profane, splatter-filled 2011 full-length expansion of the fake trailer that won a competition and was slotted into the Canadian theatrical screening of the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double bill film. Directed by Jason Eisener (EP of the fun post-apocalyptic 80s-era throwback “Turbo Kid” , creator of TV...

Set in the future, Cody Kearsley stows away on a spaceship headed for ‘New Earth’ so that he could be with the mother (Kassandra Clementi) of his unborn child. Somehow an alien parasite also manages to stowaway and starts wreaking havoc on board. Thomas Jane is an admiral and Clementi’s stern father who hates Kearsley. Bruce Willis plays an amused janitor on board the ship, with Callan Mulvey and Rachel Nichols also on board. Timothy V. Murphy has a role as hard-arse Commander Stanley.   Another latter-day Bruce Willis film, this 2021 ‘alien parasite running amok on a spaceship’ film is more on the mediocre-to-poor side instead of outright crap like many of Willis’ recent output. Directed by John Suits (who directed “Pandemic” , with Rachel Nichols), it also features one of Willis’ better performances of late. That is to say it’s a long way from being a good turn, but he at least seems to be enjoying himself somewhat, and one of the few things here that aren’t that bad. ...

Sleazy fence Marco (a wonderfully slimy Patrick Wymark) offers the supposed skull of the Marquis de Sade to Prof. Maitland, a genteel professor of the occult and collector of occult items. Maitland is doubtful of its authenticity and more interested in an autobiography by de Sade bound in human skin (!) Maitland is warned by fellow collector and friend Sir Matthew Phillips (Christopher Lee), the skull’s previous owner, that the skull is very real but contains evil spirits and he shouldn’t mess with it. This being a horror film, Maitland fails to heed the warnings and soon becomes possessed by an evil, homicidal spirit. Nigel Green and Patrick Magee play a policeman and police medical officer respectively, Michael Gough is an auctioneer, George Coulouris is another previous owner of the skull, and Jill Bennett plays Prof. Maitland’s wife.   A well-directed, well-shot 1965 Amicus horror pic from director Freddie Francis ( “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” , “Dr. Terror’s House o...

Set in China in the late 1940s, Yu-Hang To (AKA Dennis To) stars as the title martial arts teacher. However, this is a much younger Ip Man who at this point is a dutiful and patriotic police officer, and a soon-to-be father with his wife (Chang Qinyuan) as well. The plot has him falsely accused of murdering a somewhat honourable mobster, and thus targeted by his vengeful daughter. The real perpetrators of the crime also come into play as a source of conflict for the title character. Meanwhile, bubbling away in the background is background tension with the arrival of the Japanese army in the Guangdong province of China.   The world really only needed the first two “Ip Man” movies with Donnie Yen, unfortunately we’ve been subjected to at least 11 “Ip Man” films (including four in total with Donnie Yen) and at least one TV series. And all of the ones I’ve seen have tended to traverse the same material, by and large. This 2020 film version is a repeat performance in the role from...