Shameless Self Expression

“Oliver Twist” meets heist movie for parkour enthusiasts. Young roof-jumping orphan delinquent ‘Twist’ (Rafferty Law, apparently the son of Jude) hooks up with The Red Hand gang, thieves led by the elderly Fagin (Sir Michael Caine). Rita Ora plays the rather artful ‘Dodge’, Lena Headey is the menacing Sikes, Noel Clarke plays a detective on the gang’s tail, and David Walliams is a sleazy art gallery owner the gang targets.   I don’t know what’s worse, that this 2021 ‘modern’ adaptation of “Oliver Twist” comes across as very late 1980s, or that it took 9 credited sets of hands (!) in the writing process, not counting Charles Dickens. Dreadfully dull and mostly poorly acted, this effort from director Martin Owen ( “Max Cloud” with Scott Adkins) would earn the lowest possible rating from me were it not for an edgy Lena Headey as Sikes (inspired casting, despite the ‘treacherous lesbian’ archaic stereotype) and an admittedly charismatic Rita Ora as this film’s artful Dodger, ref...

Bob Odenkirk plays the rather milquetoast, average guy Hutch, whose passive handling of a home invasion sees his wife (Connie Nielsen) and kids look at him with different eyes. And yet, the situation eats away at Hutch and seems to awaken something buried deep within him. Something very, very violent. Y’see, Hutch used to have a very different line of work, one that involved a very specialised set of skills. He shows us those skills when taking to a bunch of bus thugs harassing a young woman. Unfortunately, one of the thugs happens to be the brother of a Russian mobster (Alexey Serebryakov) who targets Hutch and his family. Christopher Lloyd plays Hutch’s geriatric father, RZA is a connection from Hutch’s past, and Michael Ironside is Hutch’s boss and father-in-law.   A slow pace and annoying editing don’t ruin this generally enjoyable “John Wick” variant from 2021. It even comes from the same producer and the same screenwriter as the first “John Wick” . Directed by Ilya Naish...

Jaime King is hiking in the woods to spread her beloved father’s ashes when she is witness to a drug deal involving corrupt cop Lala Kent that turns fatal. She also films the incident on her phone. When King’s presence is uncovered, Kent calls her fellow corrupt cops (including Tyler Jon Olson and Michael Sirow as the corrupt sheriff with political ambitions) and they look to clean up the mess. Bruce Willis turns up as a retired cop and recent widower spending time with his niece before stumbling upon the situation and having to do some quick thinking.   This 2021 film from co-directors Mike Burns (a music supervisor in his first feature film directing gig) Al Imran Niloy (director of nothing you’ve likely heard of) and their screenwriter Bill Lawrence (the supposedly upcoming Willis film “The Wrong Place” ) is the one that has been cited most often in recent articles about Bruce Willis’ health/retirement. The news of Willis’ aphasia diagnosis really puts things in proper conte...

Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) has to go back to Beverly Hills when his boss (real-life cop Gil Hill) is murdered and the culprit seems to be a well-respected security bigwig (Timothy Carhart) who is running a counterfeit bank note scam in a dismantled amusement park ride at the fictional Wonder World. Judge Reinhold returns as Billy Rosewood, who now runs a police program with a ridiculously protracted acronym DDOCJISC (It’s supposed to be funny, apparently), whilst Hector Elizondo essentially has the John Ashton role of the crusty, no-nonsense cop who initially dislikes Foley. Bronson Pinchot returns as the heavily-accented and bitchy Serge who now runs a guns and armoury boutique (!). Theresa Randle and John Saxon play park employees, with Alan Young (the token human from TV’s amusing “Mr. Ed” ) playing the equivalent of Walt Disney.   Director John Landis and star Eddie Murphy are generally a good combination ( “Trading Places” , “Coming to America” ), and screenwrit...