Shameless Self Expression

Richard Roxburgh leads a team of cave explorers in Papua New Guinea's Esa-ala caves who become trapped after a tropical storm floods the caves and they need to work together to find an escape route. Easier said than done, when interpersonal conflicts also flare up considerably under the stress of the heightened situation. Rhys Wakefield is Roxburgh’s estranged son who has practically no respect for his cold-hearted father, who he sees as a needless risk-taker. Dan Wyllie is Roxburgh’s long-time associate, Ioan Gruffudd is the schmuck millionaire funding the expedition, and Alice Parkinson is his girlfriend. Andrew Hansen appears briefly as a sort of communications/tech guy.   James Cameron is only an executive producer of this 2011 cave exploring disaster film from director Alister Grierson (the Aussie war pic “Kokoda” ). However, you’d swear he helmed the thing, that is the James Cameron of “Titanic” and “Avatar” , two of the most overblown, empty spectacles of all-time. The ...

Norman, AKA The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) lives with – and is overprotective of – his young adopted daughter (Madelyn Grace) living a relatively happy existence, though the girl is curious about her past and Norman has been a bit sketchy on the details. Enter a group of home invaders led by sleazy-looking Raylan (Brendan Sexton III, well-cast) who tussle with The Blind Man who does all he can to defend his home, but the invaders end up taking off with his daughter. They’re gonna regret that.   I thought the first “Don’t Breathe” was an effective piece of horror filmmaking despite not having a single likeable protagonist. It was hard to really care about anyone in that film when everyone on both sides was pretty undesirable. This 2021 sequel from director Rodo Sayagues and co-writer Fede Alvarez (who have swapped roles from the previous film) is essentially a re-working of the original concept to basically give me what I asked for the first time around. It’s still a flawed film,...

Ne’er do well dad Ben Stiller needs cash and a stable job in order to keep seeing his constantly disappointed son, and decides to take the position as night watchman at The Museum of Natural History in New York. His predecessors (an engagingly aggressive Mickey Rooney, twinkly-eyed Dick Van Dyke, and veteran African-American character actor Bill Cobbs) show him the ropes and hand him an instruction manual in case things go awry. And wouldn’t ‘ya know (through means that are quite frankly so beside the point that I won’t bother getting into), on his first night the displays in the museum come to life! Or is Stiller just losing his mind on those lonely nights on the job? Kim Raver is wasted as Stiller’s frowning ex, Carla Gugino is the pretty tour guide Stiller takes a liking to, Ricky Gervais is brilliantly insincere as always, playing Stiller’s condescending new boss, Robin Williams is Teddy Roosevelt (who seems halfway between Patch Adams and Clarence the Angel), and Owen Wilson is a ...

Diego Boneta plays the spoiled ne’er do well son of a TV magnate who seems to see getting into violent incidents as some kind of romantically heroic ideal…even though he always ends up on the losing end. The title refers to Boneta’s supposedly ideal way of going out of this life. Speaking of romance, Boneta’s main squeeze is Alexandra Daddario, daughter of his father’s biggest rival (John Ralston). Or at least, she was his main squeeze. Dad saw fit to ship Daddario off to Paris years ago and the flame seemingly died out. That is, until Daddario returns from Paris. Unfortunately, Boneta now has a rival for her affections in Justin Chatwin, who was employed by Ralston to chaperone Daddario in Paris and who now has a romantic obsession with her. Daddario doesn’t feel the same, but when Ralston needs a whistle-blower rubbed out, he employs Chatwin for the job. Chatwin sees fit to suggest he’ll do the gig in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage. However, Ralston has already employe...