Shameless Self Expression

An accident sees angel Emmanuelle Beart plummeting from the heavens and into the swimming pool of Michael E. Knight, giving her broken wings as a result. While Knight helps the injured angel heal her wounds, his rich fiancé Phoebe Cates discovers them together and thinks the worst. Cates’ advertising exec father David Dukes (perfect casting) meanwhile, sees dollar signs in the angel, as do Knight’s immature friends. For his part, Knight starts to actually fall in love with the angel.   There’s nothing inherently wrong with the premise of this 1987 hybrid of “Splash” , Frank Capra, and light 80s sex comedy. I can see how someone might’ve thought it a really good idea for a film, and perhaps it could’ve resulted in one. It’s just that the execution is really quite poor in this instance. Written and directed by Tom McLoughlin ( “Friday the 13 th Part VI: Jason Lives” , of all films), it’s good-looking but dull, and so is leading man Michael E. Knight. Knight doesn’t bring much t...

Purge Night is back, and a particularly nasty group of Purge Night enthusiasts in Texas have decided that one night of purging simply isn’t enough for them. They want it to last forever. We follow the lives of well-meaning, wealthy rancher Will Patton and his family as well as Patton’s illegal Mexican immigrant horse wrangler/farm hand and his family, the latter of whom are staying at a local compound for Mexican immigrants during Purge Night (walled, of course). After successfully surviving the night, both groups go back to their daily lives. However, they are soon greeted with the horrific realisation that hell on earth isn’t set to end anytime soon. Patton’s family are held hostage by their (white) farm hands, who want the ranch for themselves, envious of Patton’s wealth. Also, these forever purge people seem hell-bent on ridding America of any non-white elements. Josh Lucas plays Patton’s less ingratiating son, who escapes their captors along with his pregnant wife, his sister, and...

A reclusive and disabled retired cop (Morgan Freeman) gives a single mother (Ruby Rose) with a special set of skills (she’s a former drug courier for one thing) instructions to collect money from five different sources. In order to coerce her into doing this, Freeman has kidnapped Rose’s daughter and placed her in an undisclosed location. Patrick Muldoon plays a crooked federal agent, Julie Lott is a crooked governor.   The futile attempt at turning Ruby Rose into someone worth watching on screen continues with this utterly boring 2021 “John Wick” wannabe. Director George Gallo (the terrible “The Poison Rose” with John Travolta and Morgan Freeman) and co-writer Samuel Bartlett (writer-director of the Australian film “Found Footage” ) there’s barely a commendable thing in it besides maybe an OK slimy turn by Patrick Muldoon, sporting the worst ponytail since James Woods in “True Believer” . Sadly, Muldoon’s character ends up largely wasted and pointless despite his solid eff...