Shameless Self Expression

‘We’re on an express elevator to hell, going down…’ Pvt. Hudson (Bill Paxton), “Aliens” .   Five men enter an elevator and end up in the bowels of the building. Whilst there, they each take turns telling stories about the bad dreams they all seem to have been enduring. Midnight Mess: Daniel Massey is looking for his estranged sister Anna Massey with sinister intentions. However, he gets his just desserts when he stops by a creepy restaurant with a very particular menu selection. The Neat Job: Fussy neat freak Terry-Thomas berates his new wife (Glynis Johns) for her inability to maintain a tidy home to the point of driving her to drastic measures. This Trick’ll Kill You: Magician Curt Jurgens and his partner Dawn Addams holiday in India for inspiration. He goes to extremes in order to acquire the secret to a local rope trick, with deadly consequences. Bargain in Death: Michael Craig uses drugs to fake his death in an elaborate insurance scam. Unfortunately, he doesn’t count ...

Keanu Reeves is successful San Francisco video game designer Thomas Anderson, creator of the “Matrix” trilogy of video games. He is haunted by visions and memories of what appear to be a past life that he doesn’t really remember. They involve a woman he frequently sees at the coffee shop (Carrie-Anne Moss), but she’s a happily married mother. And then Thomas is contacted by a hacker (Jessica Henwick) who is about to blow his mind. Neil Patrick Harris plays Thomas’ psychiatrist.   I had hoped by now that everyone realised that the sequels to “The Matrix” were unnecessary and detrimental to the original. Guess not. This 2021 film comes from director Lana Wachowski (co-creator of the series) and co-writers Aleksandar Hemon (no other notable credits), David Mitchell ( “Cloud Atlas” ), and it’s the worst film in the entire series. It’s a re-tread of the first film that, unlike the previous two films admits that it’s a re-tread with some cosmetic changes. That doesn’t make it bett...