Shameless Self Expression

In a small Oregon town, young Jeremy T. Thomas’ father became infected with something inside the mine he was using for a meth lab. Dad passes the infection on to Thomas’ younger brother (Sawyer Jones) and the twosome have to be locked up in a room inside the house. Thomas’ schoolteacher (Keri Russell), a child abuse survivor becomes concerned with the violent depictions in his drawings. Russell’s no-nonsense brother happens to be the local sheriff (Jesse Plemons), and he’s currently investigating a series of bizarre and brutal slayings. Rory Cochrane plays one of Plemons’ underlings, Amy Madigan is the useless school principal, whilst Grahame Greene is a Native American local who has a theory on who or what is doing the killing.   One of the more interesting and offbeat horror films in recent years, this 2021 film from Scott Cooper ( “Crazy Heart” , “Out of the Furnace” , “Hostiles” ) and his co-writers Nick Antosca (producers of TV’s “Chucky” ) and C. Henry Chaisson (who comes fro

Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human who through complicated circumstances ended up being raised in the North Pole and working with the elves in Ed Asner’s...er...Santa’s workshop making toys. This secret has been kept from Buddy all his life, believing that Papa Elf (a wonderfully deadpan Bob Newhart, who also narrates) is his real father. Despite Buddy having grown into a freakin’ ginormous mutant elf. His clumsiness and lack of toy-making skills see Buddy as a bit of an outcast, and one day he overhears so snarky elves refer to Buddy as a human, and the penny finally drops. He ventures to NYC to reunite with his real father, a grinchy publisher of kids’ books played by James Caan, who is married to Mary Steenburgen, and father to Daniel Tay. Initially, the grumpy Caan dismisses Buddy as a crazy loon, but then he shows him a photo of his real mother, and one paternity test later, well he can no longer dismiss him. The goofy guy in the elf suit is really his son, and before long, Budd

Pulitzer Prize winning journo Ron Silver has a heart attack and he seizes an opportunity to head away from the big smoke to a small Maine town with his wife (Dee Wallace) and son (Kyle Howard). It seems like a peaceful, friendly town like something Norman Rockwell would’ve envisioned. However, this town turns out to be not so friendly after all, as Silver and fam discover when he investigates the case of an incarcerated gay man (Dennis Christopher) accused of murdering his lover. The man’s devoted mother (Carroll Baker) believes he's innocent, and Silver starts to feel that way too. Unfortunately, the locals of Saugatuck have a different view, and start to make life a living hell for Silver and his family as he edges closer to the truth. James Coburn plays a friendly local journalist and neighbour who is the only person in town to stick by Silver once word gets out that he’s looking into the case. Christopher Plummer plays the influential local Reverend, who enjoys hunting and whos

Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps and their two kids go on a tropical holiday that appears as though it might be their last, with both health and marital issues to be faced. They are invited by resort staff to enjoy a private beach with a select few other resort guests. After a bit of fun in the sun things take a sinister turn when a body washes up on the beach. They all try to leave but some kind of force appears to be at work keeping them on the beach. And then the pre-teen kids on the beach appear to be rapidly aging! What the hell is going on here? Rufus Sewell plays a moody top surgeon, Ken Leung (beware any mysterious island that the “Lost” co-star turns up on) plays a nurse, Aaron Pierre is a popular hippity-hopper, and M. Night Shyamalan himself turns up to drive the resort guests to the beach.   We can probably all agree that writer-director M. Night Shyamalan ( “The Sixth Sense” , “Signs” , “The Visit” ) is one of the more erratic filmmakers currently working. However, I’

During pledge week at a college campus, a top campus swimming star (Froy Gutierrez) is found brutally murdered. His sister (Lindsay LaVanchy) starts to wonder if his death is in some way connected to a possible sexual assault of a friend of hers at a frat party they all attended. And then more bodies start to turn up. Yancy Butler plays a detective, Lochlyn Munro is the college chancellor.   Boozy, sorority hazing crap and wannabe “Scream” meets “Happy Death Day” goings on in a film from 2021? Aren’t we beyond all of that at this point? Apparently not. This horror flick from director John Berardo (who mostly comes from a background in shorts) doesn’t bring anything fresh or interesting to the mix unless you count possible sexual assault on a college campus. After 26 minutes not one damn thing has happened aside from a lot of boozing and toking, and that potential sexual assault. To that latter point, if the filmmakers think they’re doing something new and profound in the genre wi