Shameless Self Expression

Steve James plays a returning Vietnam veteran who along with a couple of his men goes against orders that would see them execute women and children. They are set for court-martial when they flee custody. Now in the Georgia town of Riverbend, James and his men seek refuge with a local widow (Margaret Avery). Unfortunately, Riverbend is under the tight, racially prejudiced control of the local sheriff (Tony Frank), a hateful bigot who fatally shot Avery’s husband in broad daylight like it was nothing. It looks like the town of Riverbend – or a least its African-American population – needs someone to stick up for them.   Director Sam Firstenberg ( “Revenge of the Ninja” , “American Ninja” ) and martial arts star Steve James made a mixture of “Walking Tall” and “Mississippi Burning” , and almost no one’s heard of it. You likely won’t believe it exists, even if you’re a Steve James fan. It’s also not very good, which I imagine you’ll have an easier time believing. Somehow the execs...

Widower Idris Elba flies his teen daughters to Africa and the small village their mother grew up in. Meanwhile, a rogue lion has been killing villagers. Man vs. Beast ensues. Sharlto Copley turns up as a friendly game warden.   Idris Elba apparently chose to make this 2022 lion movie because it gave him an opportunity to make a ‘run, chase, run’ movie. I’m happy you got your wish, Idris. However, I wished for a film that was either good or at least fun, and that’s not what I’ve been given by you, director Baltasar Kormákur (who made better films like “Contraband” , “2 Guns” , and the underrated “Everest” ), and screenwriter Ryan Engle ( “Non-Stop” , “The Commuter” ). It’s been well-shot, otherwise the best I can say here is that unlike the infamous “Roar” I wasn’t watching an actual animal attack.   The filmmakers had two possibilities for success here; 1) Embrace the human story of a father taking his kids to Africa where their mother grew up and forget about the l...