Shameless Self Expression

Set in a matriarchal world where everyone is either a fawning Ken or an admired Barbie, the film is centred around one particular Barbie (Margot Robbie) who seems to undergo something peculiar: Fear. She has a sudden anxiety about her own mortality, and that thought leads to an existential crisis which will see her to venture out of Barbieland and into the ‘real’ world in search of the child who has apparently been ‘playing’ with her. Barbie is accompanied by Ken (Ryan Gosling), a preening idiot who finds the ‘real’ world and its patriarchal society very much eye-opening, which leads to trouble when he comes back to Barbieland and tells the other Kens what he has learned.   Although I’m clearly the wrong demo (45 and a hetero male), I was really rooting for this 2023 film from Greta Gerwig (the solid “Lady Bird” ) and co-writer Noah Baumbach (Wes Anderson’s enjoyable “Fantastic Mr. Fox” ). I figured there was room for some real wit and enjoyment, and any film that pisses off th...

Carol Speed stars as the title young woman, who has just moved into a new house with her husband Terry Carter, an apprentice priest. All of a sudden Abby starts to undergo severe and frightening changes, becoming uncharacteristically foul-mouthed and sexually aggressive, and even having the capacity to move objects mentally. Carter thinks he better call in an expert, namely his father William Marshall, a priest who also happens to be a college professor of ancient religions and cults. Juanita Moore plays Abby’s mother, with Austin Stoker turning up as Abby’s brother.   The notorious 1974 William Girdler ( “Sheba, Baby” , “The Manitou” ) blaxploitation rip-off of “The Exorcist” that resulted in Warner Brothers suing AIP and getting the film taken out of circulation in the US for years. It made money, but due to the lawsuit Girdler himself sadly saw none of it, and he died in 1978 at age 30. Apparently a later court ruling realised Warners didn’t have a monopoly on exorcism film...