The Sweeney was a cop drama that ran for four seasons in the 1970s in the UK. I’ve never seen it, so I can’t tell how faithful the 2012 Sweeney is. I can only judge it on its own, and it’s a fantastic crime thriller. As Jack Regan, Hugo’s Ray Winstone leads the Flying Squad, […]
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Stitches
The title refers to the booze-soaked, foul-mouthed, likely STD-infected clown (British stand-up comedian Ross Noble) who meets an early, accidental demise while performing at an only child’s 10th birthday party. Because that’s what happens when kids tie your shoelaces together, causing you to trip and fall face-first into the butcher knife left precariously pointing upward […]
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How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life
That she should be honored to be subservient. That a 28-year-old blonde bombshell would have trouble landing a beau until some 51-year-old man came sliming along. I’m being harsh, but this Dean Martin/Stella Stevens pairing — now part of the burned-on-demand Sony Pictures Choice Collection — engages in all of these and more. I wasn’t […]
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Enlightened: The Complete First Season
This is not to denigrate her Oscar-nominated turn as 1991’s Rambling Rose or her work as muse to David Lynch, most notably in Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart — all solid and accomplished. It’s just that her role here as Amy Jellicoe is the most complex and multilayered character she’s been given. Amy represents […]
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Easy Money
Front and center in every sense is a fantastic Joel Kinnaman (The Darkest Hour, TV’s The Killing and our new RoboCop), commanding the screen with real star power as JW, a college student with a brilliant mind for business, but practically destitute himself. So desperately wanting to be part of the cocaine-and-cognac crowd, he spends […]
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K-11
Music producer Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has a drinking-and-drugging problem, which earns him an even bigger problem by Beverly Hills PD’s finest: a stay inside the titular ward of the L.A. County Jail. Dubbed by one of its residents as a “sanctuary for broken toys,” it’s the big cement […]
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‘Sex Machine’: Still chuggin’!
Illustration: Brad Gregg “As a film, this is a fat, greasy-spoon diner, not some big, fancy, five-star restaurant in New York City,” said Sharpe of his Frankenstein–meets-Memento story. “We had to cut a lot of corners because of the budget, but we knew we were making something cool.” But nearly a decade later, the $8,000 […]
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Storage 24
Among the few unfortunates sealed within its labyrinthian walls are a newly dumped Charlie (Doghouse’s Noel Clarke, who also scripted) and his ex, Shelly (Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Albert Nobbs), both of whom have come to retrieve their stuff. Each has brought a friend, too: Mark (Colin O’Donoghue, The Rite) and Nikki (Laura Haddock, The Inbetweeners Movie). […]
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In Their Skin
No matter the name, the film focuses on the family — in particular, the Hughes clan, headed by Mark (Joshua Close, The Master) and Mary (Selma Blair, TV’s Anger Management). With their young son (Quinn Lord, The Possession), they head to their country cottage for a little R&R. Shortly upon arrival at night, Mary asks […]
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Sushi Girl
After six years in prison, the newly sprung Fish (Noah Hathaway, Troll) may be spurned by his family, but is welcomed back with open arms and a party thrown by the devious Duke (Tony Todd, Final Destination 5). Also invited to the exclusive event — a yakuza-style dining experience of eating sushi off a naked […]