Film Reviews by AER

Perhaps the most unforgivably boring action movies I've ever seen. Given that it's about Samurai warriors and features Keanu Reeves square and centre, the whole thing feels like a screen saver. Terrible SFX, even for 2014, too. Avoid.

The lead actress in Hidden City (Cassie Stuart) is one of the worst I've ever seen. Her performance and her lines unbalance her double act with Charles Dance, who at least understands what his bad lines mean. The film has a muddled plot about a young woman who enlists a statistician/writer to help her track down a lost film that shows a woman being abducted. The film fails to convince why they would ever team up to solve a mystery. Shadowy government henchmen wreck their homes seemingly searching for something. however, the two twists are lame and poorly resolved - one with a rush job dollop of guess work.

On the other hand, we do get to see some interesting London locations that are not open to the public (and how they were in the 80s) such as the Kingsway Tram Tunnel, some tunnels below Oxford St & Tottenham Ct Rd (which I think are below Holborn), and St Pancras (when it was being renovated/unused) - the Spice Girls stairs.... So limited appeal for everyone except those that want to glimpse a lost London.

At times the film is so 80s it hurts, but this is also a plus. Look out for Richard E Grant, Michelle Fairley, Gerard Horan and others in tiny roles....

Similar to Burning (which starred Steven Yeun), Only The River Flows is a broken jigsaw puzzle that presents a conventional story for viewers but then ends up delivering something entirely unexpected. The film is high on visual clues and atmosphere, and it's not important to solve the murder as there is something bigger at play. The opening quote by Albert Camus carries the clues. Superb. One of the best of 2024 for me.

I don't think I've ever liked Face/Off. Back in the 90s (iirc) Nicolas Cage was riding high off the back of The Rock, then Con Air, and John Travolta was riding on the back of Pulp Fiction - so I was looking forward to this. I didn't like the overracting and the really bad script. The action sequences still hold up like the speed boat chase and the run way battle, but the acting dates it badly yet I wasn't engrossed at the time either. The film is predictable and lacked flovour. i think this is my least favourite of John Woo's Hoolywood films (in the 90s) - I even prefer Broken Arrow and Windtalkers to this. Hard Target is king. :)

PS look out for an early appearance by Thomas Jane in the prison sequences.

Long winded but thoughtful story about the fallout of when Vietnam War survivors attempt to gel back into everyday life. It's a slow and at time sensitive film that attempts to cover a lot of ground in 90s minutes and fails to engross by short changing the characters. Good performances by the three principles can't pull this film out of the swamp. Turgid.

Boom for Real seems to gloss over the more problematic areas of Basquiat's life like his drug addiction and the circumstances of his death. This documentary fails to skewer anything about the painter, neither talking about his rise to prominence in depth or his painting styles and influences. A parade of ald friends and contemporaries struggle to give any insight into his life or work and as a result Basquiat is painted as an enigma - yet books exist that really delved into his work and life. One interviewee, Lee Quinones, thinks the documentary is about him, he says about one sentence about Basquiat. It would probably work as a gateway film to the Basquiat but other than that, you'd get more insight from Julian Schnabel's Basquiat (1998) or Downtown 81... or pick up a book about this fascinating car crash of a man. Lightweight and little more than a MTV-style hagiography.

Sadly this remake of The Crow is a waste of time. Whilst some of it looks good, it doesn't get the blood flowing like the 1994 original. It's also as flat, if not flatter than the 90s sequel The Crow - City of Angels too. There's not much you can do with the plot of The Crow. It's a simple revenge tale, yet this remake tries to front load the tale by delving into the relationshop between Eric and Shelley, so Eric doesn't even become the undead avenging angel until about an hour in. The acting is OK, but the script is corny, there is even a 'Basil Exposition' character who tell us/him the crow's purpose and how he can suffer pain but can't be killed as long as his love is pure. The baddies are potentially interesting, Danny Huston brings something to his immortal villain, but unlike the 1994 original, the henchmen are not memorable. We needed a T-Bird and gang, and the pawn shop manager plyed by Jon Polito. For all it's flaws the original was an unstoppable action horror classic - this new one is pale, forgettable and at times, super lame.

Another lightweight adaptation of a Stephen King short story that deserved a more considered approach. The script begins with a cod-sixth form-style poetry bid, and strives for deepness with some villainous monologues about the 'arc of descent' etc. But this is just a slow moving revenge fillm. Christian Slater is the draw here, as a Las Vegas peole traffiker, and he chews the scenery well but can't escape the terrible script or the corniness of the plot. Wes Bentley barely registers as the nominal lead, and appears to be going through the motions in order to work on the next film. I remember reading the story years back and I don't recall it being all that special, however, I'm sure with a bit more thought and expertise, this could've been something of substance. As it is, it's flat and unappetising.

Today's Queer cinema stands on the shoulders of films like The Boys In The Band. It was a ground breaking film at the time but it's sad to see how dated it's become. Friends gather for a birthday party and old scores are settled. It's a film adaptation of a stage play so it's very set-bound and talkie. Some characters are paper-thin like Reuben Greene's character as the sole gay black in the cast. This pre-dates the arrival of AIDS, so the attitudes and opinions are different, and there is some nasty racism in amongst the catty homophobic quips and insults. An important film, but one that serves as a marker in time to show how far queer cinema has come. William Friedkin directs.

OK this year we've already had The Watched which was directed by M Night Shymalan's daughter. That was intriguing at best but couldn't glue its many ideas into a coherent whole. And while M Night Shyamalan's new one Trap certainly has a tighter plot, its problems are more endemic. The main problem I had with Trap was Josh Hartnett's performance - he seems to be striving for a heightened Nicolas Cage-style performance in this, and that's not what the film needed. it's too broad and it shows up the short comings of the script. The plot is gripping but only because you want to see how this car-crash of a movie can astound you. It's a shame really as the girl who plays Josh H's daaghter (Ariel Donohue) is actually brilliant and convincing. It's also worth a look to see Hayley Mills in her first Hollywood role since the late 70s (I think). The spiralling plot is interesting but quite crazy and unconvincing. Is it fun though? It had its moments, but if you compare it Split or Unbreakable that traded in brilliant lead acting performances, Trap, is terrible. Sorry.

I forgot that Dolph Lundgren acted, produced, wrote and directed these kind of movies in his dog days. This a p*ss weak rethink of High Plains Drifter with a hardman coming into protect a few angelic town fok from a few corrupt characters. It's very dumb and 100 per cent surface with a under baked script, shoddy acting nad editing and terrible grading on the picture. Belongs in the bin. But that's obvious.

A sexual coming-of-age tale from Australia sees 16-year-old Sequin (Conor Leach) navigate gay hook-up apps. The main character is pretty inscrutable and mature for his age but he comes unstuck when he goes to an orgy in the titular blue room. Where anonymity is key he manipulates one hook up to find the identity of another hook up and ends up in deep water. It's a disquieting movie and it's well-made but too much time spent shagging eats into the already slight running time. It's more like a short than a feature. Well-played though by all-concerned.

The Hellraiser reboot is well-made and at times it looks very impressive with seamless SFX. However, this new interpretation fails were it needed to fly. Whilst the box of tricks has a clearer modus operandi, the characters are all pretty weak. There is some committed acting from an unknown cast (with Goran Visnic and Hiam Abbas in small supporting roles) but this is boring and flat with no thrills. Worst of all the new Cenobites look daft and aren't at all repulsive like the original bunch from Hellraiser 1 & II. Mind you, I wasn't a fan of the bad acting in the first films. This time it has good acting, a servicable script, and good SFX. But there is no intrigue and no personality. We need Doug Bradley's Pinhead back. This was better than I hoped for and probably the best ONE STAR review I'll ever write.

DOA

I read the book that this film is based on at the right age, that's what made me look this film up. The novel and the screenplay were both by Ethan Hawke (who also directs and takes a small role here) too. It's a simple story of young love and broken hearts. I found the book moving because I was young, but now I'm old and jaded I found the antics of our young lead (Mark Webber) tiresome. I wasn't really convinced by the central pair either... Sadly, there were no subtitles on my DVD so I missed the odd piece of dialogue. This film has a good heart and if you are in your early 20s you might still be able to relate to it. I wonder if it's worth me reading the book again?

Although there was a lot of story to digest the storytellers pulled it off with aplomb and without info dumps. It was an emotional and inventive film and I'm looking forward to Inside Out 2 this week :)

Not seen too many Pixar movies since UP but this was great. I'm very late to the feast with this film though....