Film Reviews by AER

Competently made, this still had a woeful plot and very dumb villain. Leaving no cliche unused, this slasher flick seems to have been written by an AI app. All the ingredients seems to have been collated from better, smarter and more entertaining films. Chipper leads try to elevate the Z-grade material but nothing can save this fast-moving rom-com-with-gore.... Nice to see Jordana Brewster in something other than a crappy Fast & Furious movie, and also Devon Sawa from FInal Destination has a small role too. It's better than the similarly plotted, David Boreanaz-starring, Valentine from the early 2000s.

Will you be my Valentine? No thanks, bud.

Robert Zemeckis high-concept film told from a single camera POV is innovative and could've been potentially exciting. But it barely focuses on its human characters at all having them srpint through a non-linear scattering of births, deaths and marriages. It also contains wildly inconsistent acting styles and the quality is up and down. The usually dependable Kelly Reilly and Paul Bettany are awful. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright fare slightly better but the dialogue is thin and the events rushed through. In essence, HERE is a 1.45hr-long montage sequence. A better script or even plot idea to pin it's 'device' to would have made this worthwhile. Instead, take a look at David Lowery's Ghost Story, that does the same thing smaller, better and with more feeling. Disappointing.

Now we know why we don't see Adrien Brody as much in the movies anymore, he was taking seven years to make The Brutalist. Brady Corbet's third film as director is astonishing. Lovely cinematography, great acting and a fast moving pace. It didn't feel like 3.5 hours long. Engrossing.

A good ending and a novel hook don't save Presence from being distinctly average with a few missteps plotwise.

Write this off as a cheapo 80s Cannon special at your peril. This is 80s action cinema done correctly. With fierce performances from the whole cast, there is no restriction on the amount of scenery that gets chewed in this. Excellent work on the eerie unstoppable train as it ploughs through the Alaskan wastes. I don't think Jon Voight or Eric Roberts have ever put in more fierce performances. It's gripping and gosh, that ending. One of my fave 80s films of all time.

La Jetee, as far as I know, is a unique piece of cinema. A narrator describes the fate of an unnamed man who gets sent back in time. This 28 minute short film received a remake in the 90s - Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys and it hasn't diminished it's imapct. A moving, sad and unforgettable piece.

I was less fussed about Sans Soleil which felt (at times) like sensory overload. I watched it for 1 hour and called it a day.

Keanu Reeves certainly puts his back into this film but Al Pacino throws it all away. This is The Firm retold with real demons, and not a lot of plot logic. Al Pacino overacts, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron go for broke in the acting stakes and the ridiculous story of a prosecution lawyer who is recruited by the Devil's law firm in NYC is very daft. I saw it years ago on release at the cinema and hated it, somehow I needed reminded how bad it was. It was worse.

Mark Wahlberg is one of my least favourite dramatic actors yet one of my favourite comic actors whether it's on purpose (Pain and Gain) or by accident (The Happening). I enjoyed The Gambler but it only made me wonder how much better it would have been with a more subtle and talented actor. Shame as it is probably the best Mark W film I've seen in years. But why would someone waste a decent script on this guy>?

5 out of 10

Based on a Robert Harris novel, Conclave is an airport paperback in disguise, and it so engrossing. This is a very tense film with twist after twist, some a bit hard to swallow, but nonetheless sold by an excellent cast led by Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. I loved every minute of it. Never before have you heard such bombastic music to accompany the shuffling of paper as you will in Conclave! haha. Recommended for a different kind of 'police procedural-style' drama. Excellent, intelligent and as cinema should be, exciting.

9 out of 10.

Elvis and Nixon passed me by at the cinema and I was interested in catching it. It's a strange one as it revolves around a peculiar meeting between to infamous American public figures. However, this misses the boat because Michael Shannon's Elvis didn't cut the mustard. He's a talented actor but his version of 'the King' is lacklustre and the script makes him out to be an eccentric buffoon (but also one of Michael S's lunatics). Kevin Spacey does a better job as Nixon but he has little to do except react to Elvis. A stooge to the clown, Spacey's Nixon shows none of the ire and complexity I was expecting. Alex Pettyfer pops up in a non-role and sleepwalks his way through in an unconvincing everyman role (friend of Elvis). It's all a bit flat, all a bit pointless, and it doesn't seem interested in trading in fact. I mean, there's prob a lot of speculation about the meeting but something a little more involving would've been a treat. It wasn't awful, it was just surprisingly 'meh'.

I've never seen a John Waters film until today. I was largely dismissive ever since I saw a documentary about him in the late 80s which focussed on Pink Flamingoes notorious dog poo scene. Well, maybe I regret having waited so long to see this absolutely daft musical comedy starring douche-bag supreme Johnny Depp and a cast of Waters' regulars such as Mink Stole, Traci Lords, Ricki Lake and Joe Dallesandro. It has some really catchy songs and memorably lunatic scenes and OTT acting. Even if you don't like Johnny D anymore, this is a good reminder of the before times when he had so much potential. This was made earlier than his first tango with Tim Burton in Edward Scissorhands too>>!>>!

This documentary felt like an exercise in restoring Dan O'Bannon's ownership of the Alien myth. We get the most new material about his input and background. Elsewhere there the film takes in Francis Bacon, Ridley Scott, HR Giger but they all deserve a film of their own such is the wealth of material that could have been included. The film has the feel of the Alien Quarilogy extras and as such isn't very cinematic in its own right. It leans heavily into our existing knowledge and doesn't work as a stand-alone film. One for completists, although I'm not sure if there is any material that is unique to this particular film.

One decade's uplifting historical drama is anothers white saviour cringe-fest. But today's knowledge and enlightenment stands on the shoulders of gateway fare like this. Whilst The Power of One is very dated, it's heart was in the right place. This was a Hollywood attempt to show the evils of the Apartheid years (Still ongoing at the time this was filmed and released) and to make it relatable to US and European audiences. However, was the film ever good? Well, the idea to have a child narrator for the first 45 mins or so was an interesting choice and didn't wholly work. The plot itself felt cliched except for the window dressing of the South African crisis. fine acotrs show up in supporting roles like Armin Mueller-Stahl, Sir John Gielgud, Morgan Freeman, Marius Weyers, Winston Ntshona, Clive Russell, and Daniel Craig (In his first ever film role) but the harrowing events are rushed and uninvolving considering how horrific they are. I would be interested to see how this same story would look if it was made today. Good message and I really liked it when I saw it at the cinema in Sept 1992 (UK). I hadn't seen it since until today. :)

Very much a film of the early 90s. Dated, honorable, aspirational, yet cliched, rushed, and preachy.

Reminiscent of Harold Pinter's plays' this beguiling two-hander harbours a great plot. Both actors are excellent yet hard to read. An original and above average no-budget britpic. Recommended.

The downside was a lack of subtitles and a bad sound mix that made some of the dialogue hard to catch at times. Clues are sprinkled throughout the running time - be alert.

7 out of 10 :)

Although Don't Breathe 2 offers a different plot to the first film (mercifully), it's not improvement. Although there are some nice polot flourishes, this sequel has led in its boots and feels turgid in a way the thrilling fast-moving original did not. Stephen Lang and the cast are good in thankless roles, but there's no way I'm getting onside with a rapist, killer even if he has kind of redeemed himself by bringing up a child successfully. Should've left it at one film imo. Fede Alvarez can't do endings.... (he co-wrote the script).