Film Reviews by AER

I've just learnt that the director and writer Paul Schrader was removed from the post-production stage of this movie and it shows. This no longer represents the Paul Schrader we know and love from films like First Reformed, Light Sleeper, and Taxi Driver. What we have is an incoherent, substandard action thriller with no thrills, ropey acting and a lack of conviction. I was hoping that this was going to be one of Nicolas Cage's better recent films but sadly this is a rather dead and limp actioner that probably once had a bit of depth to it, but I'm not convinced that this was ever going to be decent, as Nicolas Cage is pretty terrible in this.

Sorry but this potentially interesting film about jobbing NYC jazz musicians is a dud. That it doesn't work comes down to an unconvincing performance by Jeff Goldblum and a script that strives for honesty but comes off gauche and untranslatable for fine actors like Forest Whitaker and Kathy Baker. The endless scenes of Jeff Goldblum, Kathy Baker, and FW miming whilst singing and playing their instruments doesn't help too... and that's as much down to the sound mix as it is the performances... Ultimately, it ends up being a cliched, maudlin disease of the week movie... Shame. PS: look out for Don Cheadle in a small supporting role.

3 out of 10 - full of bum notes

Overly convoluted Australian drama that tries hard to present interesting characters but everybody on show bar a few are awful people. It's an interesting angle, that of the murderer trying to solve his own crime. As a child, James has a hand in drowning a child with a friend, but then he has an epileptic fit and the dead child's body goes missing. 10 years later he tries to discover how much involvement his friend had in the crime. The trouble is a local fmaily is trying to throw him off the scent, What are their reasons for doing so?

The cast are uniformly good, and the plot is quite murky, so you need to pay attention to connect all the parts together, as there is a lot behind the scenes that you only glimpse. There are lots of lengthy sex scenes in Downriver which don't seem to add anything to the plot - with an already slim running time, the makers could have revealed more of the story. Reef Ireland, Thom Green, Kerry Fox (LITTLE JOE / AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE / SHALLOW GRAVE), and Robert Taylor (THE MATRIX) are all brilliant, especially the latter as a truckie who has a sensitive insight into James' plight. The cryptic ending will anger some viewers.

However if you like Australian dramas like Jindabyne, Beautiful Kate, or Lantana, then this is a worthy addition to the canon.

7 out of 10

Terrible acting, godawful script and ropey SFX scupper this Independence Day knock-off from down under. Pity Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors / Book of Boba Fett) and Jacqueline McKenzie (Romper Stomper / Malignant) as they look bewildered throughout this cut-price, bargain-basement bore.

With ambitions that dwarf its budget this epic sci-fi from Australia is the first sequel to Occupation. Picking up where the first film left off the remnants of human society and some 'good' aliens try to survive against depleting odds against some really aggressive intergalactic foes. The acting and the script is really abyssmal even with the likes of Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians / Hangover trilogy) and Temuera Morrison (Book of Boba Fett). The plot is basic and with only the SFX to lean on, this is a bit of a slog. There are some cool creatures like the Vox and a giant hand/spider apex predator, but beyond that, you've seen it better elsewhere. This even makes the wack Independence Day 2 look cool.

2 out of 10

This exceedingly silly horror sequel sees Simon Phillips, Sayla De Goede and director Paul Tanter return to make sure our Christmasses are bloody. The plotting and script is super dozy, and some of the supporting actors are a bit lame. However, Simon Phillips as Killer Santa delivers another demented tour-de-force in his signature role. It looks the business with slick cinematography, beautiful snowy locations, and cool SFX, however it's all a bit same old same old, not to mention predictable. This sequel is a moderate improvement on the first one, but on the whole it's still a bad, bad, bad movie.

2 out of 10

Max Cloud is a day-glo cheapo with fairly decent SFX and production design considering it's a low-budget indie. The cast struggle to bring life to the pantomime-grade script - only John Hannah seems to be in the spirit of things as a comic boo-hiss villain. It's like a supermarket brand cross between Jumanji, Galaxy Quest and Pluto Nash (remember that?) Scott Adkins is vaguely fun in a lightweight role, but young teens (who I'm assumed this is aimed at) will sniff out an (albeit intentionally) corny wannabe superhero flick - with the colour scheme of Thor - Ragnarok. Look out for Noel Clarke's best-bud Jason Maza in an intergalactic widow twanky-role.

Clunky and not fit for wide consumption. It's deffo a curio though.

I couldn't fault this gangster biopic of Whitey Bulger, but it didn't really show us anything new that we haven't already seen in Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, The Sopranos etc. The end credits were more interesting than a lot of what was up for grabs. I don't believe John Connolly at the FBI was able to protect Bulger and deceive his superiors for so long though - that aspect was difficult to believe. Johnny Depp and the large cast were all superb though - Black Mass did what it came to do, be a predictable film about the Irish Mob.

This brainless anti-violence violent action film is simple and fun to watch if you don't buy into the preachiness. The villain's quest for internet recognition is quaint (this was made in 2006) but the film's fight / action sequences make up for the sermonising. The acting is better than average too from the lunk-headed cast that is largely unknown (to me) but led by Steve 'Stone Cold' Austin, Vinnie Jones, and Australian character actor Robert Mammone (who once had hopes of being a breakout leading man like his old mate Russell Crowe)... It's a throwaway but way better than it meant to be. Also seek out director Scott Wiper's The Big Ugly.

It's the broad performances that let this cool drama about blood ties down. It could be that the style of acting has dated since the early 90s or that the cast misinterpreted the script. Anyway, the story is compelling as a drifter/conman reconnects with his son and the past comes together to play a cruel trick on all of them. It's a slow burn and certainly looks the part - it's a shame its miscast across the board.

This trashy action flick has no logic, terrible SFX, and even worse acting. The continuity errors were legion and the script dogsh*t.... This made Aeon Flux look like The Godfather. Milla Jovovich's very worst film..... AVOID>

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a renowned composer and former Japanese pop star (Yellow Magic Orchestra / electronic solo work) but he's most widely appreciated for this film soundtracks (The Last Emperor / Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence). Coda see the composer at a time in his life where he is beign treated for throat cancer but is now renewing his zeal and ability to work on new projects. Released in 2017, this covers areas as wide as compostion and his opposition to nuclear power in Japan. We visit Fukujima with him to see the destruction of the 2011 tsunami... It's a well-paced documentary about an artist getting back to work and we as a viewer feel privileged to go along for the ride for a while.

Stuffed with information about the FBI's attempts to discredit and defame Martin Luther King jr during his time as 'most moral leader' in America during the early to late 1960s, this documentary offers much but confirms very little. Hard facts are seen as if through a zoetrope - documents whipped under our noses so fast that we have to catch the talking heads (some survivors of MLK's entourage) as they layer on memories and theories. It's a dizzying, fascinating addition to the welcome myriad of documentaries on the American Black experience. An interesting comments come towards the end that reminds us that the American Black has only enjoyed equal citizenship right for around 60 years... That is no time at all. The ghost of slavery and endemic racism in America casts a very long shadow. Intriguing but densely presented.

Channing Tatum's comeback movie (which he has also co-directed and co-wrote) is a likeable, simple tale of companionship with man's best friend, the dog! A US Ranger is charged with taking the former canine US Ranger (Lulu - a Belgian Maloise) to the funeral of its former owner. The pair are predictably antagonistic towards one another before, through a series of encounters begin to bond. After the funeral, Channing Tatum's ranger is charged with taking the hound to be destroyed so he can recommence his overseas military career, but will it end up that way? You don't need to watch it to guess correctly, but the film's predictability doesn't work against it. The only downside is that it packs a lot into a slim running time and some adventures are given short shrift or are tonally amiss (and in one case badly-judged). With the dog's past as a killer, when she is triggered by the sight of a Muslim in Middle-Eastern style attire, the incident is played for fun and more or less brushed off. Dog's like this cannot be retrained or broken without a lot of time and care - so this whole section of the film almost topples the film's good will. However, the dog is (three dogs play Lulu) convincing and very winning (said scene ahead), and Channing Tatum is a very easy going lead that delivers the drama and pathos just as well as the comedy here.

5.5 out of 10 - Fun and moving. Predictable and it's a shame about 'trigger' scene as this could have been a 4* out of 5, easy.

Back in the 90s, this was the first made for cinema Steven Seagal starrer to go DTV in the UK. It came out at cinemas around the world but the Brits saw sense to bypass this one, and this is also the one that saw Hollywood call time on this waste of space. With an eco-message years ahead of its time, it still fudged the science... An EDA agent goes to the Appalachian Mtns to uncover big-business skullduggery and 'fish acting weird' and finds himself on the wrong end of Stephen Lang and Kris Kristoffersen's ire.

This is p**s weak, with terrible action scenes (excepting a truck plunging off a deep cliff), a soppy romance, and dopey villains (Stephen Lang is terrible in this).... The fight scenes look like they were made in the edit - its just plain duff and from the school of 'one-at-a-time fighting' on ketamine. It's easy to see why audiences gave up on Steven Seagal as he can't fight, cannot act and even for the 90s, looked very silly.

Crap Down Below 0.5 out of 10