Film Reviews by AER

This film is nearly 3 hours long and contains enough plot to sustain a film half its length. Reminiscent of David Lynch, this peculiar film set in Tahitii depicts paranoia, power plays and mystery to great effect, dso much so that I was left in the dark. It tried my patience in the last 30 minutes as it seems to wantonly abandon much of the plot or logic - but it comes back at the end and it works well on reflection as you begin to understand this portrait of maniacal evil. Unique but a difficult customer nonetheless.

Martyr's Lane is an evasive little ghost story which is reasonably well-acted by the child-led cast. However, the film holds you at arm's length as the director/and actors painstakingly craft their intricate tale of loss and ghosts. It demands a lot of the viewer who has probably pieced together the mystery long before the characters. Some bits work others don't, which is a shame because the actors seem committed if not always capable of bringing this slow ghost story to life.

Uninvolving.

A very interesting horror is messed up by over-complication and a story full of gigantic nonsensical plotholes. Shame as it is original at times and a committed cast work hard to sell its interesting ideas. It's not at all scary or tense either.

Bad Boys 3 was great and put this series of action films back on the map. However, Bad Boys 4 - Ride or Die is resting on its laurels. it's a shame there's not much to recommend this time. The jokes are thin on the ground and Will Smith is strangely subdued. Maybe this film was rushed into production to save Big Willy's career after his infamous Oscar slap etc. Martin Lawrence is on fine form, but he can't carry the movie alone. The action is good this time too but this sequel is half-baked, rushed and reminded me of last year's Expendables 4 or one of the lamer Fast & Furious movies (and not in a good way).

Sad Boys more like...

Medusa Deluxe is a one-location whodunnit set in Preston (UK) that revolves around a thwarted hairdressing competition. Edited to give the conclusion that most of it was filmed in one take, this loud, abrasive thriller/comedy runs out of steam about 1 hour in, and despite great performances, I began to lose patience with it. I found it claustrophoibc and at times repetitive. Instead of building to a crash and bang, it just fades away. The dance routine over the end credits is worth hanging around for.

Just like we've come to expect of Quentin Dupieux, Incredible But True is another demented slice of surreal comedy. And again the director and cast make it all look so easy. This one tells the story of a middle-aged couple Alain Chabat (THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP) and Lea Drucker (CLOSE) who buy a house with a very peculiar feature in the basement. But what is it and how will it change their lives? The man also has a strange egotistical friend/boss who brings much (BENOIT MAGIMEL - THE TASTE OF THINGS) madness to the film. I found this film to be just my cup of tea and thought it was unique and funny.

I'm sorry but I couldn't immerse myself in this mood-horror. It's very abstract and expects a lot from its audience. It may have worked as a 10-minute segment of a VHS anthology but unfortunately at 1hr 40mins it is a very slow and boring experience. I gave it 20 minutes then fast forwarded it for incident. It's eerie and unique but too experimental to connect.

This plays like a movie-within-a-movie - you know like the sci-fi Julia Roberts' character is in in Notting Hill. Nothing convinces even the valiant attempts of the actors to give it some weight. It was cheesy in 2002 and it's just funny now, especially when you realise Brian Conley is in it. Made me wish he'd brought Septic Peg back. Anyway, if you like The Matrix, you won't like this Euro piece of plaigiarism. It's very droopy.

A potentially interesting story is scuppered by the miscasting of the leading man. I agree with the other reviewers that the lead character is very unlikeable. But what were we expecting from a drug dealer? Let's not take a moral high road, this is a work of fiction but it still fails as the lead (an unknown actor called Nicholas Fagerberg) is pretty atrocious. He cannot act whereas all the supporting cast can carry a tune. But by casting a ropey actor in the lead means this film is pretty unconvincing although it takes us to places seldom seen in a film, such as Uganda. With a largely Ugandan cast, this potentially interesting film about a new high called Bulu, runs out of ideas fast and evnds up chasing its own tail in a sequence of scenes that depict what we've already seen in the 'future flashes' that Bulu enables the user to see. Crap lead actor, awful script, great locations, good supporting actors, cool cinematography. It's something different but all-in-all it was laborious.

On the shoulders of some superb, subtle performances, this film is deeply sad and moving as it muses on the importance of our memories. It's a deeply thoughtful movie, and quietly persuasive. I loved it. Nice to see Jon Hamm in a good role at last, and Geena Davis and Lois Smith are both perfect in dual roles. Recommended if you don't mind 'talkies'. I think some of the other reviewers were expecting iRobot and while this is definitely not an action film, it aces in just about everyway an emotional think piece can without resorting to melodrama or oversentimentality.

What starts out as a vaguely intriguing stoner comedy turns into another one of those - there has to be more to life than this / oh hold up, I'm a sleeper assassin. Everybody seems to be sleepwalking their way through this rote and unoriginal action flick. The fights are competent enough and there is lots of gun play but you've seen the actors in this in way better films. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart even gelled excellently in Adventureland. Wasted opportunity.

This is one for 'The Notebook' / Reese Witherspoon book club crowd - this is a very well-presented melodrama set in Scotland during the first quarter of the 20th century. An over-qualified cast try to make a very basic underserving script work. Some scenes work, others are cringey, but much is thanks to the acting of the principal cast, only Mark Gatiss seems miscast. The plot runs on rails and although it's a very sad tale (based loosely on fact), it fails to distinguish itself from the 100s of lesser made-for-TV dramas. This is low-budget but good acting, excellent cinematography, beautiful locations and tastefully soundtrack just about elevate this from boring to above-average. It's not my cup of tea, and had all the above aspects been terrible, I would have switched off. The last twist in the tale was corny and unneeded, but I guess this is the kind of denouement The Notebook crowd craves.

With it's crap script, dopey non-characters and silly plot, Tarot doesn't have alot going for it. However, it was watchable mainly because a lot of the set-pieces ended up being quite effective. Because the 'assailant' changed appearance depending on which tarot card each of the protagnists were dealt, it made the film interesting to look at. So you see the major arcana manifested in physical form such as the magician, the joker, the devil etc. It kept things going and creepy, but this is largely dumb, bloodless, and a thin placeholder under Final Destination 6 shows up.

Sub-zero expectations saw me through.

Guy Ritchie returns to the style of Cockney Gangster Geezer Movie and he's clear lost the light touch. This seems like a tired facsimile of his older films without the wit, originality or humour. Clunky sideplots about a gay gangster and a lucky painting that we never get to see fog up the pace. Sadly, it's marred by over-mannered acting. Only Tom Wilkinson generates any electricity, and a pair of Chechen hardmen bit players offer memorable scenes and fun action. It's not a patch on Lock Stock, Snatch, or even Revolver. The Gentleman, which is Guy Ritchie's most recentl return to gnagster land was better too. A post-credits promise of a sequel has so far failed to materialise. Good, keep it that way :) lol

This ain't The One - Jet Li is simply awful playing various different versions of himself across a multiverse. He is the last of his kind as an evil Jet Li tries to wipe him out to gain ultimate power and destroy the galaxy of galaxies. An incompetent interdimensional police force have failed to save a single Jet Li (out of 1000s of worlds) from evil Jet Li - it's hilarious. Bad acting on a tropical disease scale from Jet Li and a hairy Jason Statham try to convince you that they are the best unintentionally funny comedy duo in the history of Hollywood! Perhaps one of the worst mid-budget sci-fis Hollywood ever produced except for Babylon AD (but that was French wasn't it?:)

Number Two - a real t*rd