Film Reviews by AER

Vital viewing for gospel and soul lovers - also time travellers that would love to revisit the early 1970s - just to see the fashions and what regular folk were wearing and saying back then. The body of Amazing Grace is an belated assembly of material from a live recording of a gospel concert from January 1972 in Watts. It's dynamic... > An utterly immersive experience which is as close as you can get to hitching a ride in the time machine. The camera affords you a front row seat to an awe-inspiring performance - there's more than one moment that gave me goosebumps. Another brought a tear to my eye. A thing of beauty and at a slender 80 minutes you can make time for one of the best films of 2019. Albeit one that turned up 47 years late. Better late than never at all.

Unforgettable.

A nice small-scale sci-fi from Australia starring newcomer Carla Ruugard alongside American actress Hilary Swank (THE HOMESMAN / LOGAN LUCKY / MILLION DOLLAR BABY). This is a great little conspiracy thriller which can be work as an allegory for the price of national security. A girl (DAUGHTER) is raised by an AI, called Mother (ROSE BYRNE) that nurtures her through to adulthood after the extinction of the human race. Living in relative isolation the girl is given ethical exams by mother. With the arrival of a distressed stranger Hilary Swank's 'Woman' the Daughter's whol existence is brought under scrutiny. What lies beyond the doors to the complex where they live and is Mother protecting her from the truth or is she up to something altogether more sinister? Some neat riddles lie in plain sight for the solving, but don't get too caught up in the mystery - just go along for the ride. A satisfying mid-range sci-fi in the style of Moon and Anihiliation - this one works a treat.

This British thriller is a cut-above your average - this is thanks to a plot that side-steps genre cliches and offers up realistic, real world characters thrust into outlandish circumstances. We've been here before in films like Straw Dogs and Deliverance where city folk clash with rural folk - but in this case the locals are given colour and an intelligent script digs deeper than presenting us with cartoon killer farmers. In fact, our heroes are nothing of the sort as they try anything to save their own skin and cover their tracks after covering up an accidental death by killing someone else. The behaviour of our heroes is abominable and it's a miracle that Jack Lowden's young city dweller gains any audience sympathy. But he does because his friend played by Martin McCann is utterly barbaric and self-centred. It's a slow burner to be sure but Calibre serves up a different tale from other similar films in the same genre. You'll be torn who to root for and the story's resolution is far from clear-cut. Recommended if you are looking for a drama with a bit more substance than you'd expect.

I'm sure that it's down to the simple reason that I think Joaquin Phoenix is one of the greatest American actors at work today that I sought this curio out. It's like that old adage, 'Never meet your heroes' because this is an embarrassing, self-indulgent shambles which it tortuous to watch. This mockumentary began life as a documentary made by Phoenix's friend Casy Affleck to chronicle the former's retirement from acting and his attempts to be taken seriously as a rapper. But all we're treated to is a string of shambolic, unfunny and ultimately boring scenes where we get an insight into how Phoenix supposedly leads his life with his merry band of acolytes. I doubt Joaquin Phoenix and Casy Affleck hold this 'personal project' in high regard - it must have seemed like a good idea at the time but it's a skid mark on their respectable careers. Avoid.

Sadly this low-budget's ambitions way exceed the filmmakers' grasp in this exceedingly bad action film. New action-hunk Adam Collins (ESSEX HEIST) who also co-directed and co-wrote this clunky actioner fails to distinguish his film in anyway beyond the unusual setting of Nottingham. Turning City Hall into a palace to destroy legions of mercenaries in is vaguely inspired but it's a hell of journey getting through almost 90minutes of nonsensical, badly acted and cliched scenes that just seem to be stitched back-to-back with no rhyme or reason. A whole battle in a scrapyard seems to lead nowhere but it's vague fun to watch. The bad guy (IAN HICHENS) is one of the worst bad guys to have graced a film set in sometime and he only serves to make the rest of the cast look slightly better. Sparks of promise fail to ignite the great film but it will be interesting to see if these guys push themselves with a better script, better actors and some judicious editing before unleashing their next film on an unsuspecting public. One for the most undemanding of viewers who like action curios.

Try Hard.

For fans of the two Ivan Sen movies that revolve around Det. Jay Swan's life - this six episode series is essentially a third film. Yet it seems diluted and less 'cool' than the movies. The plot and characters are a bit slow on the uptake and the central mystery is a bit weak. That said, the lead actor Aaron Pedersen has some stirling support again from guest stars: Judy Davis (BARTON FINK / NAKED LUNCH), Colin Friels (MALCOLM / DARK MAN) and ERNIE DINGO (UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD / THE FRINGE DWELLERS / BLACK FELLAS). It's a frustrating brew that seems drawn out and is let down by a verbose script that, at times, spells out the obvious. All this would be acceptable as it's aimed at a mainstream evening TV audience, but following on the heals of the films Mystery Road and Goldstone, this lacks punch, style, intelligence and energy.

This charming Australian film, released back in 1986, is a great way to spend 90 minutes or so. Coming at you like a sweary Wallace & Gromit - this tells the story of an autistic tram-nut who lives in Melbourne who has an aptitude for building machines from old parts. When he rents his spare room out to two bank robbers who helps them pull off a series of mad-cap heists using his gadgets. The belligerent humour and action sequences in this are threadbare to say the least but who cares when this is a laugh a minute underdog tale that will stick in the memory. With a career best performance from Colin Friels (MYSTERY ROAD (TV) / DARK MAN / DARK CITY), this is a grand comedy with bags of charm and is hugely enjoyable (also starring John Hargreaves (THE LONG WEEKEND / EMERALD CITY), Lindy Davies (PRISONER OF CELL BLOCK H) and Chris Haywood (JINDABYNE / THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS).

It headlined at the Sydney Film Festival in 2019 in a restored format.