Film Reviews by AER

I enjoyed this American romcom a lot more than I thought I would. The first 90 minutes or so is very funny, with some funny twists and turns. I was almost thinking of it as a romantic version of Magnolia or Todd Solondz's Happiness. The cast is great and the script very sharp, however, the last 20 minutes resorts to crass formula where characters conform to cliche and it all goes a bit corny and limp (and vaguely creepy in more than one plot strand). So whilst this is better than the majority of American comedies, I wish it had kept its nerve and its sweetness to go the distance. There's also too many plotholes for this to be fully effective - it would've been better to leave a few plotthreads untied...

Close but no cigar my friend. Corny, creepy vs funny and sharp....

I vaguely remember when this came out on the cinema and I really wanted to see it - I think I may have seen it sometime over the years but I can't remember. I think this is possibly Sam Raimi's worst film by a long chalk. Bad SFX (even for the 80s), a terrible script, lazy plot, very very bad acting from everybody concerned, even the cat. If you are looking for evidence that Comic Book Superhero Movies were once written off as crap then look no further - this is Exhibit A. Even the worst MCU/DC isn't as bad as this. Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, and Colin Friels have never been worse. Only Larry Drake is worth a look, as well as a cool Bruce Campbell walk-on at the end.

Very sh*t.

For the first half, Argylle is very entertaining and fun to watch. However a twist around the halfway mark bins anything interesting and sets a course towards generic SFX-laden action. Not all is lost though, a few action sequences stand out but on the whole, this could've been way better if it stuck to its guns and knew where its strengths lay. Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard and Bryan Cranston are all good, so the most undemanding viewer might find some things to enjoy.

5 out of 10

Perhaps one of the finest films about Auschwitz. It's a question of what makes us a monster and what makes us human - and that its possible to be both. It's an astonishing film that everyone should see and all the more pertinent given the current political climate. 10/10

One of the most effective ghost stories I've ever seen. Well-plotted, unpredictable, short and very scary when it needs to be. I've seen this twice now and it was even better on second viewing. It has way more invention than ten Blumhouse movies. Shame this is virtually unknown and low budget but it needs to be seen. Very effective chiller. 10/10

PS Crappy title though.

Beautiful film that makes you appreciate life. Sad and thoughtful. Recommended, just don't try to 'logic' the plot out of existence. Great performances all round.

I've never seen a bad Ken Loach film before; I've seen boring Ken Loach films but never a bad one, that is until today. This culture clash love affair contains a great performance by Eva Birthistle but sadly its stranded in a film full of melodramatic twists and turns. It's about as subtle as a brick and the story fails to convince not because of how the families react to the relationship between and an Irish Catholic and a Glaswegian Muslim but how the pair react to eachother. They characters aren't developed enough for my liking, all they do is argue about religion and they don't even seem to like one another all that much. It fails to sell that the central couple are in love. So everything else falls down around it. Disappointing because this tale has been told with more conviction and cohesion elsewhere.

I happened upon this by chance when it was reviewed in the pages of Total Film mag some time ago - so it sat in my list for yonks. An upcoming trip to Hong Kong made me want to take a look at it. I don't think this saw a cinema release in the UK back in 97 - 98 so it completely passed me by. Something of a lost classic, it's been released after a restoration in 2017 by Eureka for their masters of cinema series. I really enjoyed the characterisation by the actors, particularly the lead trio. I also liked the style of the movie. Somewhat rough and ready with it's handheld moves, yet shots were framed with innovation and care, yet they didn't jolt you out the story. It gets quite melodramatic towards the end but somehow it all fits as the main guy is a drama queen anyway. Very funny at times, thrilling or sad in others, MADE IN HONG KONG deserves its reputation as one of Hong Kong cinema's hidden treasures.

The fourth instalment in the Undisputed film series sees one-time bad guy Yuri Boyka take centre stage. The fights are accomplished if not a little bit repetitive and the storyline is staight out of TV's The Equalizer or The A-Team with a Russian slant. The acting is above average, but the script is pedestrian and the drama scenes too cliched to offer anything but undemanding cinema. This is only 1 star because the scale is 1 to 5.... I would give this 2.5 out of 10 because Scott Adkins is a great performer and a decent actor.

Undemanding 4

An Elephant Sitting Still is singularly the best drama of the last 10 years. I've seen it three times now (the first time at the cinema). It's epic and so intimate (like the trailer says) and very moving.

More formulaic than most of Payne's films, this Xmas treat is a heartwarmer with complex characters and superb acting from everybody. The newcomers Dominic Sessa and da'Vine Jay Randolph match Paul Giamatti over the course of some complex comedy and drama. It hits hard in some of the more emotional scenes and the script is also very funny. The only thing I didn't like was the use of music which was unnecessarily manipulative and obtrusive. Too many montages too.... Otherwise, another ace in the hole for Alexander Payne, one of the USA's best directors of dramatic comedies led by superb actors.

Official Competition (crap title) stars two of my favourite actors: Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. I've never seen Penelope C in a role like this before, she offers a comic yet layered performance as a film director in rehearsals with two vain actors (Banderas, Oscar Martinez) from contrasting backgrounds. Both are buffons and embody their parodies well. I loved it.

Bad Educacion begins well with an intriguing premise but it loses its emotional gumption with some cinematic tricks that distract rather than assist the story. As usual Almodavor packs in so much plot, but for me this one had one silly twist too many and by the last twenty minutes, I'd lost patience with the double-crosses. Gael Garcia Bernal is interesting casting as a beautiful transvestite performer. Still, sadly he's reduced to a cipher to keep the dizzy plot running as opposed to an interesting and complex character. It had a simple story but it was somehow made overcomplicated by the multiple stories within stories and competing versions of the truth with different actors inside. Sadly this is a misfire for Almodavor.

Too busy.

How I miss 90s mid-level action movies like this. This was DTV in the UK, but I was keen to see it because of it's great cast of b-movie villains - Rutger Hauer, Gary Busey, F Murrray Abraham, Charles S Dutton. This was during the wonderful time in Hollywood when Ice T was a leading man for a few years! Following so closely after John Woo's / Jean Claude Van Damme's Hard Target (which is based loosely on the same story THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME) this could be seen as repetitive, but the focus is closer than the JCVD version and just as much fun. Basically, rich guys trick a homeless person into being hunted in the wilderness, but the baddies pick the wrong guy. For once Ice T isn't a former Navy SEAL or SAS, he's merely an ex-janitor with a survival instinct and a lot of luck. It's corny, trashy but the acting is good and the cast interesting. I miss Rutger Hauer RIP.

Far from perfect but it's the kind of 90s flick I miss - all the action films in Hollywood now are huge scale and Jason Statham is the only one who gets to make films like this anymore....

So all these years I was thinking that Nicolas Cage's acting style got weird after Face/Off but he was extreme and nutso all along. Vampire's Kiss hasn;t dated as badly as a lot of 80s films but I'm afraid it was too madcap and a mite tedious for my taste inspite of the fantastically OTT perforrnance by Nicolas Cage. I recgnised so many scenes from 'memes' etc. It had some great moments but it wasn't my cup of tea I'm afraid.