Film Reviews by AER

Skindeep attempt to dramatise Brian Clough's notorious reign as England's most famous football manager of the 70s and 80s. Michael Sheen is miscast and the script basic. Just felt like a TV movie made for people to lazy to read and interesting book about this complex man. Well-made overall but it's just another non-cinematic brick in the wall of safe British movies starring the usual cosy suspects (Jim Broadbent & Timothy Spall). Open goal, shot wide.

This round of Resident Evil brings back old cast members in different roles (Michelle Rodriguez, Oded Fehr, and Colin Salmon) and utterly wastes them. In fact this is lackluster in every way and could be Paul WS Anderson's very worst film. Terrible dialogue that amounts to stage directions or a minute-by-minute countdown until home town. Literally everything is counting down to something in this movie. Three quarters of the lines are along the lines of 'we have 20 minutes left, we gotta move.' Awful SFX and no real plot motivation except to team goodies up with baddies to go against former allies, and an old villain from the first film (The Red Queen). Plus there is an awful scene that rips off entire scenes from Aliens that makes zero narrative sense. Perhaps one of the crappest films to garner a wide cinema release since 2000.

How could this have gone so wrong and badly? This whodunnit, complete with terrible poetry and ropey plot, stars Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino as cops on the trail of a vigilante serial killer. When it becomes apparent that the killer may be a cop, this film downs tools and chooses to go around in circles to no avail. Neither Pacino or DeNiro operate near their best and the supporting cast just stand around shrugging their shoulders at one another. It gets bogged down quickly with characters that do little to no police work. (How many times do Pacino and Donnie Wahlberg break up a fight between DeNiro and John Leguizamo - these pointless scenes pad the movie out by 10 minutes)?

I saw it at the cinema and gave it 2 out of 10. Why did I doubt myself? It's a truly terrible movie the second time around as well. Why didn't I trust my first instincts? I need therapy.

Indignant Snooze more like.

Apart from some striking yet fleeting imagery like the Geisha's outfit at the brothel, and the final act of slaying a blossom tree, in the film, I found this one a bit of a plod. Sadly I couldn't engage with a militia losing their heads over a beautiful boy. Very unusual film about gay Samurai warriors.

Excellent no fuss time travel movie which has a brilliant concept, and is easy to follow if you stay sharp. Even though it seems unresolved by the ending, this is a great tour of how a time loop might work if you were to follow a single character around. Gripping and deft.

One of the best auteurs in action today, Paolo Sorrentino is one of the true masters at marrying beauty and music together. His films often get dismissed as all flash and no soul. But their quest and delivery of magnificent beauty is the thing that brings me the most joy. Parthenope is the summing up of his mission to dazzle with the moving picture. 10 out of 10.

Flimsy murder mystery with stock Woody Allen annoying characters. I dragged my feet on the way to watch this one, and swerved around it when it came out on the cinema. Now I've finally watched it, I am disappointed that it was just flat, unfunny, boring and a below average effort from all involved.

The late John Singleton's second film and follow up to Boyz-n-the-Hood was never released on UK cinemas and it took a very long time to receive any kind of UK release on VHS. After all these years, I finally sat down to watch it and it's not hard to understand why this was virtually ignored. It stands as Tupac Shakur's worst film (imo) and Janet Jackson's solo leading role. to date The script is terrible and the plot lazy, basic, unfunny and repetitive. How many times can a character say '**** you b**ch / **** you n***** etc. It was melodramatic and corny - not even Maya Angelou's poetry could rescue this. Awful in most ways.

What a letdown after the classic and unforgettable BOYZ-N-THE-HOOD.

This lame ghost story is a rip-off of the Insidious films but it's not even a good attempt. This has a wet Nicolas Cage and Sarah Wayne Callies running around trying to find thier son who had been abducted on Halloween. Pay The Ghost are the last words he uttered before he vanished. The convoluted reason for the disappearance has Nic wandering around Toronto (standing in for NYC) and following up clues that make no sense and seem to have dropped in his lap out of nowhere. Clueless cops and academics show up to spout plot exposition and then makers just leave it to the soundtrack to the provide the jumpscare. The SFX are weak but aspects unnerve (like the flying crowd of children at the end). So there's nothing to look at - only Nicolas Cage completists or those who have forgotten his dog years and find this in charity shop (I'm in this category) will ever watch this. Lame.

I will never watch Tommy Wiseau's The Room, especially after watching this very funny but cringey true life tale of it's making. Starring real-life brothers James and Dave Franco as Wiseau and his best friend Greg Sesestro, this was like watching a car crash in slow motion. The story of monstrous ego and self-belief if still sweet at times yet totally weird. Note perfect comedy from talent I usually don't bother with. Features strong doses of Seth Rogen....

Cameos galore!!! too.

This the ultimate film to watch on a long haul flight. It's the equivalent of a page-turning holiday read. Undemanding as they come, this the type of movie that came out every week in the 1990s and I'm happy that they are back. You know it's gonna be corny-a-clock when Laurence Fishburne turns up as 'mentor' and Rami Malek elevates the material from being a Liam Neeson cast off. A good cast shows up in thankless supporting roles. Only Holt McCallany stand out as the fiendish CIA puppetmaster. The villains Malek's Heller is targetting barely register. Features cameos from Jon Bernthal, Marthe Keller, Michael Stuhlberg, Joseph Millson, and Julianne Nicholson.

Slight but entertaining. And very, very undemanding. slightly above average.

An unassuming film that almost glides away into a dream. The story of Siamese twins who have come to a midwest city to find their birth mother is peculiar, meandering and touching at times. The Polish Brothers (who write and direct) went onto make the bewitching NORTHFORK and for fans of that, this feels like a toe in the water of style development. It's unique, well told but slight. Nice turns from the brothers, and cameos from LESLEY JANE WARREN, PATRICK BAUCHAU, and WILLIAM KATT also make it worth a look.

A ONE AND A TWO feels like six year's worth of soap opera squashed into 3 hours such is the level of incident. However, Edward Yang's most famous(?) film is engrossing and involving. The life of a large Taiwanese family and its orbiting friends plays out during a period of time when an elderly relative falls into a coma. From the youngest to the eldest we witness rebellion, infidelity, drunkenness, heartbreak, guilt and more. It's an impressive epic.

This was director Edward Yang's last film before he passed away in the mid 2000s. Set in Taipei, Taiwan.

Santosh is a British film set in India and deals with lots of hot topics. Banned (so far) in India, Santosh centres around a woman who becomes a police officer after inheriting her late husband's job. A natural for the role, she is still dismissed by lazy male counterparts. The film looks at the inqualities of the caste system, sexism, corruption and public sex shaming. It's a sad film that is engrossing, gripping and extremely well-presented and acted. One of the best films I've seen at the cinema so far in 2025. Unmissable if you love police procedurals and also for fans of Zootropolis, who's plot this vaguely mirrors (serious!)

If you already remember events from the time or have seen the documentary One Day In September or even Steven Spielberg's melodramatic Munich, you already know what happened here. The only thing different is the angle. September 5th is told from the POV of the TV sports coverage room of ABC. And even though they were near the front line as the tragedy unfolded, this film was largely redundant. Choosing to take a distant line of sight I felt this telling and depiction of the Black September hostage situation at the Munich Olympics in 1972 was pretty much redundant and only occasionally vital. Well-played by the committed cast however.