Film Reviews by AER

A sexual coming-of-age tale from Australia sees 16-year-old Sequin (Conor Leach) navigate gay hook-up apps. The main character is pretty inscrutable and mature for his age but he comes unstuck when he goes to an orgy in the titular blue room. Where anonymity is key he manipulates one hook up to find the identity of another hook up and ends up in deep water. It's a disquieting movie and it's well-made but too much time spent shagging eats into the already slight running time. It's more like a short than a feature. Well-played though by all-concerned.

The Hellraiser reboot is well-made and at times it looks very impressive with seamless SFX. However, this new interpretation fails were it needed to fly. Whilst the box of tricks has a clearer modus operandi, the characters are all pretty weak. There is some committed acting from an unknown cast (with Goran Visnic and Hiam Abbas in small supporting roles) but this is boring and flat with no thrills. Worst of all the new Cenobites look daft and aren't at all repulsive like the original bunch from Hellraiser 1 & II. Mind you, I wasn't a fan of the bad acting in the first films. This time it has good acting, a servicable script, and good SFX. But there is no intrigue and no personality. We need Doug Bradley's Pinhead back. This was better than I hoped for and probably the best ONE STAR review I'll ever write.

DOA

I read the book that this film is based on at the right age, that's what made me look this film up. The novel and the screenplay were both by Ethan Hawke (who also directs and takes a small role here) too. It's a simple story of young love and broken hearts. I found the book moving because I was young, but now I'm old and jaded I found the antics of our young lead (Mark Webber) tiresome. I wasn't really convinced by the central pair either... Sadly, there were no subtitles on my DVD so I missed the odd piece of dialogue. This film has a good heart and if you are in your early 20s you might still be able to relate to it. I wonder if it's worth me reading the book again?

Although there was a lot of story to digest the storytellers pulled it off with aplomb and without info dumps. It was an emotional and inventive film and I'm looking forward to Inside Out 2 this week :)

Not seen too many Pixar movies since UP but this was great. I'm very late to the feast with this film though....

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.