Film Reviews by AER

One thing a film with dinosaurs shouldn't be is dull. Somehow Hollywood manages it time after time with lame Jurassic Park sequels. Primitive War seems to exist to solely make the movies of the said franchise look good. Awful script, sleepy acting and terrible CGI may be forgivable if there was even an ounce of personality to the script, but nope the plot and the actors deliver phoned-in performances. Pity Jeremy Piven.

The worst Australian (disguised as an American) film I've seen in a lonnnnnng long time.

Toothless.

Nico aka Above The Law is Steven Seagal's earliest leading role and he started off and stayed crap for a long time. His sometime director friend Andrew Davis handles the action well, they are above average for middling 80s fare like this but the script and Seagal's acting is whiffy. Seagal plays a cop looking for justice when some C4-smuggling high rollers are given a pass by high-ranking CIA officials led by a shadowy Henry Silva. Laugh and gawp at Seagal's lame fighting skills and wonder to yourself how this guy climbed to the top of the action pole in Hollywood for a minute in the early 90s... Andrew Davis also directed Under Siege and The Fugitive. An inauspicious debut.

Gods and Monsters is a well-acted but has some erratic plot developments near the close which derail it somewhat. Imagining a friendship between British filmmaker James Whale and a his gardner., this a strong (largely two-hander) for Ian McKellen and an experimental Brendan Fraser. James Whale was best known for directing Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, he was also a flamboyant homosexual who had been blackballed by the industry. He is attracted to the heterosexual yardman at his large Beverly Hills home and endeavours to establish a friendship despite their differences. It's in the later stages when the friendship comes to head where this film develops a taste for the overdramatic and the story might give you whiplash. It's a shame because the acting is seriously good.

In these more informed times, this is a MAGA fantasy film with an over-simplified take on world politics. Basic, dead behind-the-eyes, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, and definitely one for Bourne Identity knock-offs. I mean, what else was I expecting from a film called AMERICAN ASSASSIN? A bit more thought, balance and less racial profiling would have been welcome.

This looks like it was brought to us by Fox News and Donald Trump's publicity department.

Nemesis is another low-grade sci-fi set on a derelict industrial estate in a tropical country. Much like Cyborg the only active ingredient is a lot fire. The actors are DOA and even stalwarts like Tim Thomerson & Brion James are saddled with bad dialogue and terrible characterisation. How can a film like this have confused plotting? Blame the editing, blame the low sound mix, blame the sad sack hero Olivier Gruner... I have a sense of humour but this was just dull... Strangely all the men have women's names and vice versa... It's funny seeing Fender (Vincent Klynn from Cyborg) referred to as Michelle. Look out for Thomas Jane in a really early role.

A Glitch In The Matrix serves as a gateway to the theories of parallel realities, the simulacrum theories made popular by Baudelaire and The Matrix movies. Phiilip K Dick's lectures come under the spotlight and several disguised talking heads share their ideas but a documentary like this is always a zero sum game. It's indulgent and relies on talking heads as opposed to discussion. Interesting visuals and movie clips help pass the time, but ultimately watching this will make you no wiser.

Meandering first hour left me impatient for this one to land, but once it got going it had some excellent set-pieces. It centres around the reluctant assassin premise only the twist here is the killer's handler begins to act as protector and friend. Unusual with an abrupt ending. I will watch again, now I know what's instore. But was a little underwhelmed to start with.

I generally love Icelandic cinema and this was one of the hold outs from the international breakouts that I still had to see. Wish I hadn't. Rekjavik 101 is a tedious sex comedy with shrill, repetitive performances from an overqualified cast which includes Victoria Abril! Lame, flaccid, largely unfunny.

Director Mark Jenkin has a unique approach to filmmaking - implementing old tech hardware and dubbing the sounds on later, his movies are certainly an acquired taste. Rose of Nevada is his third feature and you should know what to expect - stilted acting and a liberal respect of linear coherent narrative. If you don't mind the mysterious nature of its storyline and are happy to piece it all together afterwards, The Rose of Nevada really is something special. It's a timemachine/ghost story that falls somewhere between Jenkin's relatable BAIT and his elusive arty ENYS MEN. At a glance, the plot may look like a Cornish Event Horizon but it's so much more... :)

A waxwork museum of a biopic of one of the 20th centuries finest poets/novelists, Sylvia Plath. Daniel Craig overacts as her Ted Hughes and Gwyneth Paltrow is strangled by a repetitive script which leaves her in a loop of jealousy and depression. It's disappointing considering this was directed by Christine Jeffs who's debut 'RAIN' (2001) was really promising. Dead behind the eyes. Criminally boring.

This was released long before news reached us that Bruce Willis was very ill. I'd begun to notice his face on the front of lots of DVD covers for films I'd never heard of, so I was wondering if he'd been blacklisted. So with knowledge of how poorly he was I decided to try one of the higher profile releases from the last few years of his career. In a supporting role, it's a cushy, snoozy job for Mr Willis, who has little to add to the main plot.

MIDNIGHT IN THE SWITCHGRASS has name support from Megan Fox (Transformers)... and decent character actors like Emile Hirsch (LORDS OF DOGTOWN) and Lukas Haas (BRICK), however, the lousy script and the sleepy acting from everybody makes this tortuous. The film is like the bits you fast forward through in a soft-porn story movie. It's shockingly wooden, dreadfully plotted, and one hundred percent moronic. Why did Bruce sully his legacy for this? To build a decent nest egg for his kids? Had to be the green.

Interesting coming-of-age drama set near Wirkworth in NZ. This one deals with burgeoning sexuality head on with troubling results. Excellent performances from the cast, from the youngest to the most experienced. Some artistic fluorishes distract rather than enhance it, dating it in the early 2000s. The seventies setting is effective, and the production design convincing. Marton Czokas is really good in a complex role, but the film belongs to Alicia Fulford-W as the observant, all-too-aware of herself daughter and Sarah Peirse as her alcoholic bored and sexy mother.

The dual denouement is tricky - we needed full-committment from the difficuly original ending only for it to get trumped by a trite tragedy. All is saved by astonishing acting for the cast.

Technical point: No subtitles and a murky soundmix also do their best to scupper viewing comfort.

Like a lot of short-film anthologies, Wild Tales has its ups and downs. Some of the six untitled stories are funny and dynamic whilst others drag on and on with little reward. Because the subject matter centres on revenge and violence, there is a crashing inevitability to each of the stories. Some of the punchlines are worth it, others not. A mixed bag but only two out of the six films worked for me... I liked the road-rage one best and the corrupt lawyers (drink driver) one too.

Totally gutted as this empty sequel is completely empty. Whereas the first film was full of originality, verve and thrills, this sequel is flat, plodding and boring. I'm convinced Ethan Hawke only lent his voice to this film, as The Grabber is barely seen in physical form and only in his eerie Viking mask. So devoid of Hawke is this sequel you realise that his presence was the key to the first film's power. Black Phone 2 is repetitive and ultimately pointless. My least favourite cinema release of 2025 by a long way.

I'm not a Sally Hawkins fan. I think she over acts and lacks subtlety. However, she seemed to be just right for this role of the schizophrenic Jane, who was jilted on her wedding day sending her into a life of psychosis. She's not aided much by her family or friends - who alternately serve to alienate her or humour her or avoid her. We step inside some of Jane's fantasies, and although some of this works a treat and drums up the desired emotion, some of it comes across as trite or even smart a**ed. Eternal Beauty is in fact a wildly unpredictable and scattergun affair which seems to be intentional but I think a more even tone could have won me over. Worth a look for David Thewlis' cameo as an unreliable boyfriend.