Film Reviews by AER

Haha, in a parallel universe this would have screenings at your local drive-in and have a call and response audio track. It's so horrifically bad with so many quotable lines that you won't believe what you've just seen and heard! How the hell did Cuba Gooding jr, Ray Winstone, Taryn Manning, and Ron Perlman end up locked in a nonsensical cheapo directed by Jason Connery alongside dreck actors like (musician) Henry Rollins and dustbin cult favourite Bill Moseley? Nobody knows...>>!>! Maybe it was a favour to Sean Connery, but this film was a deal with the devil. With a shocking script, really bad performance, special FX that aren't at all FX (baked beans as boils!???).... If you are looking for an accidental comedy, this is it. Never have you seen such a turkey as this!!! If you don't have a sense of humour about this, more fool you.

Astonishing documentary about the Egyptian people's uprising against military rule and then against the Muslim Brotherhood between 2011 and 2013... Shocking scenes of real sickening violence bolstered by underhanded political double-dealing make this a hard watch. An important film to see that demonstrates that crowd power works but also that these things happen constantly, again and again, all around the world.

This has very little to do with Mike Hodges' British gangster classic starring Michael Caine. The only thing in common is the reappearance of Michael Caine (during his hack period) and the Roy Budd score. Even the bleak ending has been dispensed with. Sylvester Stallone and his crew of creators have deemed it necessary to turn this into a soppy soul searching, trite, sentimental blob of a movie. It's badly edited and hard work to get through - Mickey Rourke gives the films sole good performance... otherwise this is a case of ForGET Carter.

1 out of 10

This is just about the best Irish film I've ever seen and one of the most moving portrayals about childhood. 10 out of 10.

If you would like to know what it feels like to be a non-speaking autistic person then this bright documentary will help you. It serves as a dynamic education for those that aren't all that aware of what it means to be neurodivergent. I learnt a lot, so for me it was a vital watch. Very interesting and gives the viewer valuable insights.

Chaotic, original and utterly mad, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once is a triumph in big concept entertainment. In Hollywood where everything is based on an existing IP, I am so happy that a unique film with an utterly fresh storyline has made it to the big screen. Hollywood, give us some more action films like this!!!!

8 out of 10

Australian police procedural made for TV which lacks detail or consideration for police procedure. Thin characters with a lack of depth make unconvincing narrative choices and the whole thing comes across as trite and too basic to engage. Shame as the subject matter called for a more interesting take. Noah Taylor was good but had very little to work with.

For every one great Paul Schrader film like First Reformed, Light Sleeper, or Affliction there are three damp squibs like this and Dying of the Light. Woody Harrelson's character as a 'walker' for high-society women in Washington DC is intriguing but we never get a sense of who he is because the story envelopes him into a labyrinth and pretty boring plot about blackmail, investment skulduggery, murder, and secret affairs. At first, it's hard to follow but then as the film continues and the plot comes to light, you just realise it's all badly rendered and communicated. Never mind.

I was warned that this was a turkey but I like Tom Cruise and thought to myself, how bad can it be? And it it is woeful. Terrible script, illogical story and shonky SFX, this even made The Scorpion King look dope. Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella and Russell Crowe should also share the blame for delivering one of the very worst summer blockbusters I've seen since Josh Trank's Fantastic 4. It's no wonder Universal's Dark Universe series got canned with this as it's keystone release. At least the public voted with their feet and stayed at home. This really stank.

1 out of 10 - Bogus

This Australian film is high concept but strangely flat and more than a bit trite. Sadly, this tale of a dead man's family who believe his spirit lives on in a giant fig tree that overhangs their house is extraordinarily lifeless. The actors try their best but it's too slow, too formulaic, manipulative and corny to work. Most of all its there's a distinct distance created between the film and viewer and I experienced a lack of involvement and that's probably because we don't get to know the father who they are mourning. It's a shame, as this could have been much better had it paid attention to its script and pace.

3 out of 10

I thoroughly enjoyed this road movie starring newcomer Zack Gottsagen, Shia La Beouf and Dakota Johnson. A runaway from an old people's care home, Zak falls in with another runaway, Tyler who has fallen foul of local fishermen. Heading into the wilds of coastal North Carolina, they go in search of a wrestling school ran by a former star that Zak is obsessed with. In hot pursuit are the fishermen that Tyler crossed, and Zak's carer, Eleanor. The film is packed with event and is very warm, relatable, funny and convincing. The film only falters in the last five minutes when an event steals Zak's thunder and derails a potentially wonderful ending.

8 out of 10 - Very enjoyable and watchable. Gottsagen and La Boeuf are a great double act. Superb supporting cast too including Thomas Haden Church, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, Jon Bernthal, and wow Jake 'The Snake' Roberts....

Thank goodness it's not quite the Dad's Army / Richard Curtis-goes-to-war film that the trailer tried to sell us. However, as intriguing as this real-life story is it's still fairly standard, very dreary and in the end, not at all interesting. A solid cast go through the motions and fail to sell us the peril and high stakes of their plan. Some aspects felt forced like the presence of Ian Fleming (played by singer Johnny Flynn) and the references to James Bond. On the whole, you are left wondering what a film about the life of Glyndwr (the corpse) would have been like - but much of his involvement is played for fits and giggles in this. Ultimately, it was a little too broad and lacked grit or punch.

4 out of 10

I don't understand why this film has the terrible reputation it does. It's nowhere near as bad a some of the larger scale blockbusters / reboots etc that dominate the cinemas. It's taken me over 10 years to catch up with it and its not all that bad. It's not a masterpiece but it has a lot of originality and cool ideas to spare. True John Malkovich stinks as the baddie - he seems half-asleep, and the mind boggles as to how come there's a legion of great character actors filling out the ranks in thankless supporting roles (hello, Lance Reddick, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon, Aidan Quinn). This is like an inventive version of Wild Wild West, another blockbuster western that was deemed a turkey like this. Dodgy politics aside (Hex fought for the Confederates) this doesn't waste a minute of its trim 80 min Josh Brolin is committed as Jonah Hex and made a good impression and Megan Fox matched him in a very thin role. It was fun - didn't outstay its welcome and with expectations lower than a snake's bellybutton, this was very enjoyable.

5 out of 10 - Entertaining but stupid

Baddddddddd SFX withstanding, George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead is still a stone-cold horror classic. Wonderful set-pieces and zombies that just won't let go once they have a grip of you! I don't have to write much more because if you are here you are probably revisiting it because you loved it when you first saw it. Many zomibe films these days are filled with people who can despatch a zombie without thinking about it and they carry very little threat. However, as silly as they look with their grey faces, the zombies in this are still deadly and their uncanniness stays with you. Dawn of the Dead still has power - the remake is also one of the very best horror remakes of all time too, and it very near eclipses it if it wasn't for the sheer number of characters in the later one.

CLASSIC

Moving but ultimately maybe too slight to make a lasting impression on me. Time will tell. It reminded me of Bombon El Perro with it's minimalist style. Sad and interesting but like a long road trip, wearying.