Film Reviews by AER

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 time. 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...and the worst film in the cycle... Minus 1.

A decent attempt at the recreating the Before Sunrise-trilogy for gay men. However, the first 30 mins is devoted to a full-on sexually explicit gay orgy. If you don't mind a bit of pornography (no comment), if this element is unexpected, it may block the way to an intelligent, naturally played romance with an unusual hook. It deals with serious STDs and the possibilities for burgeoning love with that backdrop. Interesting but the prolonged scenes of hardcore sex were a bit off-putting, especially as I'd sat down to eat my dinner whilst watching it. A film like this doesn't need flavours... haha. More c*cks than KFC.

This 80s sci-fi directed by stalwart Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery, this 'High Noon-in-space' feels like a tribute band. Bad model work and SFX (even for the time) distract from a potentially sturdy action-thriller that does everything it can to scupper itself. The pace is plodding, the acting inconsistent and plotholes unavoidable. A promising opening 30 minutes leads nowhere and only highlights how bad the script are and how good some of the actors are, as the expose the crap and uncomfortable to the OTT (hello Steven Berkoff)...

I was hoping for something like The Thing, Alien, or Silent Running. I got a film that made Red Dwarf look posh....

Wack.

Good Boy is elevated by its premise - it's main protagonist is a dog who is accompanying his terminally ill owner to fulfill a ritual at the end of their life. It's a bold premise and the dog is amazing. The film is low budget and the SFX and slightly wooden acting by the main human let the side down. However, the dog wins you over and if you can see past the dodgy bogey men, there's some thoughtfulness in the mix. Well done Indy. Good Boy, indeed! :)

Great documentary about a unique cinema... but it was just a cinema. Not as wild as half the pundits claim... at least not on the nights I went. :) Fun talking heads from the staff to scene doyens such as Mark Moore...

For me, the original was an unexpected hit. I loved it's back-to-basic cops and robbers rules and the great swing at a Usual Suspects-style twist near the end. Even 50 Cent couldn't ruin the first film. It was just a pure and thrilling piece of Hollywood B-movie entertainment. So why this dull-plodding sequel which only seems to exist to even the score between the old enemies. Not a lot makes sense and the feeling of high stakes game is largely absent now that Gerald Butler and Ice Cube II are playing on the same side. There are no significant bad guys and the very little in the way of thrills. The central robbery defies logic at every turn and the climatic car chase is OK. The number of endings tries to out-do The Return of the King... and they don't feel well earned. Stick to the first film, which proves, lighting struck the once.

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.

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.