Film Reviews by AER

The Last Tree gets off to a bumpy start with depictions of golden childhood, over sentimentalised by the filmmaker with application of heavily filtered sunny day scenes of play, a terrible score and thin characterisation. Then it gets better, much better. I can't fault the actors a jot, everybody in this film is brilliant, yet the tale of a Ghanaian boy, Femi, growing up in the UK struggles to find its feet for the first 15 minutes. It's a shame that the relationship between Femi and his foster parent, Mary (Denise Black) isn't developed enough. However, after Femi returns home to London with his birth mother the film gains traction and began to interest me. The box of tricks was still in full-effect, and at times I wished the filmmaker had more trust in her cast's abilities, and her script to let them do the work. Instead of trying to be the British version of Moonlight, this could have been so much more with better editing and less emphasis on the awkward window dressing. 

5/10 

So this British movie set in modern-day Vietnam was very good. Henry Golding plays a gay man who is transporting his mother's ashes back to Vietnam. He tries to reconnect with his past (he left when he was six years old) and also meets an American expatriate with his own connections to the country. This was a very thoughtful film about understanding where you come from and where you need to go. Some scenes are very moving and you warm to the lonely lead character quickly, whose initial reticence can actually be read as something altogether different by the end of its slender running time - 75 minutes. Both Hanoi and Saigon appear in this road movie, as does much of this ever-changing country. Recommended for those who like character dramas and road movies.

After the inventive and hugely thrilling first installment, one of the very best zombie films in the history of zombie movies, comes a related sequel. All new characters, all new storyline, this has a few fresh ideas but largely it's far from a standout. It's pretty anonymous and drowns in a CGI soup, the zombies aren't scary and the plot is a bit old hat. This reminded me of the Maze Runners sequels, too many SFX and not enough heart. Shame.

I chose to watch The Garden because I holiday in Dungeness every year and I am also reading Modern Nature, the director Derek Jarman's diary about his life there and the making of this film. I found this a challenging watch and whilst I was dazzled by the artistry and visuals, it failed to stir me, and although I stayed to the end I didn't enjoy it. If this wasn't set in Dungeness and I'd enjoyed his book - also his book about his graden at Prospect Cottage I probably wouldn't have watched this. I just love Dungeness so it was an curio I'd been meaning to watch. Job done.

I'm sorry but this is my2nd Derek Jarman film after Caravaggio, and I don't think I can venture in any further. 

The trailer for this little-known British horror flick makes it look like a bog-standard jump-scare bore, but believe me when I tell you that this is a dark gem with a unique premise and brilliant actors. It casts a potent, chilly spell on the viewer and succeeds at depicting the spooky nature of derelict spaces - the makers of Candyman could have done with taking a few grace notes from this. A neat, yet sad coda makes this a ghost story with a difference.

Those looking for a shriek-a-minute film like Final Destination or The Grudge will be unimpressed by this, but those who like good characterisation, an imaginative storyline and note-perfect acting from the entire cast, then this is the ghost story you've been waiting for. 

This one will linger. 

Not a fan of Seth Rogen but I like Charlize Theron so I added this onto my list and forgot all about it, but it turned up! At first, I thought I'd let myself down but seeing as it got selected I'd give it a spin. Eventhough its miles away from the type of comedy I like, I generally like these kind of comedies before they begin to wrap up the plot and the jokes runs out. That said, the first 15 mins of this is p*ss poor and unfunny, but then it begins to gain traction. Much is down to Charlize, as she gives the film its heart and centre. She kept me watching, yet there were some good throwaway jokes but how on Earth this ended up being over 2 hours long is anybody's guess. It was good for one watch and instantly disposable. It's arrival has made me scour my list to delete anyother oddities I added when I wasn't looking.

Below average but it won't disappoint Seth Rogen fans.

An interesting heist movie set in Las Vegas, this sees Nicolas Cage playing a cop who is in charge of the evidence locker for the LVPD. His friend Elijah Wood is a meek, depressed detective - they seem an unlikely duo to pull off a robbery when they uncover a stash of loot in the suburbs. Both actors embody great roles and as the film develops their characters come to the fore. What at first looks like a low-key comedy turns into a bleak tragedy. This is a reminder of how good Nicolas Cage used to be, and Elijah Wood as brilliant as ever. Recommended if you like low-key crime dramas, this was interesting and entertaining crime diversion. Loved it.

Elevated by a great script and fabulous central performance from Renee Zellweger, this was a very pleasant surprise. I had wrongly dismissed this as just another stodgy British movie based on fact like Darkest Hour where facts and history are manipulated for dramatic speed. JUDY is occasionally guilty of this, by continuously shoehorning a gay couple into the narrative is a mistake that undoes some subtle work early on. Why there were only two gay characters in it, I wonder, and why the makers chose to overegg this element of the film is a mystery. However, a few missteps do little to distract from the fact that this is one of the strongest music biopics to emerge from the UK in a very long time. Renee Zellweger has never been better and she's matched by the young actress that plays her in the flashbacks. The supporting cast is solid but largely unmemorable except for Richard Cordery as Louis B Mayer - he is chilling and his role served by an electric script. It's a really good, involving film with a beating heart and one-hell of central performance. It's a shame about the insubtle way they seem to have added in a pair of cartoon homosexuals - more care should have been taken - but overlook this aspect and we're all good. Superb.

Andrew Gilbert's second feature after The Dead Inside has to be commended for its ambition and scale. The locations are great as well but that's where the good aspects start and end. The acting, script and plot are all thin, basic, surface and reminiscent of 1980/90s British soap operas like Eldorado and Family Affairs. It's a painful 2.5 hour slog that offers little-else but tired tropes, repetitive poorly choreographed action scenes and characters with basic motives. This badly wants to be The Warriors but it's a thin replica without any ideas of its own. This film is a right-wing fantasy and not much else can be said. Avoid.

This film revolves around the conceit that if you have enough talent people will just give you opportunities even if you are a bit of a no-hoper. Supporting characters literally bend over backwards to help the main guy in this film achieve his long-lost dream of being a snooker pro. In terms soapy, melodramatic and cliched, fans of predictable films will love seeing something they've seen 500 times before. The acting is OK, but ultimately, Break is too boring and ordinary to convince - and the main character won't impress anybody unless they to think that the keys to the kingdom should be handed to them on a plate. Dull.

Everything is writ large in the unsubtle Australian movie notable for the presence of a young Mel Gibson in the lead role as Tim. Every emotion is telegraphed by the biggest orchestra this side of Ben Hur. You will emote gatdammit. Perhaps its dated too much but this was too syrupy, too corny and too basic to appeal. Sorry.

Takeshi Kitano's 5th cartoon is madcap sex comedy that becomes wildly incoherent and unfunny around the 1 hour mark. I am a Kitano fan but he's a wildly erratic filmmaker and this is perhaps the worst one of his films I've seen so far. A friend kept on asking me over the years if I've seen it because I am a massive fan of Sonatine, Hana Bi and Zatoichi, so now I can tell him that I have. That's the only benefit. So, there's laughs to be had early on but this runs out of ideas and over stays it's welcome by an hour.

Fantastic cinematography and fantastic dance choreography, accompanied with stunning Santiago locations cannot bring this film to life. A very interesting story is lost due to some very frustrating decisions by the director to fragment the story and keep the narrative largely cloaked. It was an unwelcome distraction to try and put the pieces together in what would have been a relatively straight-forward yet very interesting story. A misfire for Larrain this time. I've only seen Larrain's Jackie and that's magnificent. I'm going to watch No and Neruda this director has certainly got me intrigued. More story with your beautiful visuals next time - I wish he'd had more faith in his material to let the tale be told straight.

Complex characters and some career best performances mark this 90s Australian drama out as something very special indeed. The three brothers are reuinited when the bad breed of the trio returns to the fold after a year in jail for GBH. The pecking order is re-established as the eldest goes about bullying his younger brothers and everyone around him through intimidation and cajolery. David Wenham has never been as good and you can see why his career took after this. Astonishing performances from Lynette Curran and Toni Collette as the tough women who live in their world. The ending contains one of the coldest, most icy endings I know - I couldn't bear to watch at times, but I was glued. Not for everyone, as this is relentlessly bleak and unimaginably sad and tragic. Jon Polson and Anthony Hayes are also superb as the two other brothers. I saw this on release and was glad I caught up with it again. It has really retained its power.

Weird bit of trivia - Director Rowan Woods went on to be one of the chief creators / series directors of TV's Farscape.

Initially intriguing, this relatively straightforward horror film delivers where it counts. It gives up trying to be inventive after the first hour but I loved seeing a wrote horror film that's been made with real care. See this for the poised performances from a cast of unknowns led by the director Shane Carruth. Supreme.