Film Reviews by AER

Set during the 2003 fall of Monrovia, Liberia, this film follows a unit of child soldiers led by Johnny Mad Dog. A 14 year old sgt of a unit of boys and girls age 10-15, they go on a murderous rampage to topple the city's soldiers and do their part in a coup to overthrow the president. It also follows a parallel storyline of a young girl, Laokole, who is trying to get her father and younger brother to safety.

From the very first scenes, it's clear this is not the Hollywood version seen briefly in Blood Diamond, Johnny Mad Dog offers no quarter to the film tourist - this is visceral, frightening and utterly watchable.

Superb & scary.

After a promising start, nothing convinces in this flat thriller. Characters exist to serve a plot that just drives a well-furrowed path. If you like JOhn Le Carre, this is the weakest film adaptation for some time. The actors are asleep, the locations wasted (except for the Alps) and the characters seem to be very black and white in their ways - good and evil. Stellan Skarsgard's character would have benefitted from a bit more development, and the central couple are barely present. Only Damian Lewis distinguishes himself as a spy with a grudge and a personal reason to see his unsanctioned mission go to plan. Below average - stick with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or the TV adaptation of The Night Manager.

Wow, this was one helluva ride. Making Walter from Breaking Bad look like a completely conservative p*ssy when it comes to risk taking, the levels of stress Adam Sandler's NYC jeweller puts himself (and the viewer) through are colossal. When he buys an opal from Ethopia, he borrows big against the forecast price tag at an auction scheduled for the next few days. When an NBA superstar borrows the stone overnight for good luck, this is just the start (or culmination) or nightmares that come down the pike at this guy. Juggling a crumbling marriage, a pushy mistress, family debts, gangsters, creditors and the results of an endoscopy all gaining on him, it would be a miracle not to suffer a heart attack at the end of this magnificent, authentic triumph in movie making. Much has been made of Adam Sandler's excellent lead turn but he's been this good before in Punch Drunk Love and to a lesser degree in Funny People. It's a superb cast from top to bottom though, and he's well supported by known and unknown actors. If you like dramas, once you find you bearings after a hectic first 15 minutes, this is vital viewing. If you hate Adam Sandler's comedies that's irrelevant. Watch this.

Don't watch this if you don't like swearing, don't like arguements, have a heart condition....

Safe houses with no curtains, magic guns, water you can breath in, thick ice than can support extreme trauma and force, huge falls, bad tactical fighting, blonde hair dye, silly eyebrows, dialogue that consists of 'she's getting away - stop her', a baddy that shows up 1hr 15 mins into a 1hr 40 movie, plot holes and clairvoyant characters (oops not characters - that would be generous) but this 3rd sequel is a total bust. With the care and thought to plot cohesion you'd find in a late 90s Dolph Lundgren actioner made in the Ukraine (sorry Dolph, sorry Ukraine), this is the worst film I've seen that had a wide UK cinema release. A throwaway.

This is one of my favourite French films. An early one by director Clare Denis (WHITE MISCHIEF / HIGH LIFE / 35 SHOTS OF RUM) this one stars Denis Levant (HOLY MOTORS / LES AMANTS DU PONT NEUF), GREGOIRE COLIN (35 SHOTS OF RUM / BASTARDS) and MICHEL SUBOR (WHITE MISCHIEF) as foreign legionnaires. A reimagining of Herman Melville's Billy Budd, this sees the Sgt get jealous of a newcomer with whom the commandant takes a shine to. So, jealous sgt begins to undermine the newcomers success. Set in Djibouti, this is a slow burner of stagger poise and beauty. It's also an allegory for ignoring what's on other people's plates when you're own dinner is getting cold. The wonderful scenes full of soldiers on exercise give this an otherworldly hypnotic feel, so when the sgt explodes into a crazy freestyle dance to Corona's Rhythm of the Night at the end, it's a brilliant scene of expression, instead of rage. This physical inarticulate man demonstrates his turmoil in the form of an erractic dance that's physically at odds with his regimented exercises and discipline. It's a stunning movie, and one that I've seen many times.

Like Ten Canoes (Australia) and Apocalypto (Brazil), The Dead Lands gives us couch potatoes an action packed introduction to the tribal mores of the Maori warriors of NZ. This pulls no punches and is a gripping, moving and devastating watch. James Rolleston (Boy / The Dark Horse/ Goodbye Porkpie (2018)) plays a young man that encourages a disgraced cannibal warrior, played by Lawrence Makoare (LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy / JAMES BOND - DIE ANOTHER DAY) to avenge his father's tribe after their murder by an ambitious yet deadly chieftain, Te Kohe Tuhaka (6 Days / Sione's Wedding 2). Like the CP review, at face value, this may seem like a Kiwi version of Apocalypto, but it diverges from that film's streamlined plot ethic and offers something a little more instructive in the way tribes would interact and the importance of storytelling, honour and legacy. It's a shame so few films from NZ make it out to the UK for a wider release, however this one did have a limited run at our cinemas back in 2015.

Recommended for the excellent performances (Makoare in particular - who usually only gets to play monsters!) and the superb fighting. Look out for NZ acting royalty George Henare (RAPA NUI) and Rena Owen (ONCE WERE WARRIORS) in cameo roles.

Toa Fraser is a superb director - check out his films, he's a Kiwi stalwart like Lee Tamahori and Roger Donaldson.

This film reflects the creative chaos that rules the mind of the central character and the director/writer Roman Coppola. With a laidback approach to narrative, Charlie Sheen is perfect as the love-lorn, half-bored Charles Swan III, a multi-millionaire graphic designer who is getting over a breakup. We venture into the minds of the central characters incl. Charlie, Kirby (his BFF) and one or two others. Like Charles, the film wants for nothing visually and creatively . Some scenes are very funny, but it doesn't amount to very much except to a zany brainstorm, where every idea stuck and nothing was rejected. Charlie Sheen is smooth and zoned out - totally brilliant.

Charles Swan III is part of that sub-genre dominated by Spike Jonze & Charlie Kaufman - films like Stranger Than Fiction, Being John Malkvoich, Her etc... This is less clever but who cares - it's a breezy 80+ minutes.

Cringy last minute though. But I forgive a film with this many ideas. The trailer makes it look like a disaster - but it's just the trailer that's disastrous showing the punchline to some good jokes with no context.

Recommended if you want something dazzling, quirky and you've missed seeing Charlie Sheen do his 'thing'...

If Benjamin had been about Stephen (Benjamin's failure of a standup comedian BFF) this would have been more interesting. Unfortunately, this slice-of-life comedy-drama focussed on a listless drip of a filmmaker dithering about a courtship with a French musician. Sadly, it's all too realistic yet fay like the characters;the people (on the whole) depicted in this movie are the kind of people most of us would run a mile from. So it's an unpretentious film about pretentious idiots who only gain clarity momentarily. Joel Fry (as Stephen) nails his depressed, lost comedian - he'd revisit a Richard Curtis-version/reading of this character type in Yesterday (that film sucked). Jessica Raine is also superb but groteque...

This is disposable and pretty unlikeable because of the prats in the story, not due to any shortcomings by the actors or the filmmakers.

Slight, mildly funny, and very occassionally astute and truthful.

A friend at work was telling me about this film so I put it on my CP list. Aside from ticking a list off made up of lost 80s actors,this end of the world film has one thing going for it, the Tangerine Dream soundtrack. Wish I could say something else in its favour but the film's plot defies logic, a trombone playing doofus turns out the a gun wielding maniac intent on warning everyone he meets of a nuclearstrike descending on LA within the hour. The script seems to have been written by 700 blindfolded people as one line of dialogue bears no relationship to the next and scenes go nowhere and characters remain toilet paper thin. It's dodgy, dated and bad in the bad sense. Sorry, but not all 80s movies are golden.

This film was a mould-breaker with a strong female character to root for. Inspired by Little Women, no doubt, Sybilla (JUDY DAVIS) defies society's need to get her married, by falling in love with neighbour Harry (SAM NEILL) but rebuffing his marriage proposals to purse a career as a writer.Set at the turn of the 20th century in rural NSW, this is a spirited and funny tale of adversity in the face of stuffy convention. Nowadays, films like this are envogue and being made regularly, bearing in mind that this was released in the late 1970s this must have been a game changer. It certainly helped to launch the international film careers of Judy Davis and Sam Neill. This paved the way for The Piano, Portrait of a Woman on Fire,Pride & Prejudice and other Austen/Bronte adaptations, Little Women remakes and so many more.

If you love Australian cinema, then this is an enduring classic. I've been meaning to see it for years and years to see whether it lived up to its fine reputation, and it certainly does. It's a shame the DVD transfer is quite poor (and there's no subtitles) (not Cinema Paradiso's fault as this movie is hard to come by streaming so at least they've kept it available!) - I will keep an eye for a restored version or a blu-ray.

Engrossing, funny and ahead of its time.

Initially intriguing, this bog-standard Independence Day cheapo is awful in too many ways. Some of the actors do impossible jobs with the astonishingly bad script. The plot starts off ok but quickly becomes nonsensical, then even the makers give up the ghost and just make do with inocherent action scenes. The SFX hint at the level of ambition the filmmakers have but they fall far short of realising the scale and need to convince. Cardboard sets, bad CGI and bad lipsynching make this a turkey. Pity Toyah Willcox who cameos as a care worker, as she puts in a serious performance, whilst all else chases its tale and begins to turn into a sentimental, soppy, preachy, quasi-religious, scientology-type mishmash of weak ideas.

Very bad, but at least it tried for a while to offer something original and new, but that's probably an accident as nothing else done by design seems to have come off well... War of the Worlds in Birmingham this ain't!

PS: why is the leading lady Lucy Drive credited as Roxi Drive in this?

At last a film worth watching about Borley Rectory. After the ludicrously bad Haunting of Borley Rectory by non-director Steven M Smith and Andrew Jones Haunting At The Rectory, this well-crafted, atmospheric part-animated chiller this is absolutely well-worth your time. It's finished in the style of FW Murnau's Nosferatu with flickering b&w visuals and superbly rendered special effects. Curtains billow, floorboards creek,doors slam, faces appear at windows and out of smokey shadows. It's a deft piece of showmanship. It works less well as a drama - this is more in the realms of dramatised documentary, but I was OK with that. This is a creative way to get the facts to the viewer and keep them engaged. Julian Sands' narration is excellent and well-poised. Shame the material is so slight and the running time very short - but this film is the quintessential movie to check out if you want to learn about Borley Rectory.

Based on a stage play 'Jump To Cow Heaven', this story of Frank Mitchell aka The Mad Axeman doesn't need to be opened out because of the events (guessed at) that really happened. But at the same time, this does feel like a filmed 'play'. Don't be put off, as the central three performers are excellent and the film has been nicely shot, including sequences on a dark and grey Dartmoor (wild ponies included). In 1966, the Kray Twins sprung Frank Mitchell from Dartmoor Prison and holed him up in a London flat with a minder and a blonde to keep him quiet. With challening mental problems, the dynamic for an interesting showdown is well-established. The Kray Twins fail to show up and their motivations are sketchy as to why they bailed him out in the first place. Read up on the real events, but officially Mitchell is still at large to this day. Spooky.

Recommended if you like performance led pieces. The Krays: Dead Man Walking (produced by Jonathan Sothcott) covered the same news story but their film was very bad by comparison.

This isn't a serious attempt to make a film. Bad sound and cheap production values make this a bust and that's without picking on the terrible performers - some of which you may have seen in top UK soap operas about 10 years ago. Pity leading man Kris Johnson (who has been excellent in similar movies) who takes a virtually silent role as a vengeful hitman. Virtually impenetrable plot and dialogue render this a sorry mess. Poor workmanship and a lack of experience, ideas and skill land this under the dustbin. Do not engage.

The phenomenally gifted Elle Fanning takes the lead in this straight-forward but convincing tale of a Isle of Wight-based Polish immigrant's rise to fame on a pop idol TV. She is befriended by a faded Croatian Opera Singer who becomes her protector through the maze of smarmy talent scouts / PR people. It's was predictable stuff but well made, well-acted and a superior teen movie. Recommended if you are looking for a short and unchallenging watch. It really achieves what it sets out to do.

Well above average for this kind of rags to riches teen idol flick...