Category Archives: War

1917 review — A technically impressive, immersive war picture

January 13, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Sam Mendes | Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns | 119 min It's April, 1917, and two British soldiers on the European front, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay), are assigned to take a vital message to another battalion elsewhere along the line, orders to cancel a dawn…Read More

Reviews from the Vault Vol. 10 — A few more very good movies

October 7, 2019 flawintheiris

From 2005 to 2009 I was a programmer on CKDU 88.1 FM in Halifax, every Sunday morning hosting The Love & Hate Movie Show. I talked about what I was seeing and revisited some of my favourite films of old, pretty much what I do now here on FITI. I still have a lot of…Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix — March 2019

April 1, 2019 flawintheiris

Polar It took me a minute or two to get over the fact that Mads Mikkelsen had a feature in cinemas recently called Arctic, and there's this one on Netflix called Polar. I bet the producers of both films were annoyed. This is a John Wick-esque action picture from Swedish music video director Jonas Åkerlund,…Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix: December 2018

December 19, 2018 flawintheiris

Roma One could make an argument last year's Mudbound was the feature that signalled Netlfix's prestige drama interest, readying their horses for the annual Oscar race. Roma is really the tipping point, a film with the critical momentum to suggest it could actually take the Best Picture statuette. I'd be surprised, simply because it's much…Read More

A Private War review — The costs of reporting human suffering

December 3, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Matthew Heineman | Written by Arash Amel, based on a Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner | 110 min Matthew Heineman is the award-winning documentarian who made the gritty drug war doc Cartel Land. This is his feature debut, and it's a perfect pairing of material and filmmaker—he tells the story of the final decade in…Read More

Bel Canto review — Operatic hostage drama misses the high notes

October 31, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Paul Weitz | Written by Weitz and Anthony Weintraub from the novel by Ann Patchett | 102 min Here's an unlikely filmmaker and an unlikely project. Paul Weitz, the man who gave us American Pie, About A Boy, and recently, Grandma, brings to the screen an international pudding of a drama. At times…Read More

Darkest Hour review — Sterling, if unnecessary, historical drama

December 29, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Joe Wright | Written by Anthony McCarten | 125 min It isn't the fault of the filmmakers that Darkest Hour is the third feature film to show up in cinemas this year—following Their Finest and the titanic Dunkirk—inspired by the same historical material, the rocky period in May 1940 when Britain was staring down the…Read More

Alone in Berlin review — Sincere but clunky wartime melodrama

December 12, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Vincent Perez | Written by Perez, Achim von Borries and Bettine von Borries, adapting a novel by Hans Fallada | 103 min | on iTunes A sentimental concoction where the serious talent of the pair in front of the camera can't quite overcome the deep cliches of those who have made decisions behind…Read More

Dunkirk review — Massive war picture delivers suspense, awe

July 21, 2017 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan | 106 min Film writers like me have tended to toss around terms like 'bombastic' when discussing Christopher Nolan's films, but he's the blockbuster filmmaker whose grand-scale work is never less than thoughtful. He tells stories with the confident hand of a master craftsman, exploring intimate themes of identity,…Read More

War for the Planet of the Apes review — Simian epic elevates monkey movie franchise

July 15, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Matt Reeves | Written by Reeves and Mark Bomback | 140 min A prequel to the classic, The Planet of the Apes, from 1968, seemed like a weird idea, but when has that ever stopped anyone in Hollywood. No, that's not even a question. Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, from…Read More