Category Archives: Recommended

The Harder They Fall review — A shotgun blast of good times

November 6, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Jeymes Samuel | Written by Samuel and Boaz Yakin | 130 min | Netflix Westerns with Black casts aren't unprecedented, but they are a rarity. That's not all that makes this picture special — Director Jeymes Samuel, also a musican, tells the story with action and style to spare, fuel-injected with a hip-hop…Read More

Dune review — A cinematic feast

October 22, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Denis Villeneuve | Written by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth, based on the Frank Herbert book | 155 min | Netflix Oh, how we have waited for Dune. Of all the 2020 features postponed by the pandemic, this is the one I was most looking forward to seeing, and seeing on the…Read More

Copshop review — B-movie siege thriller hits every target

September 27, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Joe Carnahan | Written by Carnahan, Kurt McLeod, and Mark Williams | 107 min | Amazon Prime Action director Carnahan is on a bit of a roll given his last picture, time-loop thriller Boss Level, was quite a bit of fun. This time out he reteams with Frank Grillo for a picture that is…Read More

#FIN2021 Reviews — The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Mothering Sunday

September 24, 2021 flawintheiris

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | Directed by Will Sharpe | Written by Sharpe and Simon Stephenson | 111 min | Amazon Prime Not that we needed any further confirmation, but Benedict Cumberbatch is really good at portraying eccentric real-life period Brits, from Alan Turing to Thomas Edison to Greville Wynne. It's certainly not…Read More

#FIN2021 Reviews — Wife Of A Spy, The Worst Person In The World

September 19, 2021 flawintheiris

Wife Of A Spy | Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Written by Kurosawa, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and Tadashi Nohara | 115 min Kobe, 1940. The military presence in Japan is cracking down on free thinking merchants and amateur filmmakers like Yusaku Fukuhara (Issey Takahashi), who heads to Manchuria with his nephew on a business trip. Is…Read More

#FIN2021 Review: Memoria

September 18, 2021 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul | 136 min It's been more than a decade since I've seen a film by the revered Thai filmmaker with the challenging-to-pronounce name. It was his Palme d'Or-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a picture that is delightfully resistant to the tyranny of traditional narrative. His…Read More

The Card Counter review — Paul Schrader’s all in with dark thriller

September 9, 2021 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Paul Schrader | 109 min | In Cinemas "Nothing can justify what we did. If you were there you’d understand that. Otherwise, there is no understanding.” This is a little truism spoken by William Tell (Oscar Issac) —his surname's actually Tolliver, but his nom-de-pari is the poorly chosen Tell. He's a professional…Read More

Annette review — A delightfully bonkers, original, epic showbiz musical

August 27, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Leos Carax | Written by Ron and Russell Mael, music by Sparks | 141 min | Amazon Prime She's the beauty, the opera singer. Ann Defrasnoux. She goes on stage to sing, to die, to save her audience. She's fond of apples. He's the beast, the bastard, a caustic comedian, the Ape of…Read More

Candyman (2021) review — Sophisticated creepfest explores racial injustice

August 26, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Nia DaCosta | Written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld, based on the 1992 film by Bernard Rose and the short story, The Forbidden, by Clive Barker | 90 min | Crave When I take a look at a new horror that's a "spiritual" sequel to a preexisting picture, the original Candyman…Read More

Beans review — Powerful real-life tale a must-see for Canadian audiences

July 22, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Tracy Deer | Written by Deer and Meredith Vuchnich | 92 min | Crave Plus For those who don't know, or don't remember, the eyes of Canadians in the summer of 1990 were on the Oka Crisis, otherwise known as The Kanesatake Resistance. In the history of settler and indigenous relations, it was…Read More