Tag Archives: Jake Gyllenhaal

The Guilty (2021) review — A passable, if inessential, remake

September 28, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Antoine Fuqua | Written by Nic Pizzolatto, based on the original screenplay by Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen | 90 min | Netflix I've read that Jake Gyllenhaal was a big fan of the Danish original, and so given the chance to remake it brought Training Day filmmaker Antoine Fuqua on board.… Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2014 revisited: Nightcrawler and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby reviews

August 14, 2020 flawintheiris

I'm looking back at reviews from the past decade on the FITI blog, and I stumbled on this review from the 2014 Atlantic Film Festival, one of those days at the cinema where I was lucky enough to see two excellent features back to back. Here's my thoughts from the day: Originally posted on September… Read More

Spider-Man: Far From Home review — Playfully entertaining teen superheroing, if a little long

July 3, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Jon Watts | Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers | 129 min | Netflix ...or Peter Parker's European Vacation. And who could blame the guy (winningly played by Tom Holland again) for wanting some downtime? For a 16-year-old, he's had more than his fair share of grief—with the passing of a father… Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix — February 2019

February 6, 2019 flawintheiris

Velvet Buzzsaw A deliciously trashy art world satire/horror from Dan Gilroy, the filmmaker behind Nightcrawler and Roman J. Israel. , a picture with a lot more of the edge and unease of the former rather than the prestige aspirations of the latter. It tells the story of a shallow, ambitious, group of nasties; the delightfully named Morf Vandewalt (another… Read More

The Sisters Brothers review – Unusual western takes unexpected turns

October 19, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Jacques Audiard | Written by Audiard and Tom Bidegain, from the novel by Patrick DeWitt | 121 min This is that most American of genres, the western, essayed by a confirmed French art-house filmmaker, responsible for festival fare like Dheepan and Rust and Bone. The result is a compelling, if somewhat long-winded exploration… Read More

New On Canadian Netflix: June/July 2017

July 24, 2017 flawintheiris

Here are a cross-section of a number of mildly-to- solidly recommended films recently made available on Canadian Netflix. (You can click on the movie titles to read my original reviews where I’ve written them in the past.) *One note: In May I recommended Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, a film when I first saw it back… Read More

Life (2017) review — Deeply derivative yet credibly creepy space horror

April 1, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Daniel Espinosa | Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick | 104 min A trusted cinepanion who watched Life before me suggested it's best to think of it as a Roger Corman movie with a massive budget. It certainly could be—it aspires to Alien, to Gravity, while punching at a level somewhere beneath Event Horizon.… Read More

Nocturnal Animals review — Glossy thriller steps between b-movie punch and campy satire

December 18, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Tom Ford | Written by Ford, adapting the novel by Austin Wright | 116 min | Netflix When slick celebrity designer Tom Ford tried his hand at filmmaking, his first effort was a genuine surprise. A Single Man (2009) was a tender melodrama with Colin Firth as a heartbroken (and exceptionally well-tailored) academic wrapping… Read More

Top 10 of 2005 and 2006

August 24, 2015 flawintheiris

In a couple weeks this blog will be five years old. Accordingly, through the coming fortnight I'm gonna be taking a few looks back. As I've done before, I've stumbled upon some material from the vaults: My list of the best movies of 2005 and 2006, a list I put together for my four year movie broadcast… Read More

Southpaw review — Beaten down by banality, K.O.ed by cliche

July 27, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by Kurt Sutter A couple weeks ago, preparing for a forthcoming podcast on dark comedies, I rewatched the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink. New York playwright Barton Fink has been hired by a Hollywood studio circa the late 1930s to write a Wallace Beery wrestling picture. Blocked and looking for inspiration,… Read More