Learning To Drive review — Moving drama, light-footed comedy

September 10, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Isabel Coixet | Written by Sarah Kernochan, based on an article by Katha Pollitt | 90 min. From the director of Elegy and the writer of the unacknowledged classic Impromptu comes an unlikely gem about a distraught New York literary critic and her burgeoning friendship with a driving instructor. The picture is being marketed as a…Read More

A Walk In The Woods review — Old friends take an entertaining hike

September 8, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Ken Kwapis | Written by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman, based on a book by Bill Bryson, and an earlier screenplay adaptation by Michael Arndt | 104 min. Just as there is comfort food, there are comfort movies, which is what A Walk In The Woods does its best to be. When it…Read More

Mistress America review — Modern screwball hits and misses

September 7, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Noah Baumbach | Written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig | 84 min. A return to the frenetic, shallow Manhattanites Gerwig and Baumbach served up in Frances Ha, there's something to celebrate in these New York stories, if only as unique takes on the relationships between young women in the big city. Gerwig stars as another self-absorbed dreamer,…Read More

CTV Atlantic Morning Live: Fall Preview

September 4, 2015 flawintheiris

Good to be back on CTV this morning, taking a look at a few movies I'm looking forward to seeing all opening in the next six weeks or so. We take a look at Sicario, The Walk, Legend, and Suffragette. Please go here for the clip!Read More

In Cinemas: September 4, 2015 — A Walk In The Woods, Mistress America, The Transporter Refueled, Backcountry

September 4, 2015 flawintheiris

I was mentioning last week that the end of August is a dumping ground for Hollywood, a time when the accepted wisdom is no one is going to the movies. They probably have the numbers to back it up, because this week Cineplex took that theory to heart, offering five days of Tuesday prices. It's…Read More

FLAW IN THE IRIS is FIVE ∆∆∆∆∆

September 2, 2015 flawintheiris

Here's the story how I got hooked on writing about the movies. I first read film criticism regularly in Time Out, the London weekly guide to everything happening in the city. I was living in the UK and a sponge for anything I could see, going to the movies most Friday nights, sometimes Saturday, too.…Read More

Summer 2015 at the Movies

September 1, 2015 flawintheiris

It's September folks. We made it through the jungle that is the summer movie season, full of overhyped blockbusters that both soared and toppled onto their audience-tested faces. Back in June I watched a stack of trailers and made a few bold predictions on what would be worth seeing. I think it's time to go…Read More

Testament Of Youth review — Solemn drama in The Great War

September 1, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by James Kent | Written by Juliette Towhidi from the book by Vera Brittain | 129 min. Testament of Youth is a very serious adaptation of a First World War memoir, populated with earnest, fresh faces. It takes its time getting to the blood and mud, with an overlong first act setting up the slightly wet teen…Read More