Welcome to the Winter Doldrums

January 18, 2016 flawintheiris

The stretch of time from October through the holidays is just long enough to fool a regular movie-goer that this is the way movies are all the time. Then January arrives, and Hollywood takes a big dump on us. How else do you explain the wildly miserable reviews for Norm Of The North and The Forest ? At…Read More

Remembering Alan Rickman and David Bowie

January 16, 2016 flawintheiris

It's been a rough week, absorbing the news that actor, writer, and director Alan Rickman, and creative icon David Bowie, have died. Both were 69. A Shakespearean thesp in the UK, most audiences in North America were introduced to Alan Rickman with the one-two punch of Die Hard (1988) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). He's remarkable…Read More

The Oscars, Award Season hubbub, and CTV Morning Live: January 15, 2016

January 15, 2016 flawintheiris

I did see the Golden Globes last Sunday, and have witnessed the blowback here, here and here. While I can understand a few gripes about who received awards, I'm not entirely sure what people expect from shows like this that has them so up in arms. What makes the Globes fun is seeing celebrities get…Read More

In Cinemas: January 15, 2016 — Youth, Ride Along 2, Norm Of The North

January 15, 2016 flawintheiris

Youth is a gorgeous looking film about aging artists. While I didn't love it, it stars the great Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, and Jane Fonda, all of whom are very watchable. For more of my thoughts on the film, go here. https://youtu.be/-T7CM4di_0c Action comedy sequel time: Ride Along 2 reunites Kevin Hart as the…Read More

Youth review — The Artist as an Old Man

January 14, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino | 124 min | ▲▲▲△△ Sorrentino's last film, the sumptuous Italian drama The Great Beauty, was something to see (it had everything from orgies to a giraffe) but a little hard to care about. It featured Toni Servillo as a 65-year-old writer unable to come to terms with the…Read More

Christopher Orr’s “The Force Awakens and a Critical Turnaround”

January 13, 2016 flawintheiris

This weekend the folks who pay attention to such things predict that Ride Along 2 will be the first film to unseat Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens from its position as box office champion since the JJ Abrams film arrived in cinemas on December 18. It's no big deal for Disney, whose gamble…Read More

Top 10 of 2015

January 10, 2016 flawintheiris

Thanks for checking out my list of the best movies of 2015. It's taken me a little while to feel confident assembling this list, but having now seen late arrivals The Hateful Eight and The Revenant, I'm gonna commit. I may to add a couple more to the list if Anomalisa and 45 Days are as good as…Read More

The Revenant review — Blood, Brutality, and Bears

January 9, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu | Written by Inarritu and Mark L. Smith, from a book by Michael Punke | 156 min. | ▲▲▲△△ First off, I have to say: If I was reviewing solely the cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men, To The Wonder, Gravity) the film might get my highest rating. The camera…Read More

In Cinemas: Friday, January 8, 2016 — The Revenant, The Forest

January 8, 2016 flawintheiris

The final cinema releases of 2015 keep dribbling out into Halifax theatres. Next week we might.... might... get Anomalisa, the Charlie Kaufman animated film that has populated a few Best of 2015 lists, and on the 22nd we might get the well-regarded romantic drama 45 Years. Keep your fingers crossed. But speaking of Best of…Read More

The Hateful Eight review — Moustache-deep in snow, chuckles, and gore

January 6, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino | 187 min. | ▲▲▲▲△ | Netflix No one will be arguing that The Hateful Eight represents the best of what this Academy Award-winning former video store clerk has given the cinematic world. After all, Quentin Tarantino is the guy who wrote and directed Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Inglourious…Read More