Bridget Jones’s Baby review — Stale third outing from the famed singleton

October 18, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Sharon Maguire | Written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, and Emma Thompson, based on the book by Fielding | 123 min | Crave, Hoopla Hugh Grant never gets much credit. The British actor's role as Daniel Cleaver, the quintessential dashing British cad, was an essential spice adding flavour to the first two Bridget Jones…Read More

In Cinemas: October 14, 2016 — Carbon Arc Update, The Accountant, Kevin Hart: What Now?, Ordinary World, Shin Godzilla

October 14, 2016 flawintheiris

The third weekend of the new Carbon Arc season is happening, starting tonight at 7pm with a heartfelt South Korean drama called My Love, Don't Cross That River. https://youtu.be/HAqhhHr3g8w Saturday night is a bit of experimental cinema in conjunction with Nocturne called Stand By For Tape Backup, screening repeatedly from 6pm to midnight. For more information, please…Read More

Shin Godzilla review — New version of monster holds head high

October 13, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi | Written by Hideaki Anno | 120 min The return of the giant radioactive death lizard to its origins at Toho Pictures is a delight. It's a monster movie reboot—from Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Anno—carrying all the Godzilla franchise's thematic and practical history, while managing to inject some satiric…Read More

Queen of Katwe review — Heartfelt sports drama overcomes cliches

October 11, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Mira Nair | Written by William Wheeler from an ESPN magazine article and book by Tim Crothers | 124 min Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) is a teenage girl from Katwe, an impoverished neighbourhood of Kampala, Uganda's capital city. We meet her in 2011, when she's competing in a national chess tournament. Flashback four…Read More

In Cinemas: October 7, 2016 — Carbon Arc update, CTV, The Birth of A Nation, The Dressmaker, The Girl On The Train, Middle School

October 8, 2016 flawintheiris

I'm getting to this weekend's collection of new films a little late due to a very busy week—including Friday morning having shown up on CTV Morning Live to chat with Heidi Petracek about movies in cinemas and opening. I reviewed The Magnificent Seven, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Deepwater Horizon, The Girl On The Train,…Read More

The Girl On The Train review — Ridiculous melodrama has one track mind

October 8, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Tate Taylor | Written by Erin Cressida Wilson adapting the book by Paula Hawkins | 112 min The best thing one can say about The Girl On The Train is that it commits. A wildly over the top melodrama with characters that barely resemble human beings, it's a story about women who weep…Read More

Deepwater Horizon review — White knuckle driller thriller

October 6, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Peter Berg | Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Matthew Sand, from an article by David Rohde and Stephanie Saul | 107 min The worst oil spill in history took place in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 at the Deepwater Horizon rig, operated by BP (formerly British Petroleum). Almost five million…Read More

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children review — Looks good, but wishing for more weirdness

October 3, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Tim Burton | Written by Jane Goldman adapting a novel by Ransom Riggs | 127 min While still being Hollywood's most distinctive stylist and purveyor of all things spooky and ooky, Tim Burton struggles with his handle on narrative. Or, at least, he has in recent years. Once again, he's nailed the look…Read More

The Magnificent Seven (2016) review — Old and young guns shoot straight enough in western remake

October 2, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Antoine Fuqua | Written by Richard Wenk and Nic Pizzolato, based on the screenplays for The Magnificent Seven (1960) by William Roberts and The Seven Samurai (1954) by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Hideo Oguni | 133 min A remake of a remake of a remake, this newest tale of hired guns helping out a village…Read More

The Return of Carbon Arc, FITI Housekeeping, and In Cinemas: September 30, 2016

September 30, 2016 flawintheiris

I hope you've all recovered from the Atlantic Film Festival cinema-going marathon—you can see all my reviews here at the #AFF2016 collection, and I urge you to check out the thoughts of my Carbon Arc colleague Zack Miller over at the independent cinema's site. Said cinema series is about to launch again with a series of…Read More