Johnny English trilogy review — Inept spy squeaks by on physical gags

November 11, 2018 flawintheiris

Johnny English Strikes Again | Directed by David Kerr | Written by William Davies | 89 min I'll admit it, I wasn't all that excited to see these films. The reviews have never been great—on Rotten Tomatoes, the second film has the best score at a whopping 38%. I have plenty of respect for Rowan…Read More

Bohemian Rhapsody review — The music saves the show

November 5, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Bryan Singer | Written by Andrew McCarten and Peter Morgan | 134 min Witness the return of the big budget rock biopic. It's been years since there was one at this scale, but the epic story of the British rock band Queen, and its remarkable lead singer Freddie Mercury, arrives with more than its…Read More

Bel Canto review — Operatic hostage drama misses the high notes

October 31, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Paul Weitz | Written by Weitz and Anthony Weintraub from the novel by Ann Patchett | 102 min Here's an unlikely filmmaker and an unlikely project. Paul Weitz, the man who gave us American Pie, About A Boy, and recently, Grandma, brings to the screen an international pudding of a drama. At times…Read More

The Old Man & The Gun review — A feel-good tribute to a cinema icon

October 29, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by David Lowery | Written by Lowery from a New Yorker article by David Grann | 93 min Few icons can cast Robert Redford's cultural shadow. We've known his work for more than 50 years as a leading man, director, and filmmaking force, founder of the Sundance Film Festival. This utterly disarming feature film…Read More

10 Great Tom Hardy roles

October 26, 2018 flawintheiris

I was listening to a podcast recently looking back at Christopher Nolan's Inception, and the hosts mused about Tom Hardy, what an impact his presence had on the film, and whether this was his breakout role in Hollywood. There's no doubt that even in an ensemble as well-assembled as this, his presence shone. One of the…Read More

Fall 2018 Film Preview and another CTV Appearance!

October 24, 2018 flawintheiris

The good folks at CTV invited me on this past weekend to chat with Bruce Frisko about what we can expect from new Hollywood releases in the coming weeks and months leading up to the end of December. I chose a few titles I'm excited to see. We sped through 10 movies pretty quickly. I'll…Read More

Bad Times At The El Royale review — Not so great for us in the audience, either

October 23, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Drew Goddard | 141 min Goddard has a terrific rap sheet for a creator of quality content: his fingerprints on good things go back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cloverfield, Lost, Cabin In The Woods, The Martian, and World War Z. (I interviewed him for The Coast back in April, 2012.) Anything…Read More

First Man review — The Upright Stuff

October 20, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Damien Chazelle | Written by Josh Singer, from a book by James R. Hansen | 141 min | Netflix What First Man does well it does masterfully: the nuts and bolts and rivets and metal groans of analogue space flight. First Man brings an impressive level of realism to this recreation, with the sound design…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

THE FILM PODCAST new episode, CTV, and Carbon Arc Cinema is back

October 11, 2018 flawintheiris

For listeners to my semi-regular podcast, it hasn't been even semi since mid-August, and that's all on me. The prep for the script pitch and seeing films at the Atlantic International Film Festival swallowed all my time that wasn't spent earning a living, and then I got that season-changing cold. But I have managed to…Read More