Glass review — Ambitious superhero movie reflects, breaks

January 18, 2019 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan | 129 min | Netflix This is a deeply unlikely picture, stitching together the filmmaker's Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2017) in an amalgam that goes off in directions that stretch credulity, while still delivering enough of Shyamalan's ambition and gift for fantasy cinema storytelling to make it worthwhile.…Read More

Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2017) reviews — Filmmaker connects his films across two decades

January 17, 2019 flawintheiris

With the sequel Glass opening on Friday, January 18, I thought it worthwhile to rewatch its predecessors. My review of Split is a light rewriting of the original from February, 2017. Unbreakable | Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan | 106 min | (2000) Shyamalan is one of the few directors working who has a brand,…Read More

The Intouchables (2011) and The Upside reviews — Comedy warms hearts on both sides of the pond

January 10, 2019 flawintheiris

The Intouchables (2011) | Written and Directed by Oliver Nakache and Eric Toledano, adapting the story by Phillipe Pozzo di Borgo | 112 min The Upside | Directed by Neil Burger | Written by Jon Hartmere, based on the script for The Intouchables | Prime Video A massive hit in Europe, The Intouchables is a stone-cold…Read More

Vice review — Political satire leaves bitter aftertaste

January 3, 2019 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Adam McKay | 132 min Vice is being compared to the Adam McKay's The Big Short, the film that proved the longtime comedy writer, director, and producer, could deliver a political dramedy that illustrated, with a lot of wit, some fairly complex ideas around finance and systemic corruption. McKay shoots for…Read More

If Beale Street Could Talk review — Romantic drama gets bogged down

January 2, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Barry Jenkins | Written by Jenkins, adapting the book by James Baldwin | 119 min | CBC Gem Let's talk about Brian Tyree Henry for a second. Last year was a break-out for him. From Atlanta, the series from creator Donald Glover, to features Hotel Artemis, White Boy Rick, Widows, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and…Read More

The Mule review — Eastwood’s still got some game

January 2, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Clint Eastwood | Written by Nick Schenk from an article by Sam Dolnick | 116 min | Netflix Clint Eastwood is tireless. At age 88 he's still acting, directing, and producing feature films, and while he's been criticized for both his politics and his casual way with detail—the fake baby in American Sniper comes…Read More

Top 10 Films of 2018, et cetera

January 1, 2019 flawintheiris

Hello, readers! Welcome to the end-of-year-list, where I consider the features and documentaries I experienced that were released in cinemas and online in 2018 and choose a few to highlight. Of course, there are still plenty of films I've yet to see that came out in the past 12 months— on social media I promised…Read More