Force Majeure/Downhill reviews — The remake disappoints; stick to the original

February 24, 2020 flawintheiris

Back in 2014, Carbon Arc Cinema in Halifax screened Force Majeure, the Ruben Östlund picture. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes and was the Swedish entry for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards. It's now available on iTunes, and there's a copy on DVD at the Halifax Public Library. Force Majeure…Read More

The Photograph review — Stylish romance has heat to spare

February 18, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Stella Meghie | 106 min | On Demand Michael (LaKeith Stanfield, everywhere these days) is a writer for a New York-based magazine on assignment in Louisiana to do a story on a fisherman, Isaac (Rob Morgan), and the impact of the BP oil spill. Michael hears a little about an old…Read More

2020 Academy Awards + CTV Film Guru Update + Carbon Arc Cinema returns

February 7, 2020 flawintheiris

THE OSCARS Sunday night is the 92nd Academy Awards. I'll be cheering mostly for Parasite, which is head and shoulders better than most of the movies with which it's in competition—though, granted, I still have a few of the Best International Film nominees to see. I can't deny a real concern that the times are…Read More

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn review — Great action can’t save it

February 6, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Cathy Yan | Written by Christina Hodson | 109 min | Crave Plus For those who might not remember, DC comics and Batman antagonist Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie, who can't not be a delight) was introduced on the big screen in a movie called Suicide Squad, which was an unaccountable global hit despite…Read More

Bad Boys trilogy review — The regular return of buddy cops

February 5, 2020 flawintheiris

Somehow I've arrived in 2020 without ever having seen a Bad Boys movie. I'm not sure how that happened, but this week I remedied the situation. Here's the review for the first two films, followed by the third one now in cinemas. Bad Boys (1995) | Directed by Michael Bay | Written by George Gallo,…Read More

The Rhythm Section review — spy drama upends genre expectations

February 3, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Reed Morano | Written by Mark Burnell, who adapts his own novel | 109 min This picture is more interesting, and more ambitious, than most of the reviewers have given it credit for. In fact, the biggest problem I have with it is I keep wanting to call it The Rhythm Method, which…Read More

The Gentlemen review — Guy Ritchie returns to his comfort zone

January 30, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Guy Ritchie | 103 min When a filmmaker tills a familiar patch of ground, it's easy to take their efforts for granted, and, even more so, criticize when they take detours off that property. British auteur Guy Ritchie made his name with the gangster movie—Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch,…Read More

Jumanji: The Next Level review — An OK sequel to a better movie

January 19, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Jake Kasdan | Written by Kasdan, Jeff Pinker, and Scott Rosenberg, based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg | 123 min | Netflix Though I'm surprised to find I never wrote it up on this blog, I did see 2017's Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle—I think on an airplane. It's a good…Read More

Now On Canadian Netflix: January 2020

January 18, 2020 flawintheiris

The Two Popes On the face of it, this strikes me as strange material for Fernando Meirelles to approach. The Brazilian filmmaker responsible for City Of God and The Constant Gardener is a visionary of colour and kinetics, of movement. Why would he choose to tell the story of two senior citizens having a conversation, his…Read More

Top 10 of 2019

January 17, 2020 flawintheiris

First off, my apologies to anyone who's been waiting for me to get off my ass and publish this list. As I explained back in the first week of January—on my 2019 Under-The-Radar movies list—I needed to see a few more before I felt like I could put this out in the world. I caught…Read More