1917 review — A technically impressive, immersive war picture

January 13, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Sam Mendes | Written by Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns | 119 min It's April, 1917, and two British soldiers on the European front, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay), are assigned to take a vital message to another battalion elsewhere along the line, orders to cancel a dawn…Read More

The Song of Names review — Middlebrow mystery never hits high note

January 10, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by François Girard | Written by Jeffrey Caine, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht | 113 min | Crave Plus 1951: London, a 22-year old Polish-born violin prodigy, Dovidl Rapoport, is expected to debut on the West End stage. He doesn't show up, then vanishes. 1986: Martin, the English boy he grew up…Read More

Just Mercy review — Legal drama sticks to convention

January 9, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton | Written by Cretton and Andrew Lanham, based on the book by Bryan Stevenson | 136 min | Netflix We've seen good movies based on great books, and great movies based on bad books. We've also seen good movies somehow knitted from threadbare reality, and disappointing, clumsy ones based on…Read More

Uncut Gems review — Gambling thriller a symphony of tension

January 7, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by the Safdie Brothers | Written by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie, and Ronald Bronstein | 135 min | Netflix The Safdie Brothers' new feature concentrates further the caffeinated charge of their last film, Good Time. It's the story of a New York jeweller and gambling addict whose life goes off the rails over a…Read More

Top 10 Under-The-Radar Films of 2019

January 5, 2020 flawintheiris

I'm writing this on January 4th, 2020, and I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to share my list of the best films of 2019. Due to an especially busy (non-screening-related) December, I'm still catching up on a few of the year's purported-to-be best films, and a number of them, if advance reviews are to be…Read More

Carbon Arc Cinema: Fall 2019 Season review

January 4, 2020 flawintheiris

It was a challenging season at Halifax's Carbon Arc Independent Cinema. For the first time in a decade a screening was cancelled by a distributor, who pulled a film because they could get shown for two weeks with Cineplex. Then, on the heels of that, streaming giant Netflix decided at the last minute to pull…Read More