A Rosamund Pike Primer: Redux

August 7, 2020 flawintheiris

Since I first wrote about Rosamund Pike, she has strongly avoided the Hollywood A-list, despite it being entirely available to her. Full marks, then, for her left-of centre choices since Gone Girl, in films like A United Kingdom, Hostiles, and especially A Private War. I look forward to her role as Marie Curie in Radioactive,…Read More

The Bourne Legacy (2012) review — Action franchise’s clever extension

August 5, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Tony Gilroy | Written by Tony and Dan Gilroy, from a story by Tony, inspired by the Robert Ludlum novels | 135 min | Amazon Prime and Netflix | Originally reviewed August 15, 2012 A tough act this one is following. The first three Bourne movies are that rare popular franchise without a…Read More

The Rest Of Us review — Surprising depth in breezy comedy-drama

August 4, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Aisling Chin-Yee | Written by Alanna Francis, and Mark Van de Ven | 80 min | On Demand OK, so here's the slightly bonkers premise of this brief, but genuinely affecting Canadian feature: Cami (Heather Graham) is a children's book writer-illustrator living in a lovely, modernist home in a small town somewhere north…Read More

War On Everyone (2017) review — Foul-mouthed gem of a crime comedy

August 3, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by John Michael McDonagh | 98 min | Kanopy Director McDonagh out-blacks Shane Black with a shockingly funny buddy cop movie starring Michael Pena and Alexander Skarsgaard. For all those of you who liked The Nice Guys, this is literally the next best thing. First off, it’s set in Albuquerque, New Mexico,…Read More

A Decade of Flaw In The Iris

August 2, 2020 flawintheiris

At the end of August I'll have been writing this blog for 10 years. It feels like a bit of a milestone, doesn't it? It's a little shocking even to me how many movies I've watched through that period — I've posted almost 1500 times, but a number of those single posts include multiple reviews…Read More

Check the Haligonian filmmaker in Los Angeles

July 29, 2020 flawintheiris

Here's a heads up about what a friend of mine — who not long ago moved to LA — has been up to. Luckas Cardona Morisset and I have worked on script ideas together, but on his own he's been carving out a career in film and TV for years, and has shot a number…Read More

Boy (2010) review — Waititi template was set early on

July 28, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Taika Waititi | 87 min | Kanopy The past decade has been good for New Zealand actor, writer, and filmmaker Taika Waititi. He's had success after success, from his vampire comedy What We Do In The Shadows, now spun off as a series, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit,…Read More

Archive review — Sci-fi pastiche looks great, has problems

July 27, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Gavin Rothery | 109 min | Amazon Prime and On Demand The first feature from a visual effects supervisor on Moon channels a lot of the impressive visual imagination he brought to the Duncan Jones movie. His Archive works with a few promising science fiction concepts while being a pulpy amalgam…Read More

First Cow review — Meditative western explores male friendship

July 21, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Kelly Reichardt | Written by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, from Raymond's novel | 122 min | Crave Plus Reichardt makes lyrical, gentle films about human connection, like a cinematic equivalent to folk music, which when her films are period-set, might be described as Americana. I've conjured that comparison while, admittedly, having only seen…Read More

Apostle review — Bloody, muddy Brit horror takes time but gets there

July 20, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Gareth Evans | 130 min | Netflix It's 1905, and a young woman has written a letter to her father in London, pleading for him to come pay her ransom and rescue her from an evil religious group on a god-forsaken island. Her father is indisposed, so a troubled brother, Thomas…Read More