A Second Screening of Black Widow

July 9, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Cate Shortland | Written by Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson, and Eric Pearson | 133 min | Disney Plus (with Premier Access) My first look at the new Marvel Studios picture Black Widow came from a screener I kindly received from those Disney folks. Tonight, seeing it for a second time with an audience…Read More

A Cult Of One: 84 Charing Cross Road

July 8, 2021 flawintheiris

This is an intermittent feature on FITI where I highlight an older film that doesn’t get much love but I believe is worth discovering… or rediscovering. Directed by David Hugh Jones | Written by Hugh Whitemore, adapting the play by James Roose-Evans and the book by Helene Hanff | 100 min | 1987 | Netflix…Read More

Bone Cage review — Gritty homegrown drama explores masculinity, relationship with nature

July 7, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Taylor Olson | Written by Olson, from a play by Catherine Banks | 89 min | On Demand A version of this review appeared during my coverage of the 2020 FIN Atlantic Film Festival. Full disclosure: I saw a rough cut of the film before picture lock, and offered my notes on it…Read More

Zola review — A Tweet-fuelled triumph

July 5, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Janicza Bravo | Written by Bravo, Jeremy O Harris, based on Tweets by A'Ziah "Zola" King and an article by David Kushner | 86 min | In Cinemas Lowkey I'm down with a movie that's inspired by something someone wrote on Twitter, but I can't say my expectations walking into Zola were particularly…Read More

The Tomorrow War review — Passable actioner nails climate crisis analogy

July 4, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Chris McKay | Written by Zach Dean | 140 min | Amazon Prime In 2051, aliens attack earth and make short work of us humans. Our solution: go back 30 years in time to recruit people from the past to join the fight in the future. The governments of earth immediately decide on…Read More

F9: The Fast Saga review — Going nowhere fast, sans fury

July 3, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Justin Lin | Written by Lin, Daniel Casey, and Alfredo Botello | 143 min | Netflix There was every sign this would be a revvin' good time at the movies. The return of Justin Lin to the drivers' seat, the man who helmed many of the series' best entries: Fast Five, Fast &…Read More

Tove review — A complex and affecting love story

July 2, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Zaida Bergroth | Written by Eeva Putro and Jarno Elonen | 100 min | Amazon Prime If you were like me and you weren't familiar with Tove Jansson, creator of the comic strip Moomins, this biopic will be eye-opening on a sheer information delivery level. It may surprise even more for what it…Read More

Black Widow review — We barely knew you, Natasha

June 29, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Cate Shortland | Written by Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson, and Eric Pearson | 133 min | Disney Plus (with Premier Access) This is a movie that deserved to be up on the big screen way, way before now, and I'm not even talking about the pandemic postponement. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) aka the…Read More

A Quiet Place Part II — More of the good and the bad from the first movie

June 25, 2021 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by John Krasinksi | 97 min | VOD We're back in cinemas and back to the dystopic future where hyper-aggressive, murderous aliens with terrific ears — who clearly aren't hunting humans for food or sport, just for the sake of killing us — have destroyed society as we know it. Some folks…Read More

HIFF reviews: Saint-Narcisse and The American Sector

June 24, 2021 flawintheiris

The 15th Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival arrives this week, running from Thursday, June 24 to Sunday, June 27. For a decade and a half HIFF has been the alternative local film fest, offering a program of local and left-of-centre movies — features, documentaries, and shorts. This year it's entirely online, with individual tickets going for…Read More