Avatar (2009) review — Some good, a lot bad in box office giant

December 15, 2022 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by James Cameron | 162 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Disney + Having not seen Avatar since the week it opened in cinemas in 2009, I figured it was important to revisit the world-conquering cultural phenomenon before I bought a ticket for the much delayed sequel opening today. In my memory the largely…Read More

Stars At Noon review — Margaret Qualley makes it worth seeing

December 13, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Claire Denis | Written by Denis and Andrew Litvack, from a novel by Denis Johnson | 135 min | ▲▲▲△△ | On Digital and VOD Claire Denis is having a good month. Her film Beau Travail is Top 10 on Sight And Sound's Greatest Films of All Time, and her second English-language feature…Read More

The Noel Diary review — Grotesque seasonal schmaltz

December 12, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Charles Shyer | Written by Shyer, David Golden, and Rebecca Connor, based on a novel by Richard Paul Evans | 99 min | ▲▲△△△ | Netflix Sometimes movies annoy simply because the filmmakers who made them think their audience are idiots. This one of the problems with The Noel Diary, though not its…Read More

A Christmas Story Christmas review — Not the same magic, but not bad

December 10, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Clay Kaytis | Written by Kaytis, Nick Schenk, and Peter Billingsley, based on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd | 98 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave If I've said it once I've said it a dozen times, filmmakers attempting to sequelize a classic so many years…Read More

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio review — An animated triumph from the gothic master

December 9, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson | Written by del Toro and Patrick McHale, from the book by Carlo Collodi | 117 min | ▲▲▲▲▲ | Netflix Any fan of Guillermo del Toro will know that the filmmaker's passion for monsters — from Pan's Labyrinth to Hellboy to The Shape Of Water —…Read More

Tantura review — Documentary considers the war between pride and shame

December 8, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Alon Schwarz | Written by Schwarz, Halil Efrat, and Shaul Schwarz | 85 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | Carbon Arc Cinema Disgraced Israeli researcher Teddy Katz has a lot to say about what happened in a Palestinian village near Haifa in May 1948, but about two-thirds of the way into this documentary he reveals…Read More

Violent Night review — “Like Die Hard, except a Christmas movie”

December 7, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Tommy Wirkola | Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller | 112 min | ▲▲△△△ | Netflix Violent Night is one of the most shoddily made movies I've seen in a long time, a picture so half-baked it's amazing the filmmakers had the nerve to do it. They should count their lucky stars…Read More

Your Christmas Or Mine? review — Sweet Brit Christmas tale surprisingly original

December 6, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Jim O'Hanlon | Written by Tom Parry | 95 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Amazon Prime To the best of my knowledge this particular scenario has never been done before — young lovers get stuck at each others' families with very different holiday traditions — and for that reason alone I'd recommend Your Christmas…Read More

Spirited review — Lots of singing in this Christmas Carol

December 5, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Sean Anders | Written by Anders and John Morris | 127 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Apple TV+ We open on a deeply troubled woman — named Karen, of course, played by Rose Byrne — getting sucked into a grave, but this picture's not nearly as grim as all that. This creepy opening scene…Read More

The Swimmers review — Syrian sisters’ story of survival

December 4, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Sally El Hosaini | Written by El Hosaini and Jack Thorne | 134 min |▲▲▲△△ | Netflix A version of this review was posted on FITI during the Toronto International Film Festival. The Swimmers had the honour of being the Opening Night Gala at Toronto International Film Festival, which might be a testament…Read More