Nickel Boys review — Colson adaptation both artful and artsy

March 1, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by RaMell Ross | Written by Ross and Joslyn Barnes, adapting the book by Colson Whitehead | 140min | ▲▲▲ 1/2 | Amazon Prime This is the only film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards that didn't play in cinemas in Halifax. It's a dubious and disappointing distinction. The film is distributed…Read More

The Knox Office: Two new movies, the #Oscars, the #HBFF, and more

February 28, 2025 flawintheiris

On Friday morning we reopened The Knox Office, my regular film column on CBC Information Morning in Nova Scotia. I spoke with guest-host Preston Mulligan about Last Breath and My Dead Friend Zoe. We then veered into a few of my predictions for the Academy Awards airing this Sunday evening, and previewed the Halifax Black…Read More

Last Breath review — A visceral underwater survival thriller

February 27, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Alex Parkinson | Written by Parkinson, Mitchell LaFortune, and David Brooks | 93 min | ▲▲▲▲ | Amazon Prime A surprisingly simple and effective survival picture, probably the most compelling real-life ocean-going thriller since Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon almost 10 years ago. Directed by the filmmaker who made a Netflix documentary on the…Read More

My Dead Friend Zoe review — Sisters in arms

February 26, 2025 flawintheiris

‌Directed by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes | Written by Hausmann-Stokes, Cherish Chen, and A.J. Bermudez | 98 min | ▲▲▲1/2 Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) is an American veteran who served in Afghanistan with her pal, Zoe (Natalie Morales). Now back stateside, Merit is skipping her group therapy sessions, and when she does show, Zoe's hanging out, keeping her…Read More

The Monkey review — Simian splatterfest with laughs

February 24, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Osgood Oz Perkins | Written by Perkins, from a Stephen King short story | 98 min | ▲▲▲1/2 | Amazon Prime While a lot of people loved Perkins' supernatural serial killer picture from last summer, Longlegs, I found it entertaining while wasn't so quick to proclaim Perkins as a new genre master. This…Read More

The Knox Office: Paddington In Peru, I’m Still Here, and the Before films

February 19, 2025 flawintheiris

ICYMI I was on CBC Information Morning on Friday to speak with guest host Preston Mulligan about a couple of movies in cinemas: the little bear sequel Paddington In Peru... the Oscar-nominated Brazilian political drama I'm Still Here... and for Valentine's Day I suggested listeners catch up with Richard Linklater's Before series on Crave. You…Read More

Captain America: Brave New World review — Politics and a Red Hulk make a mess

February 17, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Julius Onah | Written by Onah, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Peter Glanz | 118 min | ▲▲ I'm starting to think that the number of screenwriters on a Marvel movie is inversely proportional to its quality — the more there are the worse it's likely to be. But it's clear…Read More

The Gorge review — Two hours of your life falls into split in the earth

February 16, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Scott Derrickson | Written by Zach Dean | 127 min | ▲1/2 | Apple TV+ Back when I used to work in film production in Toronto in the 1990s — and this was before X-Men and Good Will Hunting made the city a legitimate hub for quality features — a producer I used…Read More

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy review — Fourth entry brings laughs and tears

February 15, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Morris | Written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan | 124 min | ▲▲▲1/2 | Amazon Prime in Canada, Peacock in the US It's hard to believe a new Bridget Jones movie isn't reaching cinemas here in Canada. It's been a popular franchise that started way back in 2001, an…Read More

One of Them Days review — Hang out for a good time

February 10, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Lawrence Lamont | Written by Syreeta Singleton | 97 min | ▲▲▲ | Crave The movie shares a day in the lives of Dreaux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA), pals and roomies living in a tough neighbourhood in Los Angeles. Alyssa is a painter and in-between jobs, but is being served by Keshawn…Read More