Category Archives: Actors & Creators

2023 Canadian Screen Awards

April 13, 2023 flawintheiris

I feel for the folks putting this event on. It takes place over a few days, with some TV and journalism awards handed out in advance of the film awards that are announced tonight, and television drama and comedy awards coming tomorrow. My sympathies lie with the organizers because it always seems like it's a…Read More

Interview with Ashley McKenzie, Queens of the Qing Dynasty writer and director

March 9, 2023 flawintheiris

Years ago when Ashley McKenzie was helping put together a student film festival at Saint Mary's University she asked me to be on an awards jury. I couldn't tell you what year that was, but that's where we first met. It's been an absolute delight to see McKenzie find her voice as a filmmaker in…Read More

Furiosa goes to camera (starring Anya Taylor-Joy)

June 23, 2022 flawintheiris

I don't usually write about the start of production of forthcoming films... hell, I barely bother mentioning new trailers for movies because social media does that so well why go to the trouble? But given Mad Max: Fury Road was one of the greatest movies of the past 10 years, I wanted to flag, with…Read More

FLAW IN THE IRIS visits London!

June 15, 2022 flawintheiris

In May I spent almost three weeks in London, one of my favourite cities in the world. I first visited when I was a kid, and then lived there as a teenager, finishing high school at an American international school. London turned me into a genuine film lover, the cinemas of the West End offering…Read More

A look at the filmography of Jean-Marc Vallée

December 28, 2021 flawintheiris

I spent most of Monday coming to terms with the news that the wildly talented, Montreal-born filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée has died at age 58. He was a deeply humanist, spiritual storyteller, with a real gift for incorporating music in his work — he understood instinctively how to use a song to make his audience feel…Read More

Sean Connery: 10 Of His Best Non-Bond Roles

November 4, 2020 flawintheiris

Sean Connery died on Saturday, October 31, at age 90. The Scottish actor was the first cinematic James Bond, and for many will always be the greatest — defining the mix of suave, stylish, sexy, and ruthless for a generation of fans. While so much of what he did with that character is easy to…Read More

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

Harrison Ford forgets where he made K:19 The Widowmaker

February 27, 2020 flawintheiris

It was almost 20 years ago, so I guess I can cut the guy some slack. And Nova Scotia is almost as far away from Los Angeles as Newfoundland. https://youtu.be/XNN1Hbg9oNU?t=1016Read More

Remembering Rutger Hauer

July 24, 2019 flawintheiris

Just hearing this afternoon about the death of the renowned Dutch actor at age 75. This is sad news for fans of genre film, and has already prompted many on social media to recall what is probably his most resonant on-screen moment at the conclusion of Blade Runner, where his character, the rogue replicant Roy…Read More

10 Great Jack Nicholson roles

April 23, 2019 flawintheiris

The King of Hollywood. That's what the papers call him. His 82nd birthday yesterday prompted this recollection and celebration of the New Jersey-born actor's stellar career. Though living in semi-retirement since How Do You Know in 2010, his rep as a 12-time Oscar nominee and three-time winner still stands. I've been a fan of his…Read More