Category Archives: Articles

Remembering Nathan Cohen

September 1, 2024 flawintheiris

If I reference another critic in this blog, it's usually Roger Ebert. That's because he was the most well-known and influential film critic in my lifetime. I loved that he had an encyclopedic knowledge of film but you never felt in his writing that he was being academic about it or, worse, showing off. He…Read More

The Story of Summerhood

June 29, 2024 flawintheiris

Back in 2008, Nova Scotia writer-director Jacob Medjuck launched a promising career with a delightful summer camp comedy called Summerhood, starring Joe Flaherty, Christopher McDonald, and featuring the voice of John Cusack and a passel of talented child actors. It made quite a splash here at the Atlantic Film Festival and went on to be…Read More

The 3% Canadian box office problem

June 22, 2024 flawintheiris

When I'm not seeing and writing about movies here on FITI, or helping program at Carbon Arc Cinema in Halifax, I'm producing radio for the CBC here in Nova Scotia. I've got the every-fortnight review column, The Knox Office, and occasionally will do an item about the local or broader film business. My colleagues in…Read More

A Tour of New York City with Greta Lee and Celine Song (fr. RS)

February 4, 2024 flawintheiris

I love movies that really invest in location, because one of the genuine joys of cinema is as a travelogue. I moved around a lot as a child and so pulling up roots for me is not only a comforting thought, it speaks to my identity. My adult life doesn't allow for as much peregrination…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

Night Blooms review — Local indie a sterling debut

April 8, 2022 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Stephanie Joline | 98 min | ▲▲▲▲△ Stephanie Joline, formerly Clattenburg, has been making waves in the local film and music scene for years. She's served as a drummer in rock bands, worked as an actor in Andrea Dorfman's Heartbeat, on various local productions in the camera department, made short films,…Read More

Flashback Film Fest, and another new podcast episode!

February 2, 2018 flawintheiris

Running from Friday, February 2 until Thursday, February 8, is the Flashback Film Fest, Cineplex's week-long retro party of classic, semi-classic, and fairly sketchy pictures of yesteryear, all with some pop-culture credibility in their bones. You can go here for Park Lane's week ahead where the films will all screen. Amongst this year's selections is…Read More

Blockbuster Blues: Summer 2017 the End of The Oxford

September 3, 2017 flawintheiris

Like you, I am frustrated and dismayed at the announcement that The Oxford Theatre in Halifax is closing September 13. Frustrated at the way this city undervalues its cultural spaces. Frustrated by the way the sale of this beloved cinema happened behind closed doors, before the community had any opportunity to have a say in…Read More

Stop Making Sense and the Concert Film/Music Documentary

July 4, 2016 flawintheiris

This week Cineplex is screening Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense, the legendary concert film of a Talking Heads performance, shot when the band was touring in support of their 1983 recording Speaking In Tongues. The film is amongst my small collection of concert documents, and I'd suggest it's pretty much essential for anyone interested in popular…Read More

“Halifax’s 10 Best Close-Ups” in The Coast

September 22, 2015 flawintheiris

In the past few weeks I watched a lot of movies shot in and around Halifax, looking for the ones that used our locations to their full potential. I put together an arbitrary list for The Coast of the ones, a mix of homegrown and visiting productions, I thought did the best job. For some…Read More