Category Archives: Commentary

Hollywood’s newest, dumbest marketing ploy

July 30, 2013 flawintheiris

The Way Way Back is a charming little film—review to come soon—but I just wanted to take a minute to remark upon a new low in the way Hollywood is trying to get people in to see this movie. Check out the top of this poster. A New Comedy From The Studio That Brought You…Read More

Who should play Lex Luthor in the Man of Steel sequel?

June 18, 2013 flawintheiris

If you've seen Man of Steel, you probably noticed the Lexcorp oil truck get demolished in the fight between Superman and General Zod. That's just a little reminder that Lex Luthor—billionaire, evil corporate presence and Superman's earthling nemesis—exists in this new cinematic edition of the DC Comics character. It's a very sure bet Lex will…Read More

Summer 2013 Movie Preview

May 2, 2013 flawintheiris

The first thing I want to tell you is this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the movies coming out between the beginning of May and the end of August.What you'll find here are movies I have some measure of feeling about, based on what I've read and heard. There will be…Read More

Why TV Is (Often) Better Than Movies

April 14, 2013 flawintheiris

It's Sunday evening, April 14, and I've just read the box office totals for this weekend. I generally don't care much about this stuff, the fascination with the money a movie has made in a weekend. It's become a marketing tool for the Hollywood factory, and one of the reasons so many movies are so…Read More

The Films of Steven Soderbergh

February 4, 2013 flawintheiris

One of the biggest disappointments of 2013 (so far) is what appears to be Steven Soderbergh's (seemingly) serious intent to retire from directing movies. Soderbergh is consistently one of the most interesting American filmmakers. He's not often the screenwriter of his projects, but he's certainly an auteur in every other way I can think of.…Read More

HMV Closes

January 26, 2013 flawintheiris

The HMV in my town closes its doors for good today. The retail shutdown has been coming for awhile, as predicted by other location closings in the west, and I've dropped by the store on Spring Garden a couple of times since the Nothing Held Back! Sale has been happening. And I think I've figured…Read More

Star Wars Episode VII, JJ Abrams and my host of complicated, mixed feelings on all of this

January 26, 2013 flawintheiris

If you're in the Nerderatti, you'll have heard the news: JJ Abrams has been hired by Disney to direct a Star Wars movie, the first of three new features to continue the space opera past Return of the Jedi. What to make of this? I've been letting it all seep in and need to write it…Read More

Reviewers’ Remorse and Assembling the End-Of-Year-List

December 16, 2012 flawintheiris

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty, a late season arrival in cinemasThis isn't something you hear much about from people who write about the movies: reconsideration. Part and parcel of critical witness is a kind of terminal certainty: This is my damn opinion and I'll defend it until Satan gouges out my eyeballs with his…Read More

Blade Runner locations: My Los Angeles Visit

October 21, 2012 flawintheiris

2nd Street TunnelI'm back in Canada now, having spent four days in Los Angeles. I was just getting comfortable with driving those massive freeways before I had to go, managing the distances between destinations.As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the nights in LA. Something about the cosmopolitan nature of the city, the lights, the diversity…Read More

Lost in Hollywood: My Los Angeles Visit

October 15, 2012 flawintheiris

Of all the cities in the world I've never been to, I know Los Angeles best. No mystery as to why that is; a lifetime of movies and TV shot on these streets, often applying Hollywood glamour to otherwise unglamorous locales. The Los Angeles River and the bridges spanning it, for example.I drove in from…Read More