Category Archives: Commentary

More thoughts (inspired by The Social Network)

February 5, 2011 flawintheiris

Friday night brought conversation with friends, ginger beef and fried rice, and a revisiting (for me, anyway) of The Social Network. I was reminded of the cleverness of the script, filled with such great use of language, witty put-downs and flashes of information delivered at a speed that would choke 100MB broadband.I was also reminded…Read More

Remakes we’d like to see (and perhaps a few we wouldn’t)

January 27, 2011 flawintheiris

My words have appeared again in the Calgarian alt-weekly Fast Forward. On theeve of the release of the new Jason Statham actioner The Mechanic, I write aboutother remakes of 70s pictures that could be in the works.Read More

Ricky Gervais “controversy” at the Golden Globes

January 18, 2011 flawintheiris

You know, since The Office and Extras, I haven't been crazy about the work Ricky Gervais has been doing, but with a few exceptions—Robert Downey Jr.'s presentation of Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy and Paul Giamatti's acceptance speech, for instance—I thought he single-handedly kept the Golden Globes watchable Sunday night. Not that the award recipients…Read More

The lesser-known hero

January 13, 2011 flawintheiris

Another story for Calgary's FFW, this one about how Hollywood is looking beyond A-List comic superheroes for blockbuster franchises built on heroes outside the mainstream. Witness The Green Hornet. Here's the story.Read More

Hollywood 2011

January 7, 2011 flawintheiris

I'm freelancing for a publication in Calgary called Fast Forward Weekly, which this week published my look at the year ahead, movie-wise. You can read it (and weep, if you feel inclined) here.Read More

15 Directors Meme

October 21, 2010 flawintheiris

I saw this list-making on Flixchatter and thought to carry on the virus. The idea is to list the 15 film directors whose work has directly influenced your appreciation of film, of the way you perceive the movies you watch. As a film nut, this is a fun game. I immediately think of the films…Read More

2010 so far

September 13, 2010 flawintheiris

This may be a bit premature, since I have admitted in a previous post of my having not seen nearly enough of the summer movies. But with September, which always seems to me like a period of transition, for my own sake I'd like to look back at the movies I did see in the…Read More

Inception Wins Summer 2010

August 31, 2010 flawintheiris

As I write this, August 2010 is about to turn to September. The summer is nearly done, and as such we can look back at the silly season of Hollywood film and assess what worked and what didn't. To be frank, I'm still catching up on the good, the bad and the ugly, so any…Read More

Auspicious Beginnings

August 31, 2010 flawintheiris

In September 2005 I was getting my freelance journalism career up and running. I was freelance by necessity, not choice. I wanted to stay in Halifax and there weren't many full time gigs. Well, none that I'd landed. I interviewed at a few places, including a local commercial radio news station.I'd studied at the University…Read More