Category Archives: Comedy

Greed review — Satire on big money got no soul

March 5, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Winterbottom | Written by Winterbottom and Sean Gray | 104 min "I don't need drugs, I am drugs!" says the young Ricky "Greedy" McCreadie (Jamie Blackley, looking like Rufus Wainwright's angrier brother) who eventually becomes a billionaire, knight, fashion tycoon, and all around asshole — played by Steve Coogan. Watching this movie,…Read More

Force Majeure/Downhill reviews — The remake disappoints; stick to the original

February 24, 2020 flawintheiris

Back in 2014, Carbon Arc Cinema in Halifax screened Force Majeure, the Ruben Östlund picture. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes and was the Swedish entry for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards. It's now available on iTunes, and there's a copy on DVD at the Halifax Public Library. Force Majeure…Read More

The Gentlemen review — Guy Ritchie returns to his comfort zone

January 30, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Guy Ritchie | 103 min When a filmmaker tills a familiar patch of ground, it's easy to take their efforts for granted, and, even more so, criticize when they take detours off that property. British auteur Guy Ritchie made his name with the gangster movie—Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch,…Read More

Jumanji: The Next Level review — An OK sequel to a better movie

January 19, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Jake Kasdan | Written by Kasdan, Jeff Pinker, and Scott Rosenberg, based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg | 123 min Though I'm surprised to find I never wrote it up on this blog, I did see 2017's Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle—I think on an airplane. It's a good airplane movie—a…Read More

Now On Canadian Netflix: January 2020

January 18, 2020 flawintheiris

The Two Popes On the face of it, this strikes me as strange material for Fernando Meirelles to approach. The Brazilian filmmaker responsible for City Of God and The Constant Gardener is a visionary of colour and kinetics, of movement. Why would he choose to tell the story of two senior citizens having a conversation, his…Read More

Carbon Arc Cinema: Fall 2019 Season review

January 4, 2020 flawintheiris

It was a challenging season at Halifax's Carbon Arc Independent Cinema. For the first time in a decade a screening was cancelled by a distributor, who pulled a film because they could get shown for two weeks with Cineplex. Then, on the heels of that, streaming giant Netflix decided at the last minute to pull…Read More

Marriage Story review — Divorce drama funny and moving

December 22, 2019 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach | 137 min | Netflix No one wants to say it because Woody Allen's name is poison these days, but watching the movies of romantically linked-in-real-life storytellers Baumbach and Greta Gerwig often feels like a direct offshoot of the Woodster's work, updated for the 21st Century. It's not the…Read More

Knives Out review — Playfully brilliant whodunit draws blood

November 27, 2019 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson | 130 min Bravo, Mr Johnson! The American auteur has shown he's a clever storyteller every time he's gone to bat: the teen noir Brick, the con-men hijinks of Brothers Bloom, the time travel twists in Looper, even the flawed-but-dynamic Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But here he's topped…Read More

Charlie’s Angels (2019) review — See it for the Stewarts

November 18, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Elizabeth Banks | Written by Banks, Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn | 118 min A reboot no one asked for to a movie that wasn't so well received that last time out, the risible Charlie's Angel: Full Throttle from 2003. The prospect of a return to this material is sweetened by Elizabeth Banks,…Read More

Jojo Rabbit review — Biting anti-hate satire turns heartwarming

November 11, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Taika Waititi | Written by Waititi, adapting a novel by Christine Leunens | 108 min The 2019 TIFF Audience Award-winner has arrived in local cinemas, and I'm thrilled to report it's a lot better than last year's, Green Book, which unaccountably went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Jojo Rabbit is…Read More