Category Archives: Drama

#FIN2018 reviews — Shoplifters, Sharkwater: Extinction, Cold War

September 20, 2018 flawintheiris

Shoplifters Beloved Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda's newest drama won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this summer, and it's not hard to see why. The story of an impoverished family living in the margins in Tokyo—an elderly woman, an adult couple, a younger woman, and a boy—who take in a mistreated little girl is told with…Read More

#FIN2018 reviews — Mandy night at the movies, Colette, What They Had

September 18, 2018 flawintheiris

Though I'd seen it before on a screener, I poked my head into the first Extreme Screening of the festival on Monday, Mandy. I really just wanted to see some of those visuals on the big screen, and get a sense of the audience reactions, but I found couldn't leave. I got there just at…Read More

#FIN2018 — What I’ve seen in advance from FIN Atlantic International Film Festival

September 13, 2018 flawintheiris

I don't know about you, but for me that summer went by waaay too quickly. The arrival of September does come with a consolation—the film festival. As I always say, it's Christmas for film lovers. This year's a little different for me. From the full-disclosure department: I am one of the fortunate few to be…Read More

Eighth Grade review — Excruciating, heartfelt look at teen angst

August 2, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Bo Burnham | 93 min | Crave Plus Leaving the screening, I mentioned to my cinepanion that I couldn't remember a film I've enjoyed as much as Eighth Grade while still praying, from scene to scene, it would release us from its grip. Actor/comedian/writer Bo Burnham gets so much terrifyingly right…Read More

Leave No Trace review — Off-the-grid drama delivers great performances

July 11, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Debra Granik | Written by Granik, Anne Rosellini, from a novel by Peter Rock | 109 min There's a moment here that crystalizes what's going on between the two lead characters in Granik's story of a father and daughter who've been living rough and alone in the Pacific Northwest woods, but now find…Read More

First Reformed review — Faith, love, illness, and anger

June 27, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Paul Schrader | 113 min | Hoopla First off, let me say what a thrill it is to be seeing a Paul Schrader picture in cinemas. Here's a filmmaker and screenwriter who's been out in the wilderness for years, making movies largely unseen and/or critically reviled, despite the fact he's one…Read More

Disobedience review — The heartbreak of choice

May 31, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Sebastian Lelio | Written by Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman | 114 min | Hoopla, On Demand Smoking in movies has changed so much. Where once it was sexy and dangerous, now it signifies something else. Still danger, but also anxiety. Weakness. An addictive personality. Unhealth. Ronit…Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix: Spring 2018

May 10, 2018 flawintheiris

Mute (2018) A sci-fi thriller half a mess and half an interesting exercise in style. That it comes from Duncan Jones, the filmmaker responsible for Moon, Source Code, and, yes, Warcraft, hopes were high this would be a strong genre entry, but Mute never hits above its pulpy elements. We're in future Berlin, which looks…Read More

Tully review — A blindingly honest motherhood dramedy

May 7, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Jason Reitman | Written by Diablo Cody | 96 min Jason Reitman is the celebrated filmmaker of Thank You For Smoking and Up In The Air, and with Oscar-winning screenwriter, Diablo Cody, the teen-pregnancy dramedy Juno and Young Adult. His past two projects were explorations of unpopular genres that landed DOA at the box office;…Read More

Carbon Arc Winter 2018 reviews

May 1, 2018 flawintheiris

Another season of international and documentary film at Carbon Arc Cinema has nearly concluded, three months of weekly films screening at the Museum of Natural History. The final event at Carbon Arc before it shuts down for the summer is AFX: The Animation Festival Of Halifax, taking place May 10 to 12. Click here for…Read More