Category Archives: Drama

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

Lean On Pete review — Potent equine drama wins by a length

April 26, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Andrew Haigh | Written by Haigh, based on the novel by Willy Vlautin | 121 min Charley (Charlie Plummer) is an impoverished but self-reliant teenager living with his restless father (Travis Fimmel, another in his catalogue of self-involved dads, following Ragnar in Vikings) in Oregon, having just moved into the State. Charley picks up…Read More

You Were Never Really Here review — Brilliant and brutal

April 19, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Lynne Ramsay | Written by Ramsay, adapting a book by Jonathan Ames | 89 mins At Cannes last year the jury gave this film's lead, Joaquin Phoenix, the Best Actor award, and filmmaker Ramsay the Best Screenplay. The film also received a seven-minute standing ovation at its Cannes screening. All three recognitions were…Read More

Meditation Park review — The welcome return of Canadian auteur Mina Shum

March 15, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Mina Shum | 94 min It's been a long time since we were treated to a feature by Shum—Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity was 16 years ago, though since then she's worked in television, documentaries, and shorts. On Meditation Park she reunites with her favourite performer, Sandra Oh, with a story right in her…Read More

The Party (2017) review — Send your regrets

March 1, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Sally Potter, with Walter Donohue, story editor | 71 minutes It's not often I actually regret sitting through a movie, given my passion for the medium, but the greatest mercy Sally Potter's The Party bestows on audiences is its brevity, which, in this case, barely approaches the soul of wit. Patricia Clarkson…Read More

Last Flag Flying review — Old war buddies hit the road

February 19, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Richard Linklater | Written by Linklater and Daniel Ponicsan, from Ponicsan's novel | 125 min | on iTunes "If it's a tight-ass god, then I am fucked," says Salvatore Nealon to his old buddy, Richard Mueller, mulling his afterlife options. A few heavy themes get explored in Linklater's new film: a person's obligation…Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix: January 2018

February 4, 2018 flawintheiris

Here is a cross-section of a number of mildly-to-firmly recommended films now available on Canadian Netflix. (You can click on the movie titles to read my original reviews where I’ve written them in the past.) Bright Director David Ayers and screenwriter Max Landis. What a pair. They've got to be the most divisive creative team…Read More

A second visit with Lady Bird

January 28, 2018 flawintheiris

I do this with a few features in the cinema—see them again with someone who hasn't seen it, and thereby gather another impression—partly just for checking out something I think is worthy of another look, and partly for hashing it out after the lights come up, which often brings fresh revelations. And what better time…Read More