Category Archives: Historical Drama

Top 10 Under-The-Radar films of 2016

January 17, 2017 flawintheiris

As per usual, plenty of the year’s best cinema found their way to us on platforms other than the Cineplex screens, or if they did show at the multiplex, they often came and went relatively unheralded. It’s the fact of Halifax being a small market: Many quality features won’t find distribution in theatres. Here are…Read More

Silence review — Martyrs enjoyed vicariously, or not

January 12, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Martin Scorcese | Written by Scorcese and Jay Cocks, adapting a book by Shûsaku Endô | 161 min Martin Scorcese has made a lot of different kinds of movies, but much of his work can be grouped in three modes: The street fighter, telling tales of desperate, frequently armed men in Taxi Driver,…Read More

Hidden Figures review — Cliched drama grounds important story

January 11, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Theodore Melfi | Written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, adapting a book by Margot Lee Shetterly | 127 min A few weeks ago I took in the Jeff Nichols drama Loving, the true story about the fight for civil rights and social justice in the '60s in rural Virginia. It's about an interracial couple…Read More

Loving review — Social justice in deeply felt love story

November 28, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols | 123 min | On Demand Loving is Jeff Nichols' second feature film of the year, following his excellent Spielberg-esque science fiction drama Midnight Special, and this one is just as good. It still features his elegant, spare direction, but tells a very different tale, one based in fact, about…Read More

LENS ME YOUR EARS: Tim Burton, Modern Westerns, and Animation

November 8, 2016 flawintheiris

Hello podcast fans! Stephen Cooke and I have been busy recording new episodes of our little show, Lens Me Your Ears, during which we watch new films in cinemas and connect them via genre or creative crew to the films of the past, ones you may not have seen. Up now on iTunes <- THIS IS…Read More

Reviews: Imperium, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, The Birth Of A Nation (2016)

November 7, 2016 flawintheiris

Imperium Directed by Daniel Ragussis | Written by Ragussis and Michael German | 109 min | On iTunes and Blu-Ray Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) is an FBI agent—young, bright, and bushy-tailed—who goes from nerdy analyst to hardcore undercover agent working under tough-as-nails supervisor Angela (Toni Collette). His job is to infiltrate a radical cell of…Read More

Howards End review — Merchant Ivory at its best

October 19, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by James Ivory | Written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, adapting the novel by EM Forster | 140 min | (1992) | Tubi It's easy to forget that 25 years ago the period drama was a lively and popular genre. The works of EM Forster, Henry James, and Jane Austen were deeply mined for feature…Read More

Reviews: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition, Genius, Elvis & Nixon, The Overnight, Laggies

September 29, 2016 flawintheiris

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition Directed by Zack Snyder | Written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer | 182 min | on iTunes We've all seen a Director's Cut. Unless the director's name is Michael Mann or James Cameron, it's rarely better than what we saw in the theatre: I can count…Read More

#AFF2016 — Personal Shopper, American Honey, Operation Avalanche reviews

September 18, 2016 flawintheiris

Personal Shopper Written and Directed by Oliver Assayas | 105 min Personal Shopper is a film that refuses to pay off, but in the most delightful way. Assayas directed Stewart in The Clouds of Sils Maria, and once again creates a character for Kristen Stewart that's in a position of subservience to someone famous, though this…Read More

#AFF2016 Opening Gala: Maudie review

September 16, 2016 flawintheiris

This year's festival got off to a strong start with the Opening Gala screening of Maudie and the annual party, this one taking place at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the perfect location given the subject of the film, folk artist Maud Lewis. Like the last AFF, the opening film was screened at the Rebecca…Read More