Category Archives: Historical Drama

Trumbo review — Blacklist blues

December 23, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Jay Roach | Written by John McNamara, adapting a book by Bruce Cook | 124 min | ▲▲▲△△ One thing you can count on: Hollywood's interest in itself never flags. In this case, the interest is reasonably warranted: 25 years in the life of Dalton Trumbo, an esteemed screenwriter who had the poor fortune…Read More

Legend review — Hardy impresses in a so-so gangster movie

December 3, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland | Based on a book by John Pearson | 131 min Back in 1990, Peter Medak directed a feature called The Krays, starring Spandau Ballet's Gary and Martin Kemp as the real life East End London gangster brothers. A gritty, anti-glamour docudrama about the their 1960s underworld reign, the…Read More

Suffragette review — Muddy drama mutes powerful story

November 19, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Sarah Gavron | Written by Abi Morgan | 106 min Suffragette is a powerful story weakly told. A look back at the women's rights movement in pre-Great War London has all the makings of compelling historical drama—a talented cast and well-chosen locations being two of its assets—but is scuppered by technical issues, a too-predictable…Read More

Steve Jobs review — Tale of an Asshole

October 27, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Danny Boyle | Written by Aaron Sorkin, based on a book by Walter Isaacson| 122 min There's been some noise in the blogosphere about whether another Steve Jobs movie is even necessary. How much more do we need to hear about this guy? I've now seen the film, and the answer might be a…Read More

Crimson Peak review — More Gothic, Less Horror

October 20, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, Written by Del Toro and Matthew Robbins | 119 min | On Demand This week I noted that Bridge of Spies had some misleading advertising with a somewhat misleading title: It's more a historical drama than a spy movie. For Crimson Peak's promotional assault, the actors and director have been…Read More

Reviews: Coherence, Duke Of Burgundy, Kill The Messenger, Slow West, Z For Zachariah

October 11, 2015 flawintheiris

Recent releases available on DVD and VOD that didn't screen in local cinemas: Coherence Directed by James Ward Byrkit | Written by Byrkit and Alex Manugian | 89 min Eight dissatisfied urbanites gather for a party on a night when a comet burns through the sky. All their mobile phones go dead, and then the…Read More

The Walk review — Sure-Footed In The Sky

October 5, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Robert Zemeckis | Written by Zemeckis and Christopher Browne, based on a book by Philippe Petit | 123 min Unlike last week's feature release, Pawn Sacrifice, where the historical drama compared unflatteringly to a more comprehensive documentary (Liz Garbus' Bobby Fischer Against The World), The Walk distances itself from James Marsh's brilliant and Oscar-winning Man…Read More

Pawn Sacrifice review — The Politics of Chess Genius

September 28, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Edward Zwick | Written by Steven Knight, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson | 114 min. Despite myself, the question I always ask when I see a conventional biopic like this one: Would this material be more affecting as a documentary or as this feature? In this case I don't have to wonder.…Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2015: Seventh Post — People Suck Edition

September 24, 2015 flawintheiris

The Look of Silence Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer | 103 min. As the credits roll, you'll notice Oppenheimer has plenty of help from anonymous technicians, people on the ground in Indonesia whose lives may be in danger if the government finds out who they are. And so it was with his 2013 film, The Act Of Killing. Interesting…Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2015: Post Six — Biopic Tuesday

September 23, 2015 flawintheiris

Life Directed by Anton Corbijn | Written by Luke Davies | 111 min. Though I heard a scoff or two from a fellow #AFF2015-goer when I admitted I was attending the R-Patz drama, it wasn't the former Twilight actor that drew me to the film, it was the director: Corbijn got his start as a…Read More