Category Archives: Indie

Kristen Stewart film reviews: Seberg, Lizzie, JT LeRoy, Underwater

June 4, 2020 flawintheiris

Kristen Stewart is working nonstop these days — she's been in five features in the past three years, the highest profile being Charlie's Angels, with Happiest Season still expected later in 2020. The actor achieved fame through the sparkly vampire-ridden Twilight series, but in recent years has pursued far more interesting and varied feature work.…Read More

Dreamland (2019) review — More like drearyland

May 29, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Bruce McDonald | Written by Tony Burgess and Patrick Whistler | 92 min | On Demand This movie brings a luxurious score and engrossing sound design, it's gorgeously shot in a medieval European town, and stars Stephen McHattie, Henry Rollins, Juliette Lewis *and* includes vampires? There's nothing here that doesn't sound like fun…Read More

Sword of Trust review — Lynn Shelton’s final movie is a winner

May 25, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Lynn Shelton | Written by Shelton and Michael Patrick O'Brien | 88 min | Netflix Wow, this is a hard watch. Not because it isn't a totally charming, shaggy dog story, one of Lynn Shelton's favourite cinematic landing spots, it's because that's exactly what it is. Shelton passed away last week at age…Read More

Hope Gap review — Sour notes spoil domestic drama

May 20, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by William Nicholson | 100 min | On Demand You could describe William Nicholson's new film as a tale of middle-aged heartbreak. We meet Grace and Edward (Annette Bening and Bill Nighy), an older couple living on the gorgeous southern coast of England just adjacent to the fabled white cliffs. They have…Read More

In Fabric review — Evil dress movie a bonkers consumerist satire

May 5, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Peter Strickland | 118 min | On Demand A scene in a clothing store: "A purchase on the horizon, a panoply of temptation. Can a curious soul desist? " asks the elegant salesperson with the lacy, gothic look. "I'm just looking, thank you," says Sheila Woolchapel. "The hesitation in your voice,…Read More

The Grey Fox review — A Canadian classic returns

April 23, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Phillip Borsos | Written by John Hunter | 110 min | UPDATE: Available through the month of April at Film Movement Plus through Carbon Arc Cinema A much-appreciated 1982 western that hasn't always been readily available to watch, but you can stream it online for $8 as part of a cross-Canada fundraiser to…Read More

Run This Town review — Millennial angst buries the lede

April 21, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Ricky Tollman | 99 min | Crave Bram (Ben Platt) is a slightly ambitious, slightly insecure, slightly smug young reporter who in 2012 works for a slightly fictional Toronto paper called The Record. He wants to do journalism that matters — and is regularly pressured in that direction by his…Read More

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) review — Unique, haunting, and arty vampire picture

March 25, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour | 101 min | Hoopla, On Demand Recent years have seen a few too many teen vampire movies and TV shows, but the tide is turning: The undead are getting a little more adult, a little more terrifying and sexily intriguing. The chilly and amazing Swedish film Let The Right…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

After The Wedding (2006/2019) review — The original holds sway

August 23, 2019 flawintheiris

(2006) Directed by Susanne Bier | Written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen | 120 min Mads Mikkelsen puts his icy, Scandinavian reserve to work as Jacob, a Dane who has spent 20 years or more in India working with orphaned children. He returns to Copenhagen to meet with a philanthropic investor, a gruff, older…Read More