Category Archives: Indie

London Road review — Nothing less than the musical reimagined

December 9, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Rufus Norris | Written by Alecky Blythe | 91 min Here's the story: Alecky Blythe interviewed people living in Ipswich, a town in Eastern England, in 2006, just as a serial killer was murdering prostitutes who frequented the area. She took these interviews and, with composer Adam Cork, turned the material into a…Read More

Lavender review — Damaged memory thriller not hugely memorable

November 2, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly | Written by Gass-Donnelly and Colin Frizzell | 92 min | On Demand Jane (Abbie Cornish) is a photographer with a fascination for old, empty houses. Her parents died in mysterious circumstances when she was young, but she can't remember any of the details. Her marriage to Alan (Diego Klattenhoff) is…Read More

#AFF2016 — The Rehearsal, Paterson, Below Her Mouth reviews

September 22, 2016 flawintheiris

The Rehearsal Directed by Alison Maclean | Written by Maclean and Emily Perkins, adapting the novel by Eleanor Catton | 102 min The Rehearsal is an unexpected pleasure, a New Zealand picture about drama school students that goes interesting places. Stanley (James Rolleston) is 18 and one of those students. He's a little awkward, but the classes…Read More

#AFF2016 — Land Of Mine, My Life So Far, A Man Called Ove, Denial reviews

September 21, 2016 flawintheiris

Land Of Mine (Under Sandet) Written and Directed by Martin Zandvliet | 100 min It was announced the other day that Land of Mine will be the Danish submission for consideration as the Best Foreign Language film at next year's Academy Awards. (So was A Man Called Ove last week declared for Sweden, making today a Scandinavian…Read More

Indignation review — Literate drama and tragedy

August 11, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by James Schamus | Written by Schamus, adapting the novel by Philip Roth | 110 min | ▲▲▲▲△ A refreshing counter-program offering in these dog days of summer, Indignation is a literate, thoughtful, and affecting drama from a filmmaker best known as a producer and screenwriter, a creative collaborator to Ang Lee on films like The…Read More

Reviews: Equals, Anomalisa, Race

July 22, 2016 flawintheiris

Equals Directed by Drake Doremus | Written by Doremus and Nathan Parker | 101 min | ▲▲▲△△ | On iTunes Every so often a feature comes to online platforms that disappoints: Not because of the narrative quality of the film, but because it has such a gorgeous production design you can't help but wish you could watch it…Read More

Swiss Army Man review — Love, Death, and Farting

July 7, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Daniels (Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan) | 97 min | ▲▲▲△△ One genuinely positive thing I'll say about what we've seen at the multiplex in 2016—there've been some peculiar outliers. I'm thinking about The Neon Demon and The Lobster when I say that, and Swiss Army Man can join those films in being deliriously…Read More

Maggie’s Plan review — Awkward in New York

July 3, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Rebecca Miller | Written by Miller and Karen Rinaldi | 98 min | Amazon Prime |▲▲▲△△ Maggie (Greta Gerwig) is a New York academic who's decided to take fate into her own hands, as she explains to her friends Tony (the current MVP in modern American comedies, Bill Hader) and Felicia (Maya Rudolph).…Read More

The Neon Demon review — Weird Couture

June 25, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn | Written by Refn, Mary Laws, and Polly Stenham | 117 min | ▲▲▲▲△ This one upset some folks at Cannes, and it's easy to see why. Promoted as a horror, it's no more a horror than Under The Skin was. There are moments of gore late in the running, and…Read More

Reviews: Jane Got A Gun, By The Sea, Rock The Kasbah, Man Up, 5 To 7

June 22, 2016 flawintheiris

Jane Got A Gun Directed by Gavin O'Connor | Written by Brian Duffield, Anthony Tambakis, and Joel Egerton 98 min | ▲▲▲△△ | On DVD, Blu-Ray, and VOD A moody if somewhat standard-issue western from O'Connor, the helmer of the excellent MMA drama Warrior and executive producer on one of the best shows on TV, The Americans. Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman)…Read More