Category Archives: Thriller

Dead Man Down review

Directed by Niels Arden OplevWritten by JH WymanThere were a few things that drew me to this relatively unheralded release in the wasteland of Hollywood's March schedule. Oplev is the director of the first adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the Swedish edition. The trailer had a promising sheen to it. And I don't think…Read More

A Cult of One: Tequila Sunrise

The last one of these digressions was also a Michelle Pfeiffer movie, but you shouldn't expect a pattern.  Here's one that the critics were particularly cool on—it remains at 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's a film that deserves a cult. I'm happy to be in it, even if I'm the only one. Tequila Sunrise…Read More

Charlie Zone opens

A heads up for FITI readers living in Halifax, Cape Breton or Toronto, Michael Melski's thriller Charlie Zone is opening today at a cinema near you.It's a tale of the dark underbelly of Halifax, one that I totally believe exists but is rarely represented in locally made movies. I think the last time I took…Read More

Side Effects review

Directed by Steven SoderberghWritten by Scott Z. BurnsIs this Steven Soderbergh's last feature film? If it is, it's a strangely fitting one, an exemplar of two of Soderbergh's distinct strengths: clean, uncluttered humanist storytelling and a zippy way with genre.That these styles—in this film anyway—make it something of a mash-up is OK with me. Going into it,…Read More

Jack Reacher review

Directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie, adapting the Lee Child book, One Shot.A sad coincidence, I suppose, that I'm writing about Jack Reacher today, and earlier I heard of the death of Michael Winner, a British director who was responsible for a number of thrillers and action movies of the 1970s, movies Jack Reacher is directly…Read More

Zero Dark Thirty review

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow Written by Mark Boal In the opening scenes of Zero Dark Thirty, following the text that the film is "based on first-hand accounts of actual events," Jason Clarke's CIA agent, the single-named Dan, is interrogating a prisoner at some Black Site, an American ops location without an address, somewhere in Pakistan. They're…Read More

Argo review

Directed by Ben AffleckWritten by Chris Terrio from a Joshuah Bearman article in Wired MagazineThis is a story I'm familiar with. My folks were in the Canadian diplomatic corps, so Canadian Ambassador to Iran in 1979, Ken Taylor, was something of a big deal in Dad's business. Taylor and his wife, Pat, helped get six…Read More

The Bourne Legacy review

Directed by Tony Gilroy Written by Tony and Dan Gilroy, from a story by Tony, inspired by the Robert Ludlum novels. Tough act this one is following. The first three Bourne movies are that rare popular franchise without a weak link. Each of the films has something to recommend it, the second and third strongly…Read More

Revisiting the Bourne Trilogy

I decided to rewatch the immensely popular and influential Universal Pictures action franchise this weekend in advance of its relaunch August 10 with The Bourne Legacy. I say "relaunch" because it's not just another sequel — the director of the second and third film, Paul Greengrass, chose not to return, as did the lead, Matt…Read More

The Dark Knight Rises review

Directed by Christopher NolanWritten by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan andDavid S. Goyer. Batman was created by Bob Kane in DC Comics.And so it ends, eh? When Christopher Nolan was handed the reins to the pointy-eared vigilante franchise and Batman Begins came out in 2005, the character could only go…Read More