Category Archives: War

Reviews: Mississippi Grind, Heist, Kilo Two Bravo

December 7, 2015 flawintheiris

Recent releases available on VOD and Blu-Ray that didn't screen in Halifax cinemas. Mississippi Grind Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck | 108 min | ▲▲▲△△ Ben Mendelsohn is Gerry, a scruffy, hard-up gambler in Iowa who "owes money to everyone." On one of his losing streaks he connects with Curtis (Ryan Reynolds),…Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2015: First Post — Reviews of Hyena Road, Into The Forest, and more

September 17, 2015 flawintheiris

Full disclosure: this is actually my second post on this year's AFF—previously I offered a list of the films I was looking forward to seeing. But this is my first collection of mini-reviews, the films I've been able to see in advance of their screenings at the AFF. I'll post regularly through the fest with more…Read More

Testament Of Youth review — Solemn drama in The Great War

September 1, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by James Kent | Written by Juliette Towhidi from the book by Vera Brittain | 129 min. Testament of Youth is a very serious adaptation of a First World War memoir, populated with earnest, fresh faces. It takes its time getting to the blood and mud, with an overlong first act setting up the slightly wet teen…Read More

Reviews from the Vault: Vol. 2 (Atlantic Film Festival Edition)

August 31, 2015 flawintheiris

Between 2005 and 2009 I was a programmer on CKDU 88.1 FM every Sunday morning with something called The Love & Hate Movie Show. I talked about what I was seeing and revisited some of my favourite films of old, pretty much what I do now here on FITI. I still have a lot of…Read More

LENS ME YOUR EARS Ep. 09 — Submarine movies

July 6, 2015 flawintheiris

Stephen Cooke and I DIVE DIVE DIVE into the somewhat maligned but extremely hardy genre of submarine movies on this instalment of Lens Me Your Ears, our movie podcast. We springboard into the depths with Jude Law in Black Sea before discussing movies as diverse (or not so...) as 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Run Silent…Read More

Good Kill review — Strong subject but weak execution in drone war movie

May 15, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Andrew Niccol Niccol's work is never less than interesting. He wrote The Truman Show, and wrote and directed Gattaca, Sim0ne, Lord of War, In Time, and now Good Kill. He explores science fiction, but he also has a sense of the contradictions of our age: the way our media and technology can both…Read More

Woman In Gold review — Art and justice wins over stale script

April 9, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Simon Curtis, written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, based on the story of E. Randol Schoenberg and Maria Altmann Sometimes a story is powerful enough, and a cast potent enough, that it overcomes the poor choices of a movie's screenwriter and director. This is one of those times. Based on the actual tale of…Read More

’71 review — A tense thriller set in the Troubles

March 19, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Yann Demange, written by Gregory Burke Seemingly out of nowhere this terrific movie has shown up, and it pinned me in my seat—an early contender for one of the year's best thrillers. Jack O'Connell—who we last saw suffering mightily through Unbroken—is Gary Hook, a young soldier in Her Majesty's military in the early…Read More

American Sniper review — Effective under fire but missing the big picture

January 18, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Clint Eastwood, from the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim Defelice Films about the war in Iraq haven't been embraced by the public. Consider The Hurt Locker, which still holds the record for an Academy Award Best Picture winner with the smallest box office. There are any number of reasons…Read More

Unbroken review — Angelina Jolie’s passion project is missing something

January 6, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Angelina Jolie, written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, and William Nicholson, from the book by Laura Hillenbrand I understand Angelina Jolie felt a serious emotional connection to this material. It's the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete and World War II bombardier who survived untold horrors when his plane was…Read More