Category Archives: Recommended

Top 10 Films of 2021

January 10, 2022 flawintheiris

I wouldn't say 2021 was a stellar year at the movies, even as the backlog of pandemic-delayed Hollywood features piled up at the year's end, but it did feature a number of quality independent and international films, as is reflected by the number of them on my list. I hope this is useful to you,…Read More

I’m Your Man review — Surprising insight makes sci-fi romcom something unique

January 6, 2022 flawintheiris

Original Title: Ich bin dein Mensch | Directed by Maria Schrader | Written by Schrader and Jan Schomburg, based on a short story by Emma Braslavsky | 108 min | Hoopla, On Demand | ▲▲▲▲△ I'm starting to wonder if there's nothing Dan Stevens can't do. The guy has the range and chameleon-like mutability of…Read More

The Lost Daughter review — Maggie Gyllenhaal wows out of the gate

January 3, 2022 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante | 121 min | Netflix | ▲▲▲▲△ About 20 minutes into Maggie Gyllenhaal's debut as a feature filmmaker I was starting to wonder when the film would start. The film feels like an almost plotless travelogue about an academic, Leda (Olivia Colman)…Read More

Licorice Pizza review — ’70s nostalgia served on a giant slice

December 30, 2021 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | 133 min | On Demand It's an interesting choice by the renowned American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, now in his 50s, to look backward. Not just make a film set in the early '70s, when he would've been a baby, and where he grew up — the…Read More

Don’t Look Up review — Killer comet satire crushes

December 29, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Adam McKay | Written by McKay and David Sirota | 138 min | Netflix The biggest movie on Netflix this season has also turned out to be the most controversial. The screeds against it are plenty — a passel of well-regarded reviewers have called the disaster movie, cleverly, "disastrous," and its director a…Read More

Top 10 Under-The-Radar films of 2021

December 25, 2021 flawintheiris

Almost every year when I assemble my list of the best films of the past 12 months I end up with a slate of lesser-known gems that don't quite fit among the ones I most want to highlight. These alternates strike me as important to mention for those looking for something a little off the…Read More

Spider-Man: No Way Home review — Amazing and spectacular, both

December 20, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Jon Watts | Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers | 148 min | Netflix Let's have a chat about the definition of "fan service." It's a term that gets thrown around a lot lately, especially in relation to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's the idea is that these movies' producers are pandering…Read More

West Side Story (2021) review — Spielberg refreshes classic musical

December 11, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Steven Spielberg | Written by Tony Kushner, from the stage play and book by Arthur Laurents | 156 min | Amazon Prime, Hoopla Why remake a beloved musical — even if you go back to the original stage show? It seems a wildly counter-intuitive move, doomed to fail because those who loved the…Read More

Pig review — Nicolas Cage a revelation in swine hunt thriller

December 6, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Sarnoski | Written by Sarnoski and Vanessa Block | 92 min | Amazon Prime Nicolas Cage's reputation precedes him. His career choices veer from the brilliantly idiosyncratic — consider Mandy from a few years back — to the depressingly forgettable. Pig is very much in the former category, a modest feature from…Read More

tick, tick… BOOM! review — Lin-Manuel Miranda’s heartfelt tribute to his hero and to Broadway

November 29, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Written by Steven Levenson, based on the musical by Jonathan Larson | 115 min | Netflix Jonathan Larson is best known as the creator of Rent, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning '90s rock musical. Tragically, he died suddenly in 1996 just as Rent was premiering off-Broadway. Before Rent he…Read More