Category Archives: Recommended

Happiest Season review — A gay and merry holiday treat

December 2, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Clea DuVall | Written by DuVall and Mary Holland | 102 min | CBC Gem It's Christmas at the Caldwell home, solidly upper-middle class, white, and midwestern. Daughter Harper (Mackenzie Davis) is bringing her partner Abby (Kristen Stewart) to the holiday celebration. The problem is that Harper hasn't come out to her parents…Read More

Mank review — Fincher’s ode to Old Hollywood is clever, good-looking, and self-aware

November 23, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by David Fincher | Written by Jack Fincher | 131 min | In Cinemas, on Netflix from December 4, 2020 On the face of it, this is an unlikely pairing of filmmaker and subject: The master of the modern, chilly thriller, David Fincher, making a movie about the writing of the Oscar-winning script for…Read More

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel review

November 13, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan | 105 min | Crave This documentary screened at the FIN International Film Festival and the Lunenburg Doc Fest and is now in cinemas. This is my festival review, slightly edited. The Corporation (2003) was a left-leaning, eye-opening documentary that explored the idea of corporations having all the…Read More

#HIFF2020 review: Bait

November 11, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Mark Jenkin | 89 min | Halifax Independent Film Festival The 2020 Halifax Independent Film Festival runs from Thursday, November 12 to Sunday, November 15. It includes international features and local shorts screenings. They're all online and free. For screening information, go to hiff.ca. Some have called Bait experimental, and I…Read More

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life review — Empathy and patients

November 10, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Ric Burns | 114 min When an individual rises to the top of their field, writes a lot of books and even has a movie made from one of them, it's hard to imagine it wasn't somehow preordained. Wasn't this renowned figure always there, fully formed? Their brilliance must have made it all…Read More

Rare Bird Alert review — Birdwatching doc a lot of feathery fun

October 3, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Melski | 43 min | CBC Gem Nova Scotia filmmaker Michael Melski returns to the documentary form after the creepfest The Child Remains with this look at hardcore birders across Canada and into the United States. It's an enthusiastic exploration and endorsement of birdwatching through its most eager purveyors, reminding us some of…Read More

Possessor Uncut review — Ruthless and brilliant horror sci-fi

October 2, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Brandon Cronenberg | 103 min | Crave Plus Brandon Cronenberg's second feature is a bloody marvel of nightmare fuel. I enjoyed Cronenberg's first, AntiViral, but, like a lot of people, I'm sure, I drew a lazy parallel or two between his work and his well-known, body-horror-loving daddy, the legendary David. This…Read More

Enola Holmes review — Teen sleuth a cheerful tonic

September 29, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Harry Bradbeer | Written by Jack Thorne, based on the book by Nancy Springer | 123 min | Netflix What if Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) had a sister (Millie Bobby Brown), a teenager as clever and willful as the mythical detective? What if she was raised in a rambling country mansion by a…Read More

#FIN2020 Closing Night Gala review — Another Round (Druk)

September 25, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg | Written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm | 115 min After he set the world alight with The Celebration (Festen) and as a shining light of the Dogme95 movement, Danish auteur Vinterberg spent a few years in the cinematic hinterlands with films that people didn't like (It's All About Love, Dear…Read More

#FIN2020 Doc Reviews: No Ordinary Man, There’s No Place Like This Place, Anyplace, Jimmy Carter: Rock and Roll President

September 22, 2020 flawintheiris

No Ordinary Man In their documentary investigation into the late jazz musician Billy Tipton, Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt have brought a strikingly compassionate examination of what it means to be trans. The film examines the legacy of jazz musician Billy Tipton — he was someone who hid his biological gender. The film also explores…Read More