Category Archives: Recommended

Amy review — You know she was so good

July 15, 2015 flawintheiris

A documentary by Asif Kapadia Kapadia has said he wasn't particularly a fan of the British singer Amy Winehouse, who died in July 2011, before he made this doc. That claim of objectivity—this isn't a fan letter of a movie—is something to keep in mind while watching. With dozens of interviews with people in Winehouse's inner circle,…Read More

Inside Out review — Coming to your emotional rescue

June 21, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen, written by Docter, Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley Up, also written and directed by Pete Docter, was the last original Pixar creation to arrive in cinemas but for Brave in 2012. Between and since those, they've only released sequels; to Toy Story, Cars, and Monsters Inc. And many more sequels…Read More

Clouds of Sils Maria review — A strange and beautiful journey in the Alps

June 17, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Oliver Assayas | 124 min | The Criterion Channel Remember the gifted storytellers in the wordy, if somewhat static, My Dinner With Andre? Or story-within-story pictures like The French Lieutenant's Woman or Vanya on 42nd Street, where the overlay of a fiction in the central narrative both enlivens and informs what's going on? If you do,…Read More

Love & Mercy review — Excellent vibrations

June 10, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Bill Pohlad, written by Oren Moverman and Michael A. Lerner, based on the life of Brian Wilson. Coming soon on my podcast, Lens Me Your Ears, with Stephen Cooke, is an episode on musical biopics. My arm needed a little twisting on this subject because biopics in general aren't my favourite genre—I always ask…Read More

A few thoughts on seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron a second time (in 2D)

June 2, 2015 flawintheiris

As I was taking a gander at all the summer movies coming our way, I also reflected on the few we've already had a chance to see, including Avengers: Age of Ultron. On an overcast afternoon I went again, seeing it this time in 2D, my preferred format. The first thing I should say is the…Read More

Mad Max: Fury Road review — A masterpiece in speed and metal

May 14, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by George Miller, Written by Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nick Lathouris | Netflix Badass. As the end credits rolled, that's the word that kept bouncing around my rattling and enervated cranium. Mad Max: Fury Road is totally badass. When was the last time I was totally floored like this? The last time I saw…Read More

Ex Machina review — Stylish, essential science fiction

May 6, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Alex Garland Talented coder Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), working for global search engine Blue Book, wins a company lottery to join the CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), at his mountain retreat for a week. The house is beautiful, a glass and concrete hideout—actually located in Norway. Caleb is automatically issued a passcard by…Read More

While We’re Young review — Generations unite and divide in Brooklyn

April 27, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach I'm sure I'm not the first person to remark on this, but to me, at his best, Baumbach is a next generation Woody Allen, though the filmmaker's milieu is among the hipsters of Park Slope and Williamsburg instead of the dustier denizens of the Upper West Side or Fifth Avenue. It helps distinguish…Read More

It Follows review — A creepfest of the highest order

March 26, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by David Robert Mitchell | 101 min | Amazon Prime The last time I was so pleasantly perplexed by a genre picture it was Jonathan Glazer's Under The Skin, which came out last May. This is another puzzler with powerful undercurrents of sex and death, both an indie teen movie and a horror, often…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