Category Archives: International

Exit Plan review — Suicide tourism gets deadly

June 21, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Jonas Alexander Arnby | Written by Rasmus Birch | 89 min | On Demand This chilly, discomfiting Danish drama/thriller goes out of its way to render its narrative opaque and confusing. It's got a verging-on-science-fiction premise and some anachronistic politics, but might still be worth your time if you're a Nikolaj Coster-Waldau completist…Read More

Made In Bangladesh review — Union drama’s tale needs telling

June 12, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Rubaiyat Hossain | Written by Hossain and Philippe Barrière | 95 min | Carbon Arc Cinema until June 18 We open on a sweatshop in Dhaka, a roomful of women working with sewing machines, making those inexpensive garments most of us wear without thinking much about where they're made. A fire alarm sounds,…Read More

2040 review — “An exercise in fact-based dreaming”

June 7, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Damon Gameau | 91 min | On Demand Decentralized power grids with independent solar-source energy. Self driving electric cars. Diverse, multi-species grazing crops. Marine permaculture. Educating girls. These are some of the ideas Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau learns about as he looks for solutions — that already exist — to rescue the world…Read More

Dreamland (2019) review — More like drearyland

May 29, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Bruce McDonald | Written by Tony Burgess and Patrick Whistler | 92 min | On Demand This movie brings a luxurious score and engrossing sound design, it's gorgeously shot in a medieval European town, and stars Stephen McHattie, Henry Rollins, Juliette Lewis *and* includes vampires? There's nothing here that doesn't sound like fun…Read More

The Painter and The Thief review — Documentary explores unlikely connection between artist and inspiration

May 24, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Benjamin Ree | 102 min | On Demand A hypnotic film, one where the making-of, behind-the-scenes extras might be as fascinating as the documentary. Barbora Kysilkova is the Czech-born painter, now living with a Norwegian fellow in Oslo. Two of her photo-realistic works are lifted from an exhibition, and when one of the…Read More

The Trip To Greece review — Another welcome jaunt with old frenemies

May 23, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Winterbottom | 103 min | On Demand "You were unpalatable as a young man," says Rob, after Steve claims he's getting better looking as he gets older. And it doesn't take more than a minute or two for these two improv-honed performers to get to the core of their connection: teasing each…Read More

Military Wives review — Formula film evokes another era

May 22, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Peter Cattaneo | Written by Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard | 112 min | On Demand It's remarkable how the streaming has changed feature films. There was a time when on the big screen the garden-variety, heartwarming dramedy was something we'd see on the regular, back when director Peter Cattaneo had his biggest…Read More

Hope Gap review — Sour notes spoil domestic drama

May 20, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by William Nicholson | 100 min | On Demand You could describe William Nicholson's new film as a tale of middle-aged heartbreak. We meet Grace and Edward (Annette Bening and Bill Nighy), an older couple living on the gorgeous southern coast of England just adjacent to the fabled white cliffs. They have…Read More

Little Monsters review — Zom-rom-com is dead on arrival

May 15, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Abe Forsythe | 93 min | Amazon Prime An ill-advised Australian combination of raunchy comedy, wholesome romance, and zombie picture that works sporadically in each of these genres, but never coalesces into anything special. Dave (Alexander England) is a busker who plays electric guitar and was once in a metal band.…Read More

Extraction (2020) review — Quality big-screen action on the small screen

May 7, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Sam Hargrave | Written by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Ande Parks, based on the graphic novel Ciudad by the Russos, Parks, and Fernando León González | 116 min | Netflix Before we all get back to seeing things in the cinema, we're going to have films released on demand or on streaming services…Read More