Category Archives: International

The Danish Girl review — A quiet study of nature

December 28, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Tom Hooper | Written by Lucinda Coxon from a book by David Ebershoff | 119 min | ▲▲▲▲△ The Danish Girl is a biopic of Einar Wegener, who in the late 1920s became Lili Elbe, the first transgender person to undergo surgical reassignment. At its heart, the film is a love story between Einar/Lili…Read More

Brooklyn review — Romance in the diaspora

December 10, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by John Crowley | Written by Nick Hornby, adapting a Colm Toibin novel | 111 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | Crave Saoirse Ronan is on point as Ellis, the young woman who in John Crowley's 1950's-set diasporic drama travels from rural Ireland to Brooklyn, New York for a new life, and inevitably, first love. This…Read More

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

Suffragette review — Muddy drama mutes powerful story

November 19, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Sarah Gavron | Written by Abi Morgan | 106 min Suffragette is a powerful story weakly told. A look back at the women's rights movement in pre-Great War London has all the makings of compelling historical drama—a talented cast and well-chosen locations being two of its assets—but is scuppered by technical issues, a too-predictable…Read More

Carbon Arc Reviews: The Second Mother, When Marnie Was There, Phoenix, The Wolfpack, A Poem Is A Naked Person, The New Girlfriend, Tangerine, Court, Dough, Jimmy’s Hall, The Russian Woodpecker

November 16, 2015 flawintheiris

This fall I've been part of the talented crew who program films and help out at Carbon Arc screenings taking place at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. Here are my thoughts on each of the films we screened. (Carbon Arc Cinema returns in the first week of February, 2016.) The Second Mother Written…Read More

Our Brand Is Crisis review — Confused Message Sinks Comedy

November 3, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by David Gordon Green | Written by Peter Straughan from a documentary by Rachel Boynton | 107 min. Neither fish nor fowl, as they say, this is a political dramedy that features both Sandra Bullock vomiting into a wastepaper basket and discussions of how politics can eat away the soul. This struggle to sustain…Read More

Wacken 3D review — Complete Metal-ness

October 27, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Norbert Heitker | 95 min "There are many crazy people, but it's also the most peaceful place in the world," says a fan from Taiwan. "It's four days of complete metal-ness," declares Henry Rollins. On Thursday night Cineplex is screening the part-concert movie part-anthropological study Wacken 3D: Louder Than Hell, about the…Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2015: Eighth Post/Day — Finale with a Shotgun Blast

September 25, 2015 flawintheiris

Just got in from the screening of Green Room, perfectly ending the #AFF2015 on a note of white-knuckle tension. Green Room Written and Directed by Jeremy Saulnier | 94 min. I fucking love this filmmaker. His Blue Ruin from last year really impressed, and this is a hell of a follow-up, a powerful thrill-ride that…Read More

Atlantic Film Festival 2015: Seventh Post — People Suck Edition

September 24, 2015 flawintheiris

The Look of Silence Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer | 103 min. As the credits roll, you'll notice Oppenheimer has plenty of help from anonymous technicians, people on the ground in Indonesia whose lives may be in danger if the government finds out who they are. And so it was with his 2013 film, The Act Of Killing. Interesting…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