Tag Archives: Ben Foster

Sharp Corner review — Ben Foster excels in chilly local thriller

May 9, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Jason Buxton | Written by Buxton, adapting a short story by Russell Wangersky | 110 min | ▲▲▲1/2 An earlier version of this review ran in September 2024 during coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival. What's likely to be this year's most high-profile Nova Scotian-made feature, courtesy of a national distribution deal… Read More

X-Men Original Trilogy review

June 5, 2019 flawintheiris

This review was assembled just before the release of Dark Phoenix. I recall reading the studio was planning three films to tell the story of Jean Grey's transformation into the cosmic power of Phoenix, an operatic tale of good and evil—previously attempted in the third X-Men film, X-Men: The Last Stand—but I guess those plans were… Read More

Now on Canadian Netflix: December 2018

December 19, 2018 flawintheiris

Roma One could make an argument last year's Mudbound was the feature that signalled Netlfix's prestige drama interest, readying their horses for the annual Oscar race. Roma is really the tipping point, a film with the critical momentum to suggest it could actually take the Best Picture statuette. I'd be surprised, simply because it's much… Read More

Leave No Trace review — Off-the-grid drama delivers great performances

July 11, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Debra Granik | Written by Granik, Anne Rosellini, from a novel by Peter Rock | 109 min There's a moment here that crystalizes what's going on between the two lead characters in Granik's story of a father and daughter who've been living rough and alone in the Pacific Northwest woods, but now find… Read More

New on Canadian Netflix: April 2017

April 24, 2017 flawintheiris

Here's a cross-section of a number of mildly-to- solidly recommended films recently made available on Canadian Netflix. (You can click on the movie titles to read my original reviews where I've written them in the past.) For me, Netflix is a go-to usually to watch films I’ve already seen or to give the odd TV… Read More

Hell Or High Water review — Dusty Days in the Lone Star State

September 5, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by David MacKenzie | Written by Taylor Sheridan | 102 min | ▲▲▲▲△ In Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), a 25-year-old Jeff Bridges joined Clint Eastwood as a pair of bank robbers in rural Montana. Forty-two years later Bridges is on the other side of the law, but Hell Or High Water feels a little like a spiritual… Read More

The Finest Hours review — Terminally hokey nautical tale

January 29, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Craig Gillespie | Written by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson, based on a book by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias | 117 min | ▲△△△△ We've seen a lot of movies set in the early 1950s lately—the earnest, lush romance Brooklyn, the austere indie Carol. Now we have a movie that doesn't… Read More

The Mechanic (2011), The Mechanic (1972) reviews

June 13, 2011 flawintheiris

(2011) Directed by Simon WestWritten by Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino(1972) Directed by Michael WinnerWritten by Lewis John CarlinoBoth now on DVD For fans of action movies, watching these two workman-like examples of the genre is a great lesson in how much they've changed in the past 40 years.These days we expect our action… Read More