Tag Archives: Benedict Cumberbatch

A Brief History of Spy Movies: Part Three

June 29, 2019 flawintheiris

THE LE CARRÉ ADAPTATIONS In the past two posts I review Harry Palmer movies and a dozen spy pictures from 1966 to 2006. This post is devoted to the film adaptations of the godfather of spy novels. Roger Ebert described John Le Carré’s novels as “chess problems in which one solution is elegant and all… Read More

Avengers: Infinity War review — Massive scale and massive stakes

April 27, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo | Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely | 149 min Since the mid-'80s, Marvel Comics have been finding their sales figures spiking with summer crossover series — pitting their popular heroes against each other and/or a terrible, frequently cosmic, threat—with titles like Secret Wars, Civil War, Secret… Read More

Thor: Ragnarok review — The God of Thunder lightens up

November 3, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Taika Waititi | Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost | 130 min It's the third Thor movie. Can you believe it? If I could go back in time and tell 10-year-old Carsten we'd have three Thor movies by 2017, not to mention all the Iron Man, Avengers, and X-Men movies,… Read More

Doctor Strange review — Not magical, but the visuals (and Cumberbatch) conjure a win

November 6, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Scott Derrickson | Written by Derrickson, John Spaihts, C. Robert Cargill, based on the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko | 115 min For those not raised on Marvel Comics, Dr Stephen Strange is the fantasy universe's resident Master of Mystic Arts, its top wizard. His comics were the… Read More

Black Mass review — Ordinary Gangster

September 26, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Scott Cooper | Written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill | 122 min. Let's talk about Joel Edgerton for a second. He's proven himself a capable character actor in films like Warrior and The Great Gatsby, and this summer he directed a reasonably impressive… Read More

Mr Holmes review — Character drama tops elementary detective story

August 4, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Bill Condon, Written by Jeffrey Hatcher from a novel by Mitch Cullin. Based on characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle. It's pretty amazing the lasting power of Sherlock Holmes in the culture, isn' t it? Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are carrying the torch on the BBC with the modern update, Sherlock, for the… Read More

The Imitation Game review — Quality historical drama

December 24, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by Morten Tyldum, written by Graham Moore adapting a book by Andrew Hodges Alan Turing was a British mathematician who helped break the Enigma code, the encrypted communications the Nazis used to direct U-Boat attacks in the North Atlantic, amongst other things. His contribution to that code-breaking—including the creation of one of the world's… Read More

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies review — The end of a long road

December 21, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by Peter Jackson, Written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo Del Toro, from the novel by JRR Tolkien In the first few minutes of this final visit to Middle Earth by Peter Jackson, my cinepanion and I found ourselves whispering back and forth to each other. We had a lot of questions.… Read More

August: Osage County review

January 17, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by John WellsStageplay and screenplay adaptation by Tracy LettsSince Julia Roberts had kids, she's been much more choosy with the films she does, working much less frequently. This is the opportunity afforded a former Queen of Hollywood, and more power to her. I've noticed that when she does work, the quality of her performances… Read More

12 Years A Slave review

November 11, 2013 flawintheiris

Directed by Steve McQueenWritten by John Ridley, adapting a book by Solomon Northup12 Years A Slave is the most honest and unvarnished depiction of slavery I've ever seen. I'd wager it reaches a verisimilitude unmatched in the history of Hollywood movies on the subject—of which there haven't been that many, granted. It's hard to find historic… Read More