Tag Archives: Benicio Del Toro

One Battle After Another review — Rebels without a pause

September 26, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson | Written by Anderson, "inspired by" Thomas Pynchon's Vineland | 141 min | ▲▲▲▲ What we've got here is a new chaotic, action-packed epic from PTA. We haven't seen anything close to this from him since Inherent Vice. That tracks since Anderson's 2014 picture was also adapted from a Pynchon book,… Read More

The Phoenician Scheme review — Fresh artifice from Wes Anderson

June 16, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Wes Anderson | Written by Anderson and Roman Coppola | 101 min | ▲▲ By my count this is the third of Wes Anderson's current chapter, this particular stage in his hyper-formal, hyper-art designed films eschewing locations outside a studio. It started with The French Dispatch. I felt alienated by that film, but… Read More

The French Dispatch review — I don’t really get it. Still worth seeing, though.

November 1, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Wes Anderson | Written by Anderson, Roman Coppola, Hugh Guinness, and Jason Schwartzman | 108 min | In Cinemas I've long appreciated Wes Anderson's strange magic. I have plenty of time for his tiny twee classics like Moonrise Kingdom, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and the writer-director's masterpiece, The Grand Budapest Hotel.… Read More

No Sudden Move review — Soderbergh returns to comfort zone with Motor City crime picture

July 13, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Steven Soderbergh | Written by Ed Solomon | 115 min | Crave Detroit, 1954. Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) gets offered a job fresh out of prison, the kind work that involves heaters and a wad of cash for three hours of his time. He meets up with Ronald Russo (Benicio Del Toro) and… Read More

Sicario: Day Of The Soldado review — Cartel thriller doesn’t care about you, or anything else

July 3, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Stefano Solima | Written by Taylor Sheridan | 122 min | Netflix When I first got wind of a sequel to the Denis Villeneuve/Taylor Sheridan/Roger Deakins thriller Sicario, it seemed ill-advised. The original was so good, why try to recapture the magic? Especially with Villeneuve, Deakins, and the terrific Emily Blunt absent from the proceedings.… Read More

Star Wars: The Last Jedi review — The Force could be stronger with this one

December 15, 2017 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson | 152 min By now we're all amongst the initiates, if not the disciples, of Star Wars. And while these movies were the base mythology of my childhood, I can't overlook how these fan-fiction sequels absent George Lucas bend over backward to echo the early trilogy—with frequent and direct… Read More

Sicario review — At Hell’s Border

October 1, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Denis Villeneuve | Written by Taylor Sheridan | 121 min Kate (Emily Blunt, convincingly tough and vulnerable) is a straight arrow FBI agent on the anti-kidnap squad working in Arizona with partner Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya, another talented Brit import), mopping up at the margins of the Mexican drug cartel business, which usually means… Read More

Inherent Vice review — Messily brilliant or simply a mess?

January 10, 2015 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, from the Thomas Pynchon novel Inherent Vice is the kind of movie you walk into and it envelops you. You're visiting a world while you're in the cinema. It may not be one you understand. The denizens may speak strange languages and enact peculiar rituals. The universal narrative… Read More

Guardians of the Galaxy review

August 1, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by James Gunn, Written by Gunn and Nicole Perlman Looking at the predicted huge box office tallies for this first weekend in August, The Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't seem like the big gamble for Marvel Studios it must have been on paper. Consider that every movie they've done so far, with the possible… Read More

Who should play Lex Luthor in the Man of Steel sequel?

June 18, 2013 flawintheiris

If you've seen Man of Steel, you probably noticed the Lexcorp oil truck get demolished in the fight between Superman and General Zod. That's just a little reminder that Lex Luthor—billionaire, evil corporate presence and Superman's earthling nemesis—exists in this new cinematic edition of the DC Comics character. It's a very sure bet Lex will… Read More