Tag Archives: Common

Ava (2020) review — Uninspired actioner almost saved by terrific cast

October 20, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Tate Taylor | Written by Matthew Newton | 96 min | On Demand and Netflix Buried in this script is a dazzling bit of espionage jargon borrowed from B2B marketing. It's the suggestion that an agent is “client-facing.“ Such signs of sparky ingenuity in the script are disappointingly intermittent given the wealth of… Read More

The Hate U Give review — Social justice hits in teen drama

June 10, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by George Tillman Jr | Written by Audrey Wells, from the novel by Angie Thomas | 133 min | Cineplex Store/Crave The story of a black man killed by a white police officer in America has been sadly relevant for a long time, but right now this 2018 drama, adapted from a young adults… Read More

Terminator series review — The first two are essential, but the others…

October 28, 2019 flawintheiris

...are a mixed bag. Here's a look back at the five Terminator movies before T6, or Terminator: Dark Fate, expected in the coming week. The Terminator (1984) There's something wonderfully '80s about The Terminator (directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd), a peculiar alloy of films from earlier times updated for the… Read More

The Kitchen review — Three stars sparkle in so-so genre material

August 8, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Andrea Berloff | Written by Berloff based on the Ollie Masters/Ming Doyle comic series | 102 min | Netflix Berloff loves her some Scorcese, and there's nothing wrong with that. The screenwriter-turned-director loads up her first feature with so many Marty-familiar-notes, from the gritty, 1970s crime drama scenario to the wall-to-wall classic rock,… Read More

Megan Leavey review — Only dog lovers need attend

June 9, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Written by Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo, and Tim Lovestedt | 116 min Megan Leavey is based on the true story of a US Marine and her bomb sniffing German Shepherd, both of whom were deployed to Iraq. In the documentary Blackfish Cowperthwaite awoke the world to marine parks' cruelty to cetaceans, so it… Read More

John Wick: Chapter 2 review — High-end action porn

February 12, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Chad Stahelski | Written by Derek Kolstad | 122 min Keanu Reeves isn't exactly graceful. For a movie that depends so much on his athleticism—and that of his stunt doubles—he has an odd, bowlegged gait and seems to struggle a little in the fight scenes. It's actually kind of refreshing, his 50+ year-old… Read More

Run All Night review — Liam Neeson brings it

March 12, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, written by Brad Ingelsby Liam Neeson: action icon. It would have been hard to believe 10 years ago, even though he once played a superhero in Darkman. Neeson's found a professional niche comparable to what Robert Mitchum used to do, or late career Charles Bronson. That said, his efforts in the action… Read More

Selma review — History is alive, history is today

January 11, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Ava DuVernay, written by Paul Webb In the past few years one of the issues American Democrats and Republican parties have been disagreeing on is voter registration. Republican lawmakers in several states have been tightening up the rules around voting—requiring two picture IDs, reducing the days in the early voting period, denying same-day registration—to… Read More