Tag Archives: Dakota Johnson

Splitsville review — A comedy that can’t commit

September 4, 2025 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Angelo Covino | Written by Covino and Kyle Marvin | 104 min | ▲▲▲ Here's a screwball comedy about two wealthy couples that's raunchy, funny, and occasionally astute about relationships, but one that leans into physical comedy rather than trusting the situations to carry the laughs — it works against the very… Read More

Materialists review — Celine Song’s fascinating follow-up to Past Lives

June 14, 2025 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Celine Song | 116 min | ▲▲▲▲| Crave The playwright-turned-filmmaker Celine Song — who made her mark with her Oscar-nominated first feature Past Lives in 2023 — has returned with a terrific, if more mainstream, movie: Materialists featuring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. The trailer would have you believe… Read More

Daddio review — A long ride into the city

June 27, 2024 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Christy Hall | 101 min | ▲▲△△△ The people talking in taxis movie is a sub-sub genre, but it exists. I'm not talking about Taxi Driver, though I suppose it qualifies. I'm talking about Night On Earth, Collateral, and Jafar Panahi's Taxi. Maybe even Locke. This one's got a couple of terrific performances… Read More

Am I OK? review — Yep, you’re pretty good

June 11, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro | Written by Lauren Pomerantz | 86 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave Dakota Johnson has the oddest cinematic presence. It's deeply California, deeply laid back, deeply showbiz — she's the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffiths, doncha know. But she can carry a role and deliver genuine… Read More

Persuasion review — Breezy, modernized Austen still convinces

July 18, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Carrie Cracknell | Written by Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow, based on the book by Jane Austen | 107 min |▲▲▲△△| Netflix I was thinking we must be in the midst of an Austen revival, but Austen never really goes away. Just this summer we've seen Fire Island, which has its roots… Read More

The Lost Daughter review — Maggie Gyllenhaal wows out of the gate

January 3, 2022 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Elena Ferrante | 121 min | Netflix | ▲▲▲▲△ About 20 minutes into Maggie Gyllenhaal's debut as a feature filmmaker I was starting to wonder when the film would start. The film feels like an almost plotless travelogue about an academic, Leda (Olivia Colman)… Read More

Our Friend review — Two hour misery dirge

January 22, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite | Written by Brad Ingelsby, based on an article by Matthew Teague | 124 min | Netflix Our Friend is apparently based on a true story, originally documented in an award-winning Esquire article by foreign correspondent Matthew Teague. I'd like to read that piece, because I'd like to know how this… Read More

Bad Times At The El Royale review — Not so great for us in the audience, either

October 23, 2018 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Drew Goddard | 141 min Goddard has a terrific rap sheet for a creator of quality content: his fingerprints on good things go back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cloverfield, Lost, Cabin In The Woods, The Martian, and World War Z. (I interviewed him for The Coast back in April, 2012.) Anything… Read More

A Bigger Splash review — Trashy times in the sun

June 1, 2016 flawintheiris

Directed by Luca Guadagnino | Written by David Kajganich and Alain Page, inspired by the film La Piscine | 125 min | ▲▲▲△△ Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is a rock star, an aesthetic cross between Chrissie Hynde and David Bowie. She's just had surgery on her voice, and her doctors insist she shouldn't speak. She and… Read More

50 Shades of Grey review — Gives soft porn a bad name

February 19, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, written by Kelly Marcel from the novel by EL James | 125 min | Amazon Prime I knew this picture was in trouble when early on the heroine of the piece, college student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), dressed in her unpretentious print blouse, arrives at a phallic glass and chrome skyscraper… Read More