Tag Archives: Ian McKellen

The Good Liar review — Bog-standard-to-bilge mystery

November 20, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Bill Condon | Written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel by Nicholas Searle | 109 min | Crave Plus Roy (Ian McKellan) is an 80-year-old con artist, a man for whom lying is as common as breathing, looking to swindle recent widow Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) of her life's savings. He's an… 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

X-Men: Days Of Future Past review

May 25, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by Bryan Singer, written by Simon Kinburg from a story by Kinburg, Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn I never really understood why 20th Century Fox chose to prematurely conclude the X-Men franchise. Fox officially called it quits as a trilogy, with Brent Ratner's limp X-Men: The Last Stand back in 2006. Yes, Singer's beneath-the-skin understanding… Read More

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug review

December 13, 2013 flawintheiris

Directed by Peter JacksonWritten by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo Del Toro, from the novel by JRR TolkienIt's the Hobbit 2: Electric Smaugaloo! (With apologies to Stephen Cooke—I had to use it!)Yes, it's the second in the wholly unnecessary three-part Hobbit saga. Full disclosure: I missed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the… Read More