Tag Archives: Michael Keaton

The Protege review — Trashy thriller just barely earns a recommendation

August 24, 2021 flawintheiris

Directed by Martin Campbell | Written by Richard Wenk | 109 min | In Cinemas Let's get this out of the way right from the start: This is in no way a "good movie". It's been made by filmmakers who have solid work in their past. Director Campbell directed two classic 007 James Bonds in… Read More

The Trial of the Chicago 7 review — Sorkin plays to his strengths

October 8, 2020 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Aaron Sorkin | 129 min | Netflix When your name is used to describe a certain speaking and writing style, you know you've made some kind of contribution to culture. Aaron Sorkin has done that with "Sorkinese," that distinctive, witty, politicized and rapid dialogue, perfected years ago on his TV series,… Read More

New on Canadian Netflix: August/September 2017

September 27, 2017 flawintheiris

Here are a cross-section of a number of mildly-to-solidly recommended films recently made available on Canadian Netflix. (You can click on the movie titles to read my original reviews where I’ve written them in the past.) Death Note (2017) I was a big fan of Adam Wingard's The Guest (found elsewhere on this month's list), bit… Read More

Spider-Man: Homecoming review — Fresh focus on teen superheroing

July 8, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Jon Watts | Written by Watts, Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers | 133 min Yes, another reboot of the Spider-Man franchise—Andrew Garfield, we barely knew ye—this time with six writers, not including the original comic creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. None of that bodes well.… Read More

The Founder review — How burgers built America

January 19, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by John Lee Hancock | Written by Robert Siegel | 115 min Movies about people achieving the American Dream are as old as Hollywood itself. Here's a fresh one telling another rags-to-riches tale. You probably know the name Ray Kroc as the guy from McDonald's restaurants. The Founder tells Kroc's whole story, and also the story… Read More

Spotlight review — Celebrating the power of the press

November 26, 2015 flawintheiris

Directed by Tom McCarthy | Written by McCarthy and Josh Singer | 128 min About 15 years ago a group of investigative reporters from the Boston Globe started to dig into reports of Catholic priests abusing children, and that the executive in the diocese were complicit in covering it up, relocating the priests to other parishes… Read More

Second Screenings — and more on Birdman

February 1, 2015 flawintheiris

A couple days ago there was an interesting piece in the Guardian about whether critics should see movies more than once, and whether that was fair to viewers who, for the most part, are likely to only see a movie one time. You can go here to read it. I think of myself primarily as… Read More

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) review — Once more into the cowl, Michael Keaton

November 9, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, written by Innaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo After I saw the movie I considered the career of Michael Keaton. I always respected the guy as both a talented comedic and dramatic actor—in movies like Night Shift, Beetlejuice and Clean and Sober. He has a compelling, combustive quality. There's nothing warm… Read More

RoboCop (2014) review

February 17, 2014 flawintheiris

Directed by José PadilhaWritten by Joshua Zetumer, based on the 1987 Robocop script by Edward Neumeier and Michael MinerThe second of three remakes planned for the unholy trinity of Paul Verhoeven future dystopia films (last year's underwhelming Total Recall, the forthcoming Starship Troopers), all of which didn't need new versions, but when did that ever… Read More

Flight review

November 6, 2012 flawintheiris

Directed by Robert ZemeckisWritten by John GatinsFor the first time since 2000, when he had Cast Away and What Lies Beneath in cinemas, Zemeckis directs a live action drama. Originally a Spielberg acolyte, he's one of Hollywood's most reliable purveyors of widescreen entertainment. I certainly don't love all his work, but I can't deny the… Read More