Tag Archives: Valentine Movies

A Star Is Born 2018 (1976, 1954, and 1937) review — Cooper’s sterling cover version hits emotional highs

October 6, 2018 flawintheiris

Along with the Bradley Cooper film, here's a look at the predecessors, the three times stars were born in the past. Dialogue and scene structures are frequently repeated, so it's interesting to observe what's been retained and what's been discarded. Some spoilers to follow about the older films, but not of the 2018 edition. 1937:… Read More

Juliet, Naked review — Byrne and Hawke bring it

September 4, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Jesse Peretz | Written by Evgenia Peretz, Jim Taylor, and Tamara Jenkins, from a Nick Hornby novel | 105 min | On Demand My mother read Nick Hornby's High Fidelity and recommended the book to me, telling me that the lead character was just like me. Really, Mom? You think I would cheat on my… Read More

Crazy Rich Asians review — Traditional romcom with diverse approach

August 22, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by John M. Chu | Written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, from the novel by Kevin Kwan | 120 min | On Demand First, lets all celebrate the arrival of a full-on, undeniably old-fashioned romantic comedy. Crazy Rich Asians triples down (is that even a thing?) on all the well-established cliches of the… Read More

Disobedience review — The heartbreak of choice

May 31, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed by Sebastian Lelio | Written by Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the novel by Naomi Alderman | 114 min | Hoopla, On Demand Smoking in movies has changed so much. Where once it was sexy and dangerous, now it signifies something else. Still danger, but also anxiety. Weakness. An addictive personality. Unhealth. Ronit… Read More

The Shape Of Water review — Romantic monster movie a new high point for Pan’s Labyrinth director

December 23, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Guillermo del Toro | Written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor | 123 min | Disney+ I've heard two jokey descriptors for this picture, that it's a gothic remake of Ron Howard's Splash, and that it's a Hellboy prequel, focussing on the origins of Abe Sapien. Both takes feel a lot more true than… Read More

The Big Sick review — A little bit of heart is what it takes

July 4, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Michael Showalter | Written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani | 119 min | Netflix A shaggy, surprisingly dramatic romantic comedy, The Big Sick does exactly what I wanted from last week's Rough Night: it isn't afraid to steer into pathos and have people behave and react like real people. Maybe that's because… Read More

Paris Can Wait review — A day (or two) in Provence

June 10, 2017 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Eleanor Coppola | 92 min | On Demand The name you might recognize: Coppola is the wife of Francis Ford and mother to Sofia and Roman, aunt to Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzmann. Her cinematic experience is mostly related to her work on Hearts of Darkness, the documentary about the making… Read More

A United Kingdom review — The leads are winning, though the film’s conventional

March 13, 2017 flawintheiris

Directed by Amma Asante | Written by Guy Hibbert, from a book by Susan Williams | 111 min | On Demand A post-war historical drama about how Bechuanaland, the British protectorate, shrugged off the colonial oppression of the Empire and eventually become the Republic of Botswana. If that sounds a bit dry, don't worry—at its heart… Read More

La La Land review — Fizzy musical eschews plot for romantic glamour

December 28, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle | 128 min | Crave La La Land and Moonlight are in a two-horse race for award season glory at the time of this writing. The latter has already come and gone in theatres, but the former, after much delay and glowing reviews from elsewhere, finally arrived at a single… Read More

Loving review — Social justice in deeply felt love story

November 28, 2016 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols | 123 min | On Demand Loving is Jeff Nichols' second feature film of the year, following his excellent Spielberg-esque science fiction drama Midnight Special, and this one is just as good. It still features his elegant, spare direction, but tells a very different tale, one based in fact, about… Read More