By: Addison Wylie The vaguely titled Assassin has the ability to be cool, but instead settles on being “cool”. There are cool shots of hitman Jamie (played by Danny Dyer) on his motorcycle as he zips to a hired job and zooms off to collect his earnings, and I quite like what filmmaker J.K. Amalou can do with the correct lighting. Then, there are those “cool” moments where popular songs ineffectively crash into a scene while…
By: Shannon Page Adam Scott has been around for a while and his latest project, the indie sex-comedy The Overnight, is certainly not his first attempt at acting or producing. Though he is probably best known for his work as Ben Wyatt on the television sitcom Parks and Recreation, Scott has also appeared in movies such as Step Brothers, The Aviator and Our Idiot Brother. The Overnight stars Scott as Alex and Taylor Schilling (of…
By: Shannon Page In a lot of ways, Patrick Brice’s The Overnight is a very rare film. With a small cast and fairly straightforward plot (the entire movie was shot in only twelve days), The Overnight is a sex-comedy about parenthood and relationships that avoids the usual clichéd pit falls. When thirty-something parents Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) move to L.A. and are eager to meet new friends, they jump at a dinner…
By: Trevor Jeffery If you walk in to Eden with little understanding of electronic dance music (EDM), there won’t be much of an issue because you’ll be left feeling about the same as when the movie started. In 1992’s version of Paris, teenager Paul Vallée (Félix de Givry) sits in the woods as he hallucinates on some sort of rave drug. Over the next 20 years, Paul will: start a EDM duo who brings in…
By: Addison Wylie You’ve got to hand it to Josh Lawson. He quickly informs movie goers of his invisible boundaries in his dark comedy The Little Death. There’s no second guessing. The problem is he sets the tone with a sour scene starring a belle, her beau, and her rape fantasy proposal. The Little Death prominently displays sexual fetishes – some you’ve heard of, some you haven’t heard of, some you wish you never heard of…
By: Addison Wylie I didn’t think it was possible for a film to be spoofed, and then be turned back into the po-faced material the parody was making fun of – then, I saw Fifty Shades of Grey. The movie feels like someone picking up the pieces to a dated romance, and trying to glue them back together to make something even more manipulative. Sam Taylor-Johnson’s film is so misinformed and shallow, you would think the filmmaker was making…
By: Addison Wylie A familiar rule of thumb states that one should stick to what they know. Comedian Adam Carolla has used that guidance to establish his filmmaking career. It’s how he created some big laughs with his cathartic comedy Road Hard, a film featuring Carolla playing a cranky stand-up comic. Fans of the Aceman know that Carolla is also quite knowledgable about cars, racing, and the days of classic Hollywood. It makes complete and…
By: Addison Wylie There have been so many recent films catered to the foodie crowd, you expect Erik Greenberg Anjou’s Deli Man to do the same. Luckily for audiences wanting something new, this love letter to Jewish delicatessen is more focused on the history behind the food. The film coheres to the logic of its main subject Ziggy Gruber (owner of Houston, Texas’ hot spot Kenny and Ziggy’s), and agrees there’s more to a delicious…
By: Addison Wylie Porch Stories has a good eye and ear for the city; most notably Toronto, Ontario. After a parade disperses, the sidewalks are lined with kids hanging out with friends and families enjoying the nice weather. In the distance, we can almost make out whirring white noise of busy cars and streetlights. Sarah Goodman’s film is black-and-white, and I’m unsure why she signed off on this artistic decision. On the one hand, she…
By: Addison Wylie Wrong Cops is from the mind of writer/director Quentin Dupieux, who found love from Midnight Madness audiences with his films Rubber and Wrong. That same crowd may find themselves straining through forced smiles when they set eyes on Wrong Cops. Wrong Cops is the type of film you shoot during breaks on the sets of music videos. I guess instead of taking advantage of his per diem and down time, Dupieux rounded…