Latest

June 2019

Reviews

Mouthpiece

In Mouthpiece, two women play the lead character.  Not with strategic editing or a duel Sliding Doors-esque narrative, but simultaneously on-screen.  While this may sound like an excuse for the filmmakers to showboat and earn arthouse cred, the results couldn’t be farther from being just a fancy trick.

Reviews

The Tomorrow Man

I recently interviewed Eve Harlow about her role in Noble Jones’ feature-length filmmaking debut The Tomorrow Man, a romantic drama starring John Lithgow and Blythe Danner.  Harlow and I agreed that it’s pretty lame to assume movies starring older actors are for older audiences.  However, for me, that argument starts to fold in on itself when filmmakers pander towards a specific demographic  – The Tomorrow Man does just that.

Reviews

Blackbear

The synopsis of Blackbear vaguely reminds one of the 2006 film Annapolis–a film that, if you recall (and if so, good for you), was marketed as a recruit training film in the vein of A Gentleman and an Officer, but was actually, secretly, a boxing film.  Blackbear is similar: it starts off as a war film, with the two central characters as captives by ISIS, only to quickly become a boxing film within the film’s…

TV Talk

TV TALK: All Is Well in Westeros

By: Sky Wylie HBO’s Game of Thrones has been at the top of the television game for the past 8 years.  The fanbase has been considerably loyal, the ratings have been off the charts, and the buzz has been nonstop.  With its final season now complete, spoilers run amok and the fans have spoken out about their disappointment with the series’ ending.  If you haven’t seen the concluding episodes, what are you waiting for?  Don’t…

Uncategorized

The Dead Don’t Die

Jim Jarmusch has been making films for almost forty years.  Despite such a prolific career, his bad works can be counted on one hand.  This is a direct result of knowing his audience and knowing exactly what it is that they want.  This streak continues with his latest feature, The Dead Don’t Die, a zombie horror-comedy which takes on American consumption without ever taking itself too seriously;  after all, that film was made about forty…

Reviews

Gloria Bell

Gloria Bell is eventually invigorating.  “Eventually” usually has a negative connotation, but not in the case of Sebastián Lelio’s movie.  After all, the search for one’s identity isn’t going to be easy.

Reviews

Triple Threat

By: Trevor Chartrand Directed by long-time stunt-coordinator Jesse V. Johnson, Triple Threat is an action-packed martial arts thriller that’s bound to scratch the itch for B-movie enthusiasts.  It certainly meets the quota for punches thrown, shots fired, and bombs detonated.

One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Eve Harlow

A movie is made up of many moving parts, as you know, but The Tomorrow Man really makes you appreciate its supporting characters.  John Lithgow and Blythe Danner (as Ed and Ronnie) are terrific actors who have no problem holding our attention and steering the story (provided by writer/director Noble Jones).  But, their characters would have a hard time finding momentum if it wasn’t for Ed’s temperamental family – a group of people we’re briefly involved…

Reviews

Pavarotti

Pavarotti is a celebration of Luciano Pavarotti’s career and his achievements as a legendary opera singer and performer.  Ron Howard’s documentary is jovial, just as Pavarotti was known to be.  As someone who had limited knowledge of the timeless tenor, I walked away from Howard’s enlightening documentary with a new appreciation for music.