Wylie Writes’ Short Film Showcase acknowledges exclusive screenings of short films across Canada. Short-form filmmaking is sometimes overshadowed by larger projects or, worse, ignored completely. With this showcase, Wylie Writes wishes to not only provide a unique opinion for filmmakers, but to also spread awareness of these special screenings for our loyal readers.
2018’s mind-boggling award season finishes tonight with the 91st Academy Awards. Considering that the festival circuit has been a scattershot of one-off wins, the team at Wylie Writes is eager to see what happens at the Oscars. However, before that ceremony, some of our critics want to shine a spotlight on the movies they thought were the very best – including some festival favourites that will hopefully be released wider this year.
The “found footage” horror sub-genre has had its fair share of stinkers, but movies don’t get much lazier than 1st Summoning, an entry that seems to be as anti-audience as it is anti-climactic. Here’s a movie that sheepishly grits its teeth, waiting for viewers to pity it.
From Academy Award winning filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others, The Tourist), Never Look Away chronicles an aspiring artist who grew up during World War II as he learns how to come to terms with his heartbreak and trauma.
As we close in on this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, it’s about time for Wylie Writes to weigh in with their year-end rundowns. First, the worst. Click on the blue highlighted titles to read the critic’s review.
Possibly influenced by Rachel Getting Married and August: Osage County, writer/director Roz Owen makes her feature film debut with Trouble in the Garden, a condensed drama about a family’s black sheep returning “home” to unexpectedly face her conflicted past.
The best choice made about 52 Words for Love concerns its release date. Whoever decided to release this movie on Valentine’s Day deserves a big box of chocolates.
The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (February 15-17) is an essential stop for movie goers who indulge in worldwide animation.
Circling back to the achievements he made wth his breakout doc Sharkwater, filmmaker/conservationist Rob Stewart checks in in the status of sharks in his final film Sharkwater: Extinction. The documentary, however, takes on a parallel meaning because it’s not only a swan song to an endangered species, it’s also a touching goodbye to Stewart and his career in activism.
Pogey Beach offers a predicament: it’s a comedy that’s not necessarily funny, but you’ll still laugh for the right reasons. Jeremy Larter’s slacker comedy will put the viewer in more of a fugue state than sun stroke ever could.