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2013

Reviews

Inside Llewyn Davis

By: Addison Wylie My experience with Inside Llewyn Davis is not like any I can recently recall off the top of my head.  My appreciation for it came hours after watching it and declaring the film was a bit of a wet noodle. The latest film from the Coen Brothers was unsatisfying.  Then again, the film was the type of work from Ethan and Joel Coen that is not my cup o’ tea. The Coen’s…

Reviews

American Hustle

By: Addison Wylie American Hustle is like watching a group of distinguished hard boiled card players play poker when you’re only learning the ropes.  None of them will break their deadpan expression or expose their hand.  Suddenly, someone will make a game changing move and raise the stakes.  Someone to your left leans over and – with pure exuberance – tells you how important the move was.  Meanwhile, you nod with acknowledgment and when they’re…

Reviews

Big Bad Wolves

By: Addison Wylie It’s easy to see why Quentin Tarantino named Big Bad Wolves as the best film of 2013.  It’s basically a love letter to the filmmaker’s earlier work – an elaboration on that infamous torture scene in Reservoir Dogs. Filmmakers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado’s bottled thriller has three men (a father who’s daughter has been kidnapped and murdered, a renegade cop, and a tied up potential criminal) spar with one another to…

Reviews

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

By: Addison Wylie Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Colour is an intellectual work about observing and defining sexuality.  It’s a raw look allowing the viewer to be in clear view of everything, but by no means presents itself as indecent. In fact, those graphic scenes of sexual content that seem to be flooding the media surrounding Blue Is the Warmest Colour with controversy are represented this way because there is no other way…

Reviews

Battle of the Year

By: Addison Wylie Come on in, guys!  I want to address the entire crew before you go out and try to win Battle of the Year. I know we’ve all been through rough patches during this rocky ride – including me.  When I was first approached to witness the best B-Boys to compete in this renowned dance tournament, I didn’t think it’d be possible.  But, filmmaker Benson Lee and choreographer Dave Scott, with the help…

Reviews

After Earth

By: Addison Wylie Much like After Earth, this review is going to be a bit of a confounding thing to endure since the substance behind it is puzzled itself. Will Smith seems like a levelheaded guy outside of movies.  I’m sure there was concise logic behind his story to which he’s credited for in After Earth.  If so, there’s been a severe case of “Broken Telephone” during the film’s production that eventually led to M….

Articles

WordPress’ Wylie Writes Rundown ’13

The WordPress.com stats are in for 2013! Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 19,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete report. Thanks so much to my readers and vlog watchers for all the support. Here’s to…

Reviews

The Lifeguard

By: Addison Wylie  The Lifeguard deals with the discouraging feeling of going nowhere and the urge to flee home for comfort.  It’s a circumstance that some of us may be all too familiar with; especially those who are fresh out of their post-secondary education.  Liz W. Garcia’s film, however, gets very little right about events that take place after the retreat to a personal turf. Garcia is able to capture that initial awkwardness that ensues…

Reviews

R.I.P.D.

By: Addison Wylie This past Summer, R.I.P.D. received poisonous word-of-mouth and was considered a box office bomb.  But, it wasn’t enough to push me away from seeing it. Call me a fool, but R.I.P.D. looked like it was up my alley.  It looked like something I would want to see during some sunny doldrums.  It looked like the right type of escapism that could be compared to the likes of Mystery Men. Now, having watched R.I.P.D., I understand…

Reviews

The Smurfs 2

By: Addison Wylie Hank Azaria – really is – a talented individual.  Out of all the projects that would’ve convinced me of this, I never thought a sequel to 2011’s big screen treatment of The Smurfs would bring on this revelation. We’ve all seen actors converse and interact with cartoons in real life environments in movies.  However, even the most physically capable slapstick performers have had their troubles convincing us these creations are real.  I immediately…