Well, now that TIFF has come to an end, let’s take a trip back to August. If you can believe it, August was busier than my experience with the Toronto International Film Festival. At Film Army, I was checking out different programmes hosted by Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, watching smaller independent fare, as well as getting ready for TIFF while setting up IFFFT coverage – the International Fetish Film Festival Toronto. It’s great to cover…
By: Addison Wylie Kevin MacDonald’s adaptation of Meg Rosoff’s novel How I Live Now is a bit of a struggle for movie goers trying to figure out what type of movie this is. Mostly because How I Live Now has two sets of confusion working for and against it. MacDonald begins his film on an aggressive note to mirror the personality of our lead, Daisy (played by Saoirse Ronan). While it fulfils its goal, the rebellious…
By: Addison Wylie Considering the talent involved, it’s hard to believe everyone agreed to star in a film this goofy and shallow. Especially, by actors like Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Josh Brolin who have recently been very selective about their work. Gangster Squad appears to have done its homework considering its 1940’s backdrop. Its attractive period style, make-up and costuming convince us the film will have more weight to it since more effort is…
By: Addison Wylie Neill Blomkamp came out of the woodwork in 2009 with his Oscar-nominated sci-fi flick District 9. The action enthralled genre fans, but it was one of those rare films that had impacting political messages and symbolism under all the futuristic mayhem. It ceased to bludgeon its audience with the meanings and issued the right amount of trust and respect towards movie goers. With Elysium, that greatness hasn’t let up. Blomkamp proves he’s…
By: Addison Wylie I feel it’s almost necessary to start a review for We’re the Millers stating that Jason Sudeikis’ pot dealing character is never shown smoking marijuana or hinting that it could be smoked. I’m also inclined to state that while Jennifer Aniston’s broke, erotic dancer character is occasionally shown in scantily clad underwear, it appears she also works in the only strip club establishment where other dancers stay covered. These may sound like…
By: Addison Wylie In terms of being a worthwhile cop drama, McCanick won’t astound movie goers, but it certainly does the trick. The problem with McCanick is that it has a really hard time trying to escape the shadow of other more successful cop dramas like Training Day and more recent middle-of-the-road fare brought to us by Antoine Fuqua. Josh C. Waller’s film allows David Morse to take a break from being a quirky supporting character…
By: Addison Wylie I see V/H/S/2 as a sign that these bruised and battered anthology pieces could become something very exciting. The series started on a raw note with V/H/S. An extremely raw note. The set-up that a group of ruff-and-tuff thugs start dying from watching mysterious found footage located in a skeezy house was a bit too vague to go off on. It didn’t help that the acting by those random criminals all felt forced….
By: Addison Wylie Here’s a fun social experiment: try describing the premise of Jacob Vaughan’s Bad Milo to movie goers and see how long it takes for each of those people to give you a skeptical glance or laugh out of nervousness. It’s because Bad Milo is an odd movie with an odd set-up. On the surface, it’s Office Space with a dash of Gremlins mixed in with a rough night after some bad Taco…
By: Addison Wylie If you can bear with Don Jon’s vulgar vocabulary, you may find yourself swept up in Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut. It’s a modern day romance with just the right dash of sweet and salty. Gordon-Levitt plays the title character, a guido with a heart who loves to spend time with his boys, work out, and scope out chicks. At the end of the day, he likes to come home and watch a…
By: Addison Wylie Some would say talk-show host Morton Downey Jr. was a smart man. Others would comment but they may be too busy plugging their ears from his ranting and raving. Movie goers can see that filmmakers Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger easily fall into the former category. With their new doc Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, the trio starts from Morton’s early years – where he was known as…