Blue’s Big City Adventure, the first feature-length outing for the problem-solving pooch, is a comfortable ride for fans of Nickelodeon’s long-running interactive franchise Blue’s Clues. The movie fits the traditional narrative flow of the program while also exploring a personal scope without calling attention to its own cleverness.
Other than his physical appearance, my knowledge on the life and career of Frank Zappa was nil; which is why I was anticipating the documentary Zappa. Because if a filmmaker is going to educate me on the legacy of a prolific musician, it’s documentarian Alex Winter. Recently known for his return as Bill S. Preston Esq. in Bill & Ted Face The Music, music aficionado Winter is also one of the best documentarians currently working…
The much awaited and presumably final instalment in the Bill & Ted series, Bill & Ted Face the Music, pulls off the impossible feat of being a faithful and charming sequel to cult classics. For that, the production should be very proud of their efforts and patience. However, the movie itself is neither “excellent” or “bogus”. It’s just, sort of, “chill”.
This weekend, the ReFrame Peterborough International Film Festival hits theatres in the city’s downtown core – you won’t want to miss it. The selected documentaries hold their own importance against each other, and show how hopeful futures are still within reach against global issues. The selections are raw, but the filmmakers are and determined to be heard.
By: Addison Wylie Camp Takota and Bad Night are movies that unassumingly and depthlessly grant access to today’s YouTube-addled youth through celebrity appeal. To my recollection, Smosh: The Movie is the first film to actually submerge itself in YouTube culture and say interesting things about how we perceive online content. There are also jokes involving a microphone being shoved up a bum and a love interest nicknamed “Butt Massage Girl”. Ass jokes and modern philosophy – the film is colonophical. As…
By: Addison Wylie Movie goers will recognize Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. from the time traveling cult classic Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its sequel Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. I was one of those people, but then I was exposed to Winter’s directorial efforts. Now, I’m someone who instantly recognizes the actor-turn-filmmaker as one of the best documentarians working today. Downloaded, Winter’s chronicling of the rise and fall of Napster, was sensational. It…
3 Still Standing (DIR. Robert Campos, Donna LoCicero) By: Trevor Jeffery What do you call three comics who keep doing stand-up instead of landing a sitcom role? “Working”. 3 Still Standing looks into the lives of three comedians who never took their career beyond the microphone. In their early days, political satirist Will Durst, funny everyman Johnny Steele and self deprecating Larry “Bubbles” Brown were part of the 1980s San Francisco comedy boom that launched careers…
By: Gesilayefa Azorbo Each year, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival seems to be getting bigger and better. Considering the press conference at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on March 18 announcing the 2015 edition, the festival shows no signs of slowing down. Hot Docs ’15 offers 210 films in total (the largest offering of films in the festival’s history to date) and 102 world premieres. Not to mention projected attendance figures of 200,000 – the…
By: Addison Wylie Now that we’ve recognized the bad movies that were slingshot at audiences last year, it’s time to move on and engulf ourselves in the cream of the crop. 2013 introduced a wide variety of great films to audiences. I feel like I say that every year, but as I scour my selected picks, the only thing these movies share are the odd genre they’re grouped in. Take documentaries, for example. Audiences were…