By: Addison Wylie A Haunted House marks the first time, in recent memory, where actor Marlon Wayans has branched independently from his ever-growing-forever-acting family. I suppose he saw a glimmer of spoof-able light in these “found footage” horrors – namely the Paranormal Activity franchise – and decided to strike while the iron was still somewhat warm. It makes sense for Wayans to tackle the spooky, low budget franchise because it screams for the Wayans spoof…
By: Addison Wylie Movie 43 is an anthology film with a stacked cast. It’s been pushing its alleged “audacity” and “outrageousness” in order to get YOU in that theatre seat. However, there is something to be said about how much the marketing has pushed that angle in our faces. When a movie is urging moviegoers to focus on an element about the movie (in this case, its sheer outlandishness) instead of the actual movie itself…
By: Addison Wylie I would love to see what writer/director Judd Apatow could do with a film that punches out after 90 minutes – including credits. This Is 40 starts out strong and funny, but is then torpedoed by needless subplots that are tediously stretched out causing the runtime to slowly expand. Apatow has shown with his previous directorial work that he loves to let his material breathe. Not in a pretentious way, but in…
By: Addison Wylie Why is it that movies try so hard to find humour in LARPing? Lloyd the Conqueror, a comedy that was featured in this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival and will now be featured in a special theatrical run along with a VOD release, is the latest culprit of this confusion. LARPing, for those readers who may be unaware, is an acronym for Live Action Role Playing. It’s the hobby of building…
By: Addison Wylie The following is an unofficial transcript of how I imagine Director McG addressed his cast and crew before a shoot day on the set of the dismally empty romantic comedy-slash-action flick, This Means War. ********** DATE: Undisclosed TIME: Undisclosed LOCATION: Undisclosed…..but very glitzy. McG: Alright, everybody! Can I get everyone gathered over here around me before we get this show on the road? Beautiful, great! Everyone is here. My trusty crew and…
By: Addison Wylie The Campaign is hilarious, but, the funniest thing about the new political comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis may be the reactions from confused patrons expecting a dumb comedy. The befuddled audience members will not find this funny, because they’ll be too busy being disappointed, but everyone who got a kick out of this mixed breed of childish humour and a straight political underdog story will be grinning from ear-to-ear. There’s…
By: Addison Wylie Life can imitate art and vies versa. For novelist Calvin Weir-Fields, he’s still trying to figure out where his encounter with Ruby falls. What an audience can be certain about though is that Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Ruby Sparks always keeps things interesting. Calvin (played by Paul Dano) is a neurotic character – as all movie writers usually are. From Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. to…
By: Addison Wylie It all starts with a star. In this case, a star with far too many strikes against him, Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler has proved last year that their not all going to be winners. Last year, we had Just Go With It, Zookeeper, Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star, and his Razzie award winner Jack & Jill. All which received overwhelming negative buzz and left a bad taste in the comedy genre….
By: Addison Wylie The comedy of Seth MacFarlane is an acquired taste. Some think his writing on the hit series Family Guy is unoriginal and crude while others think MacFarlane is outspoken and is breaking a lot of comedy barriers. You perception of his first live action outing, Ted, will depend on what camp you fall in. Where am I at? Personally, I started off liking him when Family Guy was in its first couple of…
By: Addison Wylie A Thousand Words is a film made for no one; especially if you’re a person who talks back to the screen. If you aren’t one of those loud patrons yet, A Thousand Words may very well convert you. It did for me. Eddie Murphy’s latest vehicle has his character Jack McCall having a tight leash on his vocabulary. After a mysterious tree grows in McCall’s backyard, he learns that with each word…