By: Addison Wylie 2014 has released plenty of exceptional documentaries, but Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters is unlike any of them. The Overnighters is a remarkable film about the human spirit and the struggle to maintain compassion and beliefs within a critical community. Exercising good faith isn’t always a walk in the park when the odds are intimidatingly stacked and judgement is looming. North Dakota’s economy is booming, which has brought plenty of pros and cons…
By: Addison Wylie The September 11th attacks struck fear into our society, providing a sensitive feeling of having our nerves wracked and having a newfound definition to defensiveness. But, sometimes precautions towards the “war on terror” are taken too far and end up doing additional harm to innocent people. Five Muslim men were selected and arrested for having links to terrorism with some of those individuals having a loose relationship to Osama Bin Laden. At…
By: Addison Wylie Every film festival has movies that are so unusual, the audience wonders if the flicks will ever see the light of day. Kung Fu Elliot and Giuseppe Makes a Movie were those films for me at this past year’s Hot Docs Film Festival. The jury’s still out on a release for Giuseppe, but Elliot can be seen by many very soon. It’s a doc that rolls with the punches – no pun intended. The flick starts…
By: Addison Wylie We’re only a few minutes into Citizen Marc, and the audience is already aware of how polarizing pot activist Marc Emery can be. Emery’s button-pushing tactics to challenge the Canadian government can be seen as either courageous or just plain obnoxious. His outspokenness may be a little of column A and B, but documentarian Roger Evan Larry uses this film to portray Emery as real as possible. That image being a passionate,…
By: Addison Wylie Edet Belzberg’s Watchers of the Sky is built on perseverance. It’s the film’s bread and butter. The doc has stories about those who refuse to give up fighting for change. But, the glue holding these stories together is Raphael Lemkin’s unstoppable mission to invent the word “genocide” and give it a meaning. His sweat and tears worked hard to urge the UN to consider the heinous act of ethnic cleansing as an…
By: Addison Wylie Delivery isn’t funny ha-ha, which you would think would be problematic in a documentary showcasing four levelheaded guys challenging themselves to take a one-night stab at stand-up comedy. However, the film itself is more amusing in an endearing way. Sean Menard, Shane Cunningham, Bert van Lierop, and Mark Myers (who also serves as the film’s writer/director, and may be familiarized by his former Much Music title ‘Mark the Temp’) make a pact…
By: Addison Wylie Gamers are a smart brand of people and consumers. As much as Video Games: The Movie believes in that notion, filmmaker Jeremy Snead’s patronizing presentation suggests otherwise. Many can pitch the argument that gazing into a monitor and playing video games wastes you away, but the hypervigilance that is developing amongst nimble younger generations has older fans impressed. Those veterans are also admiring how the industry has brought players together, and how…
By: Addison Wylie I’ve had to alter my evaluating criteria for DisneyNature. It’s clear the sub-studio has no interest returning to the quality of earlier docs like Earth and Oceans anytime soon. Instead, families receive a cutesy story set to live action B-roll of animals in their natural habitats. As someone who appreciates the importance of these wildlife documentaries, I find it tough to embrace this type of manufactured product. DisneyNature’s African Cats left me…
By: Addison Wylie Ok, everyone. This way, please. This tour is running behind, and we need to catch up. This next work we’ll be observing is Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery. This work has been known to carelessly eat up time for those who endure it. The entire canvas – for some reason – takes close to three hours to view. And, even though we’re given too much time to comprehend this lacklustre endeavour, on-lookers will…
By: Addison Wylie Jennifer M. Kroot’s documentary To Be Takei is cheesy and cute. Then again, so is her subject: actor and activist George Takei. Takei, most notably known for his work on Star Trek as Lieutenant Sulu, is a busy man and yet we never hear him complain. When he’s not acting, he’s passionately speaking to crowds about homosexual orientation and the deserved right for same-sex marriage. After years of withholding his sexual preferences…