By: Trevor Chartrand Many B-Movie enthusiasts are likely familiar with the squib-bursting insanity of Who Killed Captain Alex?, the Ugandan action movie with a violent – and loud – viral trailer on YouTube. Shot in an impoverished slum, the film is creative with its budget, which reportedly was less than $200. The movie is absurdly violent. It’s goofy, it’s strange, and it looks and sounds terrible. But, Captain Alex is also a film with a…
In anticipation of the home release of the Canadian doc July Talk: Love Lives Here, Wylie Writes’ Trevor Chartrand and Jolie Featherstone both reviewed the movie. Did they like it? Do they agree with each other? Check out their takes!
Liz Unna’s documentary Making Time bounces between subjects who all share a career in watchmaking, and have an overall obsession with time itself. Being a horologist has put life into perspective for these meticulous people, and has issued a number of self-reflections and epiphanies. This collective fascination is the frequency Unna invests all of her storytelling confidence in. Unfortunately, Making Time lacks personal touches as well as a coherency between the doc’s interviewees.
By: Jolie Featherstone Becky Hutner’s urgent Fashion Reimagined is an important report, rendered through masterful storytelling. Formally hired to edit docs (Revolution, Being Canadian), it’s near impossible to believe that Fashion Reimagined is Hutner’s feature-length documentary directorial debut.
By: Danyal Somani Squaring The Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis) is a documentary about the creation of Hipgnosis, a UK company that has created iconic album covers, such as Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon, AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, and Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy.
I was having trouble figuring out how to review Insanity because it’s such a personal project. It’s less of a conventional documentary and more of an outlet for filmmaker Wendy Hill-Tout (Marlene) and her family to decompress and reflect on James Bruce Hill-Tout, Wendy’s missing and homeless Schizophrenic brother.
Lisa Cortés’ Little Richard: I Am Everything is a perfect documentary for people with an interest in the legendary musician. It’s a thorough breakdown that guides unfamiliar movie goers (like myself) through Little Richard’s life and career, and it sports plenty of exciting concert footage and entertaining interviews that would make any loyal fan giddy.
By: Trevor Chartrand Cat Daddies is a documentary about, you guessed it, men who own cats. As someone with a career in the pet industry, and as a ‘Cat Daddy’ myself, I could safely assume I’m the target audience for Hye Hoang’s movie. While I had high hopes for Cat Daddies to spin some riveting “tails” (eh? eh?!), this doc, unfortunately, is barely fur-deep.
When assault accusations and confessions rise to the surface, the attention is usually – and surprisingly – scattered. I always assume that all the focus would be towards the victims first, followed by the perpetrator and other elements in the story but, sadly, that’s not always the case. Although the #MeToo movement helped shed light on these crimes, there’s still difficulty to deliver justice or invest trust towards victims.
