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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2015: ‘Shoulder the Lion’ and ‘The Wolfpack’

April 13, 2015Addison Wylie9 Comments

Shoulder the Lion (DIR. Erinnisse Rebisz, Patryk Rebisz) By: Trevor Jeffery If the subject matter about artists isn’t clear enough the art-house-meets-documentary style Shoulder The Lion boasts should certainly make the viewer aware that the filmmakers really, really like art.  A lot. In front of the camera are three inspiring figures: Graham Sharpe, a musician living with a constant ringing in his ear, reminding him that his tinnitus will eventually take his hearing, and with it, the…

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Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: Pretend We’re Kissing

April 1, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Dov Tiefenbach is the Sasquatch of cinema.  He materializes in random movies, showing his unmistakable mug just long enough for movie goers to do a double take.  As soon as we realize who he is, Tiefenbach vanishes.  Because of this, I used to think YTV’s Squawk Box was a figment of my imagination.  But, I digress. Tiefenbach has come out of hiding to star in Pretend We’re Kissing, an odd romance directed…

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Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: Late Night Double Feature

March 25, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie An after hours horror show goes mad in the uneven Late Night Double Feature.  Before the mayhem ensues on the set of Dr, Nasty’s Cavalcade of Horror, the audience is treated to a couple of spooky shorts intercut by commercials and previews. For the most part, the film is authentically structured like a craggy cable access show, which provides plenty of chuckles.  An ill-placed ad cashing in on the night’s horror theme…

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Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: Ben’s at Home

March 23, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Earlier this year, I gave I Put a Hit on You an unfavourable review.  This led me to believe that making a compelling comedy about snippety people bumming around their house was impossible. Mars Horodyski proves me wrong with Ben’s at Home.  This film is funny and fully realized, successfully capturing an introvert’s post-breakup buffer period. Ben (played with wit by Dan Abramovici) chooses to stay housebound because he’s satisfied with personal…

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Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: The Cocksure Lads Movie

March 19, 2015Addison Wylie4 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Musicians Mike Ford and Murray Foster have a shared enthusiasm for toe-tapping britpop.  This appreciation motivated the compadres to develop The Cocksure Lads, an imitation homage to the lively tunes. Foster has taken the ruse further with The Cocksure Lads Movie.  While the comedy is lightheartedly harmless, I have a disagreement with how this nutty band has taken the leap to the big screen. The Cocksure Lads, a tame group of goodie-goodies,…

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Festival Coverage

Scholarly Shorts @ Toronto Short Film Festival ’15

March 15, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie I tend to think I cover a lot of film festivals; especially those who screen short films.  However, the Toronto Short Film Festival (March 16 – March 20 at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema) is new to me. By grazing over TSFF’s mission statement, the festival blends into the collection of similar screenings in the GTA.  That said, I investigated more and was corrected.  The Toronto Short Film Festival has a wide roster of…

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Reviews

Girlhood

February 13, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Due to its time of release, Girlhood is unfairly titled; causing many to draw immediate comparisons to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.  Girlhood is also a movie that is unfairly robbed of its natural moments by its filmmaker as they become more out of touch with their material.  This is Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen re-imagined by a student who is still learning how to grasp their own sense of subtlety and composure. Thirteen is a better movie…

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Festival Coverage

Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival ’14: The Shorts

January 5, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Before another year of moviegoing goes into full swing, TIFF respectively collects a list of features and short films that astounded audiences and erupted conversation within the past year. TIFF’s annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival began on January 2 with Sturla Gunnarsson’s documentary Monsoon, and continues with other Canadian favourites such as Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Susan Avingaq’s doc Sol, as well as Xavier Dolan’s Mommy, which sparked buzz after the Québécois filmmaker won…

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Festival Coverage

Blood in the Snow ’14: Domestic Blood & Kingdom Come

November 30, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

Domestic Blood (DIR. Alexis Korotash) By: Addison Wylie A young woman awakens her passive boyfriend by reminding him of her blood-sucking roots in Domestic Blood, a clever take on relationships and moody vampires.  Korotash wrote the funny screenplay, and has directed herself and Warren Short in this story about a late night confession. Short finds Korotash on the floor next to the toilet and covered in blood.  This leads to a heart-to-heart which then forms into…

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Festival Coverage

Blood in the Snow ’14: Uncommon Enemies & Ejecta

November 29, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

Uncommon Enemies (DIR. Alex Hatz) By: Addison Wylie A late-night rendezvous between a Nazi (played by James Gangl) and a seductive mademoiselle (played by Melanie Scrofano) is interrupted by a couple of American soldiers.  When discovered, the Sergeant (played by Flashpoint’s Michael Cram) and the Nazi hold each other at gunpoint, while the French miss tends to the wounded Private (played by AJ Vaage). Uncommon Enemies is a comedic period piece that tries too hard…

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