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Occupied City

April 26, 2024Addison Wylie0 Comments

An unofficial cut of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining titled The Shining Forwards and Backwards supposedly features hidden meanings and themes when a reversed version of the movie is superimposed on the original. Filmmaker Steve McQueen (director of the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave) applies a similar narrative with his very ambitious (and very long) documentary Occupied City. But instead of mirrored images, McQueen presents several locations around Amsterdam and has narrator Melanie Hyams recite the…

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Reviews

EO

January 18, 2023Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Liam Parker Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, a 90% dialogue-free, Polish film whose protagonist is a donkey, is one of the most interesting films of 2022.  The movie, named after its donkey, centres itself on the melancholic ex-circus animal as he travels the continent of Europe;  witnessing the worst and best sides of human nature and chronicling a microcosm of modern European life along the way.

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Reviews

Drive My Car

January 30, 2022Addison Wylie0 Comments

Numb from the sudden death of his screenwriter wife Oto (Reika Kirishima), actor Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is recruited for a brief residency to direct the play he had previously performed in, and the last play Oto watched him in.  Yūsuke has formed a shell around him, refusing to let anyone catch him with his guard down.  Aside from theatre, he likes to be alone.  His routine is rocked, however, when the theatre program assigns…

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Reviews

Moby Doc

June 6, 2021Addison Wylie0 Comments

An artist making an autobiographical documentary is a bold and, quite frankly, strange move.  But in the case of Moby Doc, this choice is on brand for enigmatic electronic musician Moby.  Early into the movie, even Moby acknowledges how seemingly unconventional this choice is.  This doesn’t excuse the odd conception of Moby Doc but, at least, it gives us an idea of how self-aware the musician is.  However, a detrimental line is crossed when Moby…

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Reviews

Tiny Tim: King for a Day

April 24, 2021Shannon Page0 Comments

Directed by Johan von Sydow, Tiny Tim: King for a Day is the story of Herbert Khaury.  A social outcast from childhood, Khaury grows up to become Tiny Tim, one of the most unexpected and unusual pop stars of the 1960s.  With long hair, a falsetto voice, and a ukulele, Tiny Tim was seen by many as a freak for defying social norms.  Tiny Tim: King for a Day argues that Tiny Tim’s insistence on…

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Reviews

Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time

January 22, 2021Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Trevor Chartrand The second feature film from writer-director Lili Horvát, Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time is a strange romantic drama that’s difficult to connect with.  If that title seems long and complicated to you, wait until you see the movie.  Even for a film that’s barely longer than 90 minutes, this picture is an absolute slog to sit through.

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Reviews

Varda By Agnès

November 29, 2019Addison Wylie0 Comments

I’m a late arrival to Agnès Varda’s career and, considering she passed away earlier this year, I thought I was too late to start appreciating her filmmaking.  But what her final film Varda By Agnès has taught me is that it’s never too late to share or be inspired.  And because the film has been made with compassion and love, it never feels like a pretentious exercise.

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Reviews

Paris Is Burning

June 23, 2019Addison Wylie0 Comments

Jennie Livingston’s award-winning documentary Paris Is Burning has received a 4K restoration twenty-eight years after its initial release, and it’ll screen in select theatres across Canada throughout the year.  I believe the re-release was planned in part to curate the footage, but also because the documentary is relevant as ever.

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