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One-on-Ones

People Hold On (plus a One-On-One with Director Michael Seater)

October 7, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Life With Derek’s Michael Seater gets his directorial feet wet with the ensemble dramedy People Hold On.  It’s a good place for the budding filmmaker to start.  The film itself is contained within few environments and doesn’t call for visual tricks, which leaves Seater a lot of time to draw characters and connect with his tight-knit cast.  The filmmaker must’ve also felt another level of comfort and confidence knowing co-star Paula Brancati – whom…

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Reviews

Dead Kansas

August 15, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Aaron K. Carter’s thinly budgeted zombie romp Dead Kansas wears the same pants as that punch drunk comedy Tetherball: The Movie I reviewed in April.  Not only because the filmmaker reached out to Wylie Writes to get an opinion on his modest horror, but Dead Kansas is also filled with that same vigour that can only be supplied by friends who make films because that’s what they love to do. These cinephile fellas pulled together resources…

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Reviews

Unexpected

July 24, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Cobie Smulders continues to collect indie cred with Kris Swanberg’s Unexpected, where the How I Met Your Mother actress plays high school teacher Samantha who learns of her surprise pregnancy during her final year at an inner-city school ceasing closure.  At the same time, Samantha discovers one of her students is also with child (Jasmine played by firecracker Gail Bean). Unexpected doesn’t issue a new perspective on poverty-stricken pregnancies, or a new display of…

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Reviews

Tangerine

July 7, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Jay and Mark Duplass hopped on board Sean Baker’s Tangerine to lend their support as executive producers.  The mumblecore founders are always keeping their eyes peeled for innovation in independent cinema, and Tangerine – a film shot entirely on the iPhone 5S – was their calling. Tangerine reminded me of Christos Sourligas’ Happy Slapping, a film that followed hopeless teens via handheld footage shot on earlier generation smartphones.  Happy Slapping may have more interesting things to…

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One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Adam Scott

June 29, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Shannon Page Adam Scott has been around for a while and his latest project, the indie sex-comedy The Overnight, is certainly not his first attempt at acting or producing.  Though he is probably best known for his work as Ben Wyatt on the television sitcom Parks and Recreation, Scott has also appeared in movies such as Step Brothers, The Aviator and Our Idiot Brother.  The Overnight stars Scott as Alex and Taylor Schilling (of…

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Reviews

Porch Stories

June 17, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Porch Stories has a good eye and ear for the city;  most notably Toronto, Ontario.  After a parade disperses, the sidewalks are lined with kids hanging out with friends and families enjoying the nice weather.  In the distance, we can almost make out whirring white noise of busy cars and streetlights. Sarah Goodman’s film is black-and-white, and I’m unsure why she signed off on this artistic decision.  On the one hand, she…

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Reviews

Wrong Cops

June 16, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Wrong Cops is from the mind of writer/director Quentin Dupieux, who found love from Midnight Madness audiences with his films Rubber and Wrong.  That same crowd may find themselves straining through forced smiles when they set eyes on Wrong Cops. Wrong Cops is the type of film you shoot during breaks on the sets of music videos.  I guess instead of taking advantage of his per diem and down time, Dupieux rounded…

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Reviews

Results

May 26, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Early on in Results, two workout trainers are telling the other not to provoke them.  These two trainers are Trevor and Kat, played by Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders.  Over the course of Andrew Bujalski’s film, the audience finds out that these two characters need to be provoked in order for them to be challenged, which in turn makes Results interesting. The person who does most of the poking and prodding is…

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One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Dan Abramovici

May 14, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Mars Horodyski’s Ben’s at Home is a film you can’t help but root for.  I’ve been cheering the movie on since I saw it at this year’s Canadian Film Festival, and was overjoyed to hear it won Best Feature as the festival was winding down. Besides its win at the Canadian Film Festival, Ben’s at Home has won all sorts of affection; which is very impressive considering how small scale the movie is. It’s a daunting…

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Reviews

Adult Beginners

May 7, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Shannon Page You could be forgiven for feeling like you’ve seen Adult Beginners before – you probably have. Directed by Ross Katz, the film follows 30-something entrepreneur Jake (Nick Kroll) as he loses everything on the eve of his company’s launch and is forced to move in with his somewhat estranged and pregnant sister Justine (Rose Byrne) and brother-in-law Danny (Bobby Cannavale)in the suburbs.  Desperate to stay away from Manhattan and his former business…

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