By: Addison Wylie In five years, when you catch We Are Your Friends on cable, you’ll regret not seeing it in theatres. For me, I felt like I was watching an exciting, addictive shockwave. A realized movie that knew the power of music and its behavioural persuasion, as well as the importance of a key controller. The movie may not have fast cars or roaring dinosaurs, but We Are Your Friends calls for a big screen experience….
By: Addison Wylie I’ve accused some filmmakers and actors of being secret admirers of romances and rom-coms. Chris Evans (Captain America himself) can be added to that list for he not only frequents rom-coms (including this year’s smug Playing It Cool), but he has also unwisely started his directorial career with the lovey-dovey Before We Go. Evans’ romance doesn’t give in to typical clichés – it throws itself at them. Pardon the blasé backlash, but…
By: Trevor Jeffery Class-act driver-meets-reluctant enforcer Frank Martin returns (slightly younger and prettier than before) in The Transporter Refueled to yet again move things from one place to another, such as a man’s head to the parking garage floor. Frank (Ed Skrein) is never late – except when it’s to pick up his newly retired father (who was not a secret agent, wink wink). While sharing a meal with Frank Sr. (Ray Stevenson), Frank gets…
By: Addison Wylie Is it just me, or does anyone else find this of coupling of comedic actor Tyler Labine and Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford unusual? I suppose this isn’t any weirder than pairing up Labine with Alan Tudyk (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) or sending Crawford off to recite puns on FOX’s Family Guy, but just looking at the poster for Mountain Men had me wondering how Cameron Labine’s film would play out. It…
By: Addison Wylie David O. Russell hit the nail on the head by distancing himself from the farcical fumble Accidental Love. To say the film has had a tumultuous past would be putting it lightly – just as saying the movie is merely bad would be doing it a favour. Production on the film (formally named Nailed) began in 2008, and suffered from financial woes and reshoots. James Caan reportedly walked off the set over…
By: Mark Barber Chaitanya Tamhane’s courtroom drama, aptly titled Court, has received broad international acclaim for its compelling minimalism and intelligent use of realism, but also deserves praise for its insightful analysis on the lingering effects of colonialism on India’s legal system. Understated and distanced, Court eschews the familiar Hollywood-style intensity of John Grisham adaptations. A procedural take on the Indian legal systems and the personal lives related to one case, Court examines its postcolonial…
By: Mark Barber Adam Macdonald’s Backcountry is a terrifying mix of Jaws and Blair Witch, but manages to avoid the usual kitschy pastiche of recent Canadian genre films. Unlike the campiness of Wolfcop and Hobo with a Shotgun, Backcountry is an intense, serious horror film. Inspired loosely by tragic events, Backcountry follows a Toronto couple, Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym), as they become lost in a camping trip in a northern Ontario park….
By: Addison Wylie Strange is right. Magic? Not so much. Oscar winner Gary Rydstrom takes a stab at feature length directing and writing with animated musical-fantasy Strange Magic, a movie that shouldn’t be anyone’s “first” for anything. It begins as a novelty act with some redeeming moments of punchy animation and terrific duets, and then pushes its luck too far. The story (conceived by Star Wars’ George Lucas) gives audiences two opposing territories. There’s a…
By: Trevor Jeffery Ciarán Foy’s Sinister 2 startles to the point of frustration, but frightens beyond its use of clichés. In the cellar of his runaway family’s newly squatted home, Dylan joins a pack of ghost kids to watch the snuff films they made, in order to stop his nightmares. It seems counterintuitive, but the snappily dressed leader of the pack insists it helps. Dylan Collins, his brother Zach and his mother Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon)…
By: Shannon Page Despite the understated aesthetic appeal of a few scenes, Israeli writer and director Nadav Lapid’s drama about a kindergarten teacher (Sarit Larry) who discovers a prodigal talent for poetry in one of her young students is remarkably dry of feeling. As the plot moves through an earnest attempt to explore the necessity for preserving art and beauty in a world that is increasingly hostile and dismissive of poetry, the characters motivations and…