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The Thinning: New World Order

January 6, 2019Addison Wylie1 Comment

YouTube has attempted to revive interest in YA franchises with their original film series The Thinning.  In The Thinning: New World Order, the first sequel in the series, the plot thickens as a country-wide intelligence test is further examined in a futuristic dystopia.  The annual quiz, which is supposed to be moderating America’s steep population by eliminating the lowest-scoring students, is revealed to have a bias that’s connected to the country’s presidential election.

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Reviews

Overlord

November 8, 2018Shahbaz Khayambashi0 Comments

A J.J. Abrams production is like the latest hipster eatery: they take a lot of effort to put together and people apparently like them, but once you have experienced one, it becomes apparent just how incredibly overrated they are.  This is why I’m always so wary of these productions, and why his latest produced feature has been such a surprise – Overlord, directed by Julius Avery, is actually enjoyable!

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Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘Extracurricular’, ‘Lifechanger’, ‘Nightmare Cinema’, and ‘You Might Be the Killer’

October 27, 2018Wylie Writes Staff1 Comment

Extracurricular (DIR. Ray Xue) As the Canadian pop-punk band Sum 41 once sang, “motivation, such an aggravation.”  That seemed to be Ray Xue’s complaint as well when he was directing Extracurricular, which is the only way to explain why anything in this film happened.  Long time readers may recognize the number one rule of TAD: if a film is having its world premiere here, it will be terrible.  This is not a knock against any of…

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Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘Prospect’ and ‘The Ranger’

October 19, 2018Shahbaz Khayambashi0 Comments

Prospect (DIR. Chris Caldwell, Zeek Earl) First, we lived through “mumblecore”.  Then, we were subjected to “mumblegore”.  Now, it seems like the next logical step is to “mumblego” where no man has gone before.  Case in point: Chris Caldwell and Zeek Earl’s exercise in furious navel-gazing, Prospect, a film so enamored by its own cleverness that it manages to make its modest runtime seem endless.  A film whose total lack of direction in favour of world-building…

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Reviews

7 Splinters in Time

July 17, 2018Addison Wylie0 Comments

7 Splinters in Time advances from a well-timed reveal.  It’s a wordy spiel of exposition delivered by the dependable and always admirable character actor Austin Pendleton, but it’s a scene that justifies the film’s frenetic style and narrative;  turning incomprehensible details into awesome creativity.

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Reviews

Astro

June 5, 2018Shannon Page0 Comments

Director Asif Akbar (Smoke Filled Lungs) misses the mark with Astro, a sci-fi thriller that gets bogged down by its exposition-heavy script and convoluted plot.

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Reviews

Cartel 2045

May 18, 2018Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Nick van Dinther Cartel 2045 was originally scheduled to be released three years ago.  After years of tweaking and editing, it’s now available on VOD and Digital HD, but it still seems unfinished.

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