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The Bottom of the 2021 Barrel
Better late than never, right? These movies were hard enough to watch in the first place, let alone revisit them for a year-end round-up. Give us a break! As always, don’t forget to click the highlighted titles for reviews from each Wylie Writes critic.
Streamline
Written and directed by Tyson Wade Johnston, Streamline is a polished yet forgettable sports drama that puts young athletes, and the pressures they face, front and centre.
The Best Movies of 2021
Nominations for the 94th Academy Awards are announced on Tuesday, February 8. But before Tinseltown tells you which titles and performances were the best of 2021, the critics at Wylie Writes wanted to pitch in their two cents.
Poly Styrene: I am a Cliché
In 1976, Marion Elliott-Said – a Somali-English teenager from London – formed a band. That band, called X-Ray Spex, would quickly become one of the most distinct groups to emerge from the fledgling punk scene. Marion, in her front-woman persona as Poly Styrene, broke into an industry that was overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male, paving the way for other female musicians and women of colour. Many credit her with laying the foundations for what would,…
Try Harder!
Lowell High School is the top-ranked public high school in San Francisco. In a world where everyone is a straight-A student, Lowell seniors are stressed out, scrambling to secure places in the country’s top universities and balancing overwhelming pressure from their families and communities.
The Scary of Sixty-First
Until recently, when she was cast in the third season of HBO’s hit series Succession, Dasha Nekrasova was one of those niche internet celebrities that enjoys considerable notoriety in select circles while remaining virtually unknown in the larger public consciousness. She is perhaps best known as the co-host of the popular left-leaning podcast, Red Scare. Much like her podcast, Nekrasova’s debut directorial feature is calculated to invite controversy. Brash and antagonistic, The Scary of Sixty-First…
Benedetta
Set in 17th century Italy, and based on real people and events, writer/director Paul Verhoeven’s latest feature, Benedetta, is the story of a nun from a wealthy family (Virginie Efira) who experiences vivid, and highly erotic, religious visions. After a pretty young novice named Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) arrives at the convent, Benedetta’s visions become more intense and attract the attention of local religious leaders – threatening the sexual and romantic relationship that is beginning to…
Gaza Mon Amour
Written and directed by Dégradé filmmakers Arab and Tarzan Nasser, Gaza Mon Amour is a sweet, subdued love story set in present-day Gaza.
The Pebble and the Boy
Written and directed by Chris Green (Strangeways Here We Come), The Pebble and the Boy is a sweet, quirky coming-of-age story that is as much a celebration of mod culture as it is a story of grief and growing up.