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Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable

July 31, 2019Addison Wylie0 Comments

Most people unacquainted with pro surfer Bethany Hamilton (myself included) may only know about her dangerous run-in with a tiger shark, which resulted in her left arm being bitten off (a story adapted in 2011’s Soul Surfer, based on Hamilton’s autobiographical best-seller).  I wholeheartedly recommend Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable to those movie goers.  Not only does Aaron Lieber’s documentary fill us in on Hamilton’s career using stylistic flare, but the film does an exceptional job showcasing…

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Reviews

Maiden

July 12, 2019Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Jolie Featherstone Maiden opens in the middle of a cold and unforgiving ocean.  Waves as tall as houses tumble and crash.  A preternaturally calm voice is heard over the roar: “the ocean is always trying to kill you.”  The roar continues.  A storm brews in the increasingly agitated sky.  “It doesn’t take a break.”

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Reviews

Blackbear

June 15, 2019Mark Barber0 Comments

The synopsis of Blackbear vaguely reminds one of the 2006 film Annapolis–a film that, if you recall (and if so, good for you), was marketed as a recruit training film in the vein of A Gentleman and an Officer, but was actually, secretly, a boxing film.  Blackbear is similar: it starts off as a war film, with the two central characters as captives by ISIS, only to quickly become a boxing film within the film’s…

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Reviews

The Grizzlies

April 17, 2019Wylie Writes Staff1 Comment

By: Trevor Chartrand You’ll be hard pressed to find a more Canadian film than The Grizzlies;  the inspiring true story of an impoverished Nunavut community battling mental illness by creating a sports team.  Over ten years in the making, this long-time passion project of director Miranda de Pencier is a not only a well-made dramatic film, but also a small taste of the type of media representation First Nations and Inuit citizens deserve.

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Reviews

High Flying Bird

February 9, 2019Addison Wylie0 Comments

Netflix’s sports drama High Flying Bird is exactly the film you expect from Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic).  Using the experimental “look” of last year’s underrated Unsane and the foreboding “feel” of Contagion, High Flying Bird gives a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a sports agent (André Holland) as he senses fast-forming cracks in his career during an NBA lockout.

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Reviews

Benched

August 17, 2018Addison Wylie0 Comments

Benched is a no-brainer recommendation for sports movie fans.  It’s charming, funny and, despite its rote concepts, the filmmakers put forth enough effort to give audiences something different.

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Reviews

Goon: Last of the Enforcers

September 5, 2017Addison Wylie0 Comments

Goon: Last of the Enforcers arrives five years after the surprise hit Goon, and it’s as if the audience never left these characters.  Even though the film is working under a different director (Jay Baruchel taking over for Michael Dowse), this sequel makes sure it stays within the same surly vein as its delightfully crude predecessor.

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ The 2017 Canadian Sport Film Festival

June 7, 2017Shannon Page0 Comments

The Canadian Sport Film Festival sprints to Toronto for its ninth year.  This weekend (Friday, June 9 – Sunday, June 11), audiences will be able to watch a diverse selection of feature films, documentaries, and short films about athletic subjects and themes. Wylie Writes’ Shannon Page received a sneak peek of the festival by watching the Emmy-award winning opening night selection Keepers of the Game, along with a haunting doc titled Hillsborough.

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