By: Addison Wylie Riding high off his commercial and Academy Award nominated hit Bridesmaids, Paul Feig is back with The Heat, a female driven crass cop comedy with a perfect pairing of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and a surprising number of laughs. Feig’s comedy starts off on a funny but familiar step. We’re introduced to Bullock’s character, Ashburn, as well as introduced to her cockiness and her arrogance that makes her the least liked…
By: Addison Wylie Adam Sandler’s ego has become so large, it is now starting to swallow film. Case in point: Grown Ups 2, an unnecessary and excruciatingly unfunny experience where everyone bows to the shrine of Sandler with director Dennis Dugan barely steering the mayhem…again. I suppose the beginning is the best place to start. It’ll at least ease my way back into the headache I was feeling by the end of this ordeal. Adam…
By: Addison Wylie I’m So Excited is my introduction to renowned director Pedro Almodóvar’s work. It’s to my understanding that his latest romp strays away from what experienced movie goers are normally used to from the Spanish filmmaker – at least, his more recent outings. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing only time will tell as we watch this comedy’s theatrical run become fleeting or make itself at home. I’m So Excited…
By: Addison Wylie About 75% of The Lone Ranger is immensely enjoyable and everything you’d want in a Summer blockbuster. It’s just unfortunate that 25% of it doesn’t reach the heights that director Gore Verbinski hits preceding and after the saggy middle portion of his film. Let’s get the cons out of the way, because I’d much rather remember The Lone Ranger for its amiable feats. After some hard-hitting fights and likeable introductions to a…
By: Addison Wylie Developing an opinion about Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring is serving to be a struggle. I don’t know what to make of it. On one hand, it’s becomes a slightly tedious ordeal to sit and watch empty-headed dopes essentially stare at each other as well as at themselves through mirrors and webcams. They also stare at their phones and material possessions until one of them breaks and takes a picture with their…
By: Addison Wylie Noah Baumbach’s most uplifting film to date (which is a major step up when comparing his latest to his last effort – the overly cynical and absolutely annoying Greenberg) has an almost immediately disarming look and feel to it. Taking on the aesthetics of a first or second year student thesis project, the black-and-white dramedy feels normal once we can identify what Baumbach’s movie resembles – leading us to focus on what…
By: Addison Wylie The MPAA has given the latest instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise a PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and action and mayhem throughout, some sexuality, and language”. From the sounds of that, Fast & Furious 6 should be a wild time at the movies. So, why was I so bored? Whether you walked away from Fast Five liking it or not, you at least could’ve left the theatre with some…
By: Addison Wylie The apocalyptic comedy This Is The End is a pretty good directorial debut from screenwriters/producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and on top of that, it’s pretty funny. More notably, it’s just about the closest thing North American cinema will get to emulating the meta movies of UK filmmaker Michael Winterbottom – for now Winterbottom has made popular films featuring actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing exaggerated versions of themselves. Their…
By: Addison Wylie As the Hangover series comes to a close, it’s wild to look back on the three successful comedies and reflect on how a jaw-dropping sleeper hit eventually became a three-part franchise that has split audiences – especially the second installment which many called “too dark” and “a complete rip-off of the original”. As for myself, I’ve enjoyed where this series has gone and am one of the few who appreciates the The Hangover…
By: Addison Wylie There’s something ingenious about the idea of Michael Bay helming a project about celebrating a shallow American dream. Who better to direct a story about a team of musclebound knucklehead criminals chasing the implausible than a guy who almost always has explosions take the lead role and lets T&A share the second billing. The film’s Miami setting takes on a “look good, feel better” attitude as all the characters are in some…