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Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival ’14: The Shorts

January 5, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Before another year of moviegoing goes into full swing, TIFF respectively collects a list of features and short films that astounded audiences and erupted conversation within the past year. TIFF’s annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival began on January 2 with Sturla Gunnarsson’s documentary Monsoon, and continues with other Canadian favourites such as Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Susan Avingaq’s doc Sol, as well as Xavier Dolan’s Mommy, which sparked buzz after the Québécois filmmaker won…

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Reviews

It’s Good to Be the King: Dracula: Dead and Loving It

December 19, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Mel Brooks hasn’t directed a film since 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It.  After watching the comedy for the first time, it’s quite possible this is where Brooks may have fallen out of love with filmmaking – a tragic end to our coverage of TIFF’s retrospective. Now, of course, I could be speaking out of school.  Brooks has served as a producer on numerous projects (including some upcoming work in 2015), and…

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Reviews

It’s Good to Be the King: Robin Hood: Men in Tights

December 12, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Last time we checked in with TIFF’s Mel Brooks retrospective, it was to recover old memories of his classic Blazing Saddles.  Another reason why It’s Good to Be the King is a useful look back at Brooks’ filmography is that it allows audiences to see how the filmmaker’s sense of humour has aged. Unfortunately, Robin Hood: Men in Tights isn’t exactly a fond way to remember Mel Brooks’ signature silliness.  His love for cinema and poking fun…

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Reviews

It’s Good to Be the King: Blazing Saddles

November 15, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie This November and December, TIFF pays tribute to one of comedy’s most influential talents.  Mel Brooks: It’s Good to Be the King gives movie goers the chance to relive Brooks’ hilarious masterpieces through pristine prints. TIFF kicks off the retrospective on November 15 with screenings of The Producers (5:00 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox) and Young Frankenstein (7:30 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox).  However, I’m going to focus on the…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: Into the Drink

September 11, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie For a while, Atlantic. was the most relaxed I had felt at this year’s festival.  Incredibly shot sequences of Fettah windsurfing across the infinite drink eased me into a trance.  Its angelic score cradling the audience is the final nuance Atlantic. has that completely sends us into adoration with these moments of Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s tranquil tale. Alas, Atlantic. follows a bothersome and oddly common theme at this year’s TIFF.  Atlantic. eventually drifts…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: Short Cuts with Sorrow

September 8, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie We return to the Short Cuts Canada programmes to take a look at a few films that aren’t afraid to get “real”. Well, “real” in surreal surroundings and under crazy circumstances. These three shorts may be tales out of a book (certainly in the case of The Underground), but the emotion conveyed is what makes these stories come alive. They hit and miss various points, but the risks these filmmakers take are nothing…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: Wet Noodle

September 6, 2014Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Wet Bum features a superb performance by TIFF Rising Star Julia Sarah Stone.  Her helpless presence draws us in, as if we feel the need to lend her a shoulder to cry on.  But, it’s her earnest portrayal of fourteen-year-old outsider Sam that signifies the puzzling phases of fitting in among your peers, and trying to swallow the lump in your throat when you’re singled out for being different. The film that…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: The NFB’s Mixed Bag of Short Cuts

September 4, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie TIFF’s Canadian roots are more than prominent in the Short Cuts Canada programmes.  Alexander Rogalski and Magali Simard – two of the festival’s programmers – have selected what they feel are the cream of the short form crop.  They’ve included filmmakers with impassioned voices and integral visions, and they’ve even included some touched up classics. It’s expected that The National Film Board of Canada would be involved in this showcase somehow.  Their…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: Top-Notch Theeb

September 4, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Filmmaker Naji Abu Nowar marks a departure from short films with Theeb, a gripping slow burn that confidently risks it all to challenge itself with different genres.  The boldness often profits this tense flick. At first, it’s a character study ala Beasts of the Southern Wild, albeit told more conventionally.  While its composure helps the film with its accessibility towards the audience, it doesn’t contain any stimulating eruptions through its presentation.  However,…

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Festival Coverage

TIFF 2014: A Boring Exhibit

September 3, 2014Addison Wylie3 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Ok, everyone.  This way, please.  This tour is running behind, and we need to catch up. This next work we’ll be observing is Frederick Wiseman’s National Gallery.  This work has been known to carelessly eat up time for those who endure it.  The entire canvas – for some reason – takes close to three hours to view.  And, even though we’re given too much time to comprehend this lacklustre endeavour, on-lookers will…

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