Toronto

Reviews

Inside Out 2013: In The Name Of

By: Addison Wylie The quiet character study In The Name Of is driven by a superb performance by Andrzej Chyra. His character of Father Adam is mesmerizing to watch. Chyra handles the subtleties that lie within his role and Adams’ motives so carefully. His readings and lines are filled with sincerity, subdued frustration, and hurt, but Chyra is able to tell all of this with a single hopeful glance. I really liked Malgorzata Szumowska’s film….

Reviews

The Rep

By: Addison Wylie The truth Morgan White’s doc The Rep holds is sad, but true.  That constant dreaming of wanting to have access to a vintage movie house that screens older films is always apparent among film buffs and equally eager film buffs disguised as business men are wanting to bring that once-in-a-lifetime experience to an audience.  It’s unfortunate that the process of getting a rep cinema off the ground and turning it into a grand…

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: Shooting Bigfoot and Scoring Laughs

By: Addison Wylie The documentary Shooting Bigfoot follows three expeditions led by four different devoted and off-kilter trackers. One subject is Rick Dyer. Dyer has had his name besmirched in the world of hunting Bigfoot due to a scam that took the media by storm. Once he finds Bigfoot, he plans to capture it and take its life. Another hunter is Tom Biscardi, a well known tracker who has no interest in killing Bigfoot, but…

Reviews

Hot Docs 2013: Alias Chokes at the Mic

By: Addison Wylie Alias made me frustrated.  Watching Michelle Latimer’s documentary provoked me in a way that pushed me to talk back to the screen – something I rarely do. Alias focuses on a small handful of Toronto rappers trying to be heard and to please an audience with their music and lyrics.  According to the synopsis, Latimer’s doc “digs deeper than the usual portrait of the rap world as glamour, guns and swagger.”  I…

Reviews

The Resurrection of Tony Gitone

By: Addison Wylie The Resurrection of Tony Gitone is a drama abut traditions, family, and friends – that is, if you can make it out over the yelling and excessive upstaging. Ultimately, that’s what makes Jerry Ciccoritti’s film a particularly annoying watch. Riding high off of a new gig as a leading male in a popular director’s upcoming movie and clutching an attractive big name actress, Nino (played by Fab Filippo) and his date Vanessa Luna…

Reviews

People Like Us

By: Addison Wylie Back when we all had a little bit more patience, it felt that films like People Like Us took up over half the screens at local movie theatres; most notably in the 90’s. Come to think of it, here’s a perfect example. With all the film’s scenes featuring characters talking about favourable vintage music, People Like Us has a High Fidelity vibe going for it. That’s not to say Alex Kurtzman’s film…

Reviews

Project X

By: Addison Wylie It’s already March and currently the counter for found footage films released in 2012 sits at three. Out of the three, only one of those has gotten a passing grade. The other two are devoid of any creativity and serve as complete wastes of time. Being that I gushed about how fantastic Chronicle was just a mere couple of weeks ago, I’ll let you connect the dots. Not to derail the review…

Reviews

Moon Point

By: Addison Wylie Road movies have been done so many times, that they’ve now evolved into their own genre. They follow a similar formula, a straightforward plot, and feature a lot of robust side characters but grounded leads. With any frequent genre, it’s not so much how common those notes are but how the musician plays them. With Moon Point, an independently made Canadian feature, Director Sean Cisterna takes a heartfelt script that has an…