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Violence

Reviews

After Earth

By: Addison Wylie Much like After Earth, this review is going to be a bit of a confounding thing to endure since the substance behind it is puzzled itself. Will Smith seems like a levelheaded guy outside of movies.  I’m sure there was concise logic behind his story to which he’s credited for in After Earth.  If so, there’s been a severe case of “Broken Telephone” during the film’s production that eventually led to M….

Reviews

The Purge

By: Addison Wylie While it’s not a horror, the scariest aspect of The Purge is how seriously the concept is taken. James DeMonaco issues a smart move and doesn’t make the idea of a 12-hour violent free-for-all campy by any means.  He plays his role as writer/director with a straight face and watches that his thriller and its screenplay keeps its realism but doesn’t come off as oppressive or stuffy. This warped way of communal…

Reviews

Gangster Squad

By: Addison Wylie Considering the talent involved, it’s hard to believe everyone agreed to star in a film this goofy and shallow.  Especially, by actors like Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Josh Brolin who have recently been very selective about their work. Gangster Squad appears to have done its homework considering its 1940’s backdrop.  Its attractive period style, make-up and costuming convince us the film will have more weight to it since more effort is…

Reviews

Kick-Ass 2

By: Addison Wylie Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s universe they’ve created for their comic book Kick-Ass is severely twisted.  Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn took that warped sense of humour and gritty violence to the big screen in 2010 where it was received with mixed reactions, but has earned cult status. Three years later, another filmmaker has decided to capture Millar and Romita Jr.’s insanity for a balls-to-the-wall sequel.  For writer/director Jeff Wadlow, the hardest part…

Reviews

Spring Breakers

By: Addison Wylie Spring Breakers works in more ways than one. First of all, you can take Harmony Korine’s film at face value and perceive it as a lurid fever dream with a loose story integrating elements of the crime genre with a trippy punk rock attitude. The four roles played by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Korine’s wife Rachel Korine are charismatic enough in an entertaining train wreck sort of way as…