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VVS Films

Reviews

Dream Scenario

November 29, 2023Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Jeff Ching The idea of a random Joe Schmoe appearing in everyone’s dreams is an intriguing premise, but could Dream Scenario’s writer/director Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself) have ever imagined a better set-up than Nicolas Cage portraying this ubiquitous dream character?  The answer to my rhetorical question is a resounding “hell no!”. In fact, at the post-screening Q&A at this year’s TIFF, Cage explained how he easily relates to this character and brought up the meme about himself;…

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Reviews

Freelance

October 30, 2023Addison Wylie0 Comments

The swashbuckling comedic action-adventure sub-genre featuring a macho man saving a high-profile damsel in distress seems like a dated idea.  It’s possible for filmmakers and storytellers to modernize this premise (The Lost City as a recent example), but to leave this two-dimensional dynamic at its infant stages for most of the movie feels like a no-win risk.  If this is generally agreed upon, then pardon me for the switcheroo: I had a lot of fun with…

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Reviews

She Came to Me

October 8, 2023Addison Wylie0 Comments

She Came to Me has the feel of a 2000s-era quirky indie without feeling like a pandering throwback.  The characters are eccentric weirdos, the filmmaking is aware of its cleverness, the situational comedy is purposely absurd but meaningful, and it’s all in the name of romance.

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Reviews

Back on the Strip

August 21, 2023Addison Wylie0 Comments

Back on the Strip is a guilty pleasure in the sense that I feel like I need to apologize to somebody for laughing as much as I did.  This unleashed movie isn’t very perceptive or thoughtful, but it knows how to deliver a payoff and a punchline.  I suppose in these circumstances you have to be fair and give credit where credit is due, but it feels like I’m rewarding bad behaviour.

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Reviews

Talk to Me

July 30, 2023Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Jolie Featherstone Talk to Me, by brothers Danny and Michael Philippou (a.k.a. RackaRacka of YouTube fame), is a modern folk tale charged with the rush and hook of viral trends, and the desperate compulsion of grief.

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Reviews

Master Gardener

June 6, 2023Addison Wylie0 Comments

Master Gardener is the third entry in writer/director Paul Schrader’s “man in a room” series, and it’s a satisfying albeit modest finish to a contemplative trilogy the filmmaker hadn’t initially planned.

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Reviews

Mission Kandahar

May 29, 2023Addison Wylie0 Comments

I haven’t kept up with Gerard Butler’s action vehicles since being disappointed by 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen.  A grudge hadn’t kept me away from Butler.  In fact, his action flicks have looked appealing by the promotional material as I find myself distracted with other titles.  After missing this year’s Plane, I didn’t want to miss the boat on his second outing of the year.  I sat down for Mission Kandahar with excitement running through my…

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Reviews

Marlowe

February 17, 2023Wylie Writes Staff0 Comments

By: Jolie Featherstone Marlowe, Neil Jordan’s adaptation of John Banville’s (a.k.a. Benjamin Black) novel The Black-Eyed Blonde, brings Philip Marlowe (a character created by novelist Raymond Chandler) to life in a sunny noir set in a luscious, pre-WWII Californian town where everyone is trying to climb the ladder of success – no matter the cost.

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Reviews

Medieval

September 8, 2022Shannon Page0 Comments

Filmed against the lush hills of the Czech Republic, writer/director Petr Jákl’s historical action-epic about the early life of Czech national hero Jan Zizka (Ben Foster of Hell or High Water and Hustle) is an intense sensory experience that stumbles on its intricate politics.

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