By: Addison Wylie Beyond the Reach is an illogical movie filled with ridiculous things. Unfortunately, its tediousness stops me from recommending Jean-Baptiste Léonetti’s thriller as Friday night schlocky fodder. It’s a shame since Beyond the Reach could effortlessly bring down the house in front of a drunken midnight crowd. Léonetti’s film is one of those movies that’s easy on the eyes, and gravel to our ears. The filmmaker’s director of photography is Russell Carpenter, an…
Shoulder the Lion (DIR. Erinnisse Rebisz, Patryk Rebisz) By: Trevor Jeffery If the subject matter about artists isn’t clear enough the art-house-meets-documentary style Shoulder The Lion boasts should certainly make the viewer aware that the filmmakers really, really like art. A lot. In front of the camera are three inspiring figures: Graham Sharpe, a musician living with a constant ringing in his ear, reminding him that his tinnitus will eventually take his hearing, and with it, the…
By: Addison Wylie After baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, dodgeball, figure skating, and ping pong all received big screen treatments, I think we all subconsciously knew a tetherball movie was coming along. Personally, I thought such a movie would ride off of Napoleon Dynamite’s freak success. I did not expect such a movie to be released, well, now. But, here we are. Director Chris Nickin and screenwriter Rick Dawson have given movie goers a competitive tetherball…
By: Addison Wylie I can easily sell you on Relative Happiness by describing Melissa Bergland’s dynamite performance. She’s spunky and wise, manages an adorable Bed and Breakfast in Nova Scotia, and her sense of humour is quick-witted towards those who condescend her. She takes the audience’s attention and commands the screen. I wish it was that easy to describe Deanne Foley’s lukewarm dramedy. Mostly because of a deceptive bait-and-switch at the halfway hump which converts…
By: Addison Wylie Adam Carolla plays curmudgeon comic Bruce Madsen in Road Hard, a semi-autobiographical sophomore effort co-directed and co-written by Carolla and frequent collaborator Kevin Hench. Maden feels like he’s in the shadow of everyone more successful than him. This film would probably feel the same way about its presence next to Judd Apatow’s Funny People. That said, I know a lot of people who quiver just thinking about Apatow’s expansive ode to comedians….
By: Addison Wylie Why Don’t You Play in Hell? features characters who are crazy about filmmaking. And, with cruel irony, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? made me want to abandon movies. Have you ever been around a group of people who like something? I mean, REALLY like something. The wave of high-pitched enthusiasm is enough to make you suffocate. This unwatchable film takes that glee and warps it into a form of aggressive, painful…
By: Mark Barber The Oscar-nominated doc Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me follows the title legendary country singer through both his final tour and his struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Necessarily poignant (if artificial) and urgent about the subject and his inevitably fatal illness, the film still occasionally struggles with the presence of exploitation. Numerous interviews with family, friends, and celebrities set up a touching rumination on the ineluctable flow of time. But the oft-witty Campbell serves…
By: Anthony King GOING IN: A small disclaimer here before we get started: I love these types of movies. If your movie has Kings, Knights, sword battles and even wizards, then I’ll probably be into it. I’ve been known to enjoy movies more and even give them a pass on a few of their flaws just because I like being in that world so much. I didn’t even hate Season of the Witch with Nicolas…
By: Addison Wylie Fresh off its stardom at the Canadian Screen Awards after earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, the general moviegoing public gets to see if Cast No Shadow lives up to the hype. I congratulate director Christian Sparkes and his team on the nominations, but Cast No Shadow didn’t work for me. Slivers of ideas are buried under the uneven tone of the film. If you disregard…
By: Addison Wylie Dov Tiefenbach is the Sasquatch of cinema. He materializes in random movies, showing his unmistakable mug just long enough for movie goers to do a double take. As soon as we realize who he is, Tiefenbach vanishes. Because of this, I used to think YTV’s Squawk Box was a figment of my imagination. But, I digress. Tiefenbach has come out of hiding to star in Pretend We’re Kissing, an odd romance directed…