Firestarter is not only a disappointment, it’s a strange disappointment. It promises to deliver on multiple levels and, yet, fails at every attempt. It’s billed as a horror, but it’s not scary. It’s billed as a thriller, but it doesn’t pull the viewer towards the edge of their seat. It’s also billed as a family drama and science fiction, which it certainly sports elements of, but neither genre is interesting or exciting in this movie….
A bunch of different ideas coexist in The Beach Bum, but they never truly come together.
By: Trevor Chartrand In his feature film follow-up to 2013’s Spring Breakers, director Harmony Korine delivers a similarly raunchy, yet dark comedy with this year’s The Beach Bum. Much like Spring Breakers, this latest undertaking by Korine is bound to receive a mixed reaction from most moviegoers.
I’ve been patient and forgiving with filmmaker Seth Gordon (who began his career with 2007’s acclaimed arcade doc The King of Kong) because I can see he’s slowly amounting to be a dependable director. Despite the abysmal and mean comedy Identity Thief, he’s usually able to drum up a lot of laughs with small casts (Four Christmases, Horrible Bosses, TV’s The Goldbergs). I suppose he’s been itching to branch out, but Baywatch was the wrong way…
There’s a difference between being self-aware and being self-involved – the former usually has more sense than the latter. For instance, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is aware of its buffoonery, but neglects to be involved in its own idiocy. There’s still a brain behind the immaturity displayed by Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron).
The laughs in Seth Rogen’s first live-action sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are every bit a part of the movie’s rollicking Revenge of the Nerds pastiche. The film is driven by the dubious actions and deceptive prank wars between two scrambling teams, which amount to amusing, frenzied chaos.
When Dirty Grandpa was released in January, it was panned by critics and moviegoing audiences stayed fairly quiet. However, after Wylie Writes’ Shannon Page reported that the film was a funny party with irresistible chemistry between veteran actor Robert De Niro and heartthrob Zac Efron, I was inclined to check it out.
Dirty Grandpa wasn’t a film that I expected to enjoy as much as I did. The casting of the two leads had me doubtful.
By: Addison Wylie Many will recognize Max Joseph from his co-hosting gig on MTV’s Catfish, a modern mystery program featuring Max and Nev Schulman helping online romantics track down their ambiguous lovers. Faithful viewers of Catfish, however, were given episodes early on in season 4 that were absent of Joseph. This was because the filmmaker was still busy working on his feature film debut, We Are Your Friends. We Are Your Friends followed a group of pals trying…
By: Addison Wylie In five years, when you catch We Are Your Friends on cable, you’ll regret not seeing it in theatres. For me, I felt like I was watching an exciting, addictive shockwave. A realized movie that knew the power of music and its behavioural persuasion, as well as the importance of a key controller. The movie may not have fast cars or roaring dinosaurs, but We Are Your Friends calls for a big screen experience….