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December 2013

Reviews

André Gregory: Before and After Dinner

By: Addison Wylie Regrettably, I haven’t seen 1981’s My Dinner with André.  I believe there’s an unwritten law that states that this is a cinematic crime being in the film critic position that I’m in. This also meant that I wasn’t in tune with the work of the classic’s star and co-writer André Gregory.  Gregory is his own renaissance man having taken on duties as a theatre director, an artist, and an actor.  You may have caught…

Reviews

Antisocial

By: Addison Wylie Antisocial is middle-of-the-road fare, which I’m sure director/co-writer Cody Calahan doesn’t want to hear. He wants his film to act as a commentary for how immersed we are with technology and social media.  In order to drive home the social satire, he and co-writer Chad Archibald use networking devices as a means to drag the living to a state of infection.  Tech junkies start to hallucinate and graphically bleed out of the…

Reviews

The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology

By: Addison Wylie The conceptual idea of a philosopher (in this case, Slavoj Žižek) walking audiences through beloved and forgotten films and giving their outlook on the film’s ideological take has potential.  The documentary, however, has to have competent direction and a confident mind at the forefront in order for the project to work.  The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology has neither. Sophie Fiennes’ doc is hitting home runs with most movie goers (it currently holds an…

Reviews

The Internship

By: Addison Wylie I went into The Internship having a hard time looking past its one note joke premise involving two out of place funny men working at Google.  But, it was the comedy’s first couple of scenes that made me question if I was going to be eating crow by the end credits.  Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson playing Billy and Nick – a couple of out-of-touch, amusingly snide and bitter watch salesmen –…

Reviews

InRealLife

By: Addison Wylie InRealLife is bothersome with its portrayal of the Internet, those who use it, and its overall miscalculated goal. It feels as if filmmaker Beeban Kidron is out to scare rather than to inform. Kidron even goes as far as to show the traveling of online information in the dankest of spots using creaky sound effects to get the viewer to put up their safeguard. I thought I signed up for watching a…

Reviews

The Lifeguard

By: Addison Wylie  The Lifeguard deals with the discouraging feeling of going nowhere and the urge to flee home for comfort.  It’s a circumstance that some of us may be all too familiar with; especially those who are fresh out of their post-secondary education.  Liz W. Garcia’s film, however, gets very little right about events that take place after the retreat to a personal turf. Garcia is able to capture that initial awkwardness that ensues…

Reviews

R.I.P.D.

By: Addison Wylie This past Summer, R.I.P.D. received poisonous word-of-mouth and was considered a box office bomb.  But, it wasn’t enough to push me away from seeing it. Call me a fool, but R.I.P.D. looked like it was up my alley.  It looked like something I would want to see during some sunny doldrums.  It looked like the right type of escapism that could be compared to the likes of Mystery Men. Now, having watched R.I.P.D., I understand…

Reviews

Let the Fire Burn

By: Addison Wylie Jason Osder has taken on an anti-talking heads format with his striking documentary Let the Fire Burn and it pays off big time. The filmmaker chronicles the societal shakes that took place in Philadelphia during the late seventies through to the mid-eighties initiated by MOVE.  Members of MOVE would call the collective an organization inhabiting a peaceful, non-violent state-of-mind.  Others wouldn’t hesitate to call MOVE a cult with harassing methods bordering on…

Reviews

The Smurfs 2

By: Addison Wylie Hank Azaria – really is – a talented individual.  Out of all the projects that would’ve convinced me of this, I never thought a sequel to 2011’s big screen treatment of The Smurfs would bring on this revelation. We’ve all seen actors converse and interact with cartoons in real life environments in movies.  However, even the most physically capable slapstick performers have had their troubles convincing us these creations are real.  I immediately…

Reviews

Hansel & Gretel Get Baked

By: Addison Wylie While I try hard not to make the obvious crack at a movie, Hansel & Gretel Get Baked really does feel like a movie that’s been conceived by a bunch of stoners progressively coming down from their rich buzz. It begins on ecstatic notes.  For one, Duane Journey’s horror/comedy has some delicious gore that had me squirming.  It’s the type of execution that sets the tone for how much of a riot…