By: Addison Wylie One of the crimes an actor can commit is to remind the audience that they’re acting. In the case of the melodrama in Cinemanovels, the cast could all do time in the clink. Since writer/director Terry Miles is the head of this operation and knows no boundaries for heaviness or volume, he should be committed too. When a highly regarded filmmaker passes away, his distraught daughter Grace (played by Lauren Lee Smith)…
By: Addison Wylie Epiphanies are mentioned in Wish I Was Here, Zach Braff’s return as a filmmaker. It’s during a scene where Braff’s Aidan Bloom camps out with his two children Tucker and Grace (played by Pierce Gagnon and Joey King) on the outskirts of Los Angeles, where they find a gorgeous view of the desert on top of three isolated boulders. This talk about epiphanies made me nostalgic for Braff’s 2004 indie hit Garden…
By: Addison Wylie What partly hurts Bird Co. Media is its insistence to make people believe it’s a documentary. Actions in the movie may have been inspired by real life events, but once you see how the film is formatted, you’ll have all the reason to doubt. For instance, cameras follow our leads and then freely cut around them – including on the other sides of doors. Those are some nimble cameramen. Bird Co. Media…
By: Addison Wylie Good things come in pairs; such as with the clever 22 Jump Street. The comedy is a complimentary companion to its surprisingly hilarious predecessor, but also acts as another sample of how filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are the kings of their goofball trade. There’s no point for sequel naysayers to pitch that 22 Jump Street throws more of the same at its audience. It straight-up admits it! Part of the fun in watching…
By: Addison Wylie Making a movie about Dorothy Gale’s next adventure after her legendary fantasy in Oz is a tall order. There may have been movies made about life after Oz, but that doesn’t nullify the large ratio of error for future works. It’s to no surprise that the paltry produced Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return doesn’t come through. The bar is set at an impossible height it cannot reach with its ordinary animation and unrefined…
By: Addison Wylie Life Itself has the sympathetic appeal and gravitas of a rightfully great documentary about an unbreakable legacy. It’s the type of film Roger Ebert would’ve liked, even if it wasn’t chronicling the late film critic’s life and times. Ebert’s “thumbs up/thumbs down” signature alongside buddying rival Gene Siskel left more than just an imprint on the film industry. Their clashing opinions and exuberance for winning movies had readers and viewers alike riveted….
By: Addison Wylie My most anticipated movie of 2014 is one I’ve already seen, but has yet to make a widespread appearance in theatres or on DVD/VOD. I want to recommend this excellent indie as soon as it shows its bloody face. Found screened for horror hounds at last year’s Toronto After Dark. It left the audience – particularly me – shaken and disturbed. The low budget flick about a sibling who discovers his stoic,…
By: Addison Wylie Comedy comes naturally for Brent Butt. Say what you want about his clean-cut deadpan performances and how “it doesn’t work for you”. But, six seasons of a highly popular footnote in Canadian television is nothing to ignore. Myself – along with a large cult fan base – find the Saskatchewan born comic to be hilarious and in tune with all the components it takes to make people laugh: delivery, timing, and content….
By: Addison Wylie “Is this really happening?” Get used to those four words, people. You’ll be asking yourself that a lot during Words and Pictures, a big letdown that wavers between an overplayed drama, an awkward romantic comedy, and hokey classroom schmaltz. Despite that harsh statement, Words and Pictures isn’t flat-out bad. We at least have watchable performances by Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. Their roles as teachers who butt heads (Binoche being the more…
By: Addison Wylie A film can tell you nothing for no good reason, having you frustrated until the final frame. Sometimes, a movie can keep everything a secret and get away with it because of how intriguing it is. Alex van Warmerdam’s haunting Borgman is a magnificent example of the latter. Borgman is a weird flick, but daring because of that. The skillful filmmaker has set up his plan masterfully, and has the average movie…