By: Addison Wylie You have to hand it to Martin Scorsese. At age 71 with dozens of classics under his belt to which he directed, he still has the courage to make a provocative fireball of a movie like The Wolf of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street chronicles the fast track lifestyle of real life wall street broker Jordan Belfort. Belfort is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who soaks in the shadiness with a…
By: Addison Wylie If That Awkward Moment wanted to be a standard decently funny rom-com, I wouldn’t have minded. I would’ve been disappointed and miffed a smidgen because I know the leading talent in front of the camera deserves (and can deliver) better results, but this could’ve been that inching exception. If typical scary movies can keep horror hounds busy until the January doldrums end, why can’t the romantic comedy genre have its “free pass”…
By: Addison Wylie The start of the year showed Toronto movie goers a more fabulous side of Baltimore, Maryland in the crowd pleasing doc I Am Divine. As January wraps itself up, those same audiences are let in to Baltimore’s inner-city brew with Lotfy Nathan’s documentary 12 O’Clock Boys. The 12 O’Clock Boys earned their name by notoriously buzzing around busy streets on dirt bikes and carrying out wheelies that appeared to hold a near 90-degree angle….
Are you wanting to shoot your dream project, but have a restriction on your budget? Are you wanting to support independent cinema by helping filmmakers, but have no idea how to lend a hand? CrowdFUNding, a new series on Wylie Writes, is hoping to answer those questions by helping guide filmmakers and would-be financiers towards the right opportunities. All while putting the “fun” back in crowdfunding. CrowdFUNding will highlight online campaigns looking for financial backing. Some filmmakers…
So far in this series on Wylie Writes, re-watching Parkland has been the closest I’ve come to agreeing with the other side of the fence. However, I won’t be persuaded so easily. Peter Landesman’s drama Parkland, a film documenting the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the next few days that followed it, has plenty of accomplishments. Landesman’s ability to capture 1960’s period detail is spot on, and there no sign of fabrication when the film…
By: Addison Wylie The Selfish Giant gives off an aroma of a film that will be remembered for a very long time. The staying power of its troubled characters as well as the painfully realistic portrayal of a down-and-out community in Northern England are quite remarkable. This directorial feature debut from British director Clio Barnard trails the life of two young troublemakers trying to make sense of their early teens. Both boys always yearn to…
By: Addison Wylie The Final Member – an outrageous documentary from filmmakers Jonah Bekor and Zach Math – is cheekily strange and hilariously honest. I half expected mockumentary legend Christopher Guest to come running out at any moment. There’s no way this documentary about the world’s lone penis museum could be real. Fortunately, it is. And, don’t be surprised if this fascinating film becomes one of your favourite docs of the new year. Not since…
By: Addison Wylie The on-going trials and debates about The West Memphis Three have been discussed in Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s revered Paradise Lost documentary series. The docs have always been on my list of films to watch, but I’ve never been able to find the time. As I watched Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot, I wished I had watched those documentaries about the controversial child murders first, rather than being educated by Egoyan’s ham-fisted reenactment….
By: Addison Wylie To say Adore is a misfire would be putting it lightly. A swan dive off the cliffs of good taste is more like it. Adore is not only a wicked boo-boo filed under the heading “films that are just plain wrong”, but it’s a howlingly bad one. There were multiple times where Anne Fontaine’s film had me at a loss for words. However, there were other scenes where Fontaine had me expressing…
By: Addison Wylie Basketball superstar Jeremy Lin had a rise to fame that was the epitome of an underdog story. Having set aspirations to become an athlete someday, Lin rarely winced when faced with challenges. He played basketball because he enjoyed it, planted reasonable expectations while cementing his priorities, and gained notoriety by naturally being a talented player. Evan Jackson Leong’s uplifting doc doesn’t phonily paint Lin as such an upstanding individual. He simply comes…