By: Gesilayefa Azorbo Ballet 422, the much-anticipated new film from Jody Lee Lipes (NY Export: Opus Jazz), opens with a couple of facts. 91 – the number of full-time dancers at the prestigious New York City Ballet. 1948 – the year the ballet company was formed. The film then opens with a shot of these elite dancers walking down a darkened hallway to a mirrored practice studio. Then, shots of them stretching, warming up, wrapping their…
By: Addison Wylie I wouldn’t call Concerning Violence a movie or a documentary. It’s only being considered the latter because filmmaker Göran Olsson uses real footage – from the 60s and 70s – of African liberation in a perpetual clash. It’s more of a collection of footage being blown up on a screen to prove a point. Concerning Violence contains interviews, still images, and raw film that all flesh out these “nine scenes from the…
By: Addison Wylie Big News from Grand Rock is a petite Canadian comedy with petite laughs about a petite town where nothing really happens. Grand Rock’s friendly and carefree community is always seen smiling and wishing healthy salutations to each other. While this may be nice for people living here, it’s dull for those who work for the local newspaper. They have nothing significant to report on. Leonard Crane, a local try-hard journalist, tries to…
By: Addison Wylie Playing It Cool has its cake and eats it too, and knows damn well what it’s doing. However, director Justin Reardon is no David Wain or Charlie Kaufman, and Playing It Cool is nowhere near as clever as They Came Together or Adaptation. Reardon ventures into feature films with this smug rom-com send-up involving a bitter screenwriter (played by Chris Evans) who is given the task of writing a romantic comedy. He…
By: Mark Barber Like its source material, the film adaptation of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey has taken quite a bit of flak for its tantalizing portrayal of abusive relationships. The film reeks of misogyny, but that’s only half the problem. While Sam Taylor-Johnson’s film resists some of the moral haziness of the book’s gender politics, it does so half-heartedly. Given the book’s start as Twilight fan-fiction, it’s not surprising how the film’s narrative…
By: Addison Wylie In Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, filmmaker Michele Josue states she’s not exactly looking for closure, but for more of an understanding of Shepard’s life and unfair demise. However, as we watch her trace through Shepard’s life and interview those who were brightened by Matt’s personality, it’s fairly clear that in order for her to comprehend the tragedy, she feels the need to provide a final word. Maybe not from…
By: Anthony King GOING IN: In this day in age, does the idea of more Vampires excite you? Or, has their rise to immense popularity and over saturation begun to turn you away? Personally I love vampires. I’ve read half an Anne Rice novel back in high school, so you can say I’m a pretty big fan of the subject. Just because there’s one series of films that are laughably bad and cheesy doesn’t mean…
By: Addison Wylie To say Wolfcop is howlingly bad would suggest that (a) the film is terrible and (b) Lowell Dean’s horror film has a sense of humour. Only one of those is correct. Wolfcop has a concept – that’s all. That concept being a police officer who transforms into a grotesque werewolf, yet still protects the streets. It’s a character that has trouble stimulating a five-minute conversation around the water cooler let alone having…
By: Addison Wylie If Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen are going to be filmmakers, they really should write their own material. Their directorial debut and sleeper hit This Is the End sustained itself because of their clever weisenheimer writing satirizing self-involved Hollywood socialites. With their highly anticipated and controversial second feature The Interview, the pair are responsible for the story along with Dan Sterling. However, this time, they’ve abandoned the screenwriting phase and let Sterling…
By: Addison Wylie Nickelodeon’s absurdist behaviour and its brand of transgressive humour have driven some parents crazy. However, it’s a unique knack that has struck hilarity with viewers who were considered Generation Y, or 90’s kids. Nick’s bizarre reality is what gave many of their television shows their edge, and most programming were not willing to push the absurdist envelope as far as Nickelodeon would. The station has cooled its jets as of recent with…