By: Addison Wylie If I was an actor starring in Revenge of the Green Dragons and I was watching the final cut of the film, I would be feeling cheesed by the filmmakers. Well, maybe if I wasn’t Harry Shum Jr., the dancing charmer from Glee who takes his acting to a more dramatic level with this crime film. If I was him, I would be feeling proud that I had pulled off a such…
By: Addison Wylie There’s an aristocratic quality to Love Is Strange. Everyone is nicely dressed in houses and restaurants that could all be rated five-stars. Characters laugh at high-brow jokes and mild-mannerly talk about “the classics”. Love Is Strange is a film so tidy, that you kind of want to scowl at it. But, the film is far too sweet and performed with accomplishment to feel such resentment towards Ira Sachs’ film. Ben and George…
By: Addison Wylie When you pay for admission to see The Wrecking Crew, a rockin’ doc from Denny Tedesco (son of legendary guitarist Tommy Tedesco), you pay to hear a number of stories from the title band themselves. The Wrecking Crew was made up of talented musicians who lent their instrumentals to famous musicians like The Beach Boys, Herb Alpert, Cher, and Frank Sinatra. While the singers belted out their momentous lyrics and choruses, Tommy…
By: Addison Wylie A tiny gem entering the mainstream circuit is Dogs on the Inside. The documentary features rescued dogs and prison inmates who look after them. Massachusetts’ Don’t Throw Us Away program gives both inmates and mistreated pups a second chance, as man and animal identify with each other. In other words: good luck trying to frown towards this film. Dogs on the Inside is a heartwarming documentary, showing the audience just how easy…
By: Addison Wylie The Backward Class is yet another documentary where an intrepid filmmaker tracks students through semesters as they prepare for life-defining exams. After knock outs such as Fame High and I Learn America and the derivative dud School of Babel, this is a day-in-the-life structure that has firmly rooted itself in the documentary genre. It’s up to the filmmaker to have their topic inspire the audience. And, that’s exactly what The Backward Class…
2014 was a mediocre moviegoing year, but it wasn’t without some fantastic flicks. Documentaries particularly rose to the occasion. Select filmmakers started out with a simple subject, but then were forced to change their perspective every time a new layer was stripped away. Because of that, Being Ginger and Kung Fu Elliot were really special docs considering how personal they became. Movie goers also received an eclectic palette of comedies. It was a year where studios were…
By: Addison Wylie I liked Craig Johnson’s indie The Skeleton Twins, but it’s a stickler of a movie to justify. It hardly has a narrative except when it peppers in a loose story towards the final leg, and it’s a character study that’s light on characterization. To say it’s either one or the other doesn’t feel right. Without the film’s stellar leading performances, The Skeleton Twins truly would be floating. Johnson has recruited Saturday Night…
By: Addison Wylie As much as I love Wild Card’s straight-to-the-point capsule synopsis, it’s a little misleading. In the e-mail I received describing Jason Statham’s latest film, it read: “A recovering gambling addict finds work providing protection to his friends. Statham-style action follows.” Statham-style action does follow, and it’s a sock to the solar plexus. However, it’s not as frequent as you would imagine from the gruff action star who has kicked so much ass…
By: Addison Wylie Bradley Cooper has shown time after time how worthy of a performer he is. Many will agree that the Pennsylvanian native is one of the best actors working today. And, his producer credits show audiences he isn’t afraid to challenge himself. American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s latest film and produced by leading star Cooper, is another example of how strong the actor is. Not only is his performance as real life war sniper…
By: Addison Wylie There’s an unspoken rule to being a film critic that states we’re not allowed to complain about our job. We are offered free movies, we get to talk to fascinating people, and we get to offer our two cents to our own moviegoing communities. But, I would like to think – every once in a while – we’re allowed to vent about how much mediocrity we take in on a yearly basis….