By: Addison Wylie The Planes franchise is not for me. However, I’m not a seven-year-old boy who’s obsessed with airplanes and other miscellaneous aviary vehicles – the demographic these films are so clearly for. That’s not to snub the seven-year-old boy who likes to play with toy airplanes in his parents’ living room. Being a kid is a great time and should be cerished. There’s a lack of responsibilities, you have no dire worries, and…
By: Addison Wylie Moms’ Night Out is a tame movie. It’s tamer than tame. If movies were made from the fabric that makes those mattresses they drop bowling balls on to show you how soothing your sleeping habits will be, Moms’ Night Out would be the ideal prototype. The film isn’t worthy of being labeled “bad”. That status goes to movies that try to achieve something, and flounder in spectacular ways. Moms’ Night Out doesn’t…
By: Addison Wylie Mel Brooks hasn’t directed a film since 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It. After watching the comedy for the first time, it’s quite possible this is where Brooks may have fallen out of love with filmmaking – a tragic end to our coverage of TIFF’s retrospective. Now, of course, I could be speaking out of school. Brooks has served as a producer on numerous projects (including some upcoming work in 2015), and…
By: Addison Wylie The Congress has been made by Ari Folman, and I would go as far as to say the filmmaker is a visionary. When watching The Congress, it’s clear the filmmaker has a wide load on his mind, and he expresses those thoughts in various artistic ways. Folman’s imagination may have been the leverage that earned his Waltz With Bashir an Oscar nomination in 2009. The downside with being a visionary, however, is…
By: Addison Wylie Last time we checked in with TIFF’s Mel Brooks retrospective, it was to recover old memories of his classic Blazing Saddles. Another reason why It’s Good to Be the King is a useful look back at Brooks’ filmography is that it allows audiences to see how the filmmaker’s sense of humour has aged. Unfortunately, Robin Hood: Men in Tights isn’t exactly a fond way to remember Mel Brooks’ signature silliness. His love for cinema and poking fun…
By: Addison Wylie “Pre-invested interest…pre-invested interest. What are you doing? Do you have pre-invested interest?” Those words were ghostly floating around in my head as I tried to throw myself into The Decent One, a new documentary from Vanessa Lapa. I wouldn’t consider myself a history buff, or even a history dabbler. Honestly, I was never interested in history class nor could I memorize dates and names for crucial tests. If my high school teacher…
By: Addison Wylie Anthony Powell was finding it impossible explaining to others what Antarctic life is really like. For someone who has spent extended time in the chilly climate, it was truly a daunting task trying to find the right words to describe the torrential winds and the degree of cabin fever. Over the next ten years, Powell has made it his quest to create the ultimate tell-all about Antarctica. He built equipment that could…
By: Addison Wylie The nightlife throbs in Nightcrawler. When the streets are sparse and the air is humid, there’s an electricity in the air. Lou Bloom is a lonely guy who lives off of it. We don’t know much about Jake Gyllenhaal’s lonely Lou. By the end credits, we still don’t know a heck of a lot about him – it’s exactly the point. The film’s title very much fits Bloom’s personality as someone who…
By: Addison Wylie I’ve seen good Christmas movies and I’ve seen bad Christmas movies. But, outside of those schmaltzy TV movies that play in syndication around the holidays, I don’t think I’ve seen a Christmas movie as strange as A Merry Friggin’ Christmas. I would say this means Tristram Shapeero’s film is in a league of its own, but that’d be giving the movie too much credit. A Merry Friggin’ Christmas has been labeled as…
By: Addison Wylie Copenhagen is bound to be compared to Lost in Translation or Cairo Time. A young man (William played by Game of Thrones’ Gethin Anthony) embarks on foreign travels and runs into a young woman (Effy played by Frederikke Dahl Hansen) who becomes very interested in the man’s personal journey. They drink in the scenery, taste the culture, and slowly develop something that’s more than a friendship. However, complications arise – as they…