By: Addison Wylie Riding high off his commercial and Academy Award nominated hit Bridesmaids, Paul Feig is back with The Heat, a female driven crass cop comedy with a perfect pairing of Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy and a surprising number of laughs. Feig’s comedy starts off on a funny but familiar step. We’re introduced to Bullock’s character, Ashburn, as well as introduced to her cockiness and her arrogance that makes her the least liked…
By: Addison Wylie Trying to remember I Send You This Place is like trying to recount a fuzzy dream you had a couple of days ago. You can recollect bits of ideas and images, but assembling a resonating big picture is near impossible. That about sums up my feelings about Andrea Sisson and Pete Ohs’ abstract documentary. It’s a personal piece about Andrea’s intimate relationship with Iceland and her feelings of frustration towards the withdrawal…
By: Addison Wylie Adam Sandler’s ego has become so large, it is now starting to swallow film. Case in point: Grown Ups 2, an unnecessary and excruciatingly unfunny experience where everyone bows to the shrine of Sandler with director Dennis Dugan barely steering the mayhem…again. I suppose the beginning is the best place to start. It’ll at least ease my way back into the headache I was feeling by the end of this ordeal. Adam…
By: Addison Wylie After seeing Vince Offer’s appalling InAPPropriate Comedy and Seth Gordon’s despicable Identity Thief, I thought I’d be done using “the worst” to describe any other film released this year. That is, until I saw Dev Khanna’s Fondi ’91. Don’t get me wrong. Offer’s racist cinematic tirade and Gordon’s insufferable comedy are still the worst films 2013 has given audiences, but this crummy coming-of-age tale about a young man’s week long soccer getaway…
By: Addison Wylie When I reviewed Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers in March, I stated that “it may very well be this year’s most argued about film.” I still stand by that, and it’s bittersweet to do so. On the one hand, I’m right. On the other, there are still movie goers that react wildly negative towards Korine’s fever dream. However, just as many people are faithful to their opinion about Spring Breakers and even go as far…
By: Addison Wylie I’m So Excited is my introduction to renowned director Pedro Almodóvar’s work. It’s to my understanding that his latest romp strays away from what experienced movie goers are normally used to from the Spanish filmmaker – at least, his more recent outings. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing only time will tell as we watch this comedy’s theatrical run become fleeting or make itself at home. I’m So Excited…
By: Addison Wylie Back in May, I attended a fantastic found footage lecture hosted by The Black Museum. Freelance horror journalist Alexandra West discussed the mechanics behind these hot commodities and discussed a handful of her favourites that use these techniques to their full extent or act as game changers to the genre. One of these featured films was 2010’s The Last Exorcism, a movie that I’ve been meaning to watch but have never gotten…
By: Addison Wylie The most impressive attribute about Monsters University, besides its wit and vibrant animation, is its choice to not use nostalgia as a crutch to help connect movie goers – young and old – to the characters they loved in Pixar’s predecessor. Instead, the film uses two main tactics Monsters Inc. utilized to develop excitement and compassion. Those two ingredients are imagination and heart. The campus life of Mike Wazowski and James P….
By: Addison Wylie A film flying in from the UK called My Brother the Devil is sure to catch North American audiences off guard. It’s a compelling piece of work and an exceptional feature film debut from writer/director Sally El Hosaini, providing plenty of challenges for her characters as well as for her audience. Movie goers will be glued to the screen as a pivotal event changes the lifestyles of those driving Hosaini’s story. Brothers…
By: Addison Wylie About 75% of The Lone Ranger is immensely enjoyable and everything you’d want in a Summer blockbuster. It’s just unfortunate that 25% of it doesn’t reach the heights that director Gore Verbinski hits preceding and after the saggy middle portion of his film. Let’s get the cons out of the way, because I’d much rather remember The Lone Ranger for its amiable feats. After some hard-hitting fights and likeable introductions to a…