By: Addison Wylie Is Parkland respectful towards its source material and depiction of the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Yes. Is it accurate to its time period? Sure is. Are the performances worthwhile? You betcha. However, even though Peter Landesman’s film has plenty of good things going for it, I felt detached from the movie most of time. I couldn’t fully invest my feelings into it, which is troublesome seeing as the film is an…
By: Addison Wylie The Frozen Ground tells a harrowing true story in a plain Jane conventional way. The emotional weight and stress in the hunt for a notorious Alaskan serial killer rings, but its narrative formatting is determined to make it unmemorable, placing Scott Walker’s film awash in a homicidal sea with other generic crime thrillers. The Frozen Ground feels dialled back regarding its aggressiveness towards the audience and its lead performance from Nicolas Cage…
By: Addison Wylie What do I say about The Dirties? A film that shook me up and has hung around with me days after I’ve seen it. Matt Johnson’s courageous and ambitious feature film debut is a tough film to recommend to a wide audience because of its timely, controversial material handled with a sense of humour. You definitely have to be in a specific mood for its darker approach to school shootings and the…
By: Addison Wylie Suitably enough, Now You See Me knows how to handle an audience that’s skeptical to its tricks. But the production has to admit, when you pitch “bank robbing magicians”, it’s hard for audiences not to hide an eye roll. Director Louis Leterrier, however, pulls off a movie that knows how to disarm movie goers of cynicism and delight us with boxes full of double crosses and twists. Unlock one of the hidden…
By: Addison Wylie Europa Report made my head throb from boredom and ache from excessive visual irritations. But before all that negativity, Sebastián Cordero’s found footage sci-fi opened my mind with its art direction and effects. Europa Report’s most impressive strength is its ability to make the audience feel as if we’re in that same spaceship as the featured crew members heading to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. Cordero has used subtleties to blend numerous…
The Newton Brothers have ears for music and a drive like no other. Not only has the duo – who is made up by Andy Grush (right) and Taylor Stewart (left) – dabbled in many different genres, but the pair have taken on a hefty load producing musical scores for seven films in eight months. Grush and Stewart attended TIFF earlier this month to support three films they were apart of. Oculus directed by Mike…
By: Addison Wylie It’s neat to watch a subject take on an evolution people didn’t see coming. In Red Obsession’s case, that subject is wine – and it’s progression isn’t pleasing everybody. Documentary filmmakers David Roach and Warwick Ross capture a timeline that shows how wine went from something that was considered an art, to a product that is more of a business decision than anything. The price of wine keeps on climbing to a…
By: Addison Wylie It’s more than likely Peeples has a script that was generated from ideas thought by a living being and then written with human hands. But, try convincing yourself of that as you watch Tina Gordon Chism’s comedy. It’s impossible. The screenplay – written by Chism – is more of a systematic sitcom template structured like an edition of Mad Libs. Audiences can see each set-up, misunderstanding, and the results the mishaps create…
By: Addison Wylie I’m divided on the latest re-release of The Wizard of Oz. I’m not dramatically “on the fence”. I would lean towards a hearty recommendation in an instant. But, it has me feeling many different things. On one hand, I’m very grateful this film is getting another run in select theatres. As someone who has never seen The Wizard of Oz (I know, I know…), I’m pleased myself and other newbies get a…
By: Addison Wylie The World’s End, the last outing in Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, yet again pairs the filmmaker up with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to tell a tale of everyday men in monstrous peril. This time, Pegg and Frost play former friends who had a falling out between their teenage years and adulthood. Gary King (played by Pegg) hasn’t given up living the high life of booze and babes. Meanwhile,…