By: Addison Wylie If you told me Parker was directed by someone who has directed more than one movie, I’d be fairly skeptical. If you told me that Parker was directed by an Oscar winner, I would seriously question the accuracy behind that statement about a film that plays its cards as vapidly as possible. But, regrettably, it’s a fact. The latest action caper featuring Jason Statham is not only directed by someone who has…
By: Addison Wylie If The Guilt Trip does anything right from beginning to end, it’s the casting. Not only do Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand play off one another well, but they make a very convincing mother-son team. It’s easy to believe Rogen as an embarrassed hard worker who tries to separate himself from his overbearing mother, and Streisand takes hold of that smothering role with great effect. She’s irritating at times, but that just…
Well, now that TIFF has come to an end, let’s take a trip back to August. If you can believe it, August was busier than my experience with the Toronto International Film Festival. At Film Army, I was checking out different programmes hosted by Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, watching smaller independent fare, as well as getting ready for TIFF while setting up IFFFT coverage – the International Fetish Film Festival Toronto. It’s great to cover…
By: Addison Wylie Kevin MacDonald’s adaptation of Meg Rosoff’s novel How I Live Now is a bit of a struggle for movie goers trying to figure out what type of movie this is. Mostly because How I Live Now has two sets of confusion working for and against it. MacDonald begins his film on an aggressive note to mirror the personality of our lead, Daisy (played by Saoirse Ronan). While it fulfils its goal, the rebellious…
By: Addison Wylie Considering the talent involved, it’s hard to believe everyone agreed to star in a film this goofy and shallow. Especially, by actors like Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Josh Brolin who have recently been very selective about their work. Gangster Squad appears to have done its homework considering its 1940’s backdrop. Its attractive period style, make-up and costuming convince us the film will have more weight to it since more effort is…
By: Addison Wylie Neill Blomkamp came out of the woodwork in 2009 with his Oscar-nominated sci-fi flick District 9. The action enthralled genre fans, but it was one of those rare films that had impacting political messages and symbolism under all the futuristic mayhem. It ceased to bludgeon its audience with the meanings and issued the right amount of trust and respect towards movie goers. With Elysium, that greatness hasn’t let up. Blomkamp proves he’s…
By: Addison Wylie I feel it’s almost necessary to start a review for We’re the Millers stating that Jason Sudeikis’ pot dealing character is never shown smoking marijuana or hinting that it could be smoked. I’m also inclined to state that while Jennifer Aniston’s broke, erotic dancer character is occasionally shown in scantily clad underwear, it appears she also works in the only strip club establishment where other dancers stay covered. These may sound like…
By: Addison Wylie In terms of being a worthwhile cop drama, McCanick won’t astound movie goers, but it certainly does the trick. The problem with McCanick is that it has a really hard time trying to escape the shadow of other more successful cop dramas like Training Day and more recent middle-of-the-road fare brought to us by Antoine Fuqua. Josh C. Waller’s film allows David Morse to take a break from being a quirky supporting character…
By: Addison Wylie Once upon a time in a high school drama master class, a group of friends and I were given a one-act play to perform for our final exam. The play was Anton Chekov’s The Proposal. Myself and my other cast mates had no clue what to make of the exaggerated work or of our bumbling characters ; and, our director didn’t know any better. We agreed that the amount of time given…
By: Addison Wylie I see V/H/S/2 as a sign that these bruised and battered anthology pieces could become something very exciting. The series started on a raw note with V/H/S. An extremely raw note. The set-up that a group of ruff-and-tuff thugs start dying from watching mysterious found footage located in a skeezy house was a bit too vague to go off on. It didn’t help that the acting by those random criminals all felt forced….