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2015

One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Max Joseph

November 14, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Many will recognize Max Joseph from his co-hosting gig on MTV’s Catfish, a modern mystery program featuring Max and Nev Schulman helping online romantics track down their ambiguous lovers.  Faithful viewers of Catfish, however, were given episodes early on in season 4 that were absent of Joseph.  This was because the filmmaker was still busy working on his feature film debut, We Are Your Friends. We Are Your Friends followed a group of pals trying…

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Reviews

Man Vs.

November 14, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Adam Massey’s broiling small-scale thriller Man Vs. follows reality television show host Doug Woods (a Les Stroud clone played by The Three Stooges’ Chris Diamantopoulos) on his latest survival adventure.  Woods gears up for a five-day retreat in Northern Ontario while his production crew camps out far enough away for Doug to fully seclude himself in nature.  As these wilderness shows often hammer in, fire and shelter is critical – Doug builds both using the…

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Reviews
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The Games Maker

November 13, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Sneaking in under the radar during this year’s final quarter is an uplifting family film called The Games Maker.  For those who take a chance on it, they’ll be as pleasantly surprised as I was when Juan Pablo Buscarini’s film pulled me into a wonderful world of old-fashioned strategy. I say “pleasantly surprised” because the marketing for The Games Maker drives home its whimsy and fantastical elements a little too hard;  so much…

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Reviews

Kilo Two Bravo

November 12, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Kilo Two Bravo may have surprised me, but Paul Katis’ film would have ultimately been better if it ditched the first and third acts. There is nothing new about the setup of this film: it is yet another bit of neo-white man’s burden propaganda which shows the importance of war while almost completely erasing the local victims of the aggression.  It is only in the second act that the film finds its bearings – turning…

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Reviews

Fat

October 29, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Fat is light on a traditional plot.  However, what Mark Phinney’s directorial debut lacks in regularity is reimbursed by a meaningful portrayal of human behaviour.  I’m even hesitant to call Fat a character study since the focus is so widespread across its cast. Overcoming a death in his family and a difficult break-up, Ken turns to food for relief.  But, what started as a coping mechanism has taken over Ken’s life in the form of…

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Reviews

The Last Witch Hunter

October 23, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Shannon Page Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious 6, Guardians of the Galaxy) carries most of the weight in The Last Witch Hunter, director Breck Eisner’s fantasy-thriller about a medieval warrior (Diesel) cursed with immortality and locked in an eight-hundred year battle against evil magical forces bent on the destruction of humanity. Diesel’s wooden performance does nothing to distract from the fact that the script is tired and obvious, but even the most worn-out premises…

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One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Elaine Constantine

October 23, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul has been praised as an authentic reenactment of the music scene in 1970’s England – Lancashire to be exact.  The film also stands as a strong example of a filmmaker accomplishing their goals because they have been able to put so much of their heart and life experience into their project. Wylie Writes’ Trevor Jeffery liked the film when he caught it at this year’s TIFF – Northern Soul had its North American premiere at the…

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Reviews

Room

October 22, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Lenny Abrahamson follows Frank, his underrated study of the effects of mental isolation on the human psyche, with the TIFF People’s Choice Award-winning Room, which looks at the other side of the matter: the effects of physical isolation on the human psyche. The film tells the story of a woman (Brie Larson) and her five year old son (Jacob Tremblay), both of whom have been kept prisoners in a man’s shed for seven…

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Reviews

The Creeping Garden

October 7, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Mark Barber The Creeping Garden – a documentary about the professional and amateur fascination with slime mould in the scientific community – is a film without an argument;  a particularly troublesome direction to take with the documentary genre. The film begins misleadingly with archival news footage detailing the discovery of an unknown, slimy substance found in Texas, suggesting that the direction the film will be a generic blend between documentary and horror;  similar to two…

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Festival Coverage

Toronto Youth Shorts’ T24 2015: Challenging Perfection

October 6, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Toronto Youth Shorts’ T24 challenges filmmakers to create, finish, and submit a short film to the festival’s committee within 24-hours.  Before heading out to plan their production, each team is given a page-long mission statement for the challenge documenting the themes that their works should fulfill. This year, festival director Henry Wong and his team were inspired by recent, humbling articles complimenting the GTA.  The Toronto Youth Shorts committee state the long and…

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