Latest

Addison Wylie

Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2015: ‘Shoulder the Lion’ and ‘The Wolfpack’

April 13, 2015Addison Wylie9 Comments

Shoulder the Lion (DIR. Erinnisse Rebisz, Patryk Rebisz) By: Trevor Jeffery If the subject matter about artists isn’t clear enough the art-house-meets-documentary style Shoulder The Lion boasts should certainly make the viewer aware that the filmmakers really, really like art.  A lot. In front of the camera are three inspiring figures: Graham Sharpe, a musician living with a constant ringing in his ear, reminding him that his tinnitus will eventually take his hearing, and with it, the…

Read More
Reviews

Tetherball: The Movie

April 13, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie After baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, dodgeball, figure skating, and ping pong all received big screen treatments, I think we all subconsciously knew a tetherball movie was coming along.  Personally, I thought such a movie would ride off of Napoleon Dynamite’s freak success.  I did not expect such a movie to be released, well, now. But, here we are.  Director Chris Nickin and screenwriter Rick Dawson have given movie goers a competitive tetherball…

Read More
Reviews

Relative Happiness

April 9, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie I can easily sell you on Relative Happiness by describing Melissa Bergland’s dynamite performance.  She’s spunky and wise, manages an adorable Bed and Breakfast in Nova Scotia, and her sense of humour is quick-witted towards those who condescend her.  She takes the audience’s attention and commands the screen. I wish it was that easy to describe Deanne Foley’s lukewarm dramedy.  Mostly because of a deceptive bait-and-switch at the halfway hump which converts…

Read More
Reviews

Road Hard

April 8, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Adam Carolla plays curmudgeon comic Bruce Madsen in Road Hard, a semi-autobiographical sophomore effort co-directed and co-written by Carolla and frequent collaborator Kevin Hench. Maden feels like he’s in the shadow of everyone more successful than him.  This film would probably feel the same way about its presence next to Judd Apatow’s Funny People.  That said, I know a lot of people who quiver just thinking about Apatow’s expansive ode to comedians….

Read More
Reviews

Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

April 7, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Why Don’t You Play in Hell? features characters who are crazy about filmmaking.  And, with cruel irony, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? made me want to abandon movies. Have you ever been around a group of people who like something?  I mean, REALLY like something.  The wave of high-pitched enthusiasm is enough to make you suffocate.  This unwatchable film takes that glee and warps it into a form of aggressive, painful…

Read More
Reviews

Cast No Shadow

April 2, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Fresh off its stardom at the Canadian Screen Awards after earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score, the general moviegoing public gets to see if Cast No Shadow lives up to the hype. I congratulate director Christian Sparkes and his team on the nominations, but Cast No Shadow didn’t work for me.  Slivers of ideas are buried under the uneven tone of the film. If you disregard…

Read More
Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: Pretend We’re Kissing

April 1, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Dov Tiefenbach is the Sasquatch of cinema.  He materializes in random movies, showing his unmistakable mug just long enough for movie goers to do a double take.  As soon as we realize who he is, Tiefenbach vanishes.  Because of this, I used to think YTV’s Squawk Box was a figment of my imagination.  But, I digress. Tiefenbach has come out of hiding to star in Pretend We’re Kissing, an odd romance directed…

Read More
Reviews

Wylie Writes @ The 2015 WIFT -T Showcase

March 30, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie The 2015 WIFT-T Showcase is an enlightening selection of eight short films made by Canadian women.  The screening taking place at Toronto’s classy Royal Cinema makes for a splendid time out, and will surely restore faith in audiences trying to shake off early year moviegoing stupors. Out of the eight films, I’ve seen half.  And, if the films I watched reflect the rest of the submissions, the quality will be mostly consistent….

Read More
Reviews

The Resurrection of a Bastard

March 28, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie While I watched The Resurrection of a Bastard, I often wondered where Guido van Driel’s movie was headed.  It’s so aimless and without a thought in its busy little head until the existential epiphany its despicable lead character has. However, as soon as I questioned the film, I followed up with another query: Do I even care where this story ends up? Unless the movie is a slapstick send-up, the crime genre…

Read More
Reviews

White God

March 27, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Once finishing White God, one feels the need to exclaim in delight over the film’s overwhelming strengths.  That, or look up other opinions.  I did both. Reviews have been circulating ever since the film’s win at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival (White God won the Un Certain Regard Prize), but I didn’t dare look too far into other write-ups.  However, the film’s press notes state something very interesting: “Kornel Mundruczó’s newest film…

Read More