By: Addison Wylie I have to give Small Time a large amount of credit. It’s a film starring two slick used car salesmen and presents male attitudes as maturely as possible while embracing the swindling stereotype. It also finds a way to be heartfelt with family drama, as well as make you giggle with car lot banter. That’s quite a juggle, and filmmaker Joel Surnow maintains his load effortlessly. Al and Ash – two old…
By: Addison Wylie I, Frankenstein is almost popcorn entertainment. Almost. It feels as if every time a movie comes out that fits this throwaway action mould, everybody hates it and I’m forgiving towards it. My rule is: as long as there’s camp and you can hold my attention, these corn fests have a chance to squeak by. How about that schlocky movie Season of the Witch? The majority of movie goers wanted to burn the…
By: Addison Wylie The concept of a devout character finding out their secret past is always going to be an intriguing premise – especially when the unexplored involves religion. That’s what happens to Anna in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida. Before she takes her vows of being a nun, Anna’s urged to meet with her only living family member. She sets out to meet her estranged Aunt Wanda, and fortunately does. She’s informed by her agitated Aunt…
By: Addison Wylie The German Doctor (or its Spanish title, Wakolda) is a solid slow burn. It’s also a not-so-slow slow burn. Allow me to explain. It appears this film about a relocating Argentine family who is followed by an unknown yet concerned doctor would like to move at a more patient rate. The actors on screen are prepared to show their unease with properly drawn out weariness and filmmaker Lucía Puenzo shows he has the chops to tackle…
By: Addison Wylie It must be nice for director Mike Clattenburg to know the Trailer Park Boys fan base he’s co-created isn’t going anywhere. That must be why his latest criminal adventure with Sunnyvale’s best isn’t afraid to experiment with a beginning of downbeats. Clattenburg – who knows how to maneuver through ridiculous circumstances with these hilariously seedy characters using DIY filmmaking – oddly sets the bar low with the likability factor this time. He…
The Special Need (DIR. Carlo Zoratti) By: Parker Mott The Special Need is a playful pun on that little itch a late-bloomer might get when he or she starts to become interested in the prospect of love and sexual intimacy. This ticklish desire is possible as well in those with mental or physical disabilities; the problem is our educational and even judicial systems do not teach citizens about or condone this issue. It’s merely swept under the…
An Honest Liar (DIR. Justin Weinstein & Tyler Measom) By: Addison Wylie An Honest Liar is a chip off of James “The Amazing” Randi’s block. Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s doc is as entertaining and clever as any of Randi’s illusionary deceptions. Residing in Toronto, Ontario before joining the circus and becoming one of the most successful magicians of all time, Randi set out to disprove charlatans and phonies claiming to have mystical powers when really they…
By: Addison Wylie Audiences were given Pompeii earlier this year, a sweeping epic that had Paul W.S. Anderson bumbling his way through a history lesson and throwing every type of overused trope he could think of towards the paying public. It was a boneheaded film that was calculated by people solely thinking of what mainstream audiences eat up, yet had no respected consideration towards those who endured Anderson’s mess. What Cinco de Mayo: The Battle…
By: Addison Wylie As I state in the interview, part of the reason I love Hot Docs is that I usually have the chance to sit down with people I wouldn’t have expected to talk to. Miss Cleo is someone who I grew up watching on TV during commercial breaks. The infomercial psychic movement she created with her catch phrase and bright on-screen personality is something that couldn’t be ignored. She became a nostalgic icon to…
Matt Johnson’s impressive and ambitious feature film debut The Dirties is making its way onto Blu-ray and DVD after earning plenty of well-deserved accolades – including winning the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for the top emerging artist at January’s Toronto Film Critics Association Film Awards. The Dirties is an unsettling and unflinching look at bullying through a struggling perspective. The first-person view follows Johnson and his friend Owen (both using their real names, but taking on different on-screen…