Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise, Boyhood) stars as east-coast jazz legend Chet Baker in Robert Budreau’s biographical drama Born to Be Blue, which focuses on the musician’s comeback during the 1960s and his struggle with addiction. The film, which was written, directed and produced by Budreau, chooses to examine a specific period of Baker’s career rather than the entirety of his career – a decision that results in a more intimate experience than one might expect…
By: Trevor Jeffery Over the past few decades, the biopic has been more or less perfected and recreated over and over, to the point of boring predictability. While ultimately Love & Mercy is no exception, the film deviates from the structure enough to make the journey feel like a new, albeit shaky, perspective on the formula. Following Beach Boy Brian Wilson, the film jumps between the 20-something-prodigy Wilson in the 1960s (played by Paul Dano)…
By: Addison Wylie Terrence Malick is a filmmaker who marches to the beat of his own drum. His unorthodox work has made audiences ponder, and his unique direction and screenwriting has challenged the actors he’s worked with. He’s certainly a one-of-a-kind with a sixth sense for beauty. I imagine collaborating under his mentorship would provide an artful view of how to express yourself using poetic language and imagery. However, the point of being a protege…
So far in this series on Wylie Writes, re-watching Parkland has been the closest I’ve come to agreeing with the other side of the fence. However, I won’t be persuaded so easily. Peter Landesman’s drama Parkland, a film documenting the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the next few days that followed it, has plenty of accomplishments. Landesman’s ability to capture 1960’s period detail is spot on, and there no sign of fabrication when the film…
By: Addison Wylie Across the pond, Good Vibrations has been considered a crowd pleaser. During its release earlier this year, its swept audiences off their feet with vivacious music and a profound true story about Terri Hooley’s struggle with individuality in 1970’s Belfast and acquiring peace through music. This holiday season, Toronto gets the opportunity to see this highly regarded movie. Well, call me a Grinch because Good Vibrations didn’t do it for me. I…
By: Addison Wylie Upon watching JOBS for the first time, I had a hunch that it wasn’t going to be received with a wide round of applause. The film about the life and times of Apple’s Steve Jobs didn’t sugarcoat its subject, but the overall product took the form of a typical biopic. I believe movie goers were still riding off the hot licks of the award winning David Fincher film The Social Network. I…
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 image of the feeble pirogue (the film’s featured boat) floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is a perfect metaphor to describe my abandoned interest towards Moussa Touré’s drama La Pirogue. I wanted to like Touré’s film. A title card leading to the end credits dedicating the film to those who have made the trek – and may have died – from Africa to Europe to seek a better life…
By: Addison Wylie The good news: Joshua Michael Stern’s biopic Jobs never feels inappropriate or tasteless. It hardly feels as if the film was made with ill-advised intentions or to meet a strict relevancy deadline. However, I can see a large portion of the movie going public leaving the theatre at the end wishing there was more to Stern’s film chronicling the life and times of the late inventor and Apple guru Steve Jobs. Jobs…
By: Addison Wylie Upon seeing Jobs, the Ashton Kutcher led biopic about late visionary and Apple CEO Steve Jobs, I was interested to see how a spoof would be handled in the future given how much material Joshua Michael Stern’s film unintentionally supplies. However, the jokers at Funny or Die have jumped the gun and created the satire before Jobs was made – earning it the title of “the first Steve Jobs movie”. Don’t worry…