By: Addison Wylie Everyone knows of Richard Curtis’ work one way or another – usually more so with a predominant female audience. Those women have usually caught these films when they’ve wanted to watch a cute chick flick with friends or they’ve caught the films on television during a cozy night in. Fellas, most of you have likely been dragged – er, have volunteered – to watch these romances with significant others. I may sound…
By: Addison Wylie Every so often, a movie comes along and upsets me heavily with how it wastes prime opportunities. February has slung that film at me and it’s called Sex After Kids, a Canadian independent comedy helped out with a successful IndieGoGo campaign. The only thing that stops me from getting really angry at Sex After Kids is that there is not a mean bone in its body. Filmmaker Jeremy Lalonde has truly tried…
By: Addison Wylie Lloyd Kaufman has proven with Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 that you can go “back to the well” and resurrect a bawdy riot that was started more than two decades ago. The filmmaking ringmaster returns to Tromaville to continue the story of plagued teenagers who are slowly mutating due to exposure of toxic waste. The nasty nuclear power plant (which was stationed beside the high school) has been torn down,…
By: Addison Wylie “Bittersweet” is the best word to describe Her. Spike Jonze has taken our bad habits with technology and projected them to frame an original love story with messages of poignancy. It’s a personal film about an impersonal society. The characters on-screen are closed off to everyone around them. Among them is writer Theodore Twombly (played by Joaquin Phoenix who is a spitting image of Napoleon Dynamite’s “womanizing” brother Kip). People are enjoyably…
By: Addison Wylie You have to hand it to Martin Scorsese. At age 71 with dozens of classics under his belt to which he directed, he still has the courage to make a provocative fireball of a movie like The Wolf of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street chronicles the fast track lifestyle of real life wall street broker Jordan Belfort. Belfort is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who soaks in the shadiness with a…
By: Addison Wylie If That Awkward Moment wanted to be a standard decently funny rom-com, I wouldn’t have minded. I would’ve been disappointed and miffed a smidgen because I know the leading talent in front of the camera deserves (and can deliver) better results, but this could’ve been that inching exception. If typical scary movies can keep horror hounds busy until the January doldrums end, why can’t the romantic comedy genre have its “free pass”…
By: Addison Wylie My experience with Inside Llewyn Davis is not like any I can recently recall off the top of my head. My appreciation for it came hours after watching it and declaring the film was a bit of a wet noodle. The latest film from the Coen Brothers was unsatisfying. Then again, the film was the type of work from Ethan and Joel Coen that is not my cup o’ tea. The Coen’s…
One of my favourite surprises of last year was finding out how Jacob Vaughan’s creature feature Bad Milo played with a packed crowd. The scene was set at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre during one of Toronto After Dark’s pre-screenings to hype up the upcoming and highly popular genre showcase. The pre-screening audience award ended up going to Matt Johnson’s innovative indie The Dirties, but hanging in as a close runner up was Bad Milo. It proved…
By: Addison Wylie The Spectacular Now is the movie about high school I wish I had growing up. It’s easily identifiable and relatable to anyone who felt growing pains or knew someone having a wobbly time through secondary education. James Ponsoldt’s coming-of-age dramedy features two exceptional performances from up-and-comers Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley, who play unexpected friends who eventually become smitten with each other. Though, Teller’s motormouth Sutter Keely won’t directly admit it since…
By: Addison Wylie After Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’s slow success, a sequel has been in high demand from its cult community. What that crowd – as well as the film’s cast and crew – didn’t realize is that capturing that same lightning in a bottle is easier said than done. Director/co-writer Adam McKay returns with the film’s original Channel 4 news team (Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Steve Carell, with Will Ferrell leading the…