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The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology

December 11, 2013Addison Wylie3 Comments

By: Addison Wylie The conceptual idea of a philosopher (in this case, Slavoj Žižek) walking audiences through beloved and forgotten films and giving their outlook on the film’s ideological take has potential.  The documentary, however, has to have competent direction and a confident mind at the forefront in order for the project to work.  The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology has neither. Sophie Fiennes’ doc is hitting home runs with most movie goers (it currently holds an…

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Reviews

InRealLife

December 7, 2013Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie InRealLife is bothersome with its portrayal of the Internet, those who use it, and its overall miscalculated goal. It feels as if filmmaker Beeban Kidron is out to scare rather than to inform. Kidron even goes as far as to show the traveling of online information in the dankest of spots using creaky sound effects to get the viewer to put up their safeguard. I thought I signed up for watching a…

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Reviews

Let the Fire Burn

December 4, 2013Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Jason Osder has taken on an anti-talking heads format with his striking documentary Let the Fire Burn and it pays off big time. The filmmaker chronicles the societal shakes that took place in Philadelphia during the late seventies through to the mid-eighties initiated by MOVE.  Members of MOVE would call the collective an organization inhabiting a peaceful, non-violent state-of-mind.  Others wouldn’t hesitate to call MOVE a cult with harassing methods bordering on…

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Reviews

Hawking

December 1, 2013Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Stephen Hawking has – and is living – a miraculous and very special life.  His work is inspiring other students also looking for a career in science, and his theories have sparked many discussions and have sold many copies of his bestseller A Brief History of Time. Filmmaker Stephen Finnigan has given Hawking the chance to tell his life story in his own words to audiences with the self-entitled doc Hawking. Finnigan’s…

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Reviews

Bridegroom

November 11, 2013Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Bridegroom is an expansion of a YouTube video titled It Could Happen To You.  The story documented in It Could Happen To You is powerful with how uplifting it is as well as to how unfair it all becomes. Anyone who saw Shane Bitney Crone and Thomas Lee Bridegroom laughing together, holding hands, or embracing each other had proof that true love existed.  It gave people confidence that two levelheaded people could…

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Reviews

30 Ghosts

October 29, 2013Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Filmmaker Sean Cisterna and executive producer Avi Federgreen reunite after their likeable road trip romp Moon Point to collaborate in new territory. With 30 Ghosts, Cisterna trails the paranormal investigating life of Kim Hadfield and the rest of her Halton Paranormal Group.  The troupe head out on night long trips to capture suspicious spiritual activity hidden away in the looming shadows.  When she’s not hitting up abandoned houses and taking video proof…

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Reviews

Muscle Shoals

October 5, 2013Addison Wylie3 Comments

By: Addison Wylie There’s a lot of talk about “magic” in Muscle Shoals, a documentary about the influentially groundbreaking music that was produced in a small Southern city in Alabama. It’s understandable as to why one would think “magic” was in the air during recording sessions with such artists as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and The Rolling Stones. There was an essence that lingered within the walls of studios FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound that…

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Reviews

15 Reasons To Live

October 4, 2013Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Alan Zweig won top honours at the Toronto International Film Festival this past September for his documentary filmmaking with When Jews Were Funny – but, I needed more convincing. When Jews Were Funny – a doc on how a Judaic approach to comedy made its way into our funny bones – had appropriate subjects to interview, a proper conversational vibe about it, but its scope was too narrow.  Zweig didn’t have enough…

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Reviews

Red Obsession

September 25, 2013Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie It’s neat to watch a subject take on an evolution people didn’t see coming.  In Red Obsession’s case, that subject is wine – and it’s progression isn’t pleasing everybody. Documentary filmmakers David Roach and Warwick Ross capture a timeline that shows how wine went from something that was considered an art, to a product that is more of a business decision than anything. The price of wine keeps on climbing to a…

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Reviews

Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

August 31, 2013Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Some would say talk-show host Morton Downey Jr. was a smart man.  Others would comment but they may be too busy plugging their ears from his ranting and raving. Movie goers can see that filmmakers Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger easily fall into the former category.  With their new doc Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, the trio starts from Morton’s early years – where he was known as…

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