In 2016, Fox News almost came unraveled in a few days as its CEO, Roger Ailes, was accused of sexual harassment before being forced to resign. The story of Ailes’ journey from creating the most successful American news channel to death might well be a fascinating one, but a deft hand is needed to do it (see: Addison Wylie’s review of Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes). Unfortunately, director Jay Roach (HBO’s Recount and Game Change) does…
By: Addison Wylie Around the time Patrick Brice’s sex comedy The Overnight hit theatres, movie goers were also presented with the filmmaker’s take on the horror behind obsession and abandonment in his seedy DIY flick called Creep. Creep is told from the perspective of Aaron, a videographer who is rolling lots of tape because he’s been told to. Aaron has answered a Craigslist ad posted by someone who was in need of a cameraman to document a personal…
By: Addison Wylie Jay and Mark Duplass hopped on board Sean Baker’s Tangerine to lend their support as executive producers. The mumblecore founders are always keeping their eyes peeled for innovation in independent cinema, and Tangerine – a film shot entirely on the iPhone 5S – was their calling. Tangerine reminded me of Christos Sourligas’ Happy Slapping, a film that followed hopeless teens via handheld footage shot on earlier generation smartphones. Happy Slapping may have more interesting things to…
By: Mark Barber David Gelb’s The Lazarus Effect offers an intriguing concept, but gets bogged down by convention. Despite its compelling concept, the premise is familiar: a group of researchers led by Frank (Mark Duplass) and his fiancée Zoe (Olivia Wilde) create the “Lazarus” serum, a formula that brings the recently deceased back to life. This God-like power to cheat death causes things to go awry very quickly. Zoe is killed in a laboratory accident…
By: Addison Wylie Every moviegoing year has a movie like The One I Love. That one movie where everyone who sees it unanimously and silently agrees to keep quiet about it. It’s a neat decision to witness. It shows that the average audience still loves a challenge and still loves to keep a secret, hoping that their friends can one day see the movie and join the club. Just as many who have seen and…
By: Addison Wylie With his first feature film, director Colin Trevorrow (with the help of screenwriter Derek Connolly) has conjured up this gem that pokes fun at, while still embracing adolescence and growing up. It all starts with our lead female played by character actor Aubrey Plaza – who has always had a certain quality to her presence and to her line-reading that can be summed up in one word: pubescent. In Safety Not Guaranteed,…
