By: Addison Wylie I tend to think I cover a lot of film festivals; especially those who screen short films. However, the Toronto Short Film Festival (March 16 – March 20 at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema) is new to me. By grazing over TSFF’s mission statement, the festival blends into the collection of similar screenings in the GTA. That said, I investigated more and was corrected. The Toronto Short Film Festival has a wide roster of…
By: Addison Wylie Roberto Minervini’s docudrama Stop the Pounding Heart has an intentionally intrusive presentation set in rural Americana. The audience peers in on extremely realistic conversations from a cast of unknowns to a prying degree. Stop the Pounding Heart is one of those films where you demand to read the screenplay afterwards because you’re dying to find out what was scripted and what was conjured naturally in front of the camera. With Minervini being…
By: Addison Wylie When I watch a documentary like Harold Crooks’ The Price We Pay, I think about that sparsely attended audience who would enjoy a doc this dense. I wonder how those movie goers find windows of fascination in a film that constantly slugs hefty loads of information towards them. How do they withstand this documentary that is so persistent to be dramatic through its B-roll, yet reels back when delivering essential facts? I don’t…
By: Mark Barber Loitering with Intent has all the right ingredients for a compelling short film. Unfortunately, it has been unnecessarily bloated into an 80-minute feature. Raphael (Ivan Martin) and Dominic (Michael Godere) are two struggling actor-writers who are commissioned to write the screenplay for a low-budget Chandleresque noir film. The screenplay subplot is quickly dropped once the two are settled in their writing retreat: the cottage they occupy suddenly becomes a festering nightmare of…
By: Addison Wylie I don’t consider my movie reviews to be the final word on any front. If anything, I’m your phone-a-friend lifeline. I may be dead wrong but I may also have the million dollar answer. I am, however, hopeful that my write-ups will help others fine tune their own projects. For instance, playwright Israel Horovitz may read my review of his film My Old Lady and comprehend it as a negative opinion, but someone…
By: Addison Wylie Johanna Hamilton’s documentary has intrigue and suspicion. It makes you question the legitimacy behind our privacy. 1971 is about the shocking true story of intrepid activists obtaining and distributing confidential FBI documents. The files were finely searched through, and then sent to major news publications. This act of defiance led to an unraveling case that had America looking at the FBI under an uncomfortably naked light. A particular program titled Cointelpro had…
By: Addison Wylie Spike Lee took to Kickstarter to fund his latest joint Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. It was a bold move that opened up the floodgates for skeptics to start criticizing the filmmaker. Zach Braff endured the same with his campaign to make Wish I Was Here. Lee brings more of an argumentative crowd compared to Braff’s followers and naysayers. Some see Spike Lee as a self-serving loudmouth, but loyal fans believe he has…
By: Addison Wylie Serial (Bad) Weddings is a funny flick before it gets cold feet. Christian Clavier is the deadpan Claude Verneuil, a father who is constantly faced with cultural differences. Three daughters all marry over the course of three years, and all fall in love with men of different cultural backgrounds. The Verneuil’s welcome Chinese, Muslim, and Jewish ethnicities. The men are all standoffish with each other, the women are defensive, and the parents…
By: Addison Wylie Some will say I’m stubborn, but I can’t bring myself to watch any Bond movies starring Daniel Craig. I’m open to change and I like to be pleasantly surprised, but these new Bond movies simply don’t pique my interest. Craig is a fine actor, and the films bring extraordinary talent behind the camera. But, to me, Bond films should be flashy and grand. They should be implausible and crazy. I appreciate the…
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…