By: Addison Wylie We’re only a few minutes into Citizen Marc, and the audience is already aware of how polarizing pot activist Marc Emery can be. Emery’s button-pushing tactics to challenge the Canadian government can be seen as either courageous or just plain obnoxious. His outspokenness may be a little of column A and B, but documentarian Roger Evan Larry uses this film to portray Emery as real as possible. That image being a passionate,…
By: Addison Wylie God Help the Girl matches the sweetness of its leading female Emily Browning. It’s also a film that has allowed the actress to let her hair down, or at least style it into a bob. Browning has shown glimpses of how great of an actress she could become. However, she attracts roles that have her looking forlorn in dreary circumstances. As far as I know, God Help the Girl is her first…
By: Anthony King GOING IN: I think it’s fair to say that any big Movie Buff – or whatever they refer to themselves as – likes all genres of film. They’ll dance during a musical, cry for a rom-com, and even read subtitles for a foreign film. I, for one, consider myself in this category but if I had to pick one genre as my least favourite or the one I tend to avoid, it…
By: Addison Wylie Bea and Paul are that cute couple you wish to never go out to dinner with. They’re not terrible people or arrogant, they’re just overwhelmingly in love. They’re those newlyweds who have cute nicknames for each other and always have an enamoured smile plastered on. On the car ride home, you’re significant other would turn to you and say, “They were nice. We should be more like them.” Maybe that’s why I…
By: Addison Wylie Metro Manila took me on quite the emotional rollercoaster. At first, I was skeptical. By the end, I was clutching the edge of my seat and anticipating filmmaker Sean Ellis’ next move. Let’s start at the beginning. Those initial weary sensations were drawn from how Ellis envisioned impoverished areas of the Philippines. Without a moment’s notice, the filmmaker hurls us into the damp streets alongside the Ramirez family. Times are tougher than…
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 We return to the Short Cuts Canada programmes to take a look at a few films that aren’t afraid to get “real”. Well, “real” in surreal surroundings and under crazy circumstances. These three shorts may be tales out of a book (certainly in the case of The Underground), but the emotion conveyed is what makes these stories come alive. They hit and miss various points, but the risks these filmmakers take are nothing…
By: Addison Wylie Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie is fanfare to its core. It’s also a movie that was funded by fans through a highly successful Indiegogo campaign manned by filmmakers/screenwriters Kevin Finn and the Nerd himself James Rolfe. By avid YouTube subscribers and other online viewers having such an integral role in the making of Finn and Rolfe’s film, I’m not completely surprised to see the finished product completely pander to that crowd….
By: Addison Wylie Wet Bum features a superb performance by TIFF Rising Star Julia Sarah Stone. Her helpless presence draws us in, as if we feel the need to lend her a shoulder to cry on. But, it’s her earnest portrayal of fourteen-year-old outsider Sam that signifies the puzzling phases of fitting in among your peers, and trying to swallow the lump in your throat when you’re singled out for being different. The film that…
By: Addison Wylie The Toronto International Film Festival may be in full swing, but Toronto After Dark shall not fall by the wayside. On September 4, the eclectic festival – known for hosting screenings that would please any sort of genre fan – released their first wave of films. The list has it all: toothy zombies, time traveling, werewolves, Elijah Wood, and two highly anticipated follow-ups to recent cult favourites. The ten revealed titles can be viewed here….