By: Addison Wylie Baz Luhrmann’s flashy adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby is a “production” in every sense of the word – as many of us expect it to be. In fact, the film evoked the same reaction I had when I watched Luhrmann’s much loved Oscar winner Moulin Rouge! in 2001. Judging from these two examples, I find Baz Luhrmann likes to scream and shout during the first thirty minutes or…
By: Addison Wylie Shawn Linden’s The Good Lie is good looking and straightforward with its premise that instantly hooks you. A normal high schooler named Cullen (played by Thomas Dekker) is devastated after being pulled out of class to find out his mother Doris (played by Julie LeBreton) has died in a car accident. He’s even more upset after learning he’s the product of a horrific rape. Furious and upset, Cullen sets out to find…
By: Addison Wylie With his latest feature film, writer/director Derek Cianfrance has already made his Magnolia with The Place Beyond the Pines, an excellent and expansive drama intertwining complex characters and haunting pasts with a twist of fate. This is, without a doubt, a step in the right direction for Cianfrance who made a name for himself rather quickly with 2010’s Blue Valentine. I was a fan of the tightly wound performances in Blue Valentine,…
By: Addison Wylie Now that this year’s Hot Docs coverage has come to an end, it’s time to introduce my new video segment to you all. Does It Float? will have me revisiting films I gave positive reviews to and seeing if they hold up on a second viewing. Sometimes, a film can be heightened by the experience or with a certain type of crowd. With Does It Float?, I plan to give you both sides of…
By: Addison Wylie I could say that Sam Raimi’s OZ: The Great and Powerful puts the ‘Z’ in OZ because of how sluggish and boring it is, but that wouldn’t make for much of a review. Instead, OZ: The Great and Powerful can be compared to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, another big budget fairy tale that shares the same strengths and weaknesses as OZ. Like Tim Burton’s hit, Raimi’s family film is far more interesting…
By: Addison Wylie For audiences needing a psychological horror fix, Derek Franson’s Comforting Skin may do just the trick. It certainly did for me. It’s a film that starts unsteadily as our main lead is introduced to us. Koffie (yes, that’s her name, and she’s played terrifically by Victoria Bidewell) is down and out and feeling as if no one wants anything to do with her. She’s dishevelled, has a past that hasn’t been bright,…
By: Addison Wylie First and foremost: Scary Movie 5 is not a funny movie. I know I usually state in my reviews that humour is subjective, but finding a joke or sight gag in Malcolm D. Lee’s comedy that could be deemed as hilarious or clever would be like sifting through the Pacific Ocean to find a sliver of gold. It’s a bizarre comedy that forces the audience to wonder about who thought these jokes…
By: Addison Wylie About six months ago, Canada’s Cineplex Entertainment held their Digital Film Festival featuring a variety of different classics restored and shown through new digital projectors. Steven Spielberg’s hit Jurassic Park was included in this special selection and being that I had some how missed watching the prehistoric epic in my early years, I decided this would be a more than appropriate choice for my first viewing. Jurassic Park is an excellent monster…
By: Addison Wylie Todd Berger’s ill-timed and ill-titled comedy is being released at a perilous time – which isn’t the filmmaker nor the movie’s fault. However, It’s A Disaster! is too small and vague to be deemed as controversial or hateful, but it’s theatrical run is so quiet that it runs the risk of not becoming a blip on the average moviegoer’s radar. It’s unfortunate because Berger’s comedy of manners is pretty good and sophisticatedly…
By: Addison Wylie Fresh off his enigmatic Oscar nominated The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick hits theatres (and VOD in the USA) with To the Wonder, a character study of sorts – but even I have a hard time calling it a straight “character study”. The film is a character study in the sense that Malick’s film has a loose story and a small ensemble portraying fictional people written by the complex director, but To…