By: Addison Wylie The conception of a movie like And So It Goes doesn’t so much start with an outline or a series of ideas. It begins with a demand no one has demanded; except for zealous producers who think they know their desired demographic. The general public likes Michael Douglas and those same patrons are most likely to enjoy watching Diane Keaton. The brains behind And So It Goes have taken these two variables…
By: Addison Wylie I bet if we scoured filmmaker David Wain’s DVD collection, we would find romantic comedies. A lot of them. It takes a certain kind of guilty affection to lampoon a genre this immaculately. That’s what the absurdist has done with fellow writing cohort Michael Showalter. The two collaborated on the cult hit Wet Hot American Summer – which took the piss out of camp movies – and now they go for the…
By: Addison Wylie Seth MacFarlane is known for pushing the limits. He practically takes over FOX every Sunday night with various animation programs that would make your parents cup their own ears. He’s also shown his naughty side with his feature film debut hit Ted, a crass comedy about a friend and his talking – occasionally drunk and high – teddy bear. With his latest anticipated endeavour A Million Way to Die in the West, those gross-out…
By: Addison Wylie Everyone knows of Richard Curtis’ work one way or another – usually more so with a predominant female audience. Those women have usually caught these films when they’ve wanted to watch a cute chick flick with friends or they’ve caught the films on television during a cozy night in. Fellas, most of you have likely been dragged – er, have volunteered – to watch these romances with significant others. I may sound…
By: Addison Wylie Here’s an interesting proposal. Take the producers behind romantic hits such as Love Actually and Bridget Jones’ Diary and apply their genre knowledge in a direction that turns romantic comedies on their ear. Then, bring in Dan Mazer to write and direct the sweet and salty hybrid. Mazer has plenty of experience shocking audiences with filthy jokes. His résumé consists of behind-the-scenes work on Da Ali G Show as well as lending his penmanship…
By: Addison Wylie When a film has a trailer that’s as routine as Admission’s, it’s hard to excitedly anticipate it. The movie appeared to be feather light fare, coming through on all those chick flick clichés that feel all too familiar. And, how many movies and television episodes can Tina Fey star in where motherhood is a prominent theme!? Surprisingly enough, I found myself enjoying Admission and laughing quite often. I would even go as…
By: Addison Wylie The last thing I expect to feel during “riotous and outrageous sexual exploration” is snooze-inducing boredom. That was the case with My Awkward Sexual Adventure, an unadulterated Canadian sex comedy that sets up an array of absurd situations only to do nothing but fumble around. I hate pointing all the blame towards one individual, but with My Awkward Sexual Adventure, it’s tough not to do that when Jonas Chernick is the source…
By: Addison Wylie In the span of a month, Toronto has gotten two independent films that feature exotic locations starring a cast member of Degrassi: The Next Generation. While they’re both badly made, Adriarico My Love is not the worst out of the two. That dishonour still goes to Dev Khanna’s Fondi ’91. However, Nikola Curcin’s peculiar film is a shabby endeavour and just about the strangest film you’ll see this Summer – and, not…
By: Addison Wylie Gerard Butler needs that “right” vehicle. He’s shown that he has a striking presence when he’s battling Persians and kicking messengers down wells in 300, but the actor has yet to play a charming post-300 role. The only references I have to cite are the awful comedies The Bounty Hunter and The Ugly Truth. Butler tried way too hard to get laughs while working with scripts that were MIA already and had…