By: Addison Wylie As soon as I found out Señoritas was the feature debut for filmmaker Lina Rodriguez, everything started making sense. Señoritas reminded me a lot of Krivina and Tower, two indies I caught at TIFF two years ago. Both films featured up-and-coming filmmakers taking on character studies and applying a drawn out pace. What separates those two independent films from Señoritas is that they were building towards something. Krivina applied a twist that…
By: Addison Wylie Wylie Writes’ coverage of TIFF’s Jim Jarmusch retrospective began with a mixed bag of shorts, and ends with a mixed bag of concert cutouts and behind-the-scenes glimpses. It’s undoubtable Jarmusch captures a raw vision of Neil Young and Crazy Horse with his scattershot Year of the Horse. The filmmaker catalogues footage from unique perspectives; the performances are especially visceral if occasionally obscured. He switches between different film stocks (16mm, Hi-8 video, and Super 8)…
By: Addison Wylie In Dead Man, Johnny Depp plays William Blake, an accountant removed from society twice over. The loss of his parents has his mind aimlessly wandering and a new job in the West has Blake feeling further alienated. Then again, it would take a lot of adjusting to fit in with Machine’s homely, rugged community. After meeting a local woman and then meeting her beau, Blake is pitted and pinned to a murder…
By: Addison Wylie My feelings for Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai follow in the same vein as some sceptics felt about Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive – a whole lot of style and not much else. I could see what Jarmusch was trying to do with Ghost Dog. It was the same thing we later saw Refn carry out with Drive, except Refn executed his film much better. Jarmusch was wanting to…
By: Addison Wylie TIFF Cinematheque opens up a wonderful world of weird with Strange Paradise: The Cinema of Jim Jarmusch. The retrospective – which began on July 24 and runs until August 16 – screens Jarmusch’s unique filmography in pristine condition at the TIFF BELL Lightbox. The scheduling of the program jumps around, so faithful watchers are never following the career in chronological order. Something tells me this quirk is much like Jarmusch’s unpredictable sensibilities. Wylie…
By: Addison Wylie Everyone, it’s safe to shake away your hesitations! Burt’s Buzz does not fall in a quirky vein akin to Duck Dynasty. Comparing the backwoods clan who struck rich with their duck calling instruments and Burt Shavitz’s unintentional success with his line of all-natural creams and lip balms is bound to occur – based on physical appearance alone. Jody Shapiro’s doc on Shavitz is as innocuous as a folksy reality show, but Burt’s…
By: Addison Wylie I’ve enjoyed covering the TIFF Kids International Film Festival in the past, but this year was especially cool. This marked the first year for any festival where I obtained an industry pass. The TIFF Kids Industry pass entitled you to sit in on exclusive conversations, workshops, keynotes, and Q&A’s. The team behind the festival made sure they delivered on guests who could provide truthful insight about the world of filmmaking and…
By: Addison Wylie The House of Magic is an abundantly likeable film, and will certainly be a memorable pick at this year’s TIFF Kids. On the surface, the bouncy flick has all the ingredients for a smiling good time at the theatre. There’s an adorable cat, whimsical magic, and stunning animation paired with incredible use of 3D technology. It’s to be warned that Jérémie Degruson and Ben Stassen’s film isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the first…
By: Addison Wylie William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg return to TIFF Kids. This time, they’re not here to make me blubber like a baby (see: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore). The filmmakers are here to make me laugh and impress me with wit. Based on an iTunes app also called The Numberlys, the short film features five employees who are fed up with creating the same boring numbers at their factory job. One…
By: Addison Wylie Knight Rusty is a terribly hard movie to warm up to. Mostly because it comes across as a padded-out episode of a television cartoon that would barely have enough steam to punch out at 22 minutes. What’s worse is that Knight Rusty plays as one of the weaker adventures during one of the final seasons when the creators have started recycling ideas and effort. Right off the bat, moviegoers are thrown into…