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Festival Coverage

Inside Out 2015: ‘Everlasting Love’ and ‘Those People’

May 22, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

Everlasting Love (DIR. Marçal Forés) By: Addison Wylie Everlasting Love is a depressing time at the movies.  It’s not scary, all the characters are unlikable, and it slowly shuffles to its grisly finale. With its familiar theme of cruising in an eerie world, I’m reminded of Stranger by the Lake.  Though I didn’t particularly like Alain Guiraudie’s slow burn, his film has an edge on Everlasting Love.  Stranger by the Lake had elements of conviction in a faceless…

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Festival Coverage

Inside Out 2015: ‘Grandma’

May 18, 2015Addison Wylie7 Comments

By: Shannon Page Paul Weitz’s Grandma manages to cover a lot of emotional territory in its short run-time without feeling rushed or over-reaching itself.  Lily Tomlin plays lesbian poet Elle Reid who is still mourning the recent death of her life-partner Violet when her teenage granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), arrives at her door pregnant.  Together, the two women embark on a day-long quest to find the money for Sage’s abortion. It has been twenty-seven years since…

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One-on-Ones

Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Dan Abramovici

May 14, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Mars Horodyski’s Ben’s at Home is a film you can’t help but root for.  I’ve been cheering the movie on since I saw it at this year’s Canadian Film Festival, and was overjoyed to hear it won Best Feature as the festival was winding down. Besides its win at the Canadian Film Festival, Ben’s at Home has won all sorts of affection; which is very impressive considering how small scale the movie is. It’s a daunting…

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Festival Coverage

Hot Docs 2015: ‘Lowdown Tracks’ and ‘Orion: The Man Who Would Be King’

April 17, 2015Addison Wylie5 Comments

Lowdown Tracks (DIR. Shelly Saywell) By: Gregory Breen If you have ever stopped to smell the roses and listen to a busker, chances are Lowdown Tracks will bring a tear to your eye.  In this heartfelt and engrossing film, activist and musician Lorraine Segato seeks to meet Toronto’s street musicians and record some of the wonderful tunes they play. Segato meets Woody Cormier, Anthony Van Zant, Maryann Epp, Bruce Bathgate and Katt Burr – five very special,…

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Festival Coverage

Canadian Film Festival ’15: Pretend We’re Kissing

April 1, 2015Addison Wylie2 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Dov Tiefenbach is the Sasquatch of cinema.  He materializes in random movies, showing his unmistakable mug just long enough for movie goers to do a double take.  As soon as we realize who he is, Tiefenbach vanishes.  Because of this, I used to think YTV’s Squawk Box was a figment of my imagination.  But, I digress. Tiefenbach has come out of hiding to star in Pretend We’re Kissing, an odd romance directed…

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Reviews

Wylie Writes @ The 2015 WIFT -T Showcase

March 30, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie The 2015 WIFT-T Showcase is an enlightening selection of eight short films made by Canadian women.  The screening taking place at Toronto’s classy Royal Cinema makes for a splendid time out, and will surely restore faith in audiences trying to shake off early year moviegoing stupors. Out of the eight films, I’ve seen half.  And, if the films I watched reflect the rest of the submissions, the quality will be mostly consistent….

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Festival Coverage

Scholarly Shorts @ Toronto Short Film Festival ’15

March 15, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

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…

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Reviews

Standstill

March 14, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie Standstill seems straightforward enough with its plot involving a photographer overhearing and witnessing the brunt of a murder.  However, I believe, a lot of Majdi El-Omari’s story is up for interpretation.  Movie goers will pull details out of El-Omari’s screenplay and apply them to their own vision of Standstill. Elements of mysteries and road movies ring throughout the black-and-white movie.  Arihote (played by Atewenaron David Dearhouse) gives Wedad, the perplexed Palestinian murderer,…

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One-on-Ones

Tru Talk: A Two-On-One With Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald

January 23, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

Tru Love hits Toronto’s Carlton Cinema today, and it’s a wise choice to support it.  While it occasionally dabbles as a soap opera, I found its romantic intimacy lovely.  The characters are innocent when facing the premise, which makes their maturity manifest naturally. Recently, I talked Tru Love shop with the film’s co-directors, Kate Johnston and Shauna MacDonald.  We discussed the film’s snowcapped Toronto setting, the importance of setting a general tone, and if post-production altered that original mood….

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Reviews

Killers

January 20, 2015Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie An onslaught of revolting violence is on display in Killers.  It’s the kind of stuff that makes you nauseous, wondering how the filmmakers choreographed such hard-hitting nastiness.  The bloodshed, however, has a purpose and contributes to the cunning study of obsession Killers also displays. This Indonesian hybrid of a thriller and a horror looks at the digital age’s fascination with snuff and the power of control.  The story, written by Takuji Ushiyama…

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