Trevor Jeffery
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young
By: Trevor Jeffery There are some people who do physical challenges for the fun of it, and some people who participate in physical challenges for the accomplishment. Then, there are some people who do physical challenges because of self-loathing, mental lapse or aptitude for enduring pain. The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young is a documentary about all of these folks.
Truth
By: Trevor Jeffery Truth is a factually interesting docudrama, with the unfortunate side effect of also being a huge downer – how can you chippily walk away from a film if its thesis is essentially “modern journalism is dead”? It’s 2004, just months before the American Presidential election, and Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) has got a story. And as a producer for CBS’s documentary/news series 60 Minutes, she’s got a platform. She’s uncovered that there…
Wylie Writes’ One-On-One with Elaine Constantine
Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul has been praised as an authentic reenactment of the music scene in 1970’s England – Lancashire to be exact. The film also stands as a strong example of a filmmaker accomplishing their goals because they have been able to put so much of their heart and life experience into their project. Wylie Writes’ Trevor Jeffery liked the film when he caught it at this year’s TIFF – Northern Soul had its North American premiere at the…
Toronto After Dark 2015: ‘The Interior’
By: Trevor Jeffery James (Patrick McFadden) is a typical 20-something living in Toronto facing a quarter-life crisis: he’s got a job he hates along with a boss he hates, a girlfriend towards whom he is apathetic, and he is tired of the city’s drone. The final straw is a devastating diagnosis, after which he packs up and leaves everything behind for the dense woods of British Columbia. Camping out and surviving with only packed sundries…
Wylie Writes at Fan Expo ’15
By: Trevor Jeffery At Toronto’s Fan Expo (an annual gathering for sci-fi super fans, comic book buffs, anime addicts, gaming geeks, horror… fans), badge-wearing nerds flock from all around, many garbed as pop culture icons, to enjoy a convention of collective interests. It’s a place where people can gather in community, compliment each other’s costumes, bathe in their favourite entertainment cultures and, of course, enjoy the celebrity guests.
TIFF 2015: ‘Northern Soul’
By: Trevor Jeffery In 1978, John (Elliot James Langridge) is a lonely English youth with a penchant for vandalism. He goes from creepily shy to dance machine after meeting cool guy Matt (Josh Whitehouse) and being introduced to the sounds of American soul music. And speed. Lots and lots of speed. The two bond quickly over records and dancing. John ditches his good boy life, rudely telling his parents and teacher to go elsewhere, and…
TIFF 2015: ‘Ville-Marie’
By: Trevor Jeffery College senior Thomas (TIFF rising star Aliocha Schneider) witnesses a young mother’s suicide after she hands him her baby and dives in front of a truck. Guy Édoin’s Ville-Marie takes two paths from this first scene tragedy: one, following Thomas as he reunites with his estranged actress mother shooting on location in Montreal, Sophie (Monica Bellucci), and the second following the hospital staff – a paramedic who shows up to the scene,…
The Transporter Refueled
By: Trevor Jeffery Class-act driver-meets-reluctant enforcer Frank Martin returns (slightly younger and prettier than before) in The Transporter Refueled to yet again move things from one place to another, such as a man’s head to the parking garage floor. Frank (Ed Skrein) is never late – except when it’s to pick up his newly retired father (who was not a secret agent, wink wink). While sharing a meal with Frank Sr. (Ray Stevenson), Frank gets…
Sinister 2
By: Trevor Jeffery Ciarán Foy’s Sinister 2 startles to the point of frustration, but frightens beyond its use of clichés. In the cellar of his runaway family’s newly squatted home, Dylan joins a pack of ghost kids to watch the snuff films they made, in order to stop his nightmares. It seems counterintuitive, but the snappily dressed leader of the pack insists it helps. Dylan Collins, his brother Zach and his mother Courtney (Shannyn Sossamon)…