By: Addison Wylie A tiny gem entering the mainstream circuit is Dogs on the Inside. The documentary features rescued dogs and prison inmates who look after them. Massachusetts’ Don’t Throw Us Away program gives both inmates and mistreated pups a second chance, as man and animal identify with each other. In other words: good luck trying to frown towards this film. Dogs on the Inside is a heartwarming documentary, showing the audience just how easy…
By: Addison Wylie The Backward Class is yet another documentary where an intrepid filmmaker tracks students through semesters as they prepare for life-defining exams. After knock outs such as Fame High and I Learn America and the derivative dud School of Babel, this is a day-in-the-life structure that has firmly rooted itself in the documentary genre. It’s up to the filmmaker to have their topic inspire the audience. And, that’s exactly what The Backward Class…
2014 was a mediocre moviegoing year, but it wasn’t without some fantastic flicks. Documentaries particularly rose to the occasion. Select filmmakers started out with a simple subject, but then were forced to change their perspective every time a new layer was stripped away. Because of that, Being Ginger and Kung Fu Elliot were really special docs considering how personal they became. Movie goers also received an eclectic palette of comedies. It was a year where studios were…
By: Addison Wylie I liked Craig Johnson’s indie The Skeleton Twins, but it’s a stickler of a movie to justify. It hardly has a narrative except when it peppers in a loose story towards the final leg, and it’s a character study that’s light on characterization. To say it’s either one or the other doesn’t feel right. Without the film’s stellar leading performances, The Skeleton Twins truly would be floating. Johnson has recruited Saturday Night…
By: Addison Wylie As much as I love Wild Card’s straight-to-the-point capsule synopsis, it’s a little misleading. In the e-mail I received describing Jason Statham’s latest film, it read: “A recovering gambling addict finds work providing protection to his friends. Statham-style action follows.” Statham-style action does follow, and it’s a sock to the solar plexus. However, it’s not as frequent as you would imagine from the gruff action star who has kicked so much ass…
By: Addison Wylie Bradley Cooper has shown time after time how worthy of a performer he is. Many will agree that the Pennsylvanian native is one of the best actors working today. And, his producer credits show audiences he isn’t afraid to challenge himself. American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s latest film and produced by leading star Cooper, is another example of how strong the actor is. Not only is his performance as real life war sniper…
By: Addison Wylie There’s an unspoken rule to being a film critic that states we’re not allowed to complain about our job. We are offered free movies, we get to talk to fascinating people, and we get to offer our two cents to our own moviegoing communities. But, I would like to think – every once in a while – we’re allowed to vent about how much mediocrity we take in on a yearly basis….
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….
By: Addison Wylie The 50 Year Argument documents the persuasive, opinionated history of the highly regarded publication The New York Review of Books. The film chronicles the exclusive timeline decently, although the doc’s pacing and organization feels like it keeps us in our seats for fifty years. In the early 60’s, during the New York printers strike, The New York Review of Books found its footing as a magazine that didn’t feel tethered by opposing…
By: Addison Wylie The Humbling is one greasy ham of a film. It has no plan. It has no skill. It knows no volume. When director Barry Levinson senses the audience is recognizing how little his film has to offer, he has his actors yell and ramble. Not many movies get more annoying than The Humbling. I had found a redeeming quality in Levinson’s film, and I desperately hoped that detail would grow into the…