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Wylie Writes

Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: One-On-Two with Hotline’s Tony Shaff and Miss Cleo

May 1, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

By: Addison Wylie As I state in the interview, part of the reason I love Hot Docs is that I usually have the chance to sit down with people I wouldn’t have expected to talk to. Miss Cleo is someone who I grew up watching on TV during commercial breaks.  The infomercial psychic movement she created with her catch phrase and bright on-screen personality is something that couldn’t be ignored.  She became a nostalgic icon to…

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Does It Float?

Does It Float?: The Dirties

April 30, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

Matt Johnson’s impressive and ambitious feature film debut The Dirties is making its way onto Blu-ray and DVD after earning plenty of well-deserved accolades – including winning the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for the top emerging artist at January’s Toronto Film Critics Association Film Awards. The Dirties is an unsettling and unflinching look at bullying through a struggling perspective.  The first-person view follows Johnson and his friend Owen (both using their real names, but taking on different on-screen…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: Deep Rooted

April 30, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

The Last Season (DIR. Sara Dosa) By: Gesilayefa Azorbo It’s often said that there’s nothing stronger than the bonds of brotherhood forged between fellow soldiers.  Regardless of place of origin or beliefs, the experiences that form one’s life as a soldier are often common across borders, with a mutual understanding that often transcends other differences. The Last Season is ostensibly a film about a mushroom hunt.  The town of Chemult, Oregon, population 135, is also home to…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: Hunky-Dory Heartbreak Doc

April 29, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

Sleepless in New York (DIR. Christian Frei) By: Addison Wylie There’s narration – nay – lots of narration in Christian Frei’s Sleepless in New York from lonely people who have been dumped.  The voiceovers wear thin after a while, but they do serve a purpose. The doc is a film that gets “the break-up” right.  Frei is fortunate to have received good applicants from his open casting call (street-laden flyers inviting heartbroken souls to participate), and those…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: Help Me, Help You

April 28, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

The theme of human connection has never been so prevalent.  The latest technology seems to be fastening people away from face-to-face interactions, and Spike Jonze’s Her made it clear as to what path the human race could possibly fall into. Filmmaker Tony Shaff has made a documentary that tries to follow suit. But, can he stick his landing? Hotline (DIR. Tony Shaff) By: Addison Wylie Hotline has an intriguing dynamic.  Tony Shaff’s documentary focuses on those conversations that…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: A Doc with Braaains

April 26, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

Just as other festivals offer a “Midnight Madness” selection, Hot Docs hopes to bring in the same crowd with its Nightvision screenings. These documentaries feature brazen topics and massive cult followings;  films that are certainly unlike any other.  An added bonus is the discounted price of films screening after 11:00 p.m.  For a cool $7, treat yourself to some of these neat docs. If you’re into horror, you should give Alexandre Philippe’s doc a shot. Doc of the Dead (DIR. Alexandre Philippe)…

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Reviews

The Other Woman

April 25, 2014Addison Wylie0 Comments

By Parker Mott It’s hard to watch The Other Woman without bringing into the equation James Toback’s remarkable 1997 feature Two Girls and a Guy, a talk-heavy, one-room dramedy about two women (played by Heather Graham and Natasha Gregson Wagner) who discover they are dating the same man (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) and then conspire to make him suffer for his cheating ways.  The movie found ingenuity in the shameless rationale of its male…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: Fittingly Framed

April 24, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

Crime often features some prime subjects for documentarians. The stories sometimes serve up a ruthless criminal, unbelievable twisty pasts, and layers upon layers of aggressive activity with hopes that justice will prevail. The docs are even more riveting because none of this is fiction. This year’s festival isn’t without a few crime docs. Let’s take a look at a couple of them. Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (DIR. Joe Berlinger) By: Addison Wylie…

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Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes @ Hot Docs 2014: Baring It All and Barely Keeping Quiet

April 21, 2014Addison Wylie2 Comments

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is fast approaching, which means it’s time to  check out some of the docs that will be playing this year. The festival has been known to feature a variety of different work capturing all sorts of subjects and world events.  There’s simply no other festival like it, which explains why it’s become the largest film festival for docs in North America. Hot Docs is one of my favourite festivals…

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Reviews

A Haunted House 2

April 17, 2014Addison Wylie3 Comments

By: Addison Wylie Why do we have a sequel to last year’s poorly reviewed A Haunted House?  Well, some people – including me – thought the first outing was a dumb unadulterated comedy that was actually a really funny send-up to the recent trend of horror flicks involving possessions and the devil.  Because of the giggly reception and a profitable box office, director Michael Tiddes and partner-in-crime Marlon Wayans have decided to throw another spoof…

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