Richard Crouse

CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MORE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the music bio “California Schemin’,” the Crave series “American Hostage” and Mikey Madison in “The Social Reckoning.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

10.11.2026

Film Review

IHEARTRADIO: FILMMAKER DAVID GREAVES + ZOE ROBERTS + WILDWOOD

On the Saturday October 17 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet filmmaker David Greaves. His father William produced more than 200 documentaries and wrote and directed more than half of these. He garnered many accolades for his work, including four Emmy nominations. In 1972 he assembled gathering of artists, writers, musicians, and organizers at Duke Ellington’s Harlem townhouse to film their to recollections on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement of the 1920s and 30s known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Shot verité-style, the footage isn’t just a record of an extraordinary event, it’s also a tribute to the legacy of change ushered in by the people who assembled that afternoon.

That footage sat, unreleased for fifty years until William’s son David, who was one of the camera operators on that August afternoon in 1972, restored some 60,000 feet of 16mm film and completed Once Upon a Time in Harlem.

Then, Zoë Roberts, one of the co-creators of the hit musical “Operation Mincemeat” stops by to talk about the show and how a dead body, a fake love letter, and — of all people — Ian Fleming turn the tide of WWII?

Then, we’ll meet Brad Schiff and Jacob Tremblay of the new film “Wildwood.” The dark fantasy based on Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis’s book comes from the stop motion animation wizards at a company called LAIKA, whose other films Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link are all classics.

Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Link coming soon!)

Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!

Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!

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10.11.2026

NewsTalk 1010

HALLOWEEN MONTH: “Get off my lawn! Trespasser! Do you want to be eaten alive?”

When I was a kid I used to read a series of books called Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. They were kind of like the Hardy Boys, but always had a supernatural twist of some kind. They had names like The Mystery of the Green Ghost and were a precursor to the Goosbumps books in that they were exciting and scary. I bring this up not just to take a stroll down memory lane, but because the new film Monster House reminded me of the spirit of those books—harmless scary fun.

Like the heroes of the Three Investigator novels, Monster House finds a young trio of friends, two boys and a girl, trying to discover the secret of a gloomy old haunted house in their neighborhood that seems to come alive and devour anyone and anything that dares trespass on its front lawn.

The movie was created using the motion-capture process last used for Polar Express. Behind each of the animated characters are performers who act out each scene on a “black box” set wearing special suits that capture their every move on a computer. Once animated the performances have the spontaneity of live action with the distinctive look of animation. I thought the animation in Polar Express was creepy—the characters put me in the mind of zombies performing a Christmas pageant—but Monster House makes much better use of the high-tech animation method.

Despite the animation and the movie’s outlandish story, you get the feeling from Monster House that you are watching real kids on a real adventure. The three leads behave the way kids do and the strong script allows them to talk to one another as kids do. Their dynamic as friends owes more than just a little to Harry Potter, but they are fun to watch, particularly Chowder, the little trouble maker who gets most of the laughs.

Some scenes in the film might be a little intense for younger viewers, but nonetheless Monster House is a good bet for the whole family.

10.11.2026

Halloween Spooktacular

CTV NEWS AT 6: RICHARD ON MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the Netflix Newfoundland creature feature “Below” with Josh Hartnett, the Netflix documentary “Who Is Martin Mull” and the theatrical documentary “Run terry Run” about Terry Fox.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

10.11.2026

Film Review

HALLOWEEN MONTH: “off-kilter vibe is supported by the performances.”

SYNOPSIS: In the unconventional “Cuckoo,” a bonkers new horror film now playing in theatres, “Euphoria’s” Hunter Schafer plays the rebellious 17-year-old Gretchen, a traumatized young woman living with her father Luis (Marton Csokas) and his new family in the German Alps. When her father’s business partner Herr König (“Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens) offers her a job on the front desk of his rural mountain resort, she jumps at the chance, despite some red flags. On site, she notices women mysteriously falling ill and when her step-sister becomes sick, Gretchen aims to discover the resort and König’s secrets.

CAST: Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick, Dan Stevens. Written and directed by Tilman Singer.

REVIEW: It’s not the end of the year yet, but I’m willing to bet the aptly named “Cuckoo” will be the strangest arthouse horror film of the year. A mix-and-match of body horror, otherworldly influences and slasher violence, it’s an unpredictable ride courtesy of director’s Tilman Singer’s unbridled imagination.

The off-kilter vibe is supported by the performances. Schafer is the guide, the most earthbound of all the characters, but even she seems engulfed by the film’s sensory overload.

Even more extreme is Stevens, who leaves “Downton Abbey” in the rear-view mirror with a performance so over-the-top it’s like a Bond villain on Adderall. His ever-changing pronunciation of Gretchen’s name is so bizarre, and so entertaining, it’s like it has been filtered through Google translate every time out.

After several mind-bending episodes, “Cuckoo” pays off in the third act as most of the story threads knit themselves up, and plot holes are filled. It will still likely polarize audiences looking for easy answers, but its sheer willingness to embrace its incomprehensibility is part of its eccentric charm.

10.10.2026

Film Review

DEB HUTTON NEWSTALK 1010: NEW BEATLES AND NEW RELATIVES

I sit with NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards, sitting in for Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about a recently uncovered song by John Lennon, a new son for Michael McDonald and I review “The Social Reckoning” and “Run terry Run.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

10.10.2026

Uncategorized

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the Facebook drama “The Social Reckoning” and the documentary “Run Terry Run.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

10.09.2026

Uncategorized

HALLOWEEN MONTH: “it’s different looking at America from the outside.”

Big monsters are back. Movies like “The Host” and “Cloverfield” have reintroduced audiences to that rarest, but biggest of beasts, the giant out-of-control monster. Who needs vampires and zombies when you could have a ninety foot tall squid with a bad attitude and a Christmas bulb for a head?

Another addition to the big monster genre is “Monsters,” an indie movie that reportedly only cost $15,000. Part road trip, part romance and all atmosphere, the story of Andrew (Scoot McNairy), an opportunistic photojournalist, who must escort his boss’s daughter, Sam (Whitney Able), back to the U.S. border through the treacherous quarantine area inhabited by… you guessed it, giant creatures left there when a NASA space craft carrying samples of extraterrestrial life crashed.

It’s a pure b-movie premise and for the first fifteen minutes or so promises to be little more than a Roger Corman film with better CGI. Then something happens. The movie becomes about the relationship between total opposites Andrew and Sam as they bond over their trip’s hardships and the strangeness of their surroundings. It’s a giant monster movie that focuses on the characters and despite some wild plot contrivances, it works.

The character study is a slow burn that leads up to the big reveal, the unveiling of the creatures. For most of the film they are seen and not heard but director Gareth Edwards paces the film carefully building up suspense through use of sound effects to climax with a wild mating dance between two of the Lovecraftian beasts. It’s a strangely beautiful and eerie sequence that brings the movie to a close.

“Monsters” isn’t as effective as “District 9” or “Cloverfield,” two other recent movies that introduced us to new creatures, but it is a complex film with timely messages about immigration (the US is protected by a giant fence to keep the monsters out) and our reactions in times of danger.

10.09.2026

Halloween Spooktacular Richard Sez

SHANE HEWITT & THE NIGHT SHIFT: BOX OFFICE TOP AND BOTTOM!

I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about the number one movie ever and one of the lowest grossing films of the year. Then I review “The Social Reckoning,” now playing on theatres, and suggest some viral cocktails to enjoy with the movie!

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

10.09.2026

Uncategorized