Richard Crouse

TIFF DAY BY DAY: TIFF FROM big screens to the smallest theatres on Festival Street

From big screens to the smallest theatres on Festival Street and movies you can take home, here’s a look at the last few days at TIFF.

Watch the whole thing on X.

09.14.2026

Uncategorized

CTV NATIONAL NEWS: REPORT ON CANADIAN PRIDE AT TIFF BY Kamil Karamali

I appear in a CTV National News report from Kamil Karamali called “Canadian pride swells at this year’s TIFF amid trade feud with the U.S.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:11)

09.14.2026

Film Review

TIFF 2026: FAST REVIEWS OF FESTIVAL MOVIES FOR BUSY PEOPLE!

THE DEVILS (Thursday September 10): I literally wrote the book (https://ecwpress.com/products/raising-hell) about this controversial 1971 Ken Russell film. Banned and censored in its initial release, the story of 17^th-century priest accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun has hasn’t been seen in its original form for decades. Until now. The new 4k restoration, which debuted in Cannes this year, is breathtaking. Provocative, it’s a thing of terrible beauty that demands a reaction. It’s a testament to Russell’s vision that 55 years after it was originally released in theatres, it will likely be the most transgressive movie at this year’s festival.

TURTLE ISLAND RAP (Friday September 11) A candid look at the lives and career journeys of three aspiring Indigenous hip-hop artists, Wiidaaseh, A$h Da Hunter, and Travis Thompson, this verité-style feature documentary is an up-close-and-personal look at their lives personally and professionally. Raw and immediate, it’s a vivid portrait of artists on the cusp, balancing real life—–struggling to pay rent, difficult relationships and anxiety—while building and audience and community within the confines of the music industry.

BEING HEUMANN (Friday September 11): “Being Heumann” tells the undeniably important story of a disabled activist named Judy Heumann, and the powerful story of how she spearheaded the 1977 Section 504 sit-in, which resulted in the federal government of the United States giving more rights and privileges to disabled people. The filmmaking could have used a bit more grit and a little less made-for-television style, but the story is undeniably affecting.

SMUDGE THE BLADES (Saturday September 12): Breathing the same underdog air as “The Bad News Bears” and “The Mighty Ducks,” “Smudge the Blades” is the story of an all-Indigenous hockey team knocked down to a rural league and their Zamboni-driver-turned-coach. Raunchy yet heartfelt, writer, director and star Cody Lightning rides the line between hockey flicks like foul-mouthed “Slapstick” and the inspiring “Miracle.” Like most good sports dramas it boils down to one big game, but it’s not about the score, it’s about the sense of community among the players and their personal growth.

I PLAY ROCKY (Saturday September 12): An inspirational story about an inspirational movie, “I play Rocky” is an audience friendly look at Sylvester Stallone‘s early life and journey to get his script for Rocky produced, with the stipulation that he play the title character. An entertaining underdog tale, it features the great casting of Anthony Ippolito in the lead, and Tracey lets as a skeptical studio executive. It captures the spirit of the 1976 original film, even if it leans into sentimentality and exposition. It’s not a reinvention of the original story or movie or biopic, it’s simply a crowd-pleasing reminder of a true underdog phenomenon.

THE DEBUT (Sunday September 13): The sometimes hilarious, occasionally heartbreaking story of Mona (Julianne Moore), a repressed suburban housewife who finds a sense of purpose in community theatre, is a tribute to the power of art to change lives. Mona discovers the theatre community provides the kind of support she doesn’t get at home and Moore digs deep, letting her freak flag fly to deliver laughs and a sense that Mona’s journey is not only life changing, but life sustaining.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM (Monday September 14): “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” is a historical document that feels as alive and rich as it did the day it was shot. It documents a remarkable August 1972 gathering of artists, poets, painters, musicians and scholars who gathered at Duke Ellington’s townhouse in New York City to reflect on the cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement of the 1920s and 30s known as the Harlem Renaissance. Shot verité-style, the documentary 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. The fifty-four-year-old footage of their reminiscences, disagreements and conversation is so intimate it feels as though you, as a viewer, are eavesdropping on history in real time.

09.13.2026

Film Review

TIFF DAY BY DAY: scream and blaspheme with the newly restored “The Devils”

A look back at TIFF Day One! I scream and blaspheme about the newly restored “The Devils” and we meet Kristen Joiner, author of “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist” and executive producer of the opening night film “Being Heumann.” “It’s bittersweet,” she says.

Watch it on X:

09.13.2026

Uncategorized

CTVNEWS.ca: Canadian pride swells at this year’s TIFF amid trade feud with the U.S.

I appear in a CTVNews.ca article by Kamil Karamali on Canadian Pride at this year’s TIFF.

“I think Canadians are finally standing up, embracing and really getting on board with Canadian film and putting it at a priority for themselves when they’re choosing tickets for the film festival, or maybe even when they’re just going to their local movie,” Crouse added… Read the whole thing HERE!

09.13.2026

Film Review

IHEARTRADIO: GREG HUDSON + ANNE EWEN + DESMOND SEAN ELLINGTON

On the Saturday September 19, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet award-winning Canadian journalist Greg Hudson. He is the author of the memoir “The Missionary: A Memoir of Superheroes, Sin & Saving Souls for the Mormon Church,” a witty and heartfelt account of growing up Mormon in 1980s Edmonton, serving a mission in Ontario, and ultimately finding his own path.

Then, we meet art curator, consultant, and author Anne Ewen. Today she’ll talk about a new book “CANOE: A Collection of Canadian Art.” It’s a sweeping visual history, which is both a landmark art publication and a love letter to the iconic vessel that persists as a source of artistic inspiration and environmental connection.

Finally, we speak to Desmond Sean Ellington, who is currently playing Davis in the North American tour of Alicia Keys’ “Hell’s Kitchen,” the hit musical from 17-time Grammy® Award winning Alicia Keys — inspired by her life, her music, and her community. We talk about his start working as a background vocalist for gospel/R&B artists before taking up musical theatre and much more.

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!

All iHeartRadio Canada stations are available across Canada via live stream on iHeartRadio.caand the iHeartRadio Canada app. iHeartRadio Canada stations are also connected through Alexa, Siri, and Google Home smart speakers.

Listeners across Canada can also listen in via audio live stream on iHeartRadio.ca and the iHeartRadio Canada app.

Listen to the show live here:

C-FAX 1070 in Victoria

SAT 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

SUN 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

CJAD in Montreal

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

CFRA in Ottawa

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 610 CKTB in St. Catharines

Sat 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1010 in Toronto

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1290 CJBK

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

AM 1150 in Kelowna

SAT 11 PM to Midnight

BNN BLOOMBERG RADIO 1410

09.13.2026

NewsTalk 1010

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 TIFF movies like “The Debut,” then hockey movie “Smudge the Blades” and the documentary “One Upon A Time in Harlem.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 13:12)

09.13.2026

Uncategorized

IHEARTRADIO: ANITA RAU BADAMI + MATTHEW REID + MUNDY MCLAUGHLIN

On the Saturday September 12 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet best-selling author Anita Rau Badami. an acclaimed Indian-Canadian novelist whose work explores family bonds, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience spanning India and Canada. She moved to Canada in 1991 and is best known for novels including the bestselling Tamarind Mem, the award-winning The Hero’s Walk, Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, and Tell It to the Trees. A recipient of the Marian Engel Award, she lives in Montreal, which is the backdrop for her latest novel Asha In Her Garden. It’s the story of Asha Mohan, an Indian immigrant in Montreal whose backyard garden (shaded by a beloved old maple tree) has long been her personal sanctuary amid family struggles and daily life. As the aging tree must finally be cut down, Asha reflects on a violent incident from twenty years earlier, an earlier tragedy in India that prompted her family’s move to Canada, and the complexities of her relationships, finding new clarity about her life.

Then we’ll meet meet award-winning composer, sound designer, and classical music provocateur Matthew Reid. Best known for a decade as music director and composer for The Second City, he has created scores for film, television, theatre, games, and live performance. His ambitious piano cycle Moods of Limited Transposition explores emotion through innovative harmonic language across a planned 36 short works.

Finally, we spend some time with Mundy McLaughlin, a Canadian author, former labour and human rights lawyer, and artist. Her debut novel, Blue Life, is a coming-of-age story set against the vibrant, gritty art, punk, and club scenes of late-1970s New York City and New Jersey.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

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!

All iHeartRadio Canada stations are available across Canada via live stream on iHeartRadio.caand the iHeartRadio Canada app. iHeartRadio Canada stations are also connected through Alexa, Siri, and Google Home smart speakers.

Listeners across Canada can also listen in via audio live stream on iHeartRadio.ca and the iHeartRadio Canada app.

Listen to the show live here:

C-FAX 1070 in Victoria

SAT 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

SUN 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

CJAD in Montreal

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

CFRA in Ottawa

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 610 CKTB in St. Catharines

Sat 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1010 in Toronto

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1290 CJBK

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

AM 1150 in Kelowna

SAT 11 PM to Midnight

BNN BLOOMBERG RADIO 1410

09.13.2026

NewsTalk 1010

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 “Pracxticakl Magic 2” and the concert flick “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:41)

09.13.2026

Film Review