From humbleandfredradio.com: Entertainment reporter Richard Crouse drops by the studio to talk about his battle with colon cancer and Dr. Sapna Makhiga explains testing and diagnosis. Dr. Makhija also reveals how farts are made. A 100%er is verbally assaulted in a Georgetown grocery store and Phil’s head was too big for him momma’s vagina. (Richard starts at 1:52)
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
From Emmanuel Lopez – Motivatorman’s blog: Toronto film critic Richard Crouse has become my latest hero for inspiring resilience. In a recent article, Richard revealed that in mid-2013 a tumor was found during a routine colonoscopy. He experienced shock and anger and then transformed his mindset and attitude to say… “Screw you, cancer. You’re not making the rules, I am.”
Read the whole thing HERE!
From the blog by Linda Matarasso:
This past week Film Critic, Journalist and Author Richard Crouse just revealed that he had gone through Cancer treatments, but in his case nobody knew about it until now. I have known Richard for many years as I used to do the makeup for the Rogers Television show Real to Real when he was one of the hosts. Richard’s revelation was a surprise to many people including myself because he continued on with his very busy entertainment schedule while he was undergoing treatments. I run into him about town every now and then and I never noticed anything different about him and that’s the way he wanted it. He didn’t want “pity” from anyone and chose to have a good attitude and continue living a healthy life.
I am sure Richard will inspire and help a lot of people. Richard wants to save your life so he has decided to tell his story. Read about him HERE.
Read Linda’s full post HERE!
Richard Crouse sounds off on his reviews for this week’s releases: ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ and ‘Divergent.’
Watch the whole thing HERE!
The Muppets came bounding back into theatres in 2011 with a sweet movie starring humans Jason Segel and Amy Adams that blended the right amount of nostalgia with just enough corny jokes to make it one of the year’s frothiest confections.
The new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations, “Muppets Most Wanted,” is being billed as a sequel to that film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman.
It’s more akin to “The Great Muppet Caper” than Segel’s (who did not return for this film) vision.
The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.”
What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
The movie’s opening song, “Sequel,” is a tongue and cheek tune that melodically states, “everybody knows sequels are never as good.” Maybe so, but since this doesn’t feel like a sequel it’s hard to compare it to the last film.
The puns are back—“It’s not easy being mean,” says Constantine—and so are the tunes from Academy Award-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie and all the characters you know and love, but the movie feels different.
Whereas Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have.
The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin.
Still, the Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.”
A new young adult film based on a best selling series of books is set in a world where diversity is frowned upon; sort of like Arizona without the dry heat.
In “Divergent” a Big Brother style government has divided the post-apocalyptic Chicago into five factions: the altruistic Abnegation sect, the peace loving Amity, the “I cannot tell a lie” Candor group, the militaristic arm Dauntless and the smarty-pants Erudites.
At age sixteen all citizens must submit to a personality test that will help them decide which faction they will join. “The future belongs to those who know where they belong,” is the Orwellian motto.
Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) is from an Abnegation family, but chooses to join Dauntless, the warrior faction charged with protecting the city. During the grueling training “Tris” meets future love interest Four (Theo James) who helps her disguise the fact that she is “divergent,” a person who cannot be pigeonholed into just one designation. “If you don’t fit into a category they can’t control you,” she is told.
“Divergent” feels like a greatest hits version of recent young adult stories. Mixing and matching “Hunger Games” with a taste of “Harry Potter” and a splash of “Twilight,” results in a new story that feels familiar, like a sequel to a movie that doesn’t exist.
The film does take pains in the first hour to establish a world, with a unique set of rules—like once you choose a faction you can’t go back—and then promptly proceeds to break their own guidelines. The disregard for the rubrics blunts the power of the story, changing it from a high concept sci fi idea to simply a shifting situation for the characters to exist in. It’s a state of affairs passing itself off as an idea.
That won’t matter to the film’s core audience, teens, who will be more interested in Tris’s grrrl power, the dynamic of the Dauntless recruits and Four, the movie’s heart throb. Director Neil Burger aptly juggles all these elements well, and despite the plot lapses and some bloodless action—a zip line aerial scene that should be visually spectacular doesn’t make the eyeballs dance like it could—but the film is a little darker and grittier than you’d expect from a blockbuster-to-be. It would have been interesting to see what a director with true futuristic vision, like Terry Gilliam, could have done with the material, but ultimately it’s not about dystopia.
The young adult story thrives off subtext and in this case it is more about family, being yourself and facing fears, all subjects that will resonate with the target audience louder than any sci fi premise.
“Divergent” is “Hunger Games” light, but Woodley and James bring some heat to the leads and it’s fun watching Kate Winslet sneering her way through a villainous role.
By Richard Crouse & Steve Gow – Reel Guys Metro Canada
SYNOPSIS: The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.” What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
STAR RATINGS:
Richard: 3 Stars
Steve: 3 Stars
Richard: Steve, the new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations is being billed as a sequel to the 2011 Jason Segel Muppets film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman. It’s more akin to The Great Muppet Caper than the most recent movie. Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have. Did you sense that?
Steve: I don’t know if edge is quite the word I’d use to describe it. It’s definitely got darker elements but unfortunately, the gimmicky plot of replacing Kermit with an evil doppelganger felt forced and less natural than Segel’s earnest version. Of course even the filmmakers were aware of that and smartly addressed the impossible expectation of sequels in the opening number. That kind of self-consciousness worked better in the last movie but I certainly thought the songs in Muppets Most Wanted surpassed the 2011 film. We even get to hear Ricky Gervais sing!
RC: I’m not sure I agree. The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin. I liked Segel’s take on the sweetness of the Muppets, but having said that, this movie made me laugh.
SG: It’s true. It is fairly funny all the way through. It’s probably slightly unfair to measure this film against its predecessors anyhow – even if it does lack some of the pure warmth of Segel’s. And it was fun to see all the talent showing up in clever cameo appearances – especially Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo as prisoners-turned-aspiring showmen. However, even the sheer bulk of celebrities feels slightly distracting. They should just let the Muppets do the work.
RC: I agree. The Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.” That’s a gag, this one works, but because of the Muppets, not because of the human stars.
SG: In the end, the fans that are going to pay to see Muppets Most Wanted will already have a good idea what they’re in for. Besides, as that aforementioned opening musical number states, “everyone knows the sequel’s not quite as good.”
By Richard Crouse – Metro Canada
I have a secret to tell you that I think Miss Piggy would rather remain undisclosed.
The blonde bombshell, that porcine paradigm of perfection, was in Toronto on Tuesday to do some press for her new film Muppets Most Wanted, and sit in for a press conference hosted by moi.
Like everyone else I had heard the stories. The word diva comes up frequently when Miss Piggy is discussed. She has a No Competing Diva clause in her contracts and has even written a book titled The Diva Code.
In the film she does a duet with Celine Dion, and when asked who was the biggest prima donna on set she snapped back, “Well, naturally moi.” I’m here to tell you it’s not true.
She was on time, primped and ready to go and had very funny answers to all the questions. She admits to enjoying “making a statement wherever she goes,” and Tuesday’s presser was no exception. When I asked her if she got star struck around co-stars Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais, she said it’s others who get star struck by her, before adding, “others are struck by a star if they get between moi and the camera.”
The only hint of diva-ish behaviour came when she was asked who could portray her in a biopic. “Moi, of course,” she said, but later when asked if she knew she was a gay icon she replied, in a most un-diva-like way, “I’m an icon to anyone who will have moi!”
By Richard Crouse – In Focus Metro Canada
When The Muppet Movie was released in 1979 the Muppet Show Fan Club pointed out the differences between the movie and the puppet’s popular television show.
“If you think it’s a film version of The Muppet Show, you’re in for a surprise.
For one thing, it doesn’t take place in the theatre. The Muppet Movie is set in the real world — it’s like waiting in line at a gas station and looking up to find Fozzie and Kermit driving the next car over.”
In the subsequent seven theatrical Muppet movies that magic has been maintained, but the methods have changed over the years. In 2011’s The Muppet Movie all the puppets were real, but the way they were filmed changed. To give the puppets a full range of movement the puppeteers — or Muppeteers as they prefer to be called — were often in full view of the camera and digitally removed in post production.
“We removed the puppeteers later,” said visual effects artist Max Ivins, “so it gave the puppeteers a lot more freedom in that they didn’t have to hide from the camera to do everything.” It’s a technique used in Muppets Most Wanted, which sees the furry and felt puppets get into trouble on a world tour when it turns out that Kermit’s doppelgänger is the world’s number one criminal. Co-starring with the Muppets is Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey. In the years before computer generated imagery, however, Muppeteers hidden from view manipulated all the puppets. And it wasn’t always so comfortable.
Everyone remembers Kermit sitting on a log, playing his banjo, in the middle of a swamp in The Muppet Movie, but did you know that Jim Henson, Kermit’s creator and operator until 1990, was under water for the five days it took to shoot the scene?
According to the Muppet Fan Club he was wedged into a metal tube “under the water, under the log, under the Frog” while hooked up with an air hose, a monitor and a rubber sleeve which allowed him to manipulate the puppet.
Frank Oz was also submerged for Miss Piggy’s water ballet scene in The Great Muppet Caper. “I was under the water for a week,” he says. “I had three days of scuba training and then down I went.” Finally, almost every Muppet movie features Kermit riding a bicycle. How did they do it in the early days? Director James Frawley jokes, “I put him on a three-wheeler until he got his balance, and then I put him on the two-wheeler.”
In fact, the effect was achieved by intercutting long shots using a Kermit marionette and close-ups with a hand puppet operated by Henson who rode along with the bike on a low-rolling dolly.
