Recently a film director told me one way he rates movies. If he forgets what he has just seen by the time he hits the parking lot afterwards, the movie didn’t mean much.
“Survivor,” a new thriller starring Milla Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan, Dylan McDermott and Angela Bassett, is so generic you actually forget it while you’re in the theatre, still watching the movie.
Jovovich is Kate Abbott, an American State Department investigator stationed at the embassy in London. When she uncovers a terrorist plot involving “the world’s most wanted hitman” (Brosnan), a revenge hungry scientist (Roger Rees) and corrupt government figures she finds herself on the run. Dodging bullets and bombs she must figure out who she can trust and who is trying to frame her for a succession of deadly events.
“Survivor” is competent in the most damning of ways. It’s well shot—in focus even!—with passable performances from a crew of old pros and an mix of genre conventions blended together to form an international olio of intrigue. Capable and a bit lazy. “Survivor” is so basic in its approach it almost redefines what a b-movie can be. The only thing missing is a cameo from Dolph Lundgren.
From McDermott’s steely-jawed heroic speeches—“We’re doing this because we believe in an old fashioned idea of country!”—to the clock ticking down to doomsday to super evil bad guys with mysterious accents to airport anxiety and cheeseball dialogue—“The longer she lives, he more people die!”—“Survivor” plays like a greatest hits of every Roger Corman movie ever made.
On Thursday, June 4 at 9 p.m. the first episode of a show Richard executive produced, REELSIDE (Episode 1 of 6 *Original Documentary Series Premiere*) debuts on The Movie Network!
The first show is Sarah Gadon’s directorial debut. Commissioned by an Italian fashion magazine for a photography project, celebrated photographer Caitlin Cronenberg and actor Sarah Gadon (Maps to the Stars, Dracula Untold) travel to Bruce Peninsula National Park. This episode explores how the pair connected amidst the Hollywood and Fashion machines, and issues of image-making, film, and fashion. Enemy, starring Sarah Gadon and Jake Gyllenhaal, follows the episode at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Richard’s column “Big Screen/Small Screen” in the June issue of “Movie Entertainment”!
“There is much to smile about in June. If you happen to live in the Northern Hemisphere it’s the month with the longest daylight hours of the year. If you’re a Gemini or Cancer, Happy Birthday! If you’re a dad, Happy Father’s Day! If you’re a movie fan, the month promises laughs-a-plenty.
“Fans of Family Guy know what to expect from Ted 2, Seth MacFarlane’s sequel to the raunchiest teddy bear movie ever made. As the writer and voice behind Peter Griffin, MacFarlane pushes the limits of what’s acceptable on TV. Now imagine that without a network censor looking over his shoulder. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ted 2. Mark Wahlberg returns—it’s the first time ever he’s appeared in a movie original and sequel—as John Bennett, Ted’s best friend and enabler.
“After 96 episodes on television Entourage is making the leap from small screen to big. Vincent Chase and his posse, Eric, Turtle, and Johnny Drama promise the same laughs the TV show delivered but not everyone was excited about the movie. Grant Elliot says he was a fan of the series “when it was good” and started a Kickstarter campaign to make enough money to bribe the show’s creator Doug Ellin to NOT make the movie…” TO READ THE WHOLE THING CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE ON STANDS NOW!
From The Bookend Family: “Mr. Crouse makes the details come alive, with stories about the size of the stories and the size of the performer’s egos. All in all it’s an intimate and scrappy love-note about how and when an artist found his voice and started his career. Elvis Is King makes the case that My Aim Is True was a truly rare phenomenon, and an album that was absolutely the right sound at the right time. This book is not that, but it’s pretty darn close…”
Richard Crouse interviews Carla Gugino on starring in the action film “San Andreas”
Gugino on women in action films: “In the 1950s women did draw at the box office then a lot of things changed but I think we’re coming back to the place where one does not preclude the other. You don’t have to just have men kicking ass and women being passive because that is not something today that women relate to. Women are not passive in general.”
Blythe Danner Interview with Richard Crouse for “I’ll See You in My Dreams ”
“I think it is a very underplayed role,” she says. “Yes, she runs the gamut of emotions but there is nothing that is very extreme in my playing of this role. It is heartening that people are touched by the whole film and if they are by my performance that is very flattering but I don’t see it as an Oscar worthy performance. I just don’t see it. The possibility seems absurd to me.”
From Broadcastermagazine.com: “Renowned film critic, Richard Crouse, will return as Master of Ceremonies to host the event, which promises to be the largest-to-date. The awards have become a mainstay in the Canadian film industry with consistently high accolades for its spirited atmosphere.
“A good film not only tells a story, but provokes the mind and touches the heart,” said Crouse. “The C.C.E. produce quality films that continue to captivate audiences, myself included, and I’m honoured to once again help recognize their endless talent.”
Richard spoke about his new book “Elvis is King: Costello’s My Aim is True” on NewsTalk 1010’s “In the Studio” on Saturday May 23, 2015 with hosts Bob redid and Blair Packham.
In The Studio airs every Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday night from 10pm with Bob Reid and Blair Packham (acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer, music educator and former leader of The Jitters), bringing you a wide variety of guests from all aspects of the world of music.
