Archive for January, 2018

POP MYTHOLOGY: Richard on the Flashback Film Fest & the influence of 80s films

Richard spoke with Pop Mythology writer John K. Kirk about Cineplex’s Flashback Film Festival and why he loves “The Big Lebowski.”

“Dudism.” Richard agrees. “There are 220,000 of them somewhere out there. In New York, there was a store I used to shop at, called “The Little Lebowski”. It’s gone now but it was a store that sold The Big Lebowski merchandise. There are not that many movies that have reached that level of fandom. I think it’s because it’s a wild movie. The story really doesn’t matter; it’s about the characters, the process, and once you get into its weird little rhythms, it seduces you.” READ THE WHOLE THING HERE!

MIDNIGHT RETURN: 3 ½ STARS. “makes the most of its talking head presentation.”

In 1978 the movie “Midnight Express” was a big hit. The true story of Billy Hayes and his escape from a Turkish prison packed audiences, won a screenwriting Oscar for Oliver Stone and made Hayes a media star. It also enraged the Turkish people and led to a major decline in tourism to that country. A new documentary is part true-life crime story, part making-of doc and part mea culpa.

Written and directed by Sally Sussman “Midnight Return” gathers all the original players—Hayes, Stone, director Alan Parker and more—to tell the tale of Hayes’s arrest in Istanbul, at age 23, for smuggling hashish. The year was 1970 and Hayes was sentenced to four years and two months in a Turkish prison. After serving the bulk of the time he was resentenced to life behind bars. He escaped in 1975, making his way to Greece and then into the waiting arms of his parents in the United States.

Upon his stateside arrival he was a cause celeb. His book, “Midnight Express,” detailed his ordeal in gruesome detail. The film, starring Brad Davis, drew praise from critics but was criticized for its portrayal of Turkish people. Director Parker even admits the Turkish actors aren’t even speaking Turkish in the film and hat no effort was made to be culturally authentic. Despite accolades at home Hayes was vilified in Turkey, seen as an agent of propaganda and universally hated.

This entertaining doc details Hayes’s life and efforts to rehabilitate his reputation in the country that once held him prisoner. Chock full of anecdotes about the making of the film—Stone and Parker did NOT get along— and insights to Hayes’s life both before and after his arrest, “Midnight Return” makes the most of its talking head presentation.

Of all the characters Hayes stands out. He’s a showboater but despite his extroverted ways it is apparent his time away had a profound impact on him. The film’s final third, his trip back to Istanbul, reveals the deep level of hurt that lies beneath his bravura exterior. Those revelations, mostly captured on home grade video, deepen the impact of the movie, elevating “Midnight Return” from talking head doc to character study.

THE INSULT: 3 ½ STARS. “a serious, powerful film that offers emotion and empathy.”

“The Insult,” Lebanon’s first-ever Academy Award nomination for best foreign-language film, centers around a small slight that escalates until the eyes of a nation are turned toward it.

The problems begin with a leaky illegal drainpipe on Lebanese Christian auto mechanic named Tony’s (Adel Karam) Beirut balcony. When it drips water unto a construction crew working below, Palestinian Muslim refugee Yasser (Kamel El Basha) patches it. Enraged a stranger has tampered with his property Tony undoes the work and demands an apology. “He thinks he’s a hotshot but he’s not.” Tony rants. “He better apologise for insulting me.” When the men meet Tony, who is revealed as a fan of anti-Palestinian Christian leader Bachir Gemayel, blurts out “I wish Ariel Sharon had wiped you all out.” A physical confrontation leads to a court trial which becomes a media sensation.

Writer-director Ziad Doueiri, who worked as a camera assistant under Quentin Tarantino on “Pulp Fiction” and “Jackie Brown,” uses the small story of two men and a disagreement to shine a light on an old and continuing deadlock in the Middle East. Buoyed by terrific performances—El Basha won the Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival—the film comments on the Lebanese civil war in microcosm. Boiling the country’s history of unrest between Sunni Muslims and Christians down to a personal story puts a human face on a huge problem. Doueiri humanizes the conflict metaphorically, showing the effects of dehumanizing rhetoric and hate.

“The Insult” is a serious, powerful film that offers not only emotion but also empathy.

IN THE FADE: 3 STARS. “story of violence against immigrants is a timely one.”

To paraphrase James Baldwin, “The most dangerous creation of any society is the woman who has nothing to lose.” “In the Fade” (“Aus dem Nichts”), the new thriller from German director Fatih Akin, brings this truism to life.

When we first meet Katja (Diane Kruger in her first German language film) she has a normal life. Living in Germany, married to Turkish immigrant accountant Nuri (Numan Acar), she has a young son named Rocco and a large extended family. Her well ordered life is disrupted, forever changed, when Nuri and Rocco are killed in a Neo-Nazi nail bomb attack. Her life in shards she attempts suicide, endures a drawn out court trial—“Imagine if they had gotten me and Rocco and Nuri had lived. He wouldn’t have stood for all this chit chat,” she says of the court case.—and finally, a showdown between her and the people responsible for tearing her life apart.

“In the Fade’s” story of terrorism and violence against immigrants is a timely one. Footage like the bombed out storefront where Nuri did business have become commonplace on the nightly news. What is less commonplace, on the news anyway, is the revenge aspect. Her need for vengeance, no matter the cost, drives the final third of the film.

Broken into three distinct segments, “The Family,” “Justice” and “The Sea,” the film almost feels like three separate shorts bound together by one character. Kruger is the glue that makes the movie as compelling as it is. A churning vessel of rage, hurt and despair, she is a very human presence at the centre of a bleak story.

“In the Fade” closes with a title card detailing the violence against immigrants in Germany each year. It is a powerful statement made in a movie that drives the point home by honing the horror of widespread violence down to one, very personal story.

GEEK HARD PODCAST: Episode 399 – Altered Killer Flashbacks

From geekhardshow.com: We talk with actor Abigail Winter. Abigail can currently be seen as Jess on the new season of Mary Kills People. We talk about what’s been happening in season two, her music and more. Born in Vancouver, BC, Abigail Winter began acting at the age of six – her first role being Gretl in The Sound of Music (Royal City Musical Theatre). She continued on in various theatre productions such as The Music Man and Beauty and the Beast until joining the Stratford Festival company in 2007 where she spent six seasons. Other film and TV credits include The Collector, The Fog, Sanguine, Emma, Copper, Rookie Blue, Warehouse 13, Unless, V. Morgan Is Dead, Saving Hope, Between, and The Detail. Abigail is also thrilled to be releasing her first original EP, Chemistry, in the spring of 2018.

Our review of Netflix’s Altered Carbon starring Joel Kinnaman, James Purefoy and Martha Higareda. Synopsis: Based on the classic cyberpunk noir novel by Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon is an intriguing story of murder, love, sex, and betrayal, set more than 300 years in the future. Society has been transformed by new technology: consciousness can be digitized; human bodies are interchangeable; death is no longer permanent. Takeshi Kovacs is the lone surviving soldier in a group of elite interstellar warriors who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. His mind was imprisoned – on ice – for centuries until Laurens Bancroft, an impossibly wealthy, long-lived man, offers Kovacs the chance to live again. In exchange, Kovacs has to solve a murder … that of Bancroft himself.

We also speak with film critic and host of Pop LifeRichard Crouse. Richard will be joining us to talk about the 2018 Flashback Film Fest, coming to select Cineplex Cinemas in February. Richard chats about the lineup for this year’s fest as well as his adventures while interviewing celebs. The event is Canada’s only coast-to-coast festival, bringing a line-up of sci-fi, fantasy and fan favourites back to the big screen. This year, Cineplex Events and renowned film critic, Richard Crouse, curated a line-up of 15 of the most blood-pumping, thrill-inducing and heart-warming films in cinema that will screen in over 27 cities across the country from February 2-8, 2018.

It was a great show!

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THE DRAKE COMMISSARY OSCARS PARTY 2018 WITH RICHARD CROUSE.

We’re celebrating everyone’s favourite award show with host Richard Crouse in true Drake style, this year @ DRAKE COMMISSARY for the first time! Put on your best threads + play our Oscar pool while cheering on your picks from the silver screen. Don’t want to miss a minute? We’ve got a trophy-worthy prix-fixe that’ll save your spot for the night!

To book your spot, call 416.432.2922 or email host@drakecommissary.ca

PRIX-FIXE MENU_$35
App
Sunchoke / hazelnut/ endive
Or
Green salad

Main 
Lamb shoulder/ Romano bean/ kale
Or
Arctic char/ horseradish/ dill/new potatoes
Or
Tortilla with Brown Butter Chanterelles

Snack
Caramel Corn

  • Property: Drake Commissary
  • Venue: Drake Commissary
  • Type: Live
    Culture
  • Cover: Free | $35 prix-fixe to reserve seating
  • Time: March 4, 2018, 6 p.m.

Mero In Focus: Maze Runner star’s on-set injury highlights danger of stunts.

By Richard Crouse – Metro In Focus

In March 2016, production was shut down on Maze Runner: The Death Cure when star Dylan O’Brien was hurt filming an elaborate stunt. O’Brien, who rose to fame as the resident heartthrob on Teen Wolf, was strapped in a harness on top of a moving vehicle when he was suddenly thrown and struck by another car. WorkSafeBC reported his injuries included “concussion, facial fracture and lacerations.”

With production postponed, O’Brien’s publicist Jennifer Allen said, “His injuries are very serious and he needs more time to recover.”

Director Wes Ball tweeted, “Well, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions these past few days. I’ve been overwhelmed with feelings of anger and sadness and guilt. But, ultimately I find myself left with just a deep love and respect for Dylan. He is one tough cookie.”

The film, originally scheduled for release on Feb. 17, 2017, was delayed until this weekend.

O’Brien says he was “in a really fragile, vulnerable state,” and during the early days of his recuperation thought he may never act again. “I’ve gotten to a place where I’m OK with it,” he told People, “but it was definitely a rough year.”

The 26-year-old isn’t the first actor to be hurt performing a dangerous deed. Jackie Chan is famous for doing all of his own stunts — and breaking almost every bone in his body in the process — while Mission: Impossible 6 was recently put on hold after Tom Cruise broke his ankle attempting a jump across a building gap.

Sylvester Stallone broke ribs on the First Blood set and Charlize Theron herniated a disc in her spine while shooting Aeon Flux. Jason Statham joked about almost being drowned during the making of The Expendables 3, but it is serious business. How far should filmmakers go in the search for realism in stunts?

Industry insiders say the best way to keep everyone safe is to let the professionals do their jobs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, no stranger to films with wild action scenes, said, “With stunts, we have a rule that if you can get injured or killed, you let a stunt guy do it, because they are much more skilled in how to do the falls, being on fire, how to deal with all those things.”

Stunt driver Richard Lippert asserts that, stunt-wise, actors only have to know how to do three things: first, how to convincingly fake a punch; second, how to drive on and off a mark; and finally, how to credibly handle a weapon. Other than that, he says, “actors shouldn’t plan to do their own stunts no matter how ‘cool’ or exciting it may seem.”

Other than personal danger for the actor, one wrong move can shut down a set costing everyone their livelihoods. “Taking a job away from someone to stroke your ego is not a good way to become popular,” says Lippert.

CGI is another option, although many top directors prefer real action. After years of “following the CG evolution,” using computer-generated images to create beautiful animated films like Happy Feet and Babe: A Pig in the City, director George Miller used actual stunts performed by stunt men and women in his action epic Mad Max: Fury Road. “It was like going back to your old hometown and looking at it anew,” he said.

FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL: 4 STARS. “this is Bening’s movie.”

By the time actress Gloria Grahame passed away in 1981 at age 57 she was largely forgotten. A new film, “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” aims to remind of us of the Oscar winner’s—she won the Best Supporting Actress award in 1952 for The Bad and the Beautiful—life, legacy and love.

When we meet Grahame (Annette Bening) she’s in the “whatever happened to” phase of her career. Hollywood is a distant memory and she’s now trading on whatever cache her name still holds, performing “The Glass Menagerie” in English regional theatres. Ailing, she calls on Peter Turner (Jamie Bell), a former lover and much younger man who once moved to New York to be with her. He’s now back at home in working-class Liverpool, struggling to make it as an actor.

As Grahame becomes sicker and sicker the movie moves along a fractured timeline to tell the story of their love affair and how sickness shattered their bliss and eventually brought them together again.

Director Paul McGuigan uses some slick camera tricks to jump around in time from the first blush of their relationship to the end and every point in between. Doors open in the present to reveal a scene in the past. It’s showy but dreamy, as though we are hopscotching through Peter’s memory.

Bell is a sweet, sensitive and thoughtful boy-toy whose sparks with Bening. He’s very good but this is Bening’s movie. Her Grahame is a wonder, effervescently flirty one second, frail the next. She is the keeper of a heartbreaking secret agenda and a vain woman facing the abyss. It’s remarkable stuff that sits comfortably alongside her stellar recent work in “The Face of Love,” “20th Century Woman” and “Rules Don’t Apply.”

“Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” is a three Kleenex film that will make you want to go back and check out Grahame’s real life movies. If you haven’t already, check her out as the temptress with an eye for James Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” or as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! She was a great talent and Bening does her justice.

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE: 1 STAR. “things get blown up every 10 minutes.”

You may be forgiven if you, like me, thought about going to see “The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” to catch up on what happened to Shailene Woodley’s character Tris Prior.

Please be advised you have the wrong franchise.

Back in the day of the young-adult-in-peril dystopian trilogies screens were filled with good looking young actors fighting for survival in movies like “The Maze Runner” and “The Divergent Series.” Of the bunch of them only “The Hunger Games” distinguished itself as a go-to movie. The others kind of blended together to form one long post apocalyptic action series that resembled an anti-utopian Guess ad with automatic weapons and artfully tousled hair.

Since the new film, “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” assumes you’re up to speed with the story I’ll save you the trouble of having to binge watch the first two movies.

Here’s the catch-up:

Based on a series of wildly popular YA books, 2014s “The Maze Runner” sees Thomas, played by “Teen Wolf’s” Dylan O’Brien, plopped into a community of young men surrounded by a labyrinth. The rebellious Thomas wants to see if there is a way to navigate through the ever-changing maze that stands between the boys and whatever is happening in the outside world.

The following year “The Scorch Trials” saw the virtuous Thomas and his gang take on the worst people in the world, W.C.K.D., a group of evildoers that appear to use an Instagram acronym as their name.

After a three-year wait Thomas is back with his stylishly dishevelled hair and chiselled face to break into The Last City, a fortified town where doctors work to find a cure for a plague that turns people into snarling zombies. The good doctors, including Thomas’s former flame Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), are experimenting on the Maze Runners who are immune to the disease. In particular Thomas wants to rescue Minho (Ki Hong Lee), a pal being mercilessly poked with needles in search of a cure.

“Maze Runner: The Death Cure” features lots of ominous music, attractive stars in motion, dusty dystopian landscapes and something gets blown up or shot at every 10 minutes or so. What’s missing is the emotional content that might make you care about Thomas and Company. The movie really wants you to love the characters. The camera endlessly caresses their determined and often tearstained faces but the ham fisted big emotional moments are as empty as the jars of gel thrown in the trash after being used to poof up the cast’s hair. The characters are mannequins mouthing generic dialogue—speeches begin with, “I knew I know you have no reason to trust me,” and every few minutes someone says, “We have to get out of here!”—for two hours and twenty minutes. Think what else you could do with that time!