The actor Ike Barinholtz is best known for playing the dim-witted Morgan Tookers on “The Mindy Project.” What’s less known is that in real life Barinholtz is a news junkie who was inspired to write his new film, “The Oath,” during the first Thanksgiving Dinner following Donald Trump’s 2016 electoral victory.
This Thanksgiving is set against a backdrop of sweeping new legislation that will affect every American. Called the Patriot’s Oath, it’s a document the government expects every red-blooded American to sign as a declaration of their loyalty. One couple, the hot-headed ideologue Chris (Barinholtz) and his unflappable wife Kai (Tiffany Haddish), refuse to sign. As their extended family, including Chris’s sister Alice (Carrie Brownstein), conservative brother Pat (Jon Barinholtz) and his Tomi-Lahren-Lite girlfriend Abbie (Meredith Hagner), convene just days before the Loyalty Pledge signing deadline, the situation spirals out of control. Two officers from the Citizen’s Protection Unit (John Cho and Billy Magnussen) show up at Chris and Kai’s front door, armed with questions, toxic masculinity and a disregard for the law.
“The Oath” is part political satire, part home invasion movie. Pitched just a hair under hysterical, it’s a timely dark comedy that seeks to shine a light on the political chasm that divides the left and right wings. Under some well-crafted jokes bubbles a righteous rage worthy of Alex Jones if he leaned left rather than alt-right. Barinholtz uses a sledgehammer to explore the basis of belief, the very thing that can either bring us together or, more often than not, tear us apart. Subtle it is not.
“The Oath” doesn’t dig much deeper than that, however. It skims the surface of how divisive politics drives wedges between friends and family but tends to lean toward broad comedy to make its point rather than insight.
“The New Romantic,” a winning new rom com of sorts from director Carly Stone, exists on the Venn Diagram where “Pretty Woman,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and Tinder intersect.
College student Blake’s (Jessica Barden) relationship column for her school newspaper has gotten tired. Chivalry is a thing of the past and the Nora Ephron-esque ideal of romance doesn’t exist, for Blake, at least. “The grandest it gets these days is swiping left instead of right,” she writes. With nothing to write about her column is at risk of being cancelled until Blake meets Morgan, a young woman who dates wealthy men in return for presents. She’s not a prostitute, she’s a self-declared “sugar baby.” Intrigued by Morgan’s situation and sensing a way to spice up her column Blake spends time with Ian, an older college professor (Timm Sharp), in return for presents like mopeds and bracelets. She is using him for material; he’s using her for sex. The question remains, Can Blake’s self esteem and college career survive her “relationship” with Ian?
“The New Romantic” has charm to spare thanks to an engaging performance by Barden. She is a naïve romantic, vulnerable and yet curious. In short, she’s a real person, not some confection direct from her favourite writer Ephron’s imagination. Barden, best known for her startling work on Netflix’s “The End of the F*****g World,” embraces he contradictions in her character, creating someone who makes mistakes but is nonetheless in control of herself. She is the solid core that anchors the film.
It’s a promising feature debut from Stone who, as director and co-writer, that both embraces and rejects the typical romantic comedy formula.
Watch the full episode of “Pop Life” from Saturday October 13, 2018. This week Richard speaks with J.D. Fortune who opens up about his start as an Elvis Impersonator and winning Rock Star: INXS to become part of a legendary rock band then the panel, rocker Fortune, actress and Lady Gaga impersonator Athena Reich and musician Aaron Jensen, open up about their work as tribute artists and the different joys it brings them.
This week on “PopLife” the panel, rocker J.D. Fortune, actress and Lady Gaga impersonator Athena Reich and musician Aaron Jensen, open up about their work as impersonators and the different joys it brings them.
This week on “Pop Life” Richard speaks with JD Fortune who opens up about his start as an Elvis Impersonator and winning a reality TV show to become part of a legendary rock band.
Conducted by Evan Mitchell Featuring the Motion Picture Symphony Orchestra
(Thanks to Emmanuel Lopez for the photo)
Plus, Behind The Curtain pre-show talk for Thursday, October 11 and Friday, October 12 with Richard Crouse
6:30-7:00PM – in the Lower Lobby
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 – Toronto, Ontario: Civic Theatres Toronto and Attila Glatz Concert Productions proudly present Casino Royale in Concert, the first installment in the James Bond Concert Series, produced by Film Concerts Live! in association with EON Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM). For the first time ever in Canada, audiences will be able to experience Bond on the big screen accompanied by the power of a full symphony orchestra performing composer David Arnold’s thrilling musical score live and in sync to the picture!
With Casino Royale, EON Productions and MGM launched their wildly successful reboot of the Bond franchise, and at the time of its release in 2006, it became the highest grossing film in the series’ history.
It also marked Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the legendary MI6 operative, and he earned high marks with fans and critics alike.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale brings us Bond at the start of his career, having just earned 00 status and his license to kill, and pits him against the ruthless terrorist financier known as Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). From the jungles of Madagascar to the white sand beaches of the Bahamas, Bond’s pursuit of Le Chiffre leads to a showdown in a high-stakes poker game at the luxurious Casino Royale in Montenegro, and ultimately to a jaw-dropping finale on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Along the way, Bond meets the beautiful British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), assigned to keep a watchful eye on 007 as he risks it all to bring down Le Chiffre. Giancarlo Giannini stars as René Mathis, Bond’s mysterious MI6 contact in Montenegro, and Dame Judi Dench returns as M.
Join us before the show on Thursday, October 11 and Friday, October 12, for a conversation with Toronto Film Critic and TV Host Richard Crouse and special guests. Take a look at the impact that Casino Royale continues to have on pop culture, explore David Arnold’s memorable score and go behind-the-scenes to learn how the orchestra performs live and in sync with the film. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Behind The Curtain pre-show talk is open to all ticket-holders attending the performance.
We all know how “First Man” will end. No surprises there. What may be surprising is the portrayal of its titular character, American astronaut and hero Neil Armstrong. It’s a small story about a giant leap.
Focussing on the years 1961 to 1968 “First Man” introduces us to Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) as an engineer and envelope-pushing pilot. When an X-15 test flight gives him a glimpse of space he becomes obsessed with going further. When his three-year-old daughter dies of a brain tumour he turns his grief inward, throwing himself at work. Becoming a NASA Gemini Project astronaut over the next seven years he fulfils the dream of President Kennedy 1962, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth,” speech. Alongside Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Jim Lovell (Pablo Schreiber), he begins a journey that will take him to the moon and back.
“First Man” is based on one of mankind’s greatest achievements and yet feels muted on the big screen. Deliberately paced, it nails the bone-rattling intensity of the early flights, the anxiety felt by the loved ones left behind as the astronauts risk everything to beat the Russians to the moon, and yet it never exactly takes flight.
Part history lesson, part simulator experience, it doesn’t deliver the characters necessary to feel like a complete experience.
Gosling is at his most restrained here as an analytical man who loves his family but is so stoic he answers his son’s question, “Do you think you’re coming back from the moon,” with an answer better suited to the boardroom than the dinner table. “We have every confidence in the mission,” he says. “There are risks but we have every reason to believe we’ll be coming back.” He is buttoned-down and yet not completely detached. His daughter’s memory never strays from his mind, even if he never discusses her death with his wife, played by an underused Claire Foy. Gosling embraces Armstrong’s fortitude but has stripped the character down to the point where he is little more than a distant man of few words.
“First Man” contains some thrilling moments but for the most part is like the man himself, stoic and understated.
Six years ago writer/director Drew Goddard deconstructed the slasher movie genre with the whimsical and exhilarating “Cabin in the Woods.” A mash-up of horror and humour, of post-modern self-awareness and gruesome gags, it simultaneously adopted and challenged the conventions of the slasher genre. He returns to the big screen—his day job is writing, producing and directing TV shows like “Daredevil” and “The Good Place”—with “Bad Times at the El Royale,” an inversion of a 1990s broken timeline crime drama.
The El Royale is the kind of seedy hotel that dotted the highways and byways of 1960s America. Split down the middle by the California/Nevada border, it’s a perfect slice of mid-century kitsch, like the same guy who decked out Elvis’s rec room designed it. When we first lay eyes on it a shady character (Nick Offerman) with a bulging suitcase and a gun wrenches up the floorboards and hides a case of money before replacing the carpet and the furniture. It’s an act that establishes the El Royale as a home-away-from-home for transients and ne’er-do-wells and sets up much of the action to come.
As for the action to come, you’ll have to go see the film to find out what happens. I will tell you that the film takes place ten years after the suitcase was hidden in the hotel and begins with a disparate group of folks checking in well after the El Royale’s heyday. There’s slick talking vacuum cleaner salesman Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm), Reno-bound singer Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a priest with tired eyes and hippie chick Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson). All three pay front desk manager Miles (Lewis Pullman) the $8 deposit and take to their rooms.
Secrets are revealed about the guests and the hotel as an aura of menace clouds the sunny California/Nevada border. “We’re in a bit of a pickle,” says Father Flynn in what may be the understatement of the year.
Goddard takes his time setting up the narrative drive of “Bad Times at the El Royale.” He bobs and weaves, playing with time, slowly revealing the intricacies of the story. For the patient—it runs two hours and 21 minutes—it’s a heck of a ride but may prove too opaque for casual viewers. Large conspiracies are hinted at, secrets are kept and no one is really who they seem to be. For those willing to submit to the grimly funny and admittedly indulgent proceedings, it’s a Tarantino-esque web of intrigue and unexpected violence that plays both as a crime drama and a metaphor for the decay of 1960s idealism.
“Bad Times at the El Royale” is a good movie filled with bad people. It asks you to care about people who do terrible things and by the end, thanks to inventive storytelling and good performances—Erivo is s standout—you just might.
Lean and mean, the easiest way to describe “Knuckleball,” a new film starring genre legend Michael Ironside, is as a nastier “Home Alone.”
Headed to a funeral, Mary and Paul (Kathleen Munroe and Chenier Hundal) leave their young son Henry (Luca Villacis) in the hands of his grandfather Jacob (Ironside). Deposited on the rural farm Henry is without the essentials of his millennial life, videogames and a working cell phone. Put to work outside, Henry begrudgingly does his chores, shows an ability with a baseball and meets oddball neighbour Dixon (Munro Chambers). Grandpa says he’s “almost like family” but there is something strained between the two men. Henry’s uneasy rural retreat turns to terror when he looks to Dixon for help after he is left alone in Jacob’s house, miles from anywhere with a storm—literally and metaphorically—brewing.
“Knuckleball” is a story of survival pared down to the essentials. The remote setting, the icy atmosphere and Ironside’s menacing presence create a sense of dread that blossom throughout. The cat and mouse story has gaps and some unnecessary twists but the undercurrent of fear, driven by a strong performance from Villacis that is both vulnerable and resourceful, prevails. It’s a story of secrets and cruelty carefully crafted to accentuate the thrills and not the plot holes.
