Part high school hierarchy drama, part crime tale, “Selah and the Spades,” now playing on Amazon Prime, is a study of power and teenage clique system at Haldwell, an elite Pennsylvania boarding school ruled by five “factions.” “The factions are realistic in the need for the student body to engage in their vices,” we’re told by the narrator (Jessie Cannizzaro), “and are pragmatic in facilitating them.”
The Seas “will help you cheat your way through anything for the right price,” while the Skins deal in anything students can gamble on. The Bobby’s are responsible for every illegal party thrown in a dorm basement after lights out and the Prefects keep the administration blissfully unaware of on campus shenanigans.
The dominant faction, The Spades, deal in the classic vices, booze, pills, powders and fun, under the iron fisted rule of Selah (Lovie Simone).
Like a teenage Costra Nostra the factions live by an Omertà, an inflexible code. Don’t be a rat ns the only consequences to be concerned with are the ones they impose themselves.
As an A student who will soon graduate, Selah has her mind of succession. Who will take her place to ensure the Spades stay the most powerful clique in school? With her first lieutenat Maxxie (“When They See Us’s” Jharrel Jerome) distracted by a new boyfriend, Selah sets her eye on Paloma (Celeste O’Connor) the new girl in school as her protégée.
Meanwhile, when the headmaster (Jesse Williams) cancels the prom over the misconduct of a handful of students, tensions erupt between the factions as they search for a rat in the ranks.
“Selah and the Spades” is a promising feature debut from director Tayarisha Poe. Visually stunning and filled with charismatic performances, it is a mix-and-match of high school movie tropes and film noir crime drama. Imagine if John Hughes, the great American portrayer of high school life, had ever tried his hand at gangster movies and you get the idea. It’s a study of how precarious life is at the top of the social hierarchy that saturates its story with elements of “Scarface” and female empowerment. “They never take girls seriously,” Selah says. “It’s a mistake the whole world makes.”
The story sputters near the end but is kept alive by the atmosphere of tension Poe infuses into every scene and the lead performance. Simone is equal parts power and insecurity, never letting her guard down except in a phone call to her mother. When her mom asks what happed to the other seven points on test where Selah scored 93, we immediately understand the weight this young woman carries around and her need to control her surroundings in the face of an uncertain future. It gives the character a much needed does of humanity that elevates her from extreme-mean girl to compelling character.
“Selah and the Spades” is an excellent debut for Poe, fierce and fascinating.
Almost seventeen years after “Bad Boys II” Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith), are longer in the tooth but still ready for some over-the-top action in a one-last-job movie. “I’ve never trusted anybody but you,” says Lowery says to Burnett in “Bad Boys for Life.” “I’m asking you, man. Bad Boys, one last time?”
Once “bad boys for life,” the team of Burnett and Lowrey is coming apart at the seams. Middle age and career aspirations have sent the once inseparable team in opposite directions. Burnett, now a grandfather, is one the edge of retirement—”Mike, we got more time behind us than in front,” he says.—while Lowery is still hungry for the adrenaline rush that comes with police work. “I’m going to be running down criminals till I’m a hundred,” he says.
Their lives have led them in different directions but when Armando Armas Tapia (Jacob Scipio), a drug kingpin and son of a man Burnett and Lowery took down years ago, resurfaces looking for vengeance, the two cops put the band back together. “Family is the only thing that matters,” Burnett says to Lowery. “I’m not letting you go on this suicide mission alone.”
“Bad Boys for Life” doesn’t feel so much like a sequel or a reboot as it does a tribute to the Michael Bay films of the o-so-many-years-ago. The patented “Bad Boys” high style feels like nostalgia for the 1990s when movie violence came with dark humor and buddy cop charisma. The story of a vengeful drug dealer is about as deep as a lunch try but directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who have clearly worshiped at the altar of Bay, understand that the success or failure of a “Bad Boys” movie isn’t about the story but the sparks generated by Smith and Lawrence. The pair, now aged 51 and 54 respectively, fall back into their roles effortlessly, having some fun with their middle-aged selves. “Bad boys ain’t really boys anymore.”
One effectively staged scene compares and contrasts the partners and their stages of life. It’s a funny sequence that intercuts Lowery putting on his Ray Bans with a flourish while Burnett struggles to get his reading glasses on his face, etc. It’s a nice light show-me-don’t-tell-me scene that sets up the dynamic between the two.
The wild action scenes that follow tend toward orgiastic videogame style shootouts, particularly the climatic battle, but succeed because the CGI is kept to a minimum and the gunshots are punctuated by Lawrence’s quips.
“Bad Boys for Life” keeps the camera in constant motion, filling the screen with equal parts over-the-top violence and humour, breathing new life into a franchise that was declared dead when George W. Bush was still president.
The Rob Ford Movie. That’s the shorthand being used to describe “Run This Town,” a film coming to VOD this week. It’s set during the tumultuous term of the late Toronto mayor but make no mistake this isn’t a Ford biopic or a study of his politics. It’s a film that uses Ford’s tumultuous time as a backdrop for an unconvincing study of millennial angst among other things.
Set in 2013, the film centers around Bram Shriver (Ben Platt). Fresh out of journalism school he’s keen to tackle the big stories, to write articles that will move the needle. His dream job of being a reporter at The Record, however, sees him writing Best Hot Dogs in the City clickbait lists instead of investigating city hall.
Meanwhile, it’s chaos at city hall. Rob Ford (Damian Lewis under a mound of Fat Bastard make-up), the popular 64th Mayor of Toronto, is making headlines for his erratic behavior. Keeping things on course is Kamal (Mena Massoud), spin wizard and special assistant to the mayor, who, it is said, “knows everything.“ A Greek chorus of Steamwhistle-beer-drinking communications folks provide the necessary exposition to explain how they spin bad news and behavior into good news and how to vilify the press.
Back at the newsroom Bram stumbles his way into the wildest political scandal in Toronto history when he happens to pick up the phone and become the first person to find out about “the crack video.“ Can he capitalize on the biggest break of his career and finally put his Frum Award to good use or will he be doomed to write lists forever?
Keep in mind Bernstein and Woodward he is not. The story runs parallel to the reporting done by Bram’s real-life counterparts at The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. More pointedly Robyn Doolittle or Kevin Donovan, the real-life reporters who broke the story are nowhere to be seen or heard.
“Run This Town” is a mix of fact and fiction, of flights of fancy that live at the intersection of real reporting and fake news. A muddle of ripped from the headlines details, innuendo and fiction it takes on the Ford administration’s failings, the state of journalism, millennial angst, sexual harassment and more. Jam packed and lightening-paced it hop scotches around, pausing only long enough to linger on a grotesque caricature of Rob “Show me some respect, will ya?” Ford.
Ford, played by Lewis in a prosthetic suit, fake flab and a stereotypical “oot and aboot” accent, is portrayed as an incoherent buffoon. Misogynistic, racist, paranoid—and those are the good qualities the film grants him—he lurches about the office making inappropriate remarks, prone to fits of sudden temper. It’s an exaggerated interpretation of the mayor but it is also one that is all fat suit and no humanity. Say what you will about Ford’s behavior while in office, and there is much to be said about it, what we see here is larger-than-life without the enough life to make it feel real.
Richard sits in on the CJAD Montreal morning show with host Andrew Carter to talk about the weekend’s VOD and streaming releases including the Netflix animated film for kids (and their parents) “The Willoughbys” and the documentary “Circus of Books.”
On the iHeartMedia and Bell Radio Network, Jason Agnew stays up late to keep you company on “The Late Shift with Jason Agnew” from midnight to 4 am Monday to Thursday. Richard joins Jason every night at 2 am to make recommendations on the best series to stream, the latests and greatest movies on VOD and how to entertain yourself during the pandemic. Tune in!
Richard joins NewsTalk 1010’s “The Night Side With Barb Digiulio” to talk about why he started the web series “In isolation With” and why the Toronto International Film Festival is refusing to cancel their September events.
The encore presenation of “Pop Life” for Saturday April 25 features an in-depth interview with music industry legend Danny Goldberg. He began his career in 1969 as a music journalist before becoming Vice-President of Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records from 1974-1976. In the early nineteen eighties he co-owned Modern Records, which released Stevie Nicks’ solo albums. From 1983-1992, Danny was the founder and President of Gold Mountain Entertainment, a personal management firm whose clients included Nirvana, Hole, Sonic Youth, Bonnie Raitt, and The Allman Brothers. Subsequently, Danny became Chairman and CEO of the Mercury Records Group, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and President of Atlantic Records. And there’s more,much more. On “Pop Life” he talks about his relationship with Kurt Cobain. Then, the “Pop Life” panel, musicians Shelley Hamilton, Damhnait Doyle and Tyler Shaw, discuss life on the road and in the spotlight.
Film critic and pop culture historian Richard Crouse shares a toast with celebrity guests and entertainment pundits every week on CTV News Channel’s all-new talk show POP LIFE.
Featuring in-depth discussion and debate on pop culture and modern life, POP LIFE features sit-down interviews with celebrities from across the entertainment world, including rock legends Sting and Meat Loaf, musicians Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, comedian Ken Jeong, writer Fran Lebowitz, superstar jazz musician Diana Krall, stand-up comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell, actors Danny DeVito and Jay Baruchel, celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Nigella Lawson, and many more.
While we’re all isolating at home and practicing physical distancing, we’re also likely consuming a lot more television than we normally do. Though sometimes the options from streaming services can be completely overwhelming. To help make things a little easier, we went to film and TV critic Richard Crouse and asked for his top picks for hidden gems you may not know about, and amazing shows you may have missed when they first came out.
THE OUTSIDER | CRAVE TV
Stephen King’s “The Outsider” mixes-and-matches a police procedural with some supernatural shenanigans to create one of the most unsettling, and interesting horror series to come along in some time. (10 episodes)
Before she became famous Phoebe Waller-Bridge made “Crashing,” a show about six twenty-somethings saving money by living together and working as property guardians in an abandoned hospital. Funny but occasionally bleak, it’s like “Friends” without the laugh track. (6 episodes)
In the legal drama “Goliath” Billy Bob Thornton so effectively plays a brilliant lawyer on the skids after a case gone wrong that you can practically smell the cigarette and booze breath. His redemption and search for truth are the things that make his character and the show compelling. (24 episodes)
“Euphoria” is the kind of show that may well give parents nightmares. A devastatingly honest portrayal of students as they navigate their teen years, it is unflinching in its depiction of the soft underbelly of high school life. (8 episodes so far)
Rachel Brosnahan plays the title character in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” with such charm that the word marvelous doesn’t seem strong enough to describe the performance. She is witty, occasionally slap your knee funny while exuding warmth and empowerment. Marvelous? Let me add astounding and wonderful. (26 episodes so far)
“Succession’s” story of greed and depraved family dysfunction is almost Shakespearean in its scope. As aging media mogul Logan Roy contemplates stepping down from his company his four children will do almost anything to take control. This is a portrait of back-stabbing that would make Machiavelli blush. (20 episodes so far)
Unlike most reality shows “Next in Fashion,” hosted by “Queer Eye’s” Tan France and fashionista Alexa Chung, isn’t interested in the on-set in-fighting between contestants. Instead, it pits eighteen brilliant designers against one another using nothing but their talent. There’s loads of drama, but also some amazing clothes. (10 episodes)
Comedies don’t come much darker than the hitman humour of “Barry.” Bill Hader plays a contract killer who wants to leave his violent past behind and become an actor. All the episodes are great but the show where he fights a 12-year-old girl who may have supernatural Taekwondo powers is a classic. (16 episodes)
“Billions” takes a legal drama, a soap opera and “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” throws them into a pot and gives a good stir. The result is a look at greed-heads driven by a thirst for power, money and one-upping the other guy at any cost. (36 episodes)
It is rare that a series starts off string and gets better as it goes along but that is the case with “Ozark.” A crime drama about a middle-class family who launder money for a drug cartel, it has more twists and turns than any country road. If you liked “Breaking Bad,” you’ll definitely enjoy this series.
Part high school hierarchy drama, part crime tale, “Selah and the Spades,” now playing on Amazon Prime, is a study of power and teenage clique system at Haldwell, an elite Pennsylvania boarding school ruled by five “factions.” “The factions are realistic in the need for the student body to engage in their vices,” we’re told by the narrator (Jessie Cannizzaro), “and are pragmatic in facilitating them.”
