Archive for October, 2020

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY OCTOBER 30, 2020.

Richard and CP24 anchor Cristina Tenaglia have a look at the childhood horror of “Come Play” (in theatres), the haunted house terror of “His House” (Netflix) and the new documentary “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” (In-Cinemas and Virtual Cinemas).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FOR OCTOBER 30!

Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with host Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the childhood horror of “Come Play” (in theatres), the haunted house terror of “His House” (Netflix) and the new documentary “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” (In-Cinemas and Virtual Cinemas).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CP24: WHAT MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO WATCH TO THIS WEEKEND!

Richard and “CP24 Breakfast” host Pooja Handa have a look at some special streaming opportunities and television shows to watch over the weekend including the Disney+ short “Once Upon a Snowman,” the Amazon Prime Video documentary “Time” and the docu-series “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult” on Crave.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including the childhood horror of “Come Play” (in theatres), the haunted house terror of “His House” (Netflix) and the new documentary “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” (In-Cinemas and Virtual Cinemas).

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

HIS HOUSE: 4 STARS. “a thrilling rethink of what the genre can be.”

Haunted houses and Halloween go hand in hand. Fairground ghost houses, with their flickering lights and carnies dressed in store bought costumes, have been making hearts race and teens scream for decades but a new movie, “His House,” now streaming on Netflix, brings those cheesy thrills into a terrifyingly real world.

Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) are refugees from war torn South Sudan. Their journey to freedom is fraught. They’re crammed into busses and pick-up trucks, then loaded on to a leaky boat in rough waters. At sea they lose their young daughter who drowns when the boat flips.

They survive and land in an English detention centre, living there until temporary permission to stay in the U.K. is granted. While they wait on their claim of asylum, they’re moved into a dilapidated community housing. “You will be sent to a home of our choosing,” they are told.  “You must reside at this address. You must not move from this address. This is your home now.”

The filthy fixer-upper (to put it mildly) has holes in the walls, garbage piled out front and an evil secret, possibly a spirit from their former country. “There is a great beast in this house,” says Rial. “It followed us here. It is filling this house with ghosts to torment my husband.”

What follows is a classic haunted house film with a deep subtext that breathes new life into the genre’s desiccated old lungs. Set against a background of cultural displacement, survivors’ guilt, and the psychological wounds of a life spent in trauma, “His House” is no “Amityville Horror.” Sure, strange things happen in the home. Voices come from behind the drywall, a spirit appears and dreams manifest themselves in the most horrific of ways, but the context is different.

British writer-director Remi Weekes knows his way around a supernatural thrill but he also weaves in real life experiences of racism, otherness and genocidal suffering into the story, forming a rich tapestry of chills—some from beyond our mortal coil, some not—that move the tired old haunted house horror story to new, deeply felt places. It may drag in spots but “His House” is a thrilling rethink of what the genre can be.

JIMMY CARTER ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT: 3 ½ STARS. “worthy film about a worthy man.”

Depending on your age, the name Jimmy Carter can conjure up a variety of images. There’s the elderly man, hammer in hand, leading a construction team for the Habitat for Humanity charity. Older folks may recall him as the president who pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office or the man who famously admitted, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.”

What is lesser known is that, despite his strait-laced image, the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia who became the 39th president of the United States was also a music fanatic. A new documentary, “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President,” which actually might have more appropriately called “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll, Gospel, Jazz, and Country President,” is now playing in theatres and on-line in virtual cinemas (see list below). It charts the connection between Carter and the likes of Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and the Allman Brothers. “There were some people who didn’t like my being involved with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and disreputable rock and rollers,” he says in his distinctive drawl, “but I didn’t care because I was doing what I really believed.”

In the film’s opening minutes we see Carter, now in his nineties, at home in Plains. He sits in his comfy chair, a record player at his side. He talks about visitors to the home. Bob Dylan hasn’t been but the Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash have all stopped by. He lowers the needle on an LP—that’s a long player for you Spotifiers—and grins with joy as the opening notes of “Hey Mr. Tambourine Man” fill the air. The film could have stopped there, as his love of the music is so apparent, but history demands more.

What follows is a collection of newsreel footage, talking head interviews with family and admirers and some incredible music. Archival film of Ray Charles singing “Georgia on My Mind,” Mahalia Jackson performing “Down by the Riverside” and Boomer faves like Dylan and the Allmans are worth the price of admission. Carter reminisces that Bob Dylan’s songs permeated the governor’s mansion. “My sons and I were brought closer together by Bob Dylan’s songs,” he says.

More importantly it’s a portrait of a deeply principled and decent man who rose from a boyhood home with no electricity of plumbing to the highest office in the land. Director Mary Wharton has made an affectionate film about a time when decency reigned; a movie that seems, these days, like ancient history.

It’s a study in soft power, the ability to attract and co-opt, rather than coerce the electorate. Carter’s genuine love of music, and habit of throwing concerts on the White House lawn, helped shape the public’s opinion of him. That love of music put everyone at ease, including Bob Dylan. The singer says that when Carter quoted his song lyrics to him, “it was the first time that I realized my songs reached into the establishment world. I had no experience in that realm. Never seen that side. It made me a little uneasy but he put my mind at ease.”

Alongside the musical memories are the political high and low lights from carter’s term as president. The two sit side-by-side uneasily. The Iran hostage crisis section, for instance, is followed by a performance of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band.  In Carter’s case the political and the artistic two sides of the same coin but the mix and match give the film a disjointed feel.

Despite its flaws “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” is a worthy film about a worthy man.

Find the movie in theatres and on virtual cinema here:

Cinecenta (Victoria, BC)

In-Cinema Screening

17-Nov-2020

19-Nov-2020

https://www.cinecenta.com

Vic, The (Victoria, BC)

In-Cinema Screening

30-Oct-2020

05-Nov-2020

https://www.thevic.ca

Vic, The (Victoria, BC)

Watch via Virtual Cinema

30-Oct-2020

22-Nov-2020

https://www.thevic.ca

Ted Rogers Hot Docs Cinema (Toronto, ON)

Watch via Virtual Cinema

29-Oct-2020

22-Nov-2020

https://www.hotdocscinema.ca

City Cinema (Charlottetown, PEI) – Film Circuit)

In-Cinema Screening

29-Oct-2020

01-Nov-2020

https://citycinema.net

Vancity (Vancouver, BC)

In-Cinema Screening

23-Oct-2020

29-Oct-2020

https://viff.org/Online/default.asp

Vancity (Vancouver, BC)

Watch via Virtual Cinema

23-Oct-2020

22-Nov-2020

https://viff.org/Online/default.asp