Richard joins NewsTalk 1010’s Jim Richards coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse like these movies?” This week we talk about the blood soaked Netflix zombie flick “Army of the Dead,” the predictable “thriller” “Trigger Point” and the LGBTQ+ cabin-in-the-woods flick “The Retreat.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
The first twenty minutes of “Army of the Dead,” the new Zach Snyder movie now streaming on Netflix, are a blood pumping—and squirting—good time.
In the film’s opening minutes a car careens into a military transport carrying “some Area 51” style cargo. Turns out the “cargo” is a bullet-dodging, bloodthirsty undead creature who quickly lays waste to the security detail guarding the truck, turning them into zombies with a quick chomp or two.
The undead plague quickly spreads. Hardest hit is Las Vegas, which goes into the ultimate lowdown. Walled off to keep the zombies in, Sin City is now the Undead Capital of the World.
Into this mix comes Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, soulful badass and leader of a rag tag team of misfits hired by a wealthy casino owner to infiltrate Vegas, and steal a safe full of cash. The only problem? The hundreds of well-organized zombies between them and the money.
Snyder brings the undead to vivid life in the prologue that sets the stage in an eye-popping (sometimes literally) way and if the entire movie was as inventive as the first twenty minutes, “Army if the Dead” would be a thrilling, darkly funny rollercoaster ride. But once the movie becomes a hybrid of “Oceans 11” and “World War Z” the exuberance fades in favor of more standard zombie fare.
Still, there are some innovations to the genre. There’s a lovesick zombie, undead tigers—because it wouldn’t be Las Vegas without one of Siegfried & Roy’s big cats—and zombie Cirque du Soleil contortionists. Beyond that “Army of the Dead” stays true to the conventions of the zombie and heist genres, filtered Snyder’s grim anyone-can-die-at-any-time sensibility.
One major shift from typical zombie lore, however, works well. Zombie king Zeus (Richard Cetrone) is as bloodthirsty as you might imagine, but he also has the capacity for love. It’s a new twist that gives his character more depth, giving him a motivation beyond the usual mindless hunger for humans.
Is “Army of the Dead” scary? Not really. Gross? For sure. There’s enough fake blood here to fill the Dead Sea but as stylish as the slo-motion CGI plasma sprays are, the movie, at 148 minutes it feels overlong and is a bit too deliberately paced. The zombies are cool and slightly more advanced than usual, but, unfortunately, the over-all story isn’t as evolved.
“Trigger Point,” a new action movie starring Barry Pepper and now on VOD, is stylish looking and features good actors but suffers from a bad case of been there, done that.
Pepper is Lewis, a retiree leading a quiet life in a quiet upstate New York town. His days are spent at the local diner, flirting with waitress Janice (Nazneen Contractor) and sipping tea at the quaint local book store.
His home life, however, isn’t so quaint. His cabin-in-the-woods is a veritable fortress, complete with high tech surveillance gear and drone security.
Turns out Lewis is actually Nicolas Shaw, a former superspy for a shady operation called The Agency. In hiding after his actions resulted in the assassinations of his entire team, he’s brought back into the dangerous world of international intrigue by his former handler Elias Kane (Colm Feore).
Kane’s daughter Monica (Eve Harlow) has been kidnapped by the shadowy figure who may have been responsible for the methodical murder of Shaw’s team.
So, just when he thought he was out, Shaw is dragged back to the underworld to rescue Monica and search down the man responsible for his professional and personal undoing.
“Trigger Point” director Brad Turner has a long and varied list of television credits, including episodes of “MacGyver,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “Hawaii Five-O.” He knows how to shoot action and where to put the camera so the movie looks good when the bullets are flying.
He’s also good at casting interesting looking, solemn-faced actors like Pepper, Feore and Carlo Rota, all of whom have tread this territory before.
It’s in the storytelling that things go south. Weighed down by tough guy banalities, there is very little in “Trigger Point” that we haven’t seen before and done better. The actors breathe whatever life they can into this collection of clichés but no amount of grim determination can elevate this above the level of a forgettable direct to video time waster.
“The Retreat,” now streaming on VOD, is a survivalist horror film that sees big city couple Renee (Tommie-Amber Pirie) and Valerie (Sarah Allen) out of their element and fighting for their lives in the remote countryside.
Renee and Valerie are at the, “If this isn’t going anywhere you have to let me know,” stage of their relationship. Valerie wants to go to the next level, Renee is elusive. Affectionate but noncommittal. “I’m trying to talk to someone who clearly has trouble with adult conversation and avoiding conflict,” Valerie says.”
A weekend away at a cabin with friends seems like the tonic their relationship needs, but doesn’t turn out as planned. They arrive to find the place deserted with no sign of friends Connor (Chad Connell) and Scott (Munroe Chambers). Alone in unfamiliar surroundings, the couple stumble across some unsettling signs. They hear sounds in the woods and a deer’s head strung between two trees unnerves Valerie but Renee, who used to hunt with her family, is less freaked out. “We were there to reduce the population by selective slaughter,” she says, foreshadowing an inner strength that will soon come in handy.
As darkness falls, they are convinced someone is watching from the woods and soon they’re in a battle for their lives against militant extremists determined to kill them simply because they are “different.” “Time to cull,” says killer Gavin before the axes start swinging.
Played out over a tight 82 minutes, “The Retreat” doesn’t waste time in setting up its characters and situation. Building atmosphere and a sense of tension through the remote setting and strain between Valerie and Renee, director Pat Mills gets down to business quickly, amping up the eeriness with jump scares and an eerie soundtrack.
These scenes are effective enough, although once the darkness hits, physically and metaphysically, the film itself goes dark with low light photography that sometimes makes it hard to see what’s happening.
So far, it’s a typical cabin-in-the-woods set-up but with one major difference.
What sets “The Retreat” apart from other rural survivalist films is its subtext. Horror is not often kind to LGBTQ+ characters, treating them as villains or killing them off soon after the opening credits have roiled. Here they are front and center. Hunted by a group of heavily armed losers simply because of who they are, Renee and Valerie fight back.
“The Retreat” is a welcome twist on the survival genre from a queer director and female screenwriter that mixes anxiety, horror and empowerment.
Richard and Jim Richards, host of NewsTalk 1010’s coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” have a look back at the life and legacy of the late actor Charles Grodin.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard joins NewsTalk 1010’s Jim Richards coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to talk about the ebbing tide of celebrity culture. Are we just not as interested what Ellen and Will Smith are up top as we once were?
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
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This week on the Richard Crouse Show, a real-life story that has all the hallmarks of tabloid fiction. New Yorker magazine staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe received international acclaim for his 2019 investigation of the Troubles in Ireland, and now, in “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” he turns his sights to three generations of the Sackler family, the dynasty behind Purdue Pharma — they manufacture Oxycontin — and the modern opioid crisis.
Then, The Social host Cynthia Loyst stops by to talk about her book Find Your Pleasure: The Art of Living a More Joyful Life. We’ll talk about how to take the guilt out of pleasure and get to the heart of what you need and want in all aspects of life.
And finally, we celebrate Asian Heritage Month in Canada with Allan Cho And JF Garrard, the editors of “Belief,” a new collection of Asian writing from the online magazine “Ricepaper.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Ethan Hawke, director Brad Bird, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, Eric Roberts, Brian Henson, Jonathan Goldsmith a.k.a. “The most interesting man in the world,” and best selling author Linwood Barclay.
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Richard speaks to “CTV News at Six” anchor Andria Case about the best movies and television to watch this weekend including “Spiral,” the next chapter of the “Saw” franchise, the Amy Adams Netflix thriller “The Woman in the Window,” the non rom com “Together Together” with Ed Helms.
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 23:47)
