Archive for June, 2023

NEWSTALK TONIGHT: RICHARD SITS IN FOR JIM RICHARDS COAST TO COAST!

Jim Richards was off last night, so I took over on the coast-to-coast radio talk show “NewsTalk Tonight”!

Here are some of the highlights:

Canadian History EhX! With Craig Baird: Canadian History EhX with Craig Baird – CanadaEHX.com Mary Two Axe Earley became the first Indigenous woman to regain her Status on June 28, 1985. Jamie Lee Hamilton, a pioneering trans-activist who also fought to bring attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls – For Pride Mont…

GreatPods With Captain Ron: GUEST: Imran Ahmed aka Captain Ron – Founder of Great Pods – the rotten tomatoes for podcasts All socials @GreatPods | Newsletter and website GreatPods.co Near Death – Critic Podcast Reviews Marianna in Conspiracyland – Critic Podcast Reviews Critic Podcast Reviews – The Retrievals

Legendary Sex Educator Sue Johanson has died at Age 93: GUEST: Samantha Bitty, is a sexual health and consent educator, certified Emotional Intelligence coach and host of SliceTV’s Sex Sessions. Samantha joins the show to talk about Sue Johanson’s legacy.

The Rundown With Mike Kakuk & Bob Richardson: Guests: Bob Richardson – NEWSTALK 1010 contributor and President, Hammersmith Consulting  Mike Kakuk – Co-Host of the Morning Drive on AM800 in Windsor

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY: 4 STARS “whip-crackin’ fun.”

The artefact at the heart of the action in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is a time shifting device called the Antikythera. This ancient, analogue computer with the power to find fissures in time, however, isn’t the only thing about the movie that revisits the past.

Everything old is new again in director James Mangold’s vision of the classic action-adventure. There’s the much talked about de-aging of Ford, the grand old man of action-adventure which effectively brings backs the classic Indy of the original film, and the reappearance of much-loved characters like John Rhys-Davies as Sallah. Even the new characters, like Helena, played by “Fleabag’s” Phoebe Waller-Bridge, feels like a throwback to the characters invented by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas when Ronald Reagan was still in office.

The action begins in 1944. Indy (the de-aged Ford) risks everything to help his colleague Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) keep Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) from getting his hands on

a mysterious dial known as the Antikythera. Used properly, the dial has the ability to manipulate time, and say, change the outcome of a certain war. “Hitler made mistakes,” says Voller. “And with this, I will correct them all.”

Cut to twenty-five years later. America has just landed on the moon, and the nation is jubilant but it is a jubilation the weathered Indy does not share. In the wake of his separation from

Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and the death of his son, he starts each day with a shot of booze and a bad attitude.

On the eve of his retirement from teaching, a face from the past shows up. Helena Shaw (Waller-Bridge) is Basil Shaw’s daughter, Indy’s estranged goddaughter, an archeologist and a thief. Her interest in the Antikythera lures Indy back into a world of international adventure, former Nazis and the echoes of history come to life. “You’ve taken your chances, made your mistakes,” Helena says to Indy, “and now, a final triumph!”

Nothing is likely to ever live up to the adrenaline rush of seeing “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time. The expert balance of action, comedy, suspense and mysticism is a cut above and nearly impossible to duplicate.  The retro newness of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is an attempt to recapture the magic, and it does deliver a hefty dose of whip-crackin’ thrills, but like the de-aged Ford in the film’s opening twenty minutes, it doesn’t exactly feel like the real thing.

It is, however, respectful of what came before. Mangold transcends the film’s recycled nature with some exciting action set pieces, and even if the stunts don’t feel as organic as they did the first time around, they deliver a welcome blast of vintage Indy action. There’s even a callback to Indy’s well-known fear of snakes. A highlight is a wild chase through the streets and alleyways of Tangier that mixes humor, action and peril in equal measure.

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael captures the classic Indy look, an aesthetic and color palette that disappeared sometime around “Crystal Skull.” Visually, it’s like a warm hug that spans back decades.

Of course, the crucial element is Ford. He may need more CGI to hopscotch around on the top of trains and through sunken caves these days, but he brings the OG 70s movie star mojo and a Traveller’s hat full of charisma that has not diminished over the years. There is a poignancy to Ford’s lion-in-winter portrayal of the character, and, as a result, (NO SPOILERS HERE) there is an emotional component to the film’s final reel, as Indy confronts the anguish he feels, that may be the most touching moment in the entire series.

He’s ably assisted by the wisecracking Waller-Bridge and stoically evil Mikkelsen.

The story and action in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” gets slowed down from time-to-time by too much talk of the Lance of Longinus, Polybius Squares and the Ear of Dionysius. Mangold makes up for those moments with John Williams’s rousing, signature score and a wild, and unexpected third reel payoff. The movie may not turn back the clock to have the cultural impact of the original, but it is a lot of fun.

RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN: 3 ½ STARS. “tells its story with panache.”

“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” a new animated coming-of-age story from Dreamworks, now playing in theatres, flips the usual idea of the tentacled sea creature from fearsome to heroic.

The Kraken-out-of-water tale isn’t a franchise—although it may be the beginning of one—but it does owe a debt to recent Pixar films “Turning Red” and “Luca,” movies about the transformation of body and expectations.

Years after leaving the sea to live on land and raise their family, ocean creatures Agatha (Toni Collette) and Peter Gillman (Colman Domingo) are secretive about their past. “We’re from Canada,” they say to explain away their blue skin, gills and lack of spines.

Fifteen-year-old daughter Ruby (Lana Condor) goes along with the lie, and admits to “barely pulling off this human thing.” At school, she feels different and has a hard time fitting in outside of her squad, a small group of BFFs.

“I just want to be Ruby Gillman, normal teenager,” she says.

Despite her mother’s strict rule of never going near the water, days before the prom, when her high school, skater-boy crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White) almost drowns, Ruby dives into the ocean to rescue him. Contact with salt water releases out her true self, a giant luminescent, kraken. “I’m already a little weird,” she says, “but I can’t hide this.”

In short order Ruby learns of her heritage, and that her grandmother, Grandmahmah (Jane Fonda) is a warrior queen, the Ultimate Lordess of and ruler of the Seven Seas, and charged with keeping the undersea world safe from the main maritime threat—evil mermaids.

“But people love mermaids,” says Ruby.

“Of course they do,” says Grandmahmah. “People are stupid.”

Grandmahmah wants Ruby to become her successor and possibly settle an age-old score.

Themes of self-acceptance, family love and overcoming insecurity are common in films for kids and young adults, and “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is no different. But what it lacks in originality—“Turning Red” got to the transformation as a metaphor for coming out of your shell first—it makes up for with good humor, fun voice work, particularly from Jane Fonda and Annie Murphy as a mermaid, and an engaging lead character.

Ruby is a sweet-natured math nerd wrapped up in a blanket of insecurity. As she attempts to navigate high school and her newfound kraken alter-ego, she never loses the teen aura that makes her so relatable. She may be able to morph into a giant, but the biggest things in her life remain her family and friends. It’s heartfelt, and somehow, not as sappy as it sounds.

“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” may not break new ground, or part the oceans, but it tells its story with panache, finding a way to merge a kid-friendly story with some decidedly adult jokes.

NIMONA: 4 STARS. “tackles big topics, and isn’t afraid to dig deep.”

“Nimona,” a new sci-fi, young adult animated action-adventure now streaming on Netflix, sets its story of outsiders, identity and acceptance in a futuristic medieval kingdom where knights, on flying horse-shaped motorcycles, use old-school crossbows and high-tech gear to fight monsters.

Adapted from the webcomic by N.D. Stevenson, the story is set in a techo-medieval kingdom where the defenders of the realm, called the Institution, are knights descended from noble backgrounds dating back 1000 years. The sole exception is Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a man of humble origins who earned his way into the Institute by relentless hard work and self-training in the art of killing monsters. His induction to the group, by Queen Valerin (Lorraine Toussaint), is turned upside down when a terrible event occurs and Boldheart is framed for the Queen’s murder.

In an effort to clear his name, Boldheart is forced to team with a shapeshifting creature named Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), the very trouble-making monster he had sworn to hunt and kill. She can change into almost anything—a rhino, gorilla or whale—but she sees a kindred spirit in Boldheart, and insists on being his sidekick.

“Your sidekick has arrived,” she announces. “Every villain needs a sidekick.”

“I’m not a villain,” insists Boldheart. “The real villain is still out there and I do need help.”

As Boldheart and Nimona create chaos within the kingdom and without, Ambrosious Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), the realm’s champion knight and Boldheart’s love interest, is also searching for answers that will exonerate the Institution from wrongdoing. “If anyone can find them,” he says. “It’s me.”

“Nimona” bursts with imagination. The nouveau medieval, fairy tale world is wonderfully imagined, part “Henry V,” part “Bladerunner.” It’s something original, a blend of old and new, with armor-clad knights using swords that shoot lasers and other nifty artifacts with high-tech twists. The world is brought to life with visual pageantry and panache that sets the tone for the actual story.

Inhabiting this animated fantasy are characters battling very human issues. Nimona is someone who struggles with loneliness and finding a place in the world. She is an agent of chaos, a person with an appetite for destruction, but as the film’s runtime increases, so does our understanding of why she behaves the way she does. She, like Boldheart, are allegories of outsiders, characters who, within the context of the story, battle with their perception of their place in the world.

As an exploration of queerness, the film’s message of being true to yourself arises organically.

Boldheart asks her, “What would happen if you held it in?”

“I’d die,” she replies. It’s a powerful metaphoric message about being one’s self and just one of many that emphasize the movie’s LGBTQ+ themes.

“Nimona” tackles big topics, and isn’t afraid to dig deep. Sitting alongside the LGBTQ+ topics, are themes of standing up to power and how to be an ally, but it never allows the messages to overtake the story. Co-directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane ensure that amid the messages of benevolence and self-acceptance, are plenty of emotional moments and exciting, large scale action scenes that will make your eyeballs dance.

NO HARD FEELINGS: 2 STARS. “feels outdated and overdone.”

In recent years the R-rated comedy has fallen out of favor, pushed out of movie theatres by hunky but fully clothed, spandex-clad superheroes. In her new movie, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence attempts to bring soft-core comedy and innuendo back to the big screen with “No Hard Feelings,” a throwback to a time before #MeToo when raunchy romps like “American Pie” and “Not Another Teen Movie” bridged the gap between mainstream movies and stag films.

Lawrence plays Montauk, Long Island Uber driver Maddie, a young woman with only a few dollars in her bank account and even fewer options to earn more after her vehicle gets repossessed. “I’m an Uber driver and I don’t have a car,” she says. “I’m going to lose my house.”

With no job and no prospects, she answers a Craigslist ad posted by Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti), the wealthy, eccentric helicopter parents of withdrawn nineteen-year-old Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). The overbearing couple, who keep track of their kid via GPS on his phone, fear he is too withdrawn and ready to attend Princeton University in the fall. “He doesn’t come out of his room,” says Laird. “He doesn’t talk to girls. He doesn’t drink.”

The deal is simple: If Maddie will date Percy, and bring him out of his shell, they’ll give her an old Buick they haven’t driven in years.

“So, when you say ‘date him,’” Maddie asks, “do you mean ‘date him’ or ‘date him’?”

“Date him,” Laird says, “date him hard.”

“I’ll date his brains out,” she promises.

The plan doesn’t get off to a promising start after Percy, fearing that Maddie’s advances are actually a kidnapping attempt, pepper sprays her. As time passes, however, Maddie and Percy’s friendship goes beyond contractual.

“No Hard Feelings” aims to find a sweet spot between racy comedy and heartfelt friendship story and misses the mark on both counts. The silly premise dampens whatever authentic moments Lawrence teases out of the bland script, and the metaphors—i.e.: the old Buick may be broken down, but there’s nothing wrong with it, or Maddie, that a bit of love and tenderness can’t fix—are so heavy handed, they flatten out whatever sincerity is lurking in the shadows.

Lawrence and Feldman are both better than the material, and what success, and laughs, the film has are owed to their performances. As the movie struggles to create a feel-good vibe in the last reel, Lawrence’s considerable charisma comes in handy, but the predictable and ultimately contrived story feels outdated and overdone.

BLUE JEAN: 3 ½ STARS. “harrowing but tender study in identity.”

“Blue Jean” is a new British period drama, set in 1988 at the time of Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28, that feels unsettling in its timeliness.

Set in working class Newcastle, and told against a backdrop of news reports detailing Prime Minister Thatcher’s Section 28, a new law which would “prohibit the promotion of homosexuality,” the movie stars Rosy McEwen as Jean Newman. She is a gay high school physical education teacher who is out in her day-to-day life, but closeted at work. “You have to create boundaries as teachers,” she says. “it’s part of the job. If anyone found out, I‘d never work again.”

Her off hours are spent at home or at the local gay/lesbian bar, a smoky pool hall where she can be open with girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes).

The line between her personal and profession life begins to fade when a new student Lois (Lucy Halliday) joins Jean’s class. As Lois navigates her way in unfamiliar surroundings, Jean encourages her to play basketball, but the newcomer is bullied before, during and after every game. Jean suspects Lois is a lesbian, but, despite Viv’s disappointment, doesn’t confide in her.

“What kind of example are you setting for her?” asks Viv. “How is that girl going to learn if she has a place in this world?”

When the underage Lois shows up at the local gay bar, Jean feels exposed; afraid that her secret will be revealed.

In an early scene in “Blue Jean” Jean asks her class if they know what “fight or flight means.” It is, she says, how the body responds before the brain has even thought about it. It is that flight response to Lois that informs jean’s initial reaction to being outed, before a wave of self-reckoning sweeps over her.

Vividly brought to life by McEwen, who makes her big screen debut here, Jean’s instinctual need to preserve her job conflicts with her heart. McEwan’s star-making performance guides the character through the self-recrimination, heartache and ultimately relief necessary to bring this low-key story to vibrant life.

“Blue Jean” is a harrowing but tender study in identity, that blends a personal story with a political and societal one. Set decades ago, it is unfortunately timely, given recent events, in its portrayal of oppression of rights and casual homophobia, but still, a quiet heartbeat of rebellion pulses within as Jean marches toward self-actualization.

ASTEROID CITY: 3 STARS. “whimsy has finally replaced storytelling.”

For better and for worse, there is nothing quite like a Wes Anderson film. The director’s unique production design is all over his new sci fi comedy “Asteroid City,” but with this film it is clear that whimsy has finally replaced storytelling on his to do list.

This is a twisty-turny one. Like a set of nesting dolls, it’s a film, within a play, within a show hosted by a Rod Sterling-esque talking head (Bryan Cranston), within a teleplay written by playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton).

The bulk of the “action” takes place in Asteroid City, a remote New Mexico desert town—population 87—where Steve Carell’s motel manager hosts a Junior Stargazer convention. Gifted kids and their parents from all over the state convene to showcase their incredible, and often outlandish, inventions.

It’s an interesting group that includes recently widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), father to “brainiac” Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and son-in-law to Stanley (Tom Hanks), movie star Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and the rough-n-tumble J.J. Kellogg (Liev Schreiber). Along for the ride are singing cowboy Montana (Rupert Friend), teacher June (Maya Hawke), Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton) a scientist from the local observatory and the fast-talking Junior Stargazer awards judge, General Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright).

When the convention is interrupted by a visiting alien, the whole thing is locked down for a mandatory government quarantine.

Despite the quirky tone and Anderson’s trademarked stylistic choices, “Asteroid City” is a serious film, albeit one laced with a healthy dose of absurdism. A study in how people deal with grief, and the true nature of love, Anderson’s characters experience existential dilemmas, angst born of loss and dissatisfaction. Threats are posed by nuclear bombs and life from other planets unexpectedly dropping by to say hello and children wonder aloud what happens when we die. A shroud of melancholic anxiety hangs over the film, like a shroud, but Anderson’s staging of the film, the meta story within a story structure, obscures the movie’s deeper meanings under layers of style.

The cast, particularly Johansson and Hanks, bring focus to Anderson’s unfocussed story, and Carell, Cranston and briefly Goldblum are having fun, but it sometimes feels the surfeit of characters are there more to decorate the screen than to forward the story.

“Asteroid City” may delight long-time fans, but casual moviegoers or newcomers to the director’s oeuvre may find the film’s mannered obtuseness off kilter and off putting.

NEWSTALK 1010: EMM GRYNER + GORD SINCLAIR + PHOTOGRAPHER MICK ROCK

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Emm Gryner. She is a Canadian musician and vocal coach. David Bowie named Emm as one of his two favourite Canadian acts. U2 frontman Bono named her song “Almighty Love” as one of six songs that he wished he had written.

Gryner toured in David Bowie’s band, singing and playing keyboards, and appears on the recordings Bowie at the Beeb and Glastonbury 2000. Emm helped make the first music video in outer space with Chris Hadfield and is also the author of a book called “The Healing Power of Singing: Raise Your Voice, Change Your Life: What Touring With David Bowie, Single Parenting And Ditching The Music Business Taught Me In 25 Easy Steps.”

Her new album is “Business & Pleasure” is a celebration of the Detroit radio scene and the music that shaped her childhood. From Motown, jazz and pop, to Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac and the Doobies, Business & Pleasure is infused with the sunshine soul and stellar playing of the late 70s and early 80s.

Then, Gord Sinclair stops by. Best known as the bass player and one of the songwriters in The Tragically Hip, he is now a “reluctant solo artist” with a new album called In Continental Drift, available now wherever you buy fine music.

Finally, we go into the vault to revisit my interview with the late, great rock photographer Mick Rock. He is often referred to as ‘The Man Who Shot the Seventies’, for his iconic images of Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, The Ramones, Blondie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc. London born, he has resided in New York for over 35 years. He has shot over 100 album covers.

Rock was instrumental in creating many key rock ‘n’ roll images, such as album covers for Syd Barrett’s Madcap Laughs, Lou Reed’s Transformer and Coney Island Baby, Iggy and The Stooges’ Raw Power, Queen’s Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’) and Sheer Heart Attack, The Ramones End of the Century and Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, among many others. He was the chief photographer on the films The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus. He recently shot special stills for the new TV version of Rocky Horror, featuring the transgender actress Laverne Cox as Frank n Furter. He also produced and directed the seminal music videos for Bowie: ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’, ‘Jean Genie’, ‘Space Oddity’, and ‘Life On Mars’.

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 Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!

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