I guest hosted NewsTalk 1010’s “The Rush” with Teddy Wilson on Wednesday March 13, 2024.
HOUR ONE: Does this Toronto marketing stunt rank among the best ads of all time?
HOUR TWO: Do you need to show your receipt to leave a grocery store?
HOUR THREE: What investing advice would you give your younger self?
HOUR FOUR: What did you do to get out of jury duty?
In the classic 1998 film “Smoke Signals” Cree actor Cody Lightning played the younger version of the lead character Victor. “I’m Cody Lightning,” he says, “Little Victor, as most people know me. Or should know me. ‘Smoke Signals.’ Big movie. I was in it.”
A quarter century later comes “Hey Viktor!,” a new mockumentary, now playing in theatres, starring Lightning as an exaggerated version of himself as he desperately seeks to relive old glories.
“I did not want this movie to end,” said Gene Siskel of “Smoke Signals.” “In fact, I wanted a sequel.”
In the new film, Lightning aims to give Siskel his wish and create a sequel to the movie that started it all for him. “When ‘Smoke Signals 2’ comes out,” he says, “game over.”
We first meet Lightning, as an alcoholic teacher of a very intense acting classes for kids while performing in cut-rate pornos in his off hours. “A lot of people don’t understand the artist’s life,” he says.
When his ex, and mother of his kids, begins dating “Canada’s latest Indigenous superstar” (Peter Craig Robinson) and announces she’s moving to the United States, he hits rock bottom.
We see all this, because the documentary crew following him around isn’t actually making a movie about his life and career, they’re actually from an intervention style TV show called “Getting Sober” hosted by Craig Broner (Colin Mochrie).
He takes the opportunity to realize his dream. Along with the crew and his manager and BFF Kate (Hannah Cheeseman) he begins production on “Smoke Signals 2.”
“If we don’t do this,” he tells Kate, “I have nothing. I’m losing my kids. I’m not getting parts. I’m losing you. Let’s do this for us.”
“Hey Viktor!” may be the “Spinal Tap” of child actor movies. Funny and absurd, but with an undercurrent of reality that grounds the heartfelt moments, it delivers laughs and some bittersweet moments. Make no mistake, this is a comedy, first and foremost, and a raunchy one at that, but as it works its way to the end, it careens through a dysfunctional journey of self-discovery.
At the heart of the film is Lightning. Playing a character who wants to overcome the demons that plague his adult life, he makes peace with those he has wronged, and with himself. It’s not a subtle performance, the nudity, the poop jokes and the ruthless swearing see to that, but it is a heartfelt one.
He’s supported by nice performances from the cast, including Cheeseman, who does powerful work as Lightning’s faithful friend, Mochrie, who brings the fire and Simon Baker, who plays himself as a grown-up star of “Smoke Signals.”
“Hey Viktor!” is a go-for-it comedy that matches humour with heart.
The Quebec-set “French Girl,” now playing in theatres, may be the only rom com to feature Mixed Martial Arts as a plot point. Other than that, it’s a standard romantic comedy, heavy on the romance but light on real comedy.
Zach Braff plays Gordon Kinski, a Brooklyn, New York born-and-raised high school English teacher, who has never wandered outside the neighborhood he was born into. He lives close to his eccentric writer father (William Fichtner) and teaches at the school he attended as a teen.
He’s forced out of his comfort zone when his live-in chef girlfriend Sophie (Evelyne Brochu) gets the chance to work in a fancy hotel kitchen, run by world-famous chef Ruby Collins (Vanessa Hudgens), in her Quebec City hometown.
Bags packed, he goes along for the ride. Trouble is, Gordon, a bundle of anxiety and insecurity, tries a little too hard to impress Sophie’s French-Canadian family. On top of that, unbeknownst to Gordon, Sophie and Ruby were once a couple, and the flame of attraction may still be burning.
The CanCon rom com “French Girl” is a fish-out-of-water story that leans heavily into the genre’s conventions. You know how it will end—if you don’t, give up your RomComCard—so it is important to make the journey to the end credits as entertaining as possible.
Braff does yeoman’s work bringing as much charm as possible to Gordon. His photo should be next to the word “neurosis” in the dictionary, and after a time, his ability to put his foot in his mouth becomes almost as tiering for the audience as it does for Sophie’s family.
Brochu, in a fairly thankless role, has good chemistry with Braff, but really shines when she is interacting with the members of her family.
Hudgens plays Ruby as a ruthless chef with a passion for perfection. It’s a stereotype straight out of “Hell’s Kitchen,” which might have had more impact if we actually saw her prepare some food, and not just dip her finger into a sauce with an unkind word on her lips and a sneer on her face.
Romantic comedies can be comforting in their cliches. Like a great meatloaf or mac ‘n’ cheese, they are unpretentious, don’t demand much and in return provide a warm happy feeing. “French Girl” has the comforting traits of the genre, but in the end is mostly empty calories.
Chances are good you have seen the extraordinary viral video of elderly London stockbroker Nicolas Winton, given a standing ovation by the grown survivors of the 669 children, mostly Jewish, he rescued from Czechoslovakia before the Nazi occupation closed the borders. Taken from the BBC television show “That’s Life,” it is moving footage that has been viewed millions of times.
“One Life,” a new biopic starring Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Jonathan Pryce and Helena Bonham Carter, and now playing in theatres, provides the background of the much-viewed video and the man known as the “British Schindler.”
Based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton” by Barbara Winton, the film toggles back-and-forth between 1987 London and 1938 Czechoslovakia. In the contemporary scenes Winton (Hopkins) is in retirement, puttering around a house stuffed with memories, paperwork and artefacts from his past. He continues his charitable work, still haunted that he was not able to save more children, while his wife Grete (Lena Olin) urges him to clear out the ephemera of the past and slow down. “Why would I want to slow down?” he asks.
Played by Flynn in the flashbacks, Winton is on assignment for the British Committee for Refugees From Czechoslovakia. In Prague, taken by the plight of the stranded children he encounters, the hunger and the mortal danger the impending Nazi occupation, he puts into motion the massive relocation of hundreds of children. Through money raising efforts, arranging visas and foster care, he spirits nine trainloads of children, through precarious circumstances, to safety in Britain.
The famous viral video, in which Winton is finally able to see, and maybe for the first time, understand, the results of his work, is recreated to great emotional effect. But even as his status as a national hero grows, he grumbles, “This is not about me.”
As the latter-day Winton, Hopkins gives a quietly powerful performance. It is empathetic work colored by the guilt Winton carried. “I’ve learned to keep my imagination in check,” he says, referring to the children left behind, “so I don’t go raving mad.” In a restrained movie, it is his inner work that bursts forth, making us feel the immense impact of Winton’s work.
“One Life” is a potent story of doing the right thing, trapped in a staid historical biopic, but given life by the emotional story and performances.
Romance and ‘roid rage collide in “Love Lies Bleeding,” a pulpy new romp starring Kristen Stewart, now playing in theatres.
Set in 1989, Stewart is Lou, a loner who works at Crater Gym, a rundown fitness center owned by her estranged father Lou Sr (Ede Harris). When she isn’t fixing plugged toilets at the gym, she listens to How to Quit Smoking cassette tapes while inhaling deeply on cigarettes and helps her sister (Jena Malone) and abusive brother-in-law JJ (Dave Franco) look after their kids.
When ambitious bodybuilding drifter Jackie (Katy O’Brian) blows into town, on a quick pitstop on her way to a Vegas bodybuilding competition, she falls hard for Lou. But will a sudden, violent chain of events get in the way of their love and bodybuilding glory?
“Love Lies Bleeding” is a squirmy, no-holds-barred hybrid of crime thriller, family drama, psychological study and LGBTQ2S+ romance. Director Rose Glass entertainingly juggles the various elements, and isn’t afraid to shock and amuse the audience with audacious breaks from reality. No spoilers here, but the visualization of the protective power of love is eye-popping, funny and, if you are willing to take an artistic leap, really effective.
Stewart is a brooding character whose actions are governed by new love and some old habits (again, no spoilers here). She’s a jumble of rough edges, but underneath her sneering facade is a warm, beating heart, open to those brave enough to get close. As the situation around her spins out of control, old instincts arise, and Lou morphs from taciturn gym worker to a dynamo fueled by anger and lust.
O’Brian plays Jackie as a fit and toned archetype, a drifter with a past and maybe not much of a future. Glass cleverly uses the traits of Jackie’s bodybuilding—the bulging muscles, popping veins shot in extreme close-ups—as a metaphor for the rage that bubbles just underneath her carefully sculpted physique.
The chemistry between them lies at the heart of the success of the film and yet, Anna Baryshnikov (dancer Mikhail’s daughter) as the messy Daisy manages to steal every scene she appears in. As a young woman with an unrequited love for Lou, she is a catalyst for some of the film’s chaos, with a baby voice and some strange, but kinda sweet, energy that almost makes you feel bad for her. Almost, but not quite.
“Love Lies Bleeding” is a bloody and brutal twist on the neo noir that harkens back to films like “Wild at Heart” and early Coen bros. It comes equipped with a scruffy looking Ed Harris, some shocking violence, but also an attitude. It is a wild and occasionally thrilling ride that plays into old crime story tropes with fresh and fun execution.
I guest hosted NewsTalk 1010’s “The Rush” on Tuesday March 12, 2024.
HOUR ONE: Want a bigger tip? Add THIS to a restaurant bill.
HOUR TWO: Have an old parking ticket? Why it could cost you thousands.
HOUR THREE: Did your ancestry DNA test lead to a surprise?
HOUR FOUR: What did you do to get out of jury duty?
I guest hosted NewsTalk 1010’s “The Rush” on Monday March 11, 2024 with co-host Bob Reid.
HOUR ONE: Dan Riskin joins the show for Science Monday to share and discuss the top science stories of the week.
HOUR TWO: Toronto has its first bald eagle nest in recorded history. Senior Manager of Restoration and Infrastructure at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Karen McDonald joins the show to discuss why this is exciting.
HOUR THREE: Today’s Smart Speakers, John Moore and Reverend Michael Coren discuss the top stories of the day.
HOUR FOUR: March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. Bob and Richard share personal stories
I join CTV News Winnipeg anchor Rachel Lagace to talk about “I’m Just Ken,” JImmy Kimmel and the night’s biggest surprise.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join John Moore on NewsTalk 1010’s “Moore in the Morning” to have a look at the highs and lows of last night’s Oscars.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
