I join John Moore of “Moore in the Morning” on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about Jerry Seinfeld’s pronouncement that “the movie business is over.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 24:01)
TMZ recently asked Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone who, aside from them, should round out the action star Mount Rushmore. I join Jim Richards to offer some alternatives to their selections.
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 31:12)
“Challengers,” a new love triangle movie from director Luca Guadagnino, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, and set against the backdrop of the world of sports, gives new meaning to the term “love” as it applies to a tennis score.
The story focusses on three tennis players, the hardworking Art (Faist), the wild child Patrick (O’Connor) and the ultra-competitive Tashi (Zendaya). “She’s in another league,” Patrick says of her all-or-nothing style of play.
The guys have been friends forever, and are very close, to the point that when they meet Tashi, and ask for her number, she declines, thinking they are a couple. “I’m not a home wrecker,” she says.
She finally relents, promising to hand over the digits to whoever takes the next tennis match.
The story then leaps to-and-fro from their teens, twenties and thirties, to portray Art and Patrick as rivals, on the court and in a shared love for Tashi.
This is a Guadagnino movie, after all, so, once again, as he has shown in movies like “I Am Love,” “Bones and All” and, most famously, “Call Me By Your Name,” he delves into themes of desire and identity through the lens of complex relationships.
Their complicated pasts come to a head in the present as Art, a pro player on a losing streak, accepts a low-level Phil’s Tire Town Challenger match against the washed-up, sleeping-in-his-car Patrick. In the middle of it all is Tashi, Patrick’s former girlfriend and Art’s current wife.
“You don’t know what tennis is,” Tashi tells Patrick. “It’s a relationship.”
Relationships are at the heart of “Challengers.” Whether it’s with one another or with the game, the movie is fueled by the passion of fevered relationships. On and off the court the trio are fierce players who rely on the sparks that fly between them to keep the flames of competition alive. It’s a ménage à trois of interchangeable power games, mind games and tennis gameplay in which the power dynamics are batted back-and-forth, just like in a tennis match.
Guadagnino’s tennis scenes are shot with flair. Sometimes it feels as though the camera is attached to the player’s rackets, other times the ball rockets towards the lens in a yellow blur. But as exciting as those scenes are—the climax is pulse racing—this isn’t about the sport. It’s about the thing that makes them good at the sport. The passion for life and for winning.
“Challengers” is a flirty, intimate and indulgent film, often shot in intense close-ups as the actors invade one another’s personal space. Guadagnino rarely strays away from his leads, who match the director’s intensity, theatricality and seductiveness. The combination makes for a playfully exhilarating story, accentuated by an effervescent techno score courtesy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, that is unlike almost any other sports movie ever made.
“Humane,” the debut film from director Caitlin Cronenberg, and now playing in theatres, places a violent family drama against the backdrop of a global ecological collapse.
Set in the near future, the movie takes place as a climate change has reached a critical point. Crops are failing around the world, and food is so scarce that world governments have ordered a voluntary 20% cull in the overall population to reduce the strain on the planet.
“We are engaged in a life and death struggle against our own extinction,” says Professor Jared York (Jay Baruchel).
Into this situation comes the rest of the wealthy York family, led by patriarch Charles (Peter Gallagher). A retired newscaster, Charles has had a good run and, to the surprise of his family, has signed up, along with wife Dawn (Uni Park) for the euthanasia program.
Despite his big talk on television news shows, Professor York doesn’t think the rules apply to his wealthy, well-known family, which includes piano playing adopted brother Noah (Sebastian Chacon), edgy sister Rachel (Emily Hampshire), Ashley (Alanna Bale) and the youngest, Mia (Sirena Gulamgaus).
The family’s resolve is put to the test when cheery government exterminator Bob (Enrico Colantoni) arrives to euthanatize and collect two bodies. Trouble is, Dawn has taken off.
“I can’t do it,” she says in a note. “I will always love you.”
One body short of his quota, Bob announces, “I need a second cadaver. We’re here to collect two bodies. We’ve got three hours before my next appointment.”
His offer to give the family time to decide which of them should sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the world, sends the siblings into a chaotic fight to stay alive.
“Think about your lives,” Bob says. “I’m sure one of you will realize it’s not all that great.”
Using dark humor to expose the selfishness and cruelty of human nature, “Humane’s” social farce cuts like a knife. As the action escalates, dirty secrets are revealed and the soft underbelly of the family exposed as each member makes a case for survival. It’s a dystopian “August: Osage County” with hints of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Step Brothers.” Cronenberg keeps the action contained to one day, mostly in one house, decisions that bring a sense of ticking-clock urgency and claustrophobia to the proceedings.
The tone vacillates between life-and-death and oddly chipper—thanks to Colantoni’s sprightly executioner Bob—but its far-fetched situation is taken as seriously as a heart attack, which amps up the dark, deadpan humor.
That none of the characters are particularly likable, save for Bob, turns the tables. Bob may be the bringer of doom, and an enthusiastic one, but the villains here are the family and Hampshire and Baruchel, who previously appeared together in “The Trotsky” and “Good Neighbors,” revel in their 1% smarminess.
“Humane” makes good use of Trooper’s fatalistic hit “We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)” and wisely never allows the focus to wander away from the family satire.
Blood drenched and brutal, stylish and silly, “Boy Kills World,” a new action comedy starring Bill Skarsgård, and now playing on theatres, is a pure and simple story of revenge.
A prologue paints a picture of a post-apocalyptic future. Fascist leader Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen) rules with an iron fist, using cruelty and unhinged televised murders called “The Culling,” featuring breakfast cereal mascots, to “make an example of those who pose a threat to the Van Der Koys.”
Into this, comes Skarsgård as Boy, a youngster left traumatized by Van Der Koy’s murder of his entire family. Deaf and mute, the orphaned Boy is rescued by enigmatic martial arts master Shaman (Yayan Ruhian). Years of training transform Boy from a small scared child, to a muscle-bound killer filled with rage, thoughts of vengeance and guided by an inner voice, courtesy of his favorite video game.
“I am an instrument, shaped for a single purpose,” his inner voice declares. “to kill Hilda Van Der Koy!”
With the help of resistance fighters Basho (Andrew Koji) and Benny (Isaiah Mustafa), Boy unleashes a deranged campaign of chaos that will lead him to the top echelons of power.
Recently “Monkey Man” mined some of the same territory as “Boy Kills World.” Both are films about avenging the death of a mother, both are high octane fight fests, but “Boy Kills World” replaces the solemn tone of “Monkey Man” with irreverence. The new film is essentially a series of cartoony, splatter-zone fight sequences hung around a simple story that sees Boy seek revenge using fists, knives, guns and even a cheese grater to an armpit.
“Boy Kills World” packs a wallop in those scenes, but does not deliver an emotional smackdown. Director and screenwriter Moritz Mohr floats a family story in the puddles of blood left behind by Boy’s rampage, but by the time we get there it is too little too late. We’ve already been desensitized by the ballet of bullets and buckets of blood. The tonal shift doesn’t work and goes on too long, but for genre fans, Skarsgård’s finely sculpted abs and twitchy action should satisfy.
An atmospheric parable of dependence and desperation, “The King Tide,” a new Newfoundland and Labrador thriller now playing on theatres, uses an extraordinarily gifted character to reveal basic human nature.
Set on a remote island off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, the story begins as an infant washes up on shore after a ship wreck. Rescued by the town’s mayor Bobby Bentham (Clayne Crawford), the child is named Isla (Alix West Lefler) and adopted by the mayor and his wife Grace (Lara Jean Chorostecki).
That Isla survived is miraculous, but even more astonishing are the powers of healing and prosperity she brings to the town. In her first ten years on the island, people are healed of everything from hangovers to serious injuries and illnesses. Crops thrive and when she dips her hand in the water, fish are drawn to her, making for easy catching. Her influence profoundly changes the community, allowing them freedom from the constraints that come from being part of the mainland.
But things change when she is unable to save a local girl. Traumatized, Isla’s powers disappear, leaving the community divided as to how to move forward. Is Isla the responsibility of Bobby and Grace, or is she responsible for the betterment of the community?
A slow burn, “The King Tide” uses Isla’s magical gifts as a catalyst for a larger story. Director Christian Sparkes knows “The King Tide” isn’t about Isla per se, but about the community’s reaction to her and how fragile some belief systems are in the face of upheaval. As such, he carefully builds a very specific world in which this isolated microcosm of society exists. But in its specificity, it becomes a universal story about the lengths people will go to preserve their way of life.
Insightful and unsettling, it brings with it a sense of foreboding that covers the movie like a shroud as it works its way to a rushed, but compelling climax.
“The King Tide” features fine performances and has atmosphere to burn, but it is in its examination of the dangers of protectionism and self-interest that it is most effective.
I guest hosted NewsTalk 1010’s “The Rush” with Teddy Wilson on Monday April 22, 2024.
HOUR ONE: How much of our lives do we spend blinking?
HOUR TWO: Are you Team Teddy when it comes to his ticket woes?
HOUR THREE: Why is Funkytown back on the charts?!
HOUR FOUR: What went wrong on your wedding day?
I’ll be doing on-screen introductions for two of the thirteen films from the legendary Stanley Kubrick at Cineplex’s Classic Film Series this April.
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): An insane American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Showtimes: Monday, April 1; Sunday, April 14 and Friday, April 26
A Clockwork Orange (1971): In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn’t go as planned. Showtimes: Friday, April 5; Thursday, April 18 and Sunday, April 28
Here are more details:
Toronto, ON, March 19, 2024 – This April, Canadian film buffs can immerse themselves in the brilliance of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, at their local Cineplex theatre. Cineplex will present a special Stanley Kubrick retrospective, bringing all of the legendary director’s feature films back home to the big screen where they first captivated audiences.
A first for Cineplex, this comprehensive series showcases iconic films such as the mind-bending 2001: A Space Odyssey and the chilling masterpiece, The Shining, in full theatrical glory.
Running from March 29 to May 1, this special programme is part of Cineplex’s year-round Classic Film Series, screening in select theatres across Canada. Highlights include the 60th anniversary of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and 25th anniversary of Eyes Wide Shut.
See below for a full list of titles, synopses and showtimes. Tickets will be available March 20th on Cineplex.com, Cineplex App or in-theatre.
On the Saturday April 20, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet CJ Tudor. She is author of The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award, and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. In her new novel, The Gathering, a detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town.
We’ll also get to know best-selling author Susan Fletcher, author of “The Night in Question,” which is being described as a lyrical and emotionally engaging novel infused with mystery and wisdom about love, friendship, and the power of forgiveness.
Then, I chat with Canadian business executive, entrepreneur, publisher, art collector, fundraiser, and philanthropist Salah Bachir, author of a new memoir, “First to the Leave the Party: My Life with Ordinary People Who Happen to Be Famous,” available wherever fine books are sold.
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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Listen to the show live here:
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