Massey Hall opened its door for the first time on this date in 1894! 130 years of memories… including this one from the great Jim Cuddy who talks about the night of the Three Gords.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
LOGLINE: “Inside Out 2,” a new animated movie from Pixar now playing in theatres, returns to the inner workings of the mind of Riley. Emotions like Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust have helped Riley get through life successfully to the age of thirteen. “Thirteen years of hard work wrapped up in what some might call our masterpiece,” says Joy. Now a teenager, however, Riley’s emotions have been taken over by Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment, leaving Joy and Co on the outside.
CAST: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser. Directed by Kelsey Mann
REVIEW: After a few films that didn’t live up to the gold standard established by movies like “Up” and “Toy Story,” “Inside Out 2” is a return to form for Pixar. It may not have the emotional originality of the first film, but it does deliver a touching coming-of-age story by way of an adventure through the evolving personality of a thirteen-year-old.
Inventive and vivid animation bring to life the processing plant where Riley’s emotions originate. Part high tech work station, part ephemeral mindscape, it’s a cool, and eye-catching, backdrop to the story.
As for the story, it’s a typical tale of growing up, the complexity of navigating emotions with relationships and family life, but it is reshaped by a healthy dose of imagination. Director Kelsey Mann toggles between Riley’s inner and outer life, deftly displaying the multiplicity of emotions that makes her human. It’s a romp, but it’s also a lesson in life and the things that give Riley a sense of self.
Added to the returning voice cast—Poehler, Smith, Black, Lane, and MacLachlan—are standouts Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui—“It’s what you would call ‘the boredom.’”—Envy as voiced by “The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri and Maya Hawke as Anxiety.
As portrayed in the film, Anxiety is a juxtaposition of good and bad as Riley learns to harness the tension that accompanies the emotion for her own good. It’s an interesting take, and Hawke brings the character to life with a spirited performance. “Don’t worry Riley,” she says, “you’re in good hands. Now let’s change everything about you.”
Like the best of Pixar, “Inside Out 2” is doubled edged. It’s an adventure story for kids, but one that transcends the form with abstract, adult thoughts on the things that make us, us.
LOGLINE: Julia Louis-Dreyfus is Zora, the mother of Tuesday (Lola Petticrew), a terminally ill teenager just days from death. Guiding Tuesday’s passage, much to the annoyance of Zora, is the Grim Reaper, in the form of giant, talking macaw.
CAST: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew, Leah Harvey, Arinzé Kene. Written and directed by Daina O. Pusić.
REVIEW: Writer/director Pusić, in her feature debut, uses imagination and emotion to tackle human grief in an unusual, but totally relatable way.
A grim fairy tale for adults of loss and resilience, “Tuesday” uses fantasy to tell a story of coping with the passing of a loved one. Allegorical and more than just a little strange, it is a nonetheless a moving showcase for Louis-Dreyfus. With a shelf full of Emmy Awards for comedy, here she digs deep to play a mother who will literally go hand-to-hand with Death to keep her daughter from going over to the other side.
There are lighter moments captured within Louis-Dreyfus’s performance, but it’s the rough stuff, the raw, heartbreaking emotion that makes the character memorable.
The film breathes the same air as “The Seventh Seal,” examining the resistance to the inevitability of death, the afterlife and strength in the face of loss, but with one major difference. Here Death is a giant bird rather than an eerie, black-cloaked, chess playing Grim Reaper.
The anthropomorphic, metaphorical macaw is a swing for the fences, a surreal approach to confronting death and grief that would be ridiculous if it were not so sublime. The concept is otherworldly, but the film, despite its more out there moments, is anchored to the reality of the certainty of death in a profound and very real way.
“Tuesday” is a revelation in its lead performance, but also in the way it reveals the complexity of Zora’s journey through her daughter’s life and death.
LOGLINE: In the documentary “Red Fever,” now playing in select theatres, Cree co-director Neil Diamond examines popular culture’s fascination with stereotypical imagery of Indigenous people, cultural appropriation and how Indigenous society shaped the modern world. “There is a deeper story about why the world is fascinated with us,” Neil Diamond says, “and how profoundly we’ve influenced them.”
CAST: Neil Diamond. Co-directed by Catherine Bainbridge.
REVIEW: Broken into segments, “Red Fever” breaks down its story into four chapters, Fashion (Spirit), Sports (Body), Politics (Mind) and Earth (Heart). Within each sequence genial host Neil Diamond acts as a tour guide, travelling across North America and Europe to shine a light on each topic.
A mix of entertainment and education, the jauntily paced doc breaks down colonialism in the fashion world with an eye-opening montage of high-fashion headdresses on New York and Paris runways, and follows the story through to the work of today’s Indigenous creators and designers. It’s the most detailed of the sections, calling out cultural appropriation for what it really is, damaging cultural theft.
The story of legendary Sac and Fox Nation athlete and Olympian Jim Thorpe is the centerpiece of the Sports section, while the Politics sequence is moistly academic talking heads explaining the Iroquois Confederacy’s impact on the US Constitution. The movie wraps with Earth, and an examination of Vancouver Island First Nations’ salmon farming protests.
It covers a lot of ground, and in its totality “Red Fever” is a bit uneven in its execution, but it is educational and entertaining, and paints a vivid portrait of Indigenous resilience.
LOGLINE: The 44th film in the “Ultraman” animated series, “Ultraman: Rising” now playing in select theatres and on Netflix, sees egotistical baseball star Ken “the greatest living player” Sato (a.k.a. the 40-meter-tall superhero Ultraman) return to Tokyo to protect the city from giant monster attacks. His secret superhero life is turned inside out when he is forced to adopt a 35-foot-tall, fire-breathing baby Kaiju. Question is, Will he be able to keep Tokyo and the baby monster safe?
CAST: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young, Julia Harriman
REVIEW: Years into the “Ultraman” franchise, comes a stand-alone film that serves as an introduction to the character and the world of the series. Some big questions go unanswered, like, “How can Ken transform into a robot the size of an oil tanker?” but those omissions don’t hamper the storytelling.
It’s perfect for newbies, but I don’t think longtime fans will be at all bored. Directors Shannon Tindle (who co-wrote the screenplay with Marc Haimes) and John Aoshima, deepen the story with a concentration on Ken’s relationship with his parents and the baby Kaiju, a compelling, motivated villain (his family was killed by Kaijus) in the form of Dr. Onda (Keone Young) of the Kaiju Defense Force, and a wild climatic showdown between Ultraman, Emi, his “little one,” and Mega Gigantron.
Woven into the story of rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot battles are earthbound themes of acceptance of responsibility and the importance of family. Those leitmotifs provide the film’s soul, but at the heart of it all is the crazy Kaiju action. The animation, by Industrial Light & Magic, is spectacular, bringing innovation, excitement and playfulness to the large-scale battle scenes.
“Ultraman: Rising” is a charming, family-friendly introduction to the Kaiju world. Imagine a cross between “Big Hero 6” and Mechagodzilla with big action and an even bigger heart and you’ll get the idea.
On the Saturday June 8, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet George Miller. He has made pigs talk and penguins tap dance. He’s been a doctor and a film director. Among the bold-faced names on his resume are the titles “Babe: A Pig in the City,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Happy Feet” and “Lorenzo’s Oil.” One name, however, looms larger than the rest.
“Mad Max.”
He returned to theatres recently with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” his fifth Mad Max inspired film in 45 years.
A mix of Norse and Greek mythology set against an apocalyptic backdrop, and set 15 to 20 years before the events of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a high-octane origin story. Kidnapped from the Place of Great Abundance by Warlord Dementus’s (Chris Hemsworth) henchmen, young Furiosa (played by Alyla Browne as a child, Anya Taylor-Joy as an adult) vows vengeance for the death of her mother as warlords Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and Dementus vie for supremacy of the Wasteland.
It’s a pedal-to-the-metal epic, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” follows the big-block engine power of “Fury Road” with a film that brings a backstory to the strong-willed Furiosa (Taylor-Joy). As expected, Miller delivers a high-octane apocalyptic tale with a fierce Taylor-Joy and charismatic warlord Hemsworth, that features action scenes that’ll make your eyes pop out of their sockets.
We’ll also meet Simon Lewis, author of the book “Making ‘A Bridge Too Far” which takes a deep dive into the making of what many people call, the greatest World War II movie of all time.
Just ahead of the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden, which happened in September 1944 when the Allies attempted to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines, comes the book which details the making of the movie based on the famous military maneuver.
In recreating Operation Market Garden on film, director Richard Attenborough enlisted a company of actors and trained them to behave like soldiers. These actors underwent weapons training and were trusted to bring authenticity to their roles, a groundbreaking approach that hadn’t been tried before.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
With so many Canadians choosing to travel within Canada this year, I thought we’d contact people from across the country and have them describe an unusual attraction in their hometown or home city. This week we’ve talked about the World’s Largest Kielbassa Sausage in Alberta, the Giant $2 Coin in Campbellford, Ontario and Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick.
Today we boldly go where… well many have gone before. We take you to Vulcan, Alberta, the Official Star Trek Capital of Canada. Joining me to talk about Vulcan is the town’s Community Services Manager, Chris Gaultier.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Based on a 2010 Sarnia, Ont. snowstorm that saw people stranded at a local Tim Hortons, “The Last Timbit” is a new musical, playing at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto June 26 – 30, that celebrates 60 years of the iconic chain. Joining me to talk about the show is producer Michael Rubinoff (originating producer of “Come From Away”) and star Chilina Kennedy, who played Carole King in the musical “Beautiful” on Broadway for over 1,200 performances.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Many Canadians are choosing to travel within Canada this year, so, on NewsTalk Tonight (Monday – Friday from 7 pm – 11 pm on the Bell media Radio Network) we’re launching a travel series on unusual attractions across the country! Today we speak to Jillian Somers, CEO of Destination Moncton Dieppe on Magnetic Hill, one of the top three most visited natural attractions in the country.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
