SYNOPSIS: In “Blink Twice,” a psychological drama directed by Zoë Kravitz, and now playing in theatres, disgraced tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) invites cater waiter Frida (Naomi Ackie) to join him and his friends for an idyllic get-a-way on his private island. “Are you having a good time?” he repeatedly asks her as champagne flows, and she is… until, in the blink of an eye, she has a startling revelation.
CAST: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Geena Davis, Alia Shawkat. Directed by Zoë Kravitz.
REVIEW: A dark psychological thriller with elements of rage, humour and danger, “Blink Twice” is a confident, if scattered, directorial debut from Zoë Kravitz. A violent riff on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’s” memory erasing, it asks the question, Is it best to live with only good memories, burying the bad so deeply they never resurface?
A fantasy island trip gone wrong, “Blink Twice” takes a while to get where it is going, to let the Twilight Zone-ness of the situation sink in. It’s decadent and drug fueled, set to a soundtrack of dance tunes and King’s constant query, “Are you having fun?” Nothing matters except hedonism, and soon (NO SPOILERS HERE), but not soon enough, we find out why.
At this point “Blink Twice” flicks the switch. What begans as Jordan Peele style exploration of the ultra-wealthy, of the lingering, intergenerational effects of trauma and violence against women, becomes a revenge drama tinged with horror. After a long lead up, however, the transition feels rushed as the true cruelty of the party island, and the men who run it, is revealed.
Kravitz and co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum have a lot on their minds, but more isn’t always better. From the apology tours of cancelled celebrities and sexual violence against women to the price of trauma, white patriarchal privilege and gender disparity, it touches down on a litany of hot button topics. Add to that a private island with a Jeffrey Epstein vibe and a misbehaving billionaire and you have an overload of Twitter/X trending topics. With so much happening, “Blink Twice” feels like it is hop-scotching around its themes and doesn’t add much new to the discourse of any of them.
Still, as tightly packed as the movie is—no shrinkflation here—Kravitz keeps the pace up, nimbly navigating her way through to the film’s finale with style to burn. The direction trumps the storytelling, as Kravitz knows how to stage effective scenes that will entertain the eye and, perhaps even move you toward the edge of your seat.
She is aided by strong performances from the three leads, Ackie, Tatum and “Hit Man’s” Adria Arjona. Tatum is all charm as the romantic lead (for a while anyway) before revealing his true nature in a terrific turn-around for the character.
Ackie and Arjona enjoy the best-written roles and make the most of them. As Frida, Ackie (last seen playing the title role in “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody”) is relatable as someone who finds themself in an unimaginable situation, before tapping into a newfound iron will.
Arjona takes a role that could have been one-note—a reality show warrior with her eye on the billionaire’s affections—and makes her multi-faceted, kick-ass and very funny.
“Blink Twice” doesn’t entirely work, but as a story about the nature of memory, it is memorable enough to earn a recommendation.
SYNOPSIS: In “Strange Darling,” a new crime movie now playing in theatres, nothing is what it seems when a one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
CAST: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. Directed by JT Mollner.
REVIEW: There’s a scene in “Strange Darling” that sees two old hippies doing a puzzle, keeping score for each of the pieces they put in place. It’s a cute and playful scene, but it’s also an apt analogy for the watching of the film. The movie is a puzzle of a sort, a jumble of six chapters, presented out of order, that doles out information like the pieces of a puzzle. Viewers are urged to keep score as they piece together what is going on as the full picture slowly takes shape.
Clever and subversive, writer/director J.T. Mollner’s cat-and-mouse game is an expertly made exercise in nihilism. (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD) What begins as a standard serial killer flick—a scared woman on the run from a gun toting stalker—soon widens and deepens to become something else.
Here’s where it becomes spoilerific, so read ahead with caution. I’ll be as careful as possible in making my points about this ingenious cat-and-mouse story, but before you read on, know I think that this movie is best seen with little to no prior knowledge of the plot.
Still curious? Read on.
“Strange Darling” is a Gordian knot, a film that plays our expectations like a drum as Mollner introduces subversive twists and turns that question gender roles.
As the chapters—with names like “Can You Help Me Please? and “Do You Like to Party?”—build up a head of steam and seem about ready to blow apart, Mollner often hits the release valve. Instead of deflating the situations, however, he creates tension with some humour and clever editing.
You’ll wonder what’s real, and what’s not, and it’s hard to know until things get… well, very real. Then, the violence, which had mostly been implied, becomes visceral. Even then, it’s the high voltage charge from principal players Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner that keeps the film interesting, not the violence. Both hand in career best work and keep stride with the film’s exhilarating pace.
“Strange Darling” feels like a throwback. Shot on 35mm, by cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi, it has a grindhouse feel, as though it’s visually paying tribute to the aesthetic of the b-crime movies of the 1970s. It begins with a voiceover that sounds borrowed from a 1960s Quinn Martin Production, the broken timeline feels very 1990’s, as do the chapter title cards and Miramax logo, but Mollner’s treatment of the film’s central themes is anything but old fashioned.
I write about “chicken-soup” movies that’ll cure what ails you for CTVNews.ca!
“Along with some painkillers, your mom’s chicken soup and plenty of fluids, the best thing to fight a cold is taking it easy. Rest and relaxation come in many forms, but for me, curling up in front of a movie always makes me feel better…” Read the whole thing HERE!
On the Saturday August 17, 2024 of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Michael Hirsh. He is a co-founder and the CEO of Nelvana, and one of the driving forces behind Canada’s animation dominance. His new book, “Animation Nation” is his behind-the-scenes account of working with such famous cartoon franchises as Babar, The Adventures of Tintin, Franklin, The Magic School Bus, and Beetlejuice, and larger-than-life personalities including Roseanne Barr, Mr. T., Deborah Harry, and Tim Burton.
The book is a frame-by-frame account of how creative talent and entrepreneurial zeal built a global cartoon empire.
Then, we meet Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, co-directors of a documentary Louis CK’s fall and return to the spotlight called “Sorry, Not Sorry.” The film, whoch is available on several streaming services, features interviews with fellow comedians and women who spoke up about his sexual misconduct.
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!
All iHeartRadio Canada stations are available across Canada via live stream on iHeartRadio.caand the iHeartRadio Canada app. iHeartRadio Canada stations are also connected through Alexa, Siri, and Google Home smart speakers.
SYNOPSIS: In “My Penguin Friend,” a new family film starring Jean Reno and a penguin, and now playing in theatres, a Brazilian fisherman discovers DimDin, an injured penguin drifting alone in the ocean, near death and covered in oil from a spill. He rescues the animal and rehabilitates it, forging an unconventional friendship. “He’s not my pet,” says Joao (Reno) of the tenacious penguin. “He’s my friend.”
CAST: My Penguin Friend, Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Rochi Hernández. Directed by David Schurmann.
REVIEW: Set against the backdrop of unimaginable personal loss and guilt, “My Penguin Friend” develops into a story of finding comfort in strange places, including small, penguin shaped packages. It’s about connections, community and compassion, wrapped up in an indie kids’ movie.
French actor Reno hands in an understated performance and plays well off of Mexican star Adriana Barraza. They share many scenes, but this is the penguin’s movie.
Kids will likely enjoy DimDin. He is a bit of a troublemaker and a thief—“stealing” shoelaces and other small items to feather his nest—with a swaggalicious waddle and a tenacious spirit. Thankfully, the filmmakers don’t anthropomorphize him. He is just a plain penguin, who behaves more like a friendly puppy than a flightless bird, and that brings the film a great deal of charm.
Gently paced—read: S-L-O-O-O-O-O-O-W—“My Penguin Friend” sometimes feels like an episode of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” with a heartwarming “inspired by true events” story attached to the nature photography. It’s an old-fashioned family movie, low on stakes, that serves up compassion rather than high action but may entertain any young, aspiring Marine Biologists in the house.
Recently Cailee Spaeny played the wife of one of the most famous musicians on the planet as the title character in “Priscilla.” In her new film, “Alien: Romulus,” a standalone “interquel” set between the events of “Alien” and “Aliens,” she trades her ex-husband Elvis’s Graceland for another weird, otherworldly place—outer space.
In the new film, the seventh installment in the “Alien” franchise, Spaeny plays Rain Carradine, a new style Ellen Ripley, and one of a group of space scavengers fleeing their home planet, a dystopian hellhole run by a company whose ironic slogan reads, “Building a Better World.”
“The company is not going to give us anything,” says Bjorn (Spike Fearn), “we have to take it.”
To avoid working in the company’s mines, a small group, including Rain, her model ND-255 synthetic “brother” Andy (“Industry’s” David Jonsson), her ex-boyfriend Tyler (Archie Renaux), mine workers Bjorn and Kay (Isabela Merced) along with pilot Navarro (Aileen Wu), set off to rummage parts from a decommissioned space station. But instead of space pods and spare parts, they discover the universe’s most horrifying life form, the Xenomorph.
A horror film set in space, “Alien: Romulus” is a back-to-basics movie that owes a debt to the first two films in the franchise. The first part is all atmospherics and world building, reminiscent of the creeping dread that defined the original film. From the forty-five minute mark—the first Facehugger sighting—director Fede Álvarez amps up the action and the stakes, dispensing the fast-paced intensity of James Cameron’s “Aliens.”
The result is a movie that finds a way to use our nostalgia for the original films as a springboard for some new ideas. Álvarez, along with co-writer Rodo Sayagues, steers the story to a wild final act that stays true to the franchise, but combines sci fi and body horror in an unforgettable, spine-chilling fashion.
Seven movies in (plus two “Alien vs. Predator” crossover flicks) nothing will ever beat the original chest-bursting scene for sheer shock and awe, but “Alien: Roimulus’s” aggressive Facehuggers and Xenomorph are still potent horror images.
They’re iconic in their hideousness, drip acidic blood, and, if that wasn’t enough, force their proboscis down throats to impregnate their victims. Álvarez uses them to unnerving effect, mixing the creatures with a zombie synthetic character, some House of Horrors visuals and enough graphic, gory and grim practical effects to provide a pedal to the metal thrill ride.
“Alien: Romulus” doesn’t have the thematic depth of some of the other films in the series, but it delivers a crowd-pleasing and exciting link between the first and second movies on the “Alien” franchise timeline.
SYNOPSIS: In “Close to You,” a new family drama now playing in theatres, Academy Award Nominee Elliot Page stars as Sam, a trans man visiting his family for the first time in four years. The trip home is a journey of self-discovery as Sam confronts the past and reconnects with Katherine (Hillary Baack), an old flame.
CAST: Elliot Page, Hillary Baack, Peter Outerbridge, Wendy Crewson, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Janet Porter, Daniel Maslany, David Reale, Andrew Bushell, Sook-Yin Lee. Directed by Dominic Savage.
REVIEW: Led by strong performances, “Close to You” is emotional, therapeutic and just a little bit messy. It feels intimate, up-close-and-personal, as tensions grow in Sam’s family and a past romance rekindles.
There’s an immediacy to director Dominic Savage’s work as he captures the fraught interactions between Sam and his family. With no formal script, the actors improvise, bringing a naturalism to the scenes of Sam’s homecoming.
Unfortunately, while some of the movie sounds natural, much of the dialogue meanders around in search of a point. The improvisational nature brings with it unfocussed scenes as the actors look for a way to forward the action. There’s lots of repetition, as the characters speak in circles, and yet the important stuff, like motivations, are left unsaid.
There are exceptions. A scene between Sam and his father Jim (Peter Outerbridge) is tightly focused on their relationship and Jim‘s acceptance of his son. It’s beautifully performed, with passion, but also with restraint. As mother Miriam, Wendy Crewson navigates difficult waters, misgendering Sam in a heartbreaking conversation.
A later scene at the dinner table is a climatic high in terms of the film’s story and Sam’s journey, but its cathartic effectiveness is muted by histrionics.
The stand-out is Page who radiates the apprehension and anxiety Sam feels in subtle and interesting ways. It’s a raw and real performance that helps smooth over some of the film’s rough patches.
SYNOPSIS: In “Good One,” a new drama now playing in theatres, Chris (James LeGros), his 17-year-old daughter Sam (Lily Collias) and his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) take a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills. When tensions arise, Sam is caught in the middle, between her bickering father and his oldest friend.
CAST: Lily Collias, James Le Gros, Danny McCarthy, Sumaya Bouhbal, Diana Irvine, Sam Lanier, Peter McNally, Eric Yates. Directed by India Donaldson.
REVIEW: You could be forgiven for expecting something more from “Good One.” The in-the-middle-of-nowhere set-up seems familiar, as though there is danger lurking around every corner, but this is not that movie. Not really, anyway.
The low-fi debut from director India Donaldson defies expectations with a movie that takes a simple coming-of-age idea and amplifies it with slow burn intensity. This is not a horror film, a cabin in the woods deal, this is an emotional tale about the dread of being belittled and unappreciated.
Sam, the youngest but perhaps most mature of the member of the hiking trio, learns valuable life lessons as she confronts her father’s controlling nature and microaggressions and Matt’s loutish, inappropriate remarks.
Not that she elucidates them.
She doesn’t need to because Collias, in her biggest role to date, does a remarkable job of allowing us to read the thoughts written on her face. Her expressions portray the complexity of the performance, but the beauty of her work is in its simplicity as she effortlessly (or so it seems) acknowledges the hard truths about her relationship with her father and Matt. The look on her face when she unburdens herself to Chris, only to have him respond “C’mon… can’t we just have a nice day?” tells us more than any lines of dialogue could.
She is the “good one” of the title; younger but wiser.
Instead of simply painting LeGros and McCarthy as oblivious older guys, Donaldson, who also wrote the script, gives them something to work with. They have backstories, insecurities and quirks that make them human, and not just avatars for clueless behavior. LeGros and McCarthy are excellent, handing in naturalistic, relatable performances.
“Good One” takes its time to get where it is going. The bucolic backdrop, with its gently rolling hills and babbling brooks, sets the tone. It can sometimes feel like nothing is happening, but somehow, Donaldson delicately ramps up the tension, one crossed boundary at a time.
