On the Saturday September 28, 2024 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Mike Downie, director of “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” the definitive four-part documentary series about the band who, as the programmers of TIFF noted earlier this year, “went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.”
The four-hour Amazon Prime docuseries combines never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel and Geddy Lee, to create a joyful and moving look at The Tragically Hip, their music and the personal tragedies that defined the band.
It’s the story of a band of brothers, produced and directed by Mike Downie, brother of the band’s frontperson Gord Downie.
Then, we meet Maisy Stella and Megan Park, the star and director respectively of “My Old Ass,” a wonderful coming-of-age story about a free-spirited teen whose birthday mushroom trip brings her face-to-face with her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, who delivers some choice advice and words of warning that transform her relationships with her family and friends.
Finally, Divesh Subaskaran stops by. He’s the star of “Life of Pi” currently on stage at the CAA Ed Mirvish theatre in Toronto. Based on the best-selling novel, this story of adventure and discovery is an epic journey about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger. We’ll find out what it is like to do this demanding show night after night and why his acting teacher at RADA—the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts—told him he should behave like a rockstar.
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.
I appear in a CTV National News report by Paul Hollingsworth on the life anbd legacy of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Downton Abbey’ actress Maggie Smith who has died at the age of 89.
SYNOPSIS: Based on Peter Brown’s award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller of the same name, “The Wild Robot,” a new animated film starring the voices of Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal, and now playing in theatres, features a shipwrecked robot named ROZZUM unit 7134— “Roz” for short—who develops a parental bond with an orphaned gosling. “A ROZZUM always completes its task,” she says.
CAST: The Wild Robot Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames. Directed by Chris Sanders.
REVIEW: The animated “The Wild Robot” will put you in the mind of “The Iron Giant,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “WALL-E,” but carves out its own, unique, rewarding space. Brimming with compassion, humor and kindness, it’s an exciting adventure story with a big, beating heart.
It’s a deceptively simple film. Roz’s sleek character design and the unpretentious premise of finding your logical, not necessarily biological family, are brought to life by the power of a great voice cast, inventive animation and director Chris Sanders’s vivid imagination.
Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) is a bigger BB-8 style robot, mechanical and, when we first meet her, mission driven with no visible signs of compassion behind her crystal blue electronic eyes. At first the matriarchal relationship with the gosling named Brightbill (voice of Kit Connor) is a job, nothing more. “A ROZZUM always completes its task,” she says.
But as time passes a warmth appears in her eyes and voice as Nyong’o reveals the bot’s hidden humanity. She’s less Siri and more a mother. “Sometimes to survive,” she says, “we must become more than we were programmed to be.”
Nyong’o does the heavy lifting, shifting Roz from automaton to sentient being, but she is supported by a terrific cast.
Catherine O’Hara brings comedic relief as frazzled possum mother Pinktail. As Fink, a fox who undergoes a transformation from predator to patriarchal figure, fan favorite Pedro Pascal brings sly humor and, as robot Vontra, Oscar nominees Stephanie Hsu is the icy-but-wacky voice of authoritarianism.
“The Wild Robot” is a wonderful film for the whole family. It has humor, adventure and uplift, but mostly, it has heart and the makings of a classic. “Was this task completed to your satisfaction?” Roz asks several times in the film. The answer is an emphatic yes.
SYNOPSIS: In the existential comedy “A Different Man,” now playing in theatres, Sebastian Stan plays Edward, a man who undergoes an experimental medical trial to “cure” the neurofibromatosis that has caused large tumors to grow along the nerves of his face and neck. Post procedure, he becomes obsessed with the actor playing him in an Off-Broadway production about his life and relationship with next-door neighbor Ingrid (Renate Reinsve).
CAST: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson, C. Mason Wells, Owen Kline, Charlie Korsmo, Patrick Wang, Michael Shannon. Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg.
REVIEW: A postmodern mix-and-match of “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cyrano de Bergerac” propelled by b-movie energy, “A Different Man” is a Kafkaesque tale about the perception of beauty. Writer/director by Aaron Schimberg examines the perception of beauty and what it means to be “normal.”
When we first meet Edward, played by Stan under a thick layer of make-up, he’s jumpy, a bundle of anxiety and paranoia. He draws stares on the subway from curious lookie-loos who turn their heads when he makes eye contact.
An aspiring actor, he dutifully goes to auditions but is frustrated by the lack of opportunity for a man with his facial deformity. When he is “cured” he begins anew, metaphorically killing off Edward. He changes his name to Guy, gets a new career and friends.
Trouble is, while he now has acceptance from others, he isn’t any happier as Guy than he was as Edward. That feeling is compounded when he meets the flamboyant Oswald, played by Adam Pearson, the English television presenter, actor and neurofibromatosis activist.
Oswald is everything Edward/Guy isn’t. He’s comfortable in his skin, moves through the world with impunity and doesn’t allow his genetic condition to define his life. That dynamic sets up the film’s gonzo second half as Guy’s obsession with Oswald forces him to examine the real reason for his insecurity and misery.
“A Different Man” tackles the big issues that shaped Edward/Guy’s life. He wants to be seen for who he is, but is, instead, gawked at, made to feel like an outsider every time he leaves his apartment.
Stan’s remarkable performance transcends the character’s heavy make-up. Stan portrays the “facially different” Edward’s complex inner life through his outward physicality. It’s a full body performance that vividly captures Edward’s self-loathing, melancholy, anger and occasional fleeting moments of happiness.
As Guy, Stan is all frustration. His life takes a surreal turn as he proves to be inadequate at playing himself on-stage in a play based on his life. As a result, he becomes fixated on clawing back the life he left behind.
On the flipside is Pearson whose charming performance cuts through much of the film’s sturm und drang. Without an iota of self-pity Oswald embraces the thing that makes him different and lives a life Edward wants but will never have.
“A Different Man” is a singular movie. Schimberg digs deep to examine the skin-deep notions of attractiveness, and the effect of beauty on the eye of the beholder.
SYNOPSIS: “Megalopolis,” a new fable from legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, now playing in theatres, is a mix of Ancient Roman politics, sci fi, and even a little bit of mime.
Visionary artist Cesar (Adam Driver) has plans to build a utopian city to inspire hope within the rotting framework of New Rome. “When we leap into the unknown,” he says, “we prove that we are free.” He’s up against the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), agent of chaos Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf) and the threat of partisan warfare.
CAST: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
REVIEW: As idiosyncratic a movie as we’re likely to see this year, “Megalopolis,” the forty-years-in-the-making passion project from Francis Ford Coppola, is equal parts hammy and hopeful, dense and dazzling. It’s the work of a filmmaker with nothing left to prove, and brims with imagination, ambition and, unfortunately, self-indulgence.
Coppola, who says he rewrote the script for “Megalopolis” at least 300 times, empties out the idea drawer, producing a script that overflows with his thoughts on legacy, survival and hope for the future. Using lessons learned from the intrigue of Roman history, he throws in a dollop of sci- fi—Cesar Catalina (Driver) can stop time with a flourish of his hands—to tell a story of utopian values pitted against city hall.
It’s a mix of Ayn Rand and Marcus Aurelius, and not unfamiliar ground for the director. He has essayed the effects of power, political paranoia and the bloom of love in previous films like “The Godfather,” “The Conversation” and “One from the Heart.” The difference is, those movies, while often epic in scope, didn’t take a kitchen sink approach to the storytelling.
“Metropolis” is overstuffed to the point of bursting. The grand vision of warring billionaires and politicians is rendered almost incomprehensible by scenes that never lift off or, worse, feel randomly inserted into the narrative.
Coppola sets his story against a city in a fall of the Roman Empire decline, which should bring along with it very high stakes, but there is never a sense of danger or tension.
Instead, head-scratching line readings, spontaneous Shakespearean monologuing, and unintentionally funny, heightened performances distract from the actual story. “Megalopolis” is operatic in its ambition, experimental in its execution and rather baffling in its intentions.
Perhaps the film’s most telling line is a quote from Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority.”
And so it goes with “Metropolis.” Despite the presence of big-name talent like Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza, this is a deliberating non-commercial film. Coppola’s vision is experimental, difficult to penetrate, impossible to pigeonhole, and occasionally thrilling, but mostly a slog.
SYNOPSIS: “My Old Ass,” a coming-of-age dramedy starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, and now playing in theatres, asks a simple question: Would you like a sneak peak of your adult life complete with all the good, the bad and the ugly the future will offer? Maisy Stella plays Elliott, an eighteen-year-old whose future self guides her through the landmines of growing up and falling in love with one vital piece of advice, “Avoid anyone named Chad.”
CAST: Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Aubrey Plaza. Written and directed by Megan Park.
REVIEW: Despite a title that suggests a 1990s teen comedy, “My Old Ass” is a surreal coming-of-age story that stays anchored to reality with natural, heartfelt performances and a great deal of humor. In her second feature film, writer/director Megan Park displays an empathetic hand as the movie morphs from a standard(ish) teen comedy opening to a heartfelt finale.
The appearance of 39 nine-year-old Elliott suggests “My Old Ass” will be a fantasy, a “Peggy Sue Got Married” style riff on growing up, but it stays earthbound as an examination of the first blushes of new love touched by melancholy.
The film’s heart is Stella, who, as young, optimistic Elliott wrestles with real life situations and feelings about her sexuality, her future and the notion of leaving her teen years in the rear-view mirror. Her charismatic presence gives “My Old Ass” a bittersweet but never sentimental edge that elevates its love story above and beyond a Nicolas Sparks style romance, or a teen comedy trope.
As older, world-weary Elliott, Plaza, who only appears in three scenes but whose presence informs the entire movie, uses her trademark snark like a sword, but here her sarcasm feels like the shield that protects her from the ups and downs of a complicated life. It’s great work, and while the two actors don’t resemble one another, they share an energy that binds the two halves of the character together.
“My Old Ass” is an entertaining, and often funny look at the importance of embracing life fully, in all its joy as well as its disappointments and agonies.
SYNOPSIS: In “Lee,” a new biopic now playing in theatres, Kate Winslet plays celebrated war correspondent and photographer Lee Miller. The fiercely independent former fashion model became a World War II correspondent for British Vogue, covering the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.
CAST: Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O’Connor, Alexander Skarsgård. Directed by Ellen Kuras.
REVIEW: As a reminder of the importance of journalism and photography, “Lee” contains several unforgettable moments. Recreations of her famous photographs dot the film.
Memorable images of an “unexploded bomb” sign stuck to a tree or a nurse’s underwear hung in a window to dry, mirror her innate visual style, one that combined artful composition with stark matter-of-fact journalism. “Even when I wanted to look away,” she says. “I knew I couldn’t.”
Perhaps Miller’s most famous photograph captured her in front of the camera.
In the iconic image, set up by Miller and taken by Life Magazine photographer David Scherman (Andy Samberg), she is topless, bathing in Adolph Hitler’s bathtub on April 30, 1945, the day Hitler killed himself. New Yorker writer Chris Wiley called it an “apt visual metaphor for the end of the war” and it remains a potent symbol of triumph against evil.
When the film focusses on Miller’s trailblazing work, as in the above examples, “Lee” shines.
Winslet is terrific as the fiercely committed photographer, but she is let down by a conventional set-up—an older Miller looking back on her life—and a tendency to drift from the character’s inner life to the story’s more mundane aspects.
“Lee” is a serviceable film, but it is nowhere near as remarkable as the woman whose story it tells.
On the Saturday September 21, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Colin Mochrie actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, from the British and American versions of the improvisational TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” In this interview we talk about improv, working with the late great Richard Simmons in one of the funniest improvised scenes ever and his new show, “Old Enough.” It’s based on the hit Japanese show of the same name and it follows kids (3-6 years old) as they head out by themselves and get their first taste of independence by running everyday errands for their parents. You can see the show on TVO and it is available to stream across Canada on the TVOkids streaming app and TVOkids.com.
Then, we’ll meet musician and songwriter Diane Tell. From beginning her musical career at the age of 6, she has had many, many hits in Quebec, France and worldwide since being discovered by Radio Canada as she sang in the streets of Montreal during the Olympic Games. Today she joins me from her home in Switzerland to talk about songwriting, her life and being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this month.
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.
On the Saturday September 28, 2024 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we get to know Mike Downie, director of “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal,” the definitive four-part documentary series about the band who, as the programmers of TIFF noted earlier this year, “went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.”
