Fast reviews for Halloween! It’s the most wonderful time of the fear! Watch as I review three scary movies in less time than it takes to carve a pumpkin! Steady your nerves as I tell you about Late Night with the Devil, Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person and Your Monster!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift”for Booze & Reviews! This week we have a look at the intriuguing sacred process of electing a new Pope in the film “Conclave” and I’ll tell you about some spirits, brewed by monks, to lift your spirits while watching the film.
Listen to Booze & Reviews HERE! (Starts at 20:40)
Learn why Stanley Tucci wants you to stop wearing track pants and more HERE! (Starts at 10:56)
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to tie a bowtie! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the ecclesiastical thriller “Conclave,” the revenge drama “Seeds” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Road Diary.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Venom: The Last Dance,” the final instalment of the “Venom” franchise, and now playing in theatres, Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, former investigative journalist whose body plays host to extraterrestrial symbiote Venom, whose presence imbues him with super-human abilities. Imagine an anti-superhero Jekyll and Hyde situation where Ed and Venom are a hybrid, two beings in one body, and you get the idea. Pursued by soldier Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), scientist Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) and powerful alien supervillain Knull (Andy Serkis), the dynamic duo are on the run to save themselves and the world. “Eddie,” says Venom, “I’m with you to the end.”
CAST: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Andy Serkis and Stephen Graham. Written and directed by Kelly Marcel.
REVIEW: More an interspecies bromance comedy than end of the world movie, “Venom: The Last Dance” is a frat party of a film, complete with swearing, booze, dancing and a disregard for the rules (in this case, the rules of storytelling).
Episodic in nature, the story ping pongs between the misadventures of Eddie/Venom, the military alien warehouse Area 51, the Paris Casino in Las Vegas and the back of a Volkswagen Westfalia Camper.
The disparate puzzle pieces fit together to form a fast paced, if disjointed, whole, but most often, the movie feels like it’s biding its time, waiting for the climactic battle scene, which, when it comes, takes up about a third of the film’s runtime with frenetic, often hard-to-follow alien-on-alien action.
For instance, the Volkswagen dwelling alien hunters, led by the ever-reliable Rhys Ifans, add little, except for a few minutes on to the film’s scant runtime. Ifans and family sing a song, but their musical contribution pales compared to their real purpose—to be victims in need of rescue in the film’s final moments.
The star of the show is the interplay between Eddie and Venom. It’s a smart-alecky double act, with Hardy playing Eddie as a bit of a bubblehead, and Venom as the reckless, sharp-tongued alien. It’s Abbott and Costello, housed in one body, with an extra-terrestrial twist.
The first two films in the franchise—“Venom” (2018) and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (2021)—often felt unintentionally funny. The new movie embraces the absurdity of the character(s) and, as a result, Eddie/Venom’s odd-couple bickering is the film’s highlight.
What it is not, is emotional. Their bond is played for laughs, up to, and including, a montage of their happiest moments together set to Maroon 5’s syrupy tune “Memories.” Don’t expect a poignancy or to shed a tear. There’s nothing wistful about the final outing between Eddie and Venom. It’s all fun and games until it isn’t.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is an action-packed time waster that zips through the story in just ninety minutes (plus an endless credit roll and two lame post credit scenes) to wrap up the current iteration of the character, while opening the door for future sequels.
SYNOPSIS: In “Anora,” the Palme d’Or winning film from “The Florida Project” director Sean Baker, now playing in theatres, Brighton Beach sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) becomes involved with the Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. Their initial transactional relationship quickly blossoms into a whirlwind romance and elopement. Her “Cinderella” story is turned upside down when Vanya’s powerful parents swoop in to force an annulment.
CAST: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan and Aleksei Serebryakov. Written, directed and edited by Sean Baker
REVIEW: Part screwball comedy, part fight for survival, “Anora” is a triumph of controlled chaos. As in his earlier films, “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket,” director Sean Baker keenly observes his characters with empathy and emotion in stories that examine money, class, and power.
But unlike his other movies, “Anora” constantly feels as though it is going to fly off its axis. Every scene, whether broadly comedic or heartbreaking, has a character-based urgency that propels the story. Baker’s ability to keep it all moving forward put me in the mind of watching plate spinning performers on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” It’s a film of remarkable energy and tension; one that keeps a lot of plates spinning without ever allowing the forward momentum of its anti-fairy tale to steamroll its characters.
Mikey Madison, best known to date as the oldest sibling on the sit com “Better Things” and being burned alive in both “Scream (5)” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” hands in a career re-defining performance as sex worker Anora a.k.a. Ani. An electric combination of tough-as-nails ferocity, self-assurance, desperation and poignant vulnerability, she is as compelling and charismatic a lead as we’ll see at the movies this year.
The film’s core, an extended set piece involving a city-wide hunt for Ani’s husband recalls the frenetic energy of “After Hours,” but the character building doesn’t stop when the action begins. A second scene-stealer, Yura Borisov as Igor, henchman for the Russian oligarch, emerges with a subtle but deeply felt and deeply comedic performance, tinged with an unexpected sweetness.
“Anora” is one of the best films of the year. An insightfully made look at the wealth divide, with elements of suspense and comedy, it never fails to entertain.
SYNOPSIS: Directed, written by and starring Kaniehtiio Horn, the revenge thriller “Seeds” sees Ziggy, a Toronto bike courier and Mohawk brand ambassador for Nature’s Oath Seed Corporation, called back to her rez to look after her aunt’s house. The happy homecoming is marred by spotty Wi-Fi—making it difficult for her to post on Instagram—and something more sinister that forces her to protect her family’s legacy, their stash of special corn, beans, and squash seeds.
CAST: Kaniehtiio Horn, Graham Greene, Patrick Garrow, Peter Keleghan, Dallas Goldtooth, Meegwun Fairbrother, Morgan Bedard, Josh Bainbridge, Dylan Cook, Cherish Violet Blood, Bonnie Whitley. Written and directed by Kaniehtiio Horn.
REVIEW: A revenge drama about legacy, genetic memory, social media and a cat named Potato, “Seeds” is a tense thriller that delivers its message with plenty of humor before the going gets gory.
Writer, star and director Horn starts things off on an optimistic note, as her character Ziggy signs a deal with a big company that will allow her to leave her bike courier gig and become an influencer full time. She establishes a light, breezy tone, clouded only by Ziggy’s anxiety about being on the rez Wi-Fi and her cousin’s (Dallas Goldtooth) ominous warning about the company she now represents. “They control the seeds to control the food to control the people,” he says. “They are the enemy.”
Soon though, strange things start happening in her aunt’s remote house. The place is ransacked and there are furtive shadows in doorways. The jump scares become real scares when the film’s themes begin to coalesce in the third act.
As Ziggy, Horn is motivated by a deep connection to her heritage, which manifests itself in the film’s grimly funny finale as she allows her “ancestor’s rage to take over.” No spoilers here, but the character becomes involved in a life-or-death situation, one that summons generations of wrath.
It’s memorable, but for my money, not quite hardcore enough. It is horrifying in its idea, but not exactly in its execution. Revenge movies like this trade on hyper violence, and, for once, I wanted this scene to be squishier.
Still, thematically, the finale works and is capped by a memorable final image.
At a quick 85 minutes “Seeds” features great performances— Graham Greene, as the host of a television true crime show who speaks to Ziggy in her dreams and Goldtooth are standouts—and succeeds both as a revenge drama and an expression of Indigenous legacy and power.
SYNOPSIS: In “Conclave,” a new drama now playing in theatres, Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, the Dean of the Council of Cardinals, who must navigate intrigue and egos as he organizes the election of the successor to the deceased Pope.
CAST: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini. Directed by Edward Berger.
REVIEW: Director Edward Berger presents the sacred process of electing a new Pope with the intensity of a mystery thriller. It is a quiet movie, but you may well find yourself moving up to the edge of your seat as plumes of black smoke drift out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.
“Conclave” has a hushed, restrained feel, but even though the characters all carry bibles as they walk the ecclesiastical halls, director Berger understands this story is more pulpy thriller than holy book. As such he imbues every scene with a sense of urgency that propels the action. Voices are rarely raised, and meaningful conversations happen in passionate whispers, but this spiritual process is ripe very human intrigue.
As Cardinal Lawrence, Fiennes is a pious man who has fallen out of love with the church as an organization. That places him in a delicate position as the lynchpin in the election of a new Pope, one that Fiennes conveys with a calm exterior but a roiling inner conversation. When he does let loose, and voice his trepidations, with one of several monologues, they are show stoppers and will certainly be noticed at Oscar time.
Fiennes is surrounded by fine performances from Sergio Castellitto as a conservative who wants the church to revert to pre-Vatican-II traditions,
Stanley Tucci as the polar opposite, a left leaning papal contender who says, “No sane man would want the papacy,” and moderates in the form of John Lithgow and Lucian Msamati. The wild card candidate is the enigmatic Benitez, a man secretly made a Cardinal by the Pope, played Carlos Diehz.
The dynamics between them gives the film a perspective on power and the thirst for it. “The men who are dangerous,” says Cardinal Bellini (Tucci), “are the ones who want the power.”
“Conclave” is a thriller about the choosing of a Pope that uses the secretive nature of the process to tell a mystery story, and deliver a timely message about the quest for power, which seems relevant in a US election year.
SYNOPSIS: Like The Boss’s best work, “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” a brand new doc now streaming on Disney+, has a good beat and you can dance to it, but closer examination reveals a deeper understanding of what make Bruce tick.
CAST: Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, Jon Landau, Thom Zimny, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent, Max Weinberg, Clarence Clemons. Directed by Thom Zimny.
REVIEW: First and foremost, “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” is a celebration of half a century of music and live shows. Archival footage of Springsteen thrashing around the stage like a spinning top is butted up against footage from the band’s recent US and European tour, captures the excitement of a lifetime of his live performances.
“I made a promise to myself that if I got through this,” Springsteen says of touring after the pandemic lockdowns, “I’d throw the biggest party I could,” and he did, in a worldwide tour captured by director Thom Zimny’s cameras.
And the good times roll, but while watching the 73-year-old Springsteen form these familiar songs into a carefully curated set list, it becomes clear he’s a man on a mission to tell a story, through the lyrics, that act as a treatise on mortality and an examination of a life spent making music. The cumulative effect is joyfully melancholic, a memorial to youth with a nod to mortality.
The doc’s more conventional aspects—the slightly self-congratulatory tone of some of the testimonials and the profiles of fans from around the world—feel unnecessary, but they are minor annoyances in a sincere movie that offers music fans interesting behind-the-scenes footage of the Springsteen’s creative process, the band blowing off the cobwebs after a six-year layoff from playing live and heartfelt tributes to dearly departed E-Streeters Clarence “Big Man” Clemons and organist Danny Federici.
There is plenty of fan service in “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band,” but it isn’t just about nostalgia. It’s about friendship, age, mortality and, as Springsteen says, playing music “until the wheels come off.”
I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards to talk about a new study published in The Journal of Psychology that suggest watching superhero movies will make the viewer more empathetic.
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 20:42)
