I will host two pre-show In Conversations for TO Live and Glatz Concerts present Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen in Concert with “Frozen” composer Christophe Beck on Friday November 29 (5 pm) and Saturday November 30, 2024 (1 pm) at Meridian Hall!
TO Live and Glatz Concerts present Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen in Concert with composer Christophe Beck’s Grammy-nominated score performed live to the film. The concert will be led by conductor Evan Mitchell.
The film and its multi-platinum soundtrack feature eight songs written by Academy Award-, Emmy-, and Grammy-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, including the Oscar- and Grammy-winning song “Let It Go” performed by Idina Menzel.
Fearless optimist, Princess Anna, sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man, Kristoff, and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. Voices include Kristen Bell (Anna), Jonathan Groff (Kristoff), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Josh Gad (Olaf), Santino Fontana (Hans), and Alan Tudyk (Duke of Weselton). The film received the Academy Award for best animated feature.
I’ll be hosting a Q&A with “The G” star Dale Dickey and director Karl R. Hearne at the Cineplex Yonge – Dundas Theatre in Toronto on Friday November 29. 2024.
Some info! Dale Dickey a formidable character actor, known for her Independent Spirit Award winning performance in “Winter’s Bone,” and appearances in more than 60 movies, like Iron Man 3 and Hell or High Water, and television shows like My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad and True Blood. Her latest film is the dark thriller “The G.” In the movie, she plays a grandmother looking for vengeance with the help of her granddaughter Emma (Denis), who calls her “The G,” after a corrupt legal guardian puts her in a care home in order to take her property.
SYNOPSIS: In “Maria,” a new psychological biopic now playing in theatres before moving to MUBI on December 11, Angelina Jolie stars as Maria Callas, the world’s greatest opera singer, as she lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, after a glamorous yet tumultuous life spent in the public eye.
CAST: Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Directed by Pablo Larraín.
REVIEW: “Maria” finishes director Pablo Larraín’s trilogy of films about iconic women of the 20th century. Having already examined Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana, this third, and final film features a commanding performance by Angelina Jolie as the temperamental opera star Maria Callas, a woman who no longer performs but admits, “There is no life off the stage.”
She may feel the absence of her voice, of performing for adoring crowds, but her life provides a dynamic backdrop for this ornate, hypnotic film. “There’s a point where self-confidence becomes a kind of insanity,” she says.
In Jolie’ hands the opera singer is every bit a diva. She is now a pill popper whose gift, a voice that once mesmerised the world, has left her, but she remains a diva nonetheless. Regal and occasionally ridiculous, she spends her days barking orders at her loyal staff (Alba Rohrwacher and Pierfrancesco Favino)—”Book me a table at a café where the waiters know who I am,” she says. “I’m in the mood for adulation.”—reminiscing about her life with an imaginary interviewer (Kodi Smit-McPhee) named Mandrax after her drug of choice and refusing to return an important call from her doctor because he said she “must” call him.
Even when there’s not much is happening in “Maria,” Jolie is captivating, emanating the larger-than-life star power that made “La Divina” beloved personally and professionally. In one playful moment Mandrax asks, “What would you say if I told you I was falling in love with you?”
“That happens a lot,” she replies with a smile.
Character study aside, the film itself is more of a mixed bag. Stunning work from cinematographer Edward Lachman and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas create a beautiful canvas for Jolie’s work, but it feels incomplete. There are flashbacks (mostly shot in black and white) and some paparazzi style footage that provide a sense of Callas’s elevated place in the opera world, but director Pablo Larraín, working from a script by Steven Knight, is more interested in her struggles and foibles than her triumphs. It provides Jolie the dramatic space to give the crowning performance of her career so far but doesn’t allow the character the privilege of a fulsome portrait.
SYNOPSIS: Set three years after the events of the first film, “Moana 2” sends the strong-willed Moana (Auli’I Cravalho) and shapeshifting demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) off on an adventure to the seas of Oceania to break the curse of the island of Motufetu. “Before Maui stole Te Fiti’s heart,” Moana explains, “our ancestors wanted to connect our island to all the people of the entire ocean. It’s my job as a Wayfinder to finish what they started.”
CAST: Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Alan Tudyk, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Awhimai Fraser, and Gerald Ramsey. Directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller.
REVIEW: Originally planned to debut on Disney+ as a long form limited streaming series, “Moana 2” has been reshaped into a compact 1 hour and 40-minute (including credits) movie that hits theatres as the live-action version of the story is still being filmed.
The new animated version brings with it many of the characters that made the original so engaging. Moana, voiced by Auliʻi Cravalho, is an easy-to-root-for hero, more mature than the last time we saw her, more adventurous and connected to her culture.
The movie is at its best when she shares the screen with her demigod pal Maui, once again voiced by Dwayne Johnson. It’s a shame then that the story keeps them separated for much of the running time.
This time around Johnson amps things up, playing the mischievous demigod with more spirit, humour and heroics. His big song, “Can I Get A Chee Hoo?” is a bit of fun, playfully rhyming “Moana” with “Come On-a.”
The score and songs itself, by Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foaʻi and Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (a.k.a. Barlow & Bear) respectively are rousing, but the magic delivered in the original by Lin-Manuel Miranda songs like “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” is missing. Still, tunes like “Get Lost,” by Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) are a welcome addition to the “Moana” playlist.
Visually, the animation is gorgeous, featuring beautiful visuals of Moana’s sandy island, her adventures on (and under) the water and marvelous sea creatures. It’s vibrant, state-of-the-art work that goes a long way to build Moana’s world and entertain the eye when the storytelling hits some rocky shores.
The Sequel Law of diminishing returns is in effect in “Moana 2,” but, while it may not top its predecessor, it is a tuneful, exciting kid-friendly action movie with good messages of the importance of community and connection.
SYNOPSIS: “Flow,” the Latvian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards is a heartwarming tale of a brave cat who forms a new community when his home is devastated by a great flood.
CAST: Directed by Gints Zilbalodis and written by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža.
REVIEW: Completely dialogue free, “Flow” is a beautifully rendered, allegorical tale of the importance of community in the face of disaster.
With no dialogue to fall back on, “Flow” finds its emotional content in the rousing musical score by Zilbalodis and Rihards Zalupe, the lush animation and the choice to use real animal “vocals.” All animal sounds were recorded in the wild—although the capybara is “played” by a baby camel—and it gives the movie a lively, organic feel.
The visuals are supple but not as detailed as most modern animation. Zilbalodis doesn’t animate fur, which gives the animals an abstract look, but the actions of the lead character, for instance, will be familiar to anyone who has ever spent time with a cat.
The arched back, the curled back ears are familiar ways that cats communicate with humans, but it is in the details, like the way his pupils change when danger is near, that the character comes to life.
The animals behave like animals, but this is not a nature documentary by any stretch. More a riff on Noah’s Ark, this is a film that sees the guarded cat find refuge on a boat run by animals—a lazy capybara, goofy dog and self-absorbed lemur—after a climate disaster. It’s there that the various creatures, including the cat, find common ground and learn to trust one another.
“Flow” is a cinematic, family friendly movie that supplies a thrilling survival adventure with fun characters against a backdrop of catastrophe. Climate change is not mentioned, but Zilbalodis seems to suggests that the only way we can combat a climate crisis is to work as one, and that’s an appealing and timely message.
SYNOPSIS: The new crime thriller “The G,” now playing in theatres, is a story of scams, elder abuse and vengeance that features a dynamic, slow burn performance from Dale Dickey.
CAST: Dale Dickey, Romane Denis, Roc Lafortune, Bruce Ramsay and Jonathan Koensgen. Written, directed, and produced by Karl R. Hearne.
REVIEW: Ten years ago, the chain-smoking Ann Hunter, a.k.a. “The G”, played by Dale Dickey, and her now terminally ill husband retired to lead a quiet life in the suburbs near his extended family. Their quiet lives are upended when they are evicted from their home by a corrupt legal guardian who believes they are sitting on a big stash of cash. Moved to a prison-like “eldercare facility,” they are stripped of their rights and their dignity. “We have to fight back,” she says. “No money. No home. What would you do?” With the help of her granddaughter, The G, like “Granny,” decides to get even. “These are bad people,” warns her husband. “I’ve done some bad things myself,” says The G.
“The G” isn’t a typical revenge drama. A slow burn, it’s about contained rage caused by personal injustice. There are some startling moments, like the opening “buried alive” sequence and The G’s habit of drinking vodka out of a yogurt container, but this is about is about the threat of violence, which in many ways is more effective than the violence itself.
The stone-cold heart of the film is Dale Dickey in the title role. Tough and unlikable, she eventually reveals her shady past with the Texas mob and the root of her rage, but we’re with her every step of the way. When she says, “I’m not a good person,” it’s hard to disagree, but up against the evil legal guardian Rivera (Bruce Ramsay), you root for her to let her freak flag fly.
A message movie about scams that target the elderly, “The G” is also a character study of a woman in her seventies who refuses to lie down and take the shafting society often offers up to the elderly. The no-nonsense G is an antihero, but in Dickey’s more than capable hands she’s also a compelling and foul-mouthed crusader for justice.
“The G” is a testament to the fighting spirit, and a showcase for Dickey who deserves more lead roles.
On the Saturday November 23, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Dale Dickey. You know her as a formidable character actor, known for her Independent Spirit Award winning performance in “Winter’s Bone,” and appearances in more than 60 movies, like Iron Man 3 and Hell or High Water, and television shows like My Name Is Earl, Breaking Bad and True Blood. Her latest film is the dark thriller “The G.” In the movie, she plays a grandmother looking for vengeance with the help of her granddaughter Emma (Denis), who calls her “The G,” after a corrupt legal guardian puts her in a care home in order to take her property.
Then, we’ll hear the remarkable story of Sash Simpson. These days Sash is the owner/operator and Chef of Sash, a beautiful, fine dining restaurant featuring his distinctive, signature blend of globally inspired, locally-sourced ingredients. He’s also the subject of a new documentary, now on Crave, called “Born Hungry.” In the film, director Barry Avrich tells Sash’s triumphant and challenging story from a five year old orphan on the streets of Chennai, India, to establishing himself as one of Toronto’s top celebrated chefs.
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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SYNOPSIS: Set before Dorothy Gale blew into the Land of Oz, “Wicked,” the first half of the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, chronicles the unlikely friendship between Shiz University—Where knowledge meets magic!—students Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), before she became the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera), who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North. “Are people born wicked,” asks Glinda, “or do they have wickedness thrust on them?”
CAST: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage. Directed by Jon M. Chu.
REVIEW: A big, bold and brassy reimagination of the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history is an origin story that pays tribute to the beloved stage show, but also brews up its own cinematic vibe.
Fans of the show will be pleased to know the themes that made “the untold story of the witches of Oz” so popular have been maintained. As the fairy tale unfolds, it reveals commentary on identity, privilege and control woven into the story of Elphaba and Galinda’s friendship and the climatic showdown with Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and the (not-so) Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).
Elphaba is kind, intelligent and honest but suffers society’s slings and arrows because she looks and behaves differently than the norm. “I don’t cause a commotion,” she says. “I am one.”
She is the green-skinned outsider, misjudged by everyone from her father (Andy Nyman) to the student body of Shiz University who openly laugh at her. With powerhouse vocals (even when she’s singing a duet with a goat) Erivo guides the character along a journey from innocence to a certain kind of jadedness as she learns how the world really works. In doing so, facing racism and persecution, Elphaba, a character who is very specific to the story, turns into a universal avatar for the misunderstood.
When Madame Morrible strips her of her name, dubbing her the Wicked Witch, she is villainized by a powerful bully, but finds strength in that adversity.
Erivo’s intensity is countered by Grande-Butera’s bubbly, hair-flipping comedic take on the spoiled Galinda. “Something is wrong,” she says with wide-eyed wonder. “I didn’t get my way.” Her vocals soar, but it is the chemistry she shares with Erivo and the glittery gusto with which she attacks the role that is memorable.
Thematically and performance wise, “Wicked” gets it right. The beloved mix of lighter songs, emotional numbers and power ballads are expertly and lovingly rendered, and director Jon M. Chu fills the screen with constant movement and elaborate set design, but at 2 hours and 40 minutes—that just five minutes shy of the entire stage show’s runtime, including intermission—the movie feels overstuffed. Several scenes are overlong and over designed, despite Chu’s enthusiastic direction, as though the film is a little too in love with its own iconography.
In other words, Ain’t no rest for the “Wicked.”
Still, by the time “Wicked: Part One” gets to its finale, Elphaba’s transformation into the Wicked Witch and the rousing version of the show’s signature song, “Defying Gravity,” blows off whatever dust may have accumulated. It’s a showstopper that literally brings the curtain down until part two drops in theatres on November 21, 2025.
SYNOPSIS: In “Gladiator II,” director Ridley Scott’s long-gestating sequel to his 2000 blockbuster of almost the same name, Paul Mescal plays Lucius, former heir to the Roman Empire, now forced to battle in the Colosseum after his home is invaded by General Marcus Acacius on the orders of Rome’s syphilitic, power-hungry emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).
CAST: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Directed by Ridley Scott.
REVIEW: Come to see a man bite a monkey, stay for Denzel Washington’s deliciously devious villain.
The follow-up to Best Picture Oscar winner “Gladiator” is long on spectacle—Lucius not only battles giant monkeys, but also sharks and a huge, bloodthirsty rhino—but short on soul. It is loud and proud but the emotional connectivity offered by the original film, and specifically Russell Crowe’s performance, gets lost in this new translation.
The story of corruption, loyalty, birthright, vengeance and angry fighting animals is lavish and epic, but it isn’t much fun.
The set pieces in the Colosseum deliver big CGI action, there’s a fake severed head (a practical effect that makes the infamous rubber baby in Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” look photorealistic) and throngs of soldiers for as far as the eye can see. It is epic filmmaking on a grand scale, but it’s missing adrenaline, that hit of dopamine that gives you a rush.
The opening battle scene and the abovementioned monkey bite are rousing, but after that the movie gets bogged down, not with plot—that’s relatively simple—but with heroic banter and political intrigue.
Paul Mescal, as Lucius, son of Russell Crowe’s character Maximus Decimus Meridius from the first film, takes pains to differentiate himself from Crowe’s Oscar winning performance. His gladiator is pensive, weighed down by the death of his warrior wife at the end of an arrow fired by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Mescal is charismatic but in his quest for vengeance, he’s tasked with delivering a series of heroic speeches, none of which are as memorable as Crowe’s “Are you not entertained?” declaration.
Pascal’s gets the job done as the conflicted Roman general Marcus Acacius. He’s a warrior, but fears Rome is headed in the wrong direction under the sadistic twin emperors, Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).
Both hand in fine performances, but then, into the mix, comes Denzel Washington. It’s a supporting role, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. As Macrinus, a wealthy former slave with a plan to control Rome, he gives the film some bounce, some real personality.
As the villain of the piece, his cunning would put Machiavelli to shame. He’s a master chess player, moving everyone around as though they are pawns in his devilish game. His scenes are the film’s most memorable, and remember, this is in a movie where the lead character bites a monkey!
Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” has sword and sandal sequelitis. It’s bigger, louder and longer than the original film, but more, in this case, doesn’t mean better.
The film and its multi-platinum soundtrack feature eight songs written by Academy Award-, Emmy-, and Grammy-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, including the Oscar- and Grammy-winning song “Let It Go” performed by Idina Menzel.
