On the Saturday March 29, 2025 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll spend some time with Rik Emmett.
He is a solo artist, a guitarist, a poet, a song writer, a teacher, a Canadian Music Industry Hall of Famer who is probably best known as the co-singer and guitar player of Triumph, the gold and nine platinum selling rock trio who lit up radios in the 70s and 80s.
Rik left Triumph in 1988 to pursue a solo career, and released records in a variety of styles, including rock, blues, jazz, classical, bluegrass, and flamenco. He’s he won the Canadian Smooth Jazz Award for Guitarist of the Year and now has written a new book called “Ten Telecaster Tales: Liner Notes for a Guitar and Its Music,” available now wherever you buy fine books.
In the book Rik delves into the creative process — the roots, influences, philosophy, and spirituality involved in writing and recording.
Then we’ll meet Hill Kourkoutis, a multi-hyphenate, award-winning songwriter and producer, who recently earned a well-deserved JUNO Award nomination for the Recording Engineer of the Year Award. This recognition comes for her work on “Ghost” by Sebastian Gaskin and “Should We” by Emi Jeen.
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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I join CTV Atlantic anchor Bruce Frisco to talk about the one-horned horrors of “Death of a Unicorn,” the rompin’, stompin’ deja vu of “A Working Man,” the flightless dramedy of “The Penguin Lessons” and the off-kilter Prime Video film “Holland” with Nicole Kidman.
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres including the one-horned horrors of “Death of a Unicorn,” the rompin’, stompin’ deja vu of “A Working Man” and the flightless dramedy of “The Penguin Lessons.”
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the one-horned horrors of “Death of a Unicorn,” the rompin’, stompin’ deja vu of “A Working Man,” the flightless dramedy of “The Penguin Lessons,” the character study of “Darkest Miriam” and the off-kilter Prime Video film “Holland” with Nicole Kidman.
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” for “Booze & Reviews!” This week I review “The Penguin Lessons” and suggest a cocktail to give you happy feet!
Click HERE to hear Richard and Shane unpack the unexpected: Joey Ramone’s new project… for kids.
Click HERE for Booze & Reviews. This week a Fuzzy Penguin takes flight!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to do a high five! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the deja vu of “A Working Man,” the horrors of “Death of a Unicorn” and the dramedy of “The Penguin Lessons.”
SYNOPSIS: In the new thriller “A Working Man” action hero Jason Statham, and his perfect stubble, return to the big screen as Statham Character #2. That’s the “loner with a past who must protect a youthful innocent.” (As opposed to Statham Character #1 in which he plays “a loner with a past who must protect a loved one.”) This time around he’s a former Royal Marines commando who currently works as a construction worker in Chicago. When his boss’s daughter is forced into human trafficking, he uses his special set of skills to rescue her.
CAST: Jason Statham, Michael Peña, and David Harbour. Directed by David Ayer, written by Ayer and Sylvester Stallone
REVIEW: I enjoy Jason Statham’s movies, though they often feel repetitive, like a single story stretched over many films.
I had my usual sense of déjà vu while watching “A Working Man” and when I sat down to write this review it occurred to me that, just as Statham has been making the same movie over and over again, I’ve been writing essentially the same review over and over again.
In that spirit I made a new review out of my previous Statham writings by only changing a title or two.
(From my review of “The Mechanic,” 2011) Jason Statham isn’t so much an actor as he is a brand. When you go to McDonald’s you know you can expect the two all-beef patties, special sauce and the sesame seed bun to taste the same whether you’re in Toronto or Hong Kong. It’s that kind of brand management that has made Statham a star. You know what to expect from his movies—rippling abs, some high kicking action, his trademarked facial stubble and loads of explosions. It’s a simple formula but one that works for his fans. Perhaps the advertising slogan for his new film, INSERT TITLE HERE should be “New, But Not Improved.”
(From my review of “Killer Elite,” 2011) Statham plays INSERT CHARACTER NAME HERE, an ex- specials ops agent. He’s mad, bad and dangerous to know but trying to cool it on the whole killing people thing. But like Michael Corleone, every time he thinks he’s out they pull him back in. He’s convinced to strap on a gun once again when his INSERT CHARACTER HERE is kidnapped.
(From my review of “Wrath of Man,” 2021) Gone is the jokey Statham of “Spy” and his over-the-top “Fast and Furious” work. This is a back-to-basics performance that sees him settle on one facial expression, as though his chiseled face is encased in amber, to convey the character’s one deadly motive. The taciturn thing has worked for him before, and it works well here.
(From my review of “Parker,” 2013) “INSERT TITLE HERE” is a Jason Statham movie, with all that implies. The good is a brooding physicality he brings to his roles. He looks like he could snap your neck with his steely glare, so when he does it on screen, it works.
(From my review of “Homefront,” 2013) [In other words] I liked INSERT TITLE HERE when Statham was punching people. I liked it less when he wasn’t.
SYNOPSIS: Near the beginning of “Death of a Unicorn,” a new horror comedy now playing in theaters, father and daughter played by Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, hit a unicorn with their car on the way to the home of terminally ill pharmaceutical CEO Odell Leopold. They bring the roadkill to Leopold who wants to exploit the animal’s magical, curative powers. “It’s an opportunity for immortality,” he says. As the research begins, however, the unicorn’s parents seek revenge on those responsible the death of their foal.
CAST: Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Téa Leoni, Richard E. Grant. Directed by Alex Scharfman.
REVIEW: The “divine monsters” of “Death of a Unicorn” are vengeful creatures who toss their victims around like human piñatas and use their horns to disembowel those who get on their wrong side.
In other words, “Unicorn Academy” this ain’t.
What it is, is an uneven movie that folds family dynamics into a slasher style flick. It begins as a story about a father (Paul Rudd) and daughter (Jenna Ortega) navigating the rocky relationship left between them after the sudden death of their wife/mother but soon turns satiric in its condemnation of the super wealthy/pharmaceutical industry, and ultimately, a moderately gory display of blood and guts.
Imagine a cross between “Aftersun,” “The Menu” and “Jurassic Park” and you’ll get the idea.
The disparate parts are held together by a talented cast. Rudd brings his trademarked charm as the goofy dad, a guy willing, but unprepared, to risk everything to save his daughter. Ortega brings echoes of her “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” performance, but, as a character named Ripley, delivers a pretty cool “Alien” tribute.
Like the film’s other elements, their relationship is kind of one note, but it’s a pretty good note and they spark off one another.
The comedic trio of Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni and Will Poulter as the ruthless pharmaceutical family embody the charitable gentility of the ultra-rich, a guise that quickly falls away when the chips are down. Somehow Grant even manages to take the persnickety rich guy character of “Saltburn” up a notch or two here.
The five of them—plus an underused Anthony Carrigan—form a fun ensemble but are let down by a script that offers a few funny lines, but not enough connective tissue between its daddy/daughter storyline, the morally corrupt Leopold family and nature attacks ingredients to really come to a boil.
SYNOPSIS: In “Holland,” a new Nicole Kidman thriller now streaming on Amazon Prime, Nancy suspects her husband of having an affair. Her self-styled investigation hints that nothing, and no one, may be what they seem.
CAST: Nicole Kidman, Gael García Bernal, Matthew Macfadyen, and Jude Hill. Directed by Mimi Cave.
REVIEW: “You think you know someone, then you don’t,” says Holland, Michigan suburban home economics teacher Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman).
Intruding into her perfectly curated world are nagging suspicions that her optometrist husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) is having an affair. When she finds Polaroid film, she tells her friend Dave (Gael García Bernal), that Fred uses it to “take kinky sex photos with his lover.”
As Nancy’s distrust grows, she and Dave begin a homegrown investigation into Fred’s behavior. As they dig deeper and deeper to find proof of his infidelities, they develop feelings for one another.
As their relationship bears fruit, so does their investigation, and for the first time Nancy imagines a life outside of the one she has always known.
File “Holland” under the Suburban Anxiety category. The seemingly perfect small Michigan town is, of course, less than perfect, let alone wholesome, and director Mimi Cave, working in concert with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, infuses the film with a sense of undefinable unease.
That vibe is continued in Kidman’s performance. Nobody does off kilter like Kidman. Her resume is dotted with eccentric characters, like Nancy, who present a polished veneer but soon reveal a darker underbelly. But Nancy isn’t completely quirky. She is simply a person who allows her dissatisfaction to dictate her extreme actions. Kidman masterfully finds the humanity in her and never overplays her hand, no matter how deep down the rabbit hole she falls.
Unfortunately, Nancy is placed at the heart of movie that is short on thrills. The action unfolds slowly without enough twists and turns to fully immerse the audience in the strange world of Nancy and Holland, Michigan.
On the Saturday March 29, 2025 episode of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll spend some time with Rik Emmett.
