On the Saturday May 17, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Keith Elliot Greenberg. Before obtaining a college degree at Queens College in Communication in journalism, this longtime pro wrestling fan began writing pro wrestling stories professionally at age 19. Since then, Keith Elliot Greenberg has become a noted pro wrestling historian, who is also a New York Times best-selling author. His illustrious work includes writing for WWF Magazine and penning the autobiographies of pro wrestling legends, i.e. “Classy” Freddie Blassie, “Superstar” Billy Graham and Ric Flair.
Today we’re talking about his latest book, “Bigger! Better! Badder: WrestleMania III and the Year It All Changed.” It is the story behind Wrestlemania III, told from the perspective of company executives, wrestlers who appeared on the card, fans who attended the show, and other wrestling personalities.
Then, we’ll meet writer, producer and director Bruce David Klein. His new film, “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,” about stage and screen legend Liza Minnelli premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews. The Hollywood Reporter called it a “gorgeous portrait,” Deadline called it a “must-see”, and The Wrap said it is “delightful.”
We’ll talk about the movie, Liza and find out what makes the film a truly terrific absolutely true story.
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: Brutally choreographed kills return to the big screen in “Final Destination: Bloodlines.” The sixth film in the bloody franchise, now playing in theatres, sees college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) plagued by gruesome nightmares. Her search for answers leads to her grandmother Iris (Gabrielle Rose) and a deadly family secret. “I always knew this day would come,” says Iris. “I held him off for years. He’s a relentless son-of-a-bitch and won’t stop till he finishes the job.”
CAST: Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd. Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.
REVIEW: You don’t go to a “Final Destination” movie for the tightly crafted story. The franchise is a vehicle for impossibly complicated Rube Goldberg-esque chain-reaction kill sequences, where one small thing sets off a domino effect that ends in a bloodbath.
The stories simply don’t matter much. They are a framework for the action. In keeping with franchise tradition, “Bloodlines,” the first “Final Destination” movie in fourteen years, has more of a premise than a story.
You don’t go for the story, you go to see terrible things happen to people.
More importantly, you go to feel the anticipation before the terrible things happen.
“Bloodlines” builds suspense, planting clues to the oncoming carnage with sound cues—pay attention to the songs playing on the radio—messages on street signs and clever foreshadowing. Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein provide just enough information to allow us to sense what awful thing is about to happen but not enough to spoil the fun.
The result is an absurd good time at the movies that paints the screen with gallons of plasma, dark humour and a poignant send off to the late, great Tony Todd, a veteran of four of the franchise’s films.
“Final Destination: Bloodlines” is a crowd-pleaser. I wish it leaned into practical effects over CGI but the inventiveness of the action is merrily macabre enough to provide the dopamine hit you expect from the “Final Destination” series.
SYNOPSIS: Based on The Weeknd’s sixth studio album of the same name, in “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” a new psychological thriller now playing in theatres, an insomnia plagued musician (Abel Tesfaye) is drawn into a surreal journey by an enigmatic woman (Jenna Ortega) who leads him to the edge of madness.
CAST: Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd). Directed by Trey Edward Shults.
REVIEW: What do you get when you mix and match state-of-the-art, moody hook-driven pop music with a riff of Kathy Bates in “Misery,” a hint of tortured artist syndrome and trippy, experimental visuals? You get “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” a movie so self-indulgent it plays like a parody of a vanity project.
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” explores the darker side of pop stardom, inspired by The Weeknd losing his voice during a 2022 concert due to psychological stress. The four-time Grammy award winner funnels that harrowing experience into a strange film about a famous singer trapped in a world where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred.
A trip into the character’s emotional state, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is more of a vibe than narrative. In its study of fame, and the isolating effects of being adored by fans, it’s a journey that is equal parts fan service and self-absorption.
Episodic in nature, the movie unfolds in vignettes, each set to a bangin’ soundtrack courtesy of The Weeknd’s album. The music doesn’t drive the story as much as it creates a tone, acting as a backdrop for the evocative imagery shot by cinematographer Chayse Irvin on 35mm, 16mm, and Super 8 film.
It’s a cool looking film, but its themes, although specific to The Weeknd’s experience, feel reminiscent of other movies. The well-worn take on the destructive power of fame has echoes of everything from “Sunset Boulevard” to “A Star is Born. The feeling of disconnection from real life that comes with widespread recognition was eloquently essayed in “Rocketman” and “Birdman,” and the exploitation of women by musicians on the road was covered in “Performance” and “Almost Famous.”
Despite committed performances from “Wednesday’s” Jenna Ortega and “Saltburn” star Barry Keoghan, the focus on style over substance, with no attempt to add anything new to the conversation on fame, allows “Hurry Up Tomorrow” to get lost on its search for profundity. It mistakes long gaps in the dialogue for depth when, in fact, those pauses give the film a listless quality that sucks the energy out of the filmmaking.
There’s a scene in the middle of “Hurry Up Tomorrow” where Able (Tesfaye) and Anima (Ortega) play table hockey that may be representative of the whole movie. Table hockey is a board game masquerading as Canada‘s favourite sport just as “Hurry Up Tomorrow” is a music video masquerading as a film. In short, it’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it (as Ortega memorably does), but feels like an ad for the record.
SYNOPSIS: In “Friendship,” a new cringe comedy now playing in theatres, Tim Robinson is Craig, an awkward guy who gets a taste of what it’s like to be included in a friend group when his cool neighbor invites him over for a beer. “I can see the future,” says Craig. “It’s full of pals helping pals and being a boss.” When that relationship sours, his entire life is turned upside down as he goes to extremes to recreate that warm, embracing feeling.
CAST: Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Josh Segarra, Billy Bryk. Written and directed by Andrew DeYoung.
REVIEW: According to a recent study men have 50% fewer close friendships than women. In the case of Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson), an awkward suburban family man with a disinterested wife (Kate Mara) who still meets up with her ex for coffee, that percentage is far smaller.
Craig is an odd dude. Guaranteed to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, he’s content to sit at home, watching television. When a package meant for new neighbor Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd) is delivered to Craig’s house by mistake, he drops it off to the right address. By way of saying thanks Austin invites him over for beers with the boys that night.
Craig has never met anyone quite like Austin. To Craig the weatherman at the local television station is almost impossibly cool. He plays in a punk rock band, has a collection of ancient weapons and is surrounded by good friends. He is, as the food critic Pascal, played by Ian Holm in “The Big Night,” might have labelled him, a “take a bite out of the ass of life” kind of guy.
Initially the pair hit it off. They go urban spelunking, and Craig is embraced by Austin’s very supportive circle of friends, who have a habit of sharing their feelings and singing away the blues. “I’m on the edge of life,” Craig says of his newfound, connected life,” and the view is gorgeous.”
But when their friendship sours, Craig is cut loose, desperate to feel the embrace of friendship once again.
“Friendship” is an awkward, but often funny comedy. A character study of a lonely guy, the success of the film is in its ability to mix the heartfelt reality of Craig’s desperation with Robinson’s heightened performance. He is, by times, needy, abrasive and unhinged, and while much of it is played for laughs, Robinson manages to inspire empathy.
The film’s final shot (NO SPOILERS HERE) follows some unforgivable, over-the-top behavior on Craig’s part, and yet, as we see him for the last time, there is a vulnerability and strange (OK, very strange) sweetness to the image.
“Friendship” is not your average awkward comedy. Adam Sandler and others have played angry, desperate characters, but Robinson takes a different approach. His take on Craig is merciless and he never sucks up to the audience. He’s an open wound, and while the circumstances surrounding him are often amusing, he plays it straight, which, brings a sense of absurdity that amps up the funny.
“Friendship” is an intense take on the loneliness epidemic that feels a bit scattershot in its execution but has enough heart to cut through the hysterics.
SYNOPSIS: The story of “Please, After You,” a new Canadian comedy now on VOD, begins with Iranian immigrant Ali (Sammy Azero) searching for a better life in Canada. Having earned an engineering degree, he spends his time interviewing for a job in his field. That is, when he’s not working as a security guard at the downtown parking lot that allows him to eke out a meager living. His life is on track until his cousin Omid (Neema Nazeri) shows up, seeking political asylum to stay in Canada after getting caught up in an anti-government demonstration in Iran. “If I go back I will face jail,” he says. “Or even worse.”
CAST: Sammy Azero, Neema Nazeri, Juno Rinaldi, Kris Skiddiqi, Julie Nolke. Directed by Rob Michaels.
REVIEW: These days stories of potential deportations are no laughing matter but “Please, After You” is a surprisingly lighthearted movie. An odd couple story of an ambitious guy with his eye firmly on the future and his well-meaning but bumbling cousin, it is about starting life in a new country, resilience and finding community and a logical family wherever you may be.
Sammy Azerohas the less showy role. His job is to react to his hopelessly naïve cousin’s frequent inconveniences. Stand-up comedian and actor Neema Nazeri is all enthusiasm as Omid, a character who means well, but can’t get out of his own way, or Ali’s way for that matter, in his attempts at assimilation.
They make an engaging pair, even if some of their misadventures—like going for lunch and discovering the buffet is inside a strip club—feel a bit contrived. Still, there is a playfulness to the filmmaking by “Playback’s” 2021 10 to Watch director Rob Michaels, and in the performances.
“Please, After You,” with its story of finding a place in a new place, is meant to uplift and it does. It may err on the side of sentimentality from time to time, but unlike its main character, it never gets derailed by Omid’s antics.
Celebrate the 45th anniversary of “Caddyshack” with us and check out my filmed introduction to the classic comedy on the big screen!
“You can’t talk about “Caddyshack” without first talking about “Animal House.” Released in 1978, the wild John Belushi college comedy went on to become the seventh highest grossing film of the 1970s at the box office, and inspired dozens, maybe hundreds of subversive movies that saw the counterculture poke fun at the establishment. In other words, people responded to the movie’s slobs vs. snobs dynamic told from a young-adult point of view…” HERE‘s a preview. To see the whole thing, check your local Cineplex listings for times and a theatre near you!
On the Saturday May 10, 2025 ediiton of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet a living legend on the Canadian Comedy scene. The Winnipeg born, Chicago bred Kenny Robinson is often called the Godfather of Canadian comedy. His irreverent, socially conscience, intelligent, opinionated and profane style of comedy has made him a fixture and favourite with comedy clubs, festivals, radio, and television audiences for 3 decades.
This year he celebrates 30 years of his live show Kenny Robinson’s The Nubian Show, a monthly night of live comedy that has been the launching pad for many of Canada’s Whose Who of Comedy and featured appearances by heavy weight comics like Dave Chappell, Kevin Hart, Russell Peters. A new documentary, “People Of Comedy: Celebrating 30 Years Of The Nubian Show,” now streaming on Crave, traces The Nubian Show’s early beginnings at Toronto’s Yuk Yuk’s to its evolution into a powerful and unfiltered platform that has launched many careers, all under Kenny Robinson’s watchful eye.
Then we’ll meet Luke Gordon Field, editor-in-chief of the Beaverton website, Canada’s most trusted, least accurate news source, and co-executive producer of the critically acclaimed Beaverton television series. He has run The Beaverton since 2012, and is now the host of The Beaverton Weekly Report podcast, available wherever you find fine podcasts. Their press release says, “Every Wednesday Luke Gordon Field will assemble an all-star panel of comedians to talk, mock and riff their way through the news of the week. Their knowledge of the news will then be put to the test in a very important quiz where the stakes couldn’t be lower. It’s just like watching CNN, only funnier and with fewer erectile dysfunction ads.“
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.
