On the Saturday November 29, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet musician, composer, performer, author, professor, and tech innovator Paul Hoffert.
In 1969, Hoffert co-founded Lighthouse with drummer Skip Prokop, creating Canada’s first 13-piece rock orchestra blending rock, jazz horns, and strings. Hits like “One Fine Morning” (#24 US, #2 Canada) propelled millions of records sold, three Juno Awards, world tours, and openers for Duke Ellington. Hoffert played keys/vibraphone and arranged until 1974; the band reunited in 1992 and continues today.
Today we’ll talk about the release of “One Fine Morning (Anniversary Edition),” which is now available on limited edition three-colour-splatter vinyl, sun/moon vinyl, double CD and digitally. This is the first-ever fully remixed, remastered and expanded edition of the platinum-selling band’s breakthrough 1971 release.
Then, we meet filmmaker Tasha Hubbard. Based on her own documentary Birth of a Family, her movie “Meadowlarks,” in theatres now, stars top Indigenous actors Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice and Michelle Thrush as four Cree siblings, separated since childhood and now in their fifties, who agree to meet for the first time over a holiday weekend in Banff. The siblings were part of the 60s Scoop (1951-1991), seized by the government and placed in non-Indigenous homes.
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 review the number one film in the world, “Zootopia 2” for CTVNews.ca.
“It makes for a densely packed, candy-coloured confection that lacks the cleverness of the original film, but still delivers a fun, although sometimes repetitive, experience for all ages…” Read the whole thing HERE!
In this week’s episode of Entertainment Is Broken, Richard Crouse and Sarah Hanlon head back to Oz to poke at Hollywood’s favourite security blanket… the sequel. Are follow-ups actually good for storytelling, or just very good for spreadsheets?
Along the way, Richard also shares something a lot more personal than box office numbers: a major health scare that hit in the middle of recording last week’s episode. From there, the show pivots from billion-dollar franchises to the simple fact that none of this matters much if your health falls apart.
Wicked: For Good’s billion-dollar moment
Why Universal is already quietly building the “Wicked Cinematic Universe”… and whether that’s exciting, inevitable, or just exhausting.
Sequels vs storytelling
Are follow-ups expanding worlds or just recycling IP until the wheels fall off?
When sequels work: Incredibles 2, Finding Dory, Zootopia 2, Star Trek’s new shows, the King of the Hill revival.
When they absolutely don’t: from Jaws 3D to remakes like the new Hand That Rocks The Cradle that bring nothing new to the table.
Comfort food culture
Richard makes the case that sequels and remakes are the entertainment equivalent of meatloaf: familiar, comforting… and maybe crowding out anything that asks us to try a new flavour.
If the internet promised we’d all get giant “Martians from Mars Attacks” brains, why do we keep using it to find more of the same thing we already like?
Nostalgia vs originality
Is Hollywood just giving people what they want, or training us to stop wanting anything else?
Sarah defends sequels that evolve with the times, while Richard worries about the space they take up on the cultural shelf.
This week’s headlines
Before they dive fully into sequel madness, Richard and Sarah run through a packed slate of entertainment stories:
Jimmy Cliff remembered
From The Harder They Come to a soundtrack that helped make reggae a global force, Richard looks back at a genuine titan and what it meant that his film ran for over a year in one New York theatre.
Donald Glover’s health scare
A stroke, heart surgery, and a reminder that behind every “tour cancelled” headline is a human being whose body just called time out. Richard connects it with his own Bell’s palsy diagnosis mid-podcast last week… and why health really is the only non-negotiable.
Guns N’ Roses back on the road (again)
Axl, Slash, Duff and co are returning with Canadian dates, some new music, and, apparently, shows that actually start on time now. Miracles happen.
Farewell to Udo Kier
The ultimate “I know that guy” actor, popping up in everything from art-house classics to Armageddon. Richard and Sarah unpack why he made bad movies better and good movies unforgettable.
Joni Mitchell & Nelly Furtado get their flowers
Lifetime honours at the Junos for two Canadian icons, plus Richard’s story about Joni, a cigarette, and a very polite attempt at enforcing no-smoking rules that did not go as planned.
Graham Linehan’s harassment case
A British comedy figure cleared of one charge, found guilty on another… and a frank conversation about harassment, hate, and how hard it is to separate “beloved creator” from the harm they cause.
Richard Branson’s loss
The death of his wife, Joan Templeman, and what it means to be the public face of an empire while someone else is holding your life together offstage.
Michael Cera & Pamela Anderson in small-town Ontario
Cera’s directorial debut, Love Is Not The Answer, is shooting in Carleton Place with Pamela Anderson in a leading role. Richard shares what it was like to host her onstage post-documentary, and why her current reinvention feels a lot like a long-overdue course correction.
Jay Kelly, streaming vs cinema, and James Cameron’s line in the sand
A discussion of the George Clooney/Adam Sandler/Laura Dern dramedy Jay Kelly, why it feels like a throwback to mid-2000s grown-up movies… and whether streaming-first releases should be chasing Oscars in the same way theatrical films do.
So… do we really need another one?
By the time Richard and Sarah circle back to sequels, they’ve landed on a pretty simple tension:
Sequels can absolutely be great.
They can deepen characters, speak to the moment they’re released in, and give artists a second (or seventh) swing at a world they love.
But when they’re treated as a safety net instead of a creative choice…
They become a way to avoid risk, to feed nostalgia on loop, and to crowd out smaller, stranger, more empathetic stories that don’t come pre-branded.
Or as Sarah puts it: the problem isn’t that we get another one… it’s when “another one” is the only thing we’re allowed to get.
Listen to the episode
In this episode of Entertainment Is Broken, you’ll get:
Smart, funny, slightly exasperated sequel chat
Deep-cut film and TV references you can steal for your next argument
A reminder to go see something without a number in the title
And a host doing the show with half his face temporarily offline because… show must go on
SYNOPSIS: In “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” a new whodunnit now playing in theatres before switching to Netflix on December 12, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is thrust into a hellish new case involving a fist-fighting priest, his congregation and a murder most foul. “The devil didn’t do this,” Blanc announces, “a parishioner did. The devil’s just jealous he didn’t think of it first.”
CAST: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Directed by Rian Johnson.
REVIEW: A tribute to locked-room mysteries, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and novelist John Dickson Carr, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” mixes spirituality and death in a story that crackles with life.
The action begins when rebellious young priest Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is assigned to a parish called Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude in upstate New York to work with hellfire preacher Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).
The two butt heads, and when the charismatic Monsignor turns up dead amid mysterious circumstances, the congregation including tightly wound lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), former concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), town doctor Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) and church matriarch Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) suspect Father Jud to be the doer of the dirty deed. “I came here to save souls,” Father Jud says, “not count stab wounds.”
As the local police, led by chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) investigate, Benoit Blanc, “the world’s greatest detective,” played by Daniel Craig, sorts through the clues to bring his own expertise to the case. “This was dressed as a miracle,” Blanc says, “it’s just a murder. And I solve murders.”
The most fleet-footed, and best, entry in the “Knives Out” franchise, the star-studded “Wake Up Dead Man” benefits from the chemistry between Craig, as Southern detective Blanc and the young priest played by O’Connor. Their scenes pop with energy and mystery, while Josh Brolin, as an unpredictable priest, brings an unexpected sense of menace.
Director Rian Johnson carefully reveals clues, building the on the whodunnit part of the mystery, but it’s the whydunit that gives the movie some unexpected depth. No spoilers here but Johnson, who also wrote the script, infuses the story with different kinds of spirituality. Wicks is all fire and brimstone, Judd preaches mercy, and the film asks, which is more effective, fear or love? Complete with the startling image of a bleeding cross, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is a look not just at sinners, but their sins as well, wrapped up in an entertaining mystery.
SYNOPSIS: In “Zootopia 2,” the decade-in-the-making-sequel to the 2016 Oscar winner, Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman voice odd couple, undercover police partners on the most important case of their lives.
CAST: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Shakira, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, and Quinta Brunson. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard.
REVIEW: Picking up immediately after the event of the first film, the 2016 Oscar-winning animated hit “Zootopia,” the action takes place in the titular city, a big bustling metropolis run by the mammal descendants of the city’s founder, Ebeneezer Lynxley.
Fresh off solving a career making conspiracy case, the eager police officer rabbit Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and con-artist-turned-cop Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), are stumbling all over themselves to convince Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), their cape buffalo chief of police, that they aren’t one-trick-ponies, or foxes or rabbits.
“Some are questioning whether you should be partners in the first place,” Bogo tells them.
When Judy finds a piece of snakeskin, a rarity in a place where mammals don’t trust reptiles, she’s thinks it’s the first clue in her next big case.
With a reluctant Nick by her side, Judy tries to discover why pit viper Gary De’Snake (Ke Huy Quan) is back in town, why there’s no snakes in Zootopia and why everyone wants to get their paws on a mysterious old book that predates the town.
A mishmash of puns, old-school movie references and action delivered at supersonic speed, “Zootopia 2” threatens to careen out of control but strays on track to deliver a family friendly crime caper with plenty of laughs and heart.
Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard, working from a script by Bush, lay it on thick for all members of the family. It’s probably the first kid’s flick about gentrification, which will likely fly over the heads of the younger set, but the vibrant animation and frenetic action should keep kids entertained while adults will catch the endless puns—Gnu Jersey anyone?—and call backs to “Ratatouille,” “The Godfather,” “Silence of the Lambs” and the original movie among others.
It makes for a densely packed, candy coloured confection that lacks the cleverness of the original film but still delivers a fun, although sometimes repetitive, experience for all ages.
SYNOPSIS: Set in the afterlife, “Eternity,” a new supernatural rom com starring Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen, and now playing in theatres, sees a woman forced to make a decision between her two loves, the man she was married to for 65 years or her first love who died young. “This is the junction,” says afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “Where you choose one place to spend eternity and who to spend it with.”
CAST: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Directed by David Freyne.
REVIEW: A romcom filtered through a “Twilight Zone” sensibility, “Eternity” is a whimsical but emotional story of an impossible choice between lost and found love.
When we first meet Joan and Larry, played by Betty Buckley and Barry Primus, they’ve been married for 65 years. When Larry drops dead at a gender reveal party, he enters the afterlife junction, a kitschy 1960s pop art stopover, confused as to how he got there and why he now looks like Miles Teller. “When you get here your form reverts to your happiest self,” says his afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “It can be any age.”
Anna tells him he has one week to figure out where he’d like to spend eternity and with whom. When Joan, now played by Elizabeth Olsen, arrives days later, Larry assumes the two will spend eternity as they spent their lives, together. “Now we can finally have that holiday, but it’s a one and done thing,” he tells her. “They’re very strict on that here. If you want to go to the mountains we can, because the cold won’t kill us now.”
Trouble is, Joan’s first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the war, is also there, and has been waiting for her for decades. “Let me explain exactly what’s happening to my client,” Joan’s afterlife coordinator Ryan (John Early) says, whisking her away. “She clearly has a tough decision to make.”
Placed against a backdrop of the afterlife junction, the colorful gateway to forever, “Eternity” is a metaphysical romance that feels grounded in real emotion. The terrific cast bring both humor and heartache to the high concept story, keeping it light, while diving deep into Joan, Larry and Luke’s relationship.
It’s a tricky balance to juggle humor, some definitely of the slapstick variety, and existential romance, but director David Freyne never fumbles. The mid-section loses the giddy good fun of the opening scenes, relying on flashbacks and soul searching as the characters grapple with what exactly the vow “Til death do us part” means but, even then, the bureaucratic Randolph and Early do the comedic heavy lifting.
“Eternity’s” story of making choices and finding closure tackles heavy topics but never loses its charm and playfulness.
SYNOPSIS: In “Meadowlarks,” a new family drama now playing in theatres, four Cree siblings are reunited in a week-long retreat in Banff fifty years after having been forcibly separated during Canada’s Sixties Scoop. “We were five little birds in one nest,” says Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), “and they scattered us like the wind scatters meadowlarks.”
CAST: Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice, Michelle Thrush, Lorne Duquette. Directed by Tasha Hubbard.
REVIEW: Based on Tasha Hubbard’s 2017 doc “Birth of a Family,” “Meadowlarks” is an intimate, emotional look at the devastating personal effects and loss of cultural identity that came as a result of the Sixties Scoop.
The film reunites siblings Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), Connie (Carmen Moore), Marianne (Alex Rice), and Gwen (Michelle Thrush), a Cree family separated as babies by the Sixties Scoop, placed in the child welfare system and raised by non-Indigenous families.
Apart for fifty years, they are strangers who share DNA and fragmented memories, but little else. Over the course of a week in Banff they share stories of their lives, past and present. Emotions ebb and flow as they get to know one another after a lifetime of estrangement.
Director Tasha Hubbard, herself a Sixties Scoop survivor, keeps the story simple to highlight the complexity of the situation. Although siblings, these four are very different people, and once the initial “get-to-know-ya” small talk fades away, raw memories surface.
As they ride a rollercoaster of emotions they become closer, closing the gap that has separated them for decades. When camaraderie develops so do vulnerabilities as they talk about their lost childhoods in a way that would be impossible with anyone else. Their trauma isn’t erased, but reconnecting and sharing their experiences leads to a certain kind of comfort.
Fueled by terrific performances, “Meadowlarks” is a hopeful, heartfelt movie, one that suggests that the fabric of family can be mended no matter how frayed.
“Entertainment Is Broken” producer Brittlestar on why he created the show!
“Awhile ago I realized that there are lots of Canadian pop-culture shows but precious few CANADIAN entertainment shows.
“Not shows that deal only with Canada’s entertainment industry but rather shows that don’t exclude Canada’s entertainment industry.
“So, we created Entertainment Is Broken.
“Produced by the same team that brings you Politics Is Broken,Entertainment Is Brokenis a weekly podcast hosted by entertainment news iconRichard Crouseand co-hosted by reality show and pop culture queenSarah Hanlon.
“Join them as they cover everything entertainment from around the world through a Canadian lens.
Movies, Television, Streaming, Music, Social, Books, Whatever.
“This inaugural episode delivers a full run through the entertainment landscape as entertainment insiders Richard Crouse and Sarah Hanlon break down the latest headlines, rule on cultural controversies inPop Culture Courtroom, and highlight the movies, shows, music, books, and games you shouldn’t miss. Insightful, entertaining, and very them.
“Enjoy it. I can’t wait for them to start fighting.”
Listen to the show, which debuted in the Top 40 podcasts in the country, HERE!
On the Saturday November 22, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Eric Smith, veteran sportscaster and the long-time radio voice of the Toronto Raptors. Known for his insightful commentary and deep connection to the Raptors’ journey, Smith brings a unique perspective to basketball broadcasting. As co-author of “We the Raptors: Thirty Players, Thirty Stories, Thirty Years,” he combines his courtside expertise with storytelling to chronicle the franchise’s history through the voices of its players, capturing the heart of Canada’s only NBA team.
Then we meet Ed Conroy. A Toronto-based cultural historian, writer, producer, archivist and vintage video sleuth, he is the founder of Retrontario.com and his pieces on Canadian pop-culture and history have appeared in The Toronto Star, Toronto Life, blogTO, and many other places.
His latest project is “Imagination: The Golden Age of Toronto Kids’ TV,” a comprehensive look back at fifty years of children’s television that shaped our young lives. From the beloved — “Polka Dot Door,” and “Today’s Special” — to the bizarre — “Kiddo the Clown” and “Maniac Mansion,” ImagiNation is a memory-filled trip for anyone who spent their weekdays after school or Saturday mornings staring at the electric babysitter.
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.
