I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the stylish and satirical “Onslaught,” the big stars of “Mayday” and the vengeance of “By Any Means.”Watch the whole thing HERE!
Just in time for Canada Day! Check out my podcast “Maple Syrup For Your Eyes.” It’s a quick and entertaining trip through the films of the Great White North. Have a listen, they’re like Butter Tarts, but for your ears.
VOLUME ONE: CAN CON COMEDY: Listen to it HERE:
I present a list of Canadian comedies that are more fun than a two four of Moosehead. We’ll meet the “Governor of Givin’er,” a bingo caller named Ned, an obsessive film fan, a free-spirited teen whose birthday mushroom trip brings her face-to-face with her 39-year-old self and writer director Cody Lightning and his film “Hey Viktor!”
VOLUME TWO: CAN CON DOCS: Listen to it HERE:
I present a list of Canadian documentaries that are more fun than a bucket of Beavertails. I’ll tell you about a major art forgery, the beginnings of a beloved band, a five-year-old orphan on the streets of Chennai, India, who went on to become one of Toronto’s most celebrated chefs and a journey across the 24,000 kilometers of our big, beautiful country. First up, a documentary about a family secret.
VOLUME THREE: CAN CON SCI FI: Listen to it HERE:
I present a list of Canadian sci fi and fantasy films that will wrap their robotic arms around you in a warm Canadarm hug. I’ll tell you about a government manhunt to eliminate the rise of the machine consciousness, a war-ravaged totalitarian future, marginalized superheroes, a slimy bipedal creature and an animated, malevolent rock star.
VOLUME FOUR: CAN CON SCARES: Listen to it HERE:
I present a list of Canadian horror films that are scarier than the Frankenstein Burger King on Clifton Hill. I’ll tell you about a 3D archaeologist, a werewolf movie that reinvents the genre, the first slasher flick, a vocal virus and much more.
VOLUME FIVE: CRONENBERG FAMILY VALUES: Listen to it HERE!
From a bloodthirsty brood, to celebrity viruses and a euthanasia program, on this week’s edition of “Maple Syrup For Your Eyes” I have a look at two generations of filmmaking Cronenbergs, David, Brandon and Caitlin.
MAPLE SYRUP FOR YOUR EYES VOLUME 6: HOLY MACKINAW! CANADIAN SPORTS MOVIES: Listen to it HERE!
I present a list of Canadian sports movies guaranteed to light the lamp! From airborne bloody Chiclets and a hockey icon to the story of Saul Indian Horse and an elegy for a man who spent much of his career earning $25 a game, I have a look at Canada’s favorite game on the big screen.
MAPLE SYRUP FOR YOUR EYES VOLUME 7: BRAAAIIIINS AND GORE! CANADIAN ZOMBIE MOVIES: Listen to it HERE!
Here’s a list of Canadian zombie movies with both gore and Braaaaains. I’ll tell you about a kid friendly zombie flick, heavy metal flesh eaters and a Civil War era zombie story that Variety says merits appreciation for really trying something different.
MAPLE SYRUP FOR YOUR EYES VOLUME 8: CANADIAN DRAMA KINGS AND QUEENS! Listen to it HERE!
Here’s a list of Canadian dramas more flavourful than a bag of ketchup chips. Coming up I have the story of a mystical child on a remote island off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, a journey to justice for Christopher Plummer, the tale of a young women who went from wilderness of Alberta to the wild runways of the fashion world and a young Indigenous woman guided by spirits to exact revenge against a vicious Government Agent. First stop on our dramatic journey, Nova Scotia.
MAPLE SYRUP FOR YOUR EYES VOLUME 9: THE “BLACKBERRY” SPECIAL! Listen to it HERE!
On this special episode of “Maple Syrup For Your Eyes” I have an in-depth look at the movie “Blackberry,” the lessons learned from the film, about what it means to be Canadian, why we don’t celebrate our own stories and much more with the film’s stars Jay Baruchel and Matt Johnson (who also co-wrote and directed).
Each the Toronto Star’s Peter Howell rounds up a group of industry insiders to choose the hottest movies at the Toronto International Film Festival.Here’s my pick: Misty Green: “Chris Rock was slapped in front of Hollywood. I’m interested to see how he slaps back in this Hollywood satire.”
Read the whole thing HERE!
On the Saturday September 5, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet New York Times and internationally bestselling thriller author Linwood Barclay. With more than 25 novels to his credit, including breakout hit “No Time for Goodbye,” which sold over a million copies in the UK alone, his gripping, twist-filled domestic suspense novels explore ordinary people plunged into extraordinary danger, family secrets, and moral dilemmas. His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold millions of copies worldwide, earned praise from Stephen King, and have been adapted for television.
His latest white-knuckle thriller, “Not a Word” follows a man who discovers his parents dead in an apparent murder-suicide — only to uncover a web of dangerous secrets tied to Big Pharma and his own family’s past. Master of the “what would you do?” thriller, Linwood Barclay remains one of crime fiction’s most reliable and compelling voices.
Then, David Kittredge, an Emmy-nominated director, editor, producer, and screenwriter known for his work across independent film, documentary, and queer cinema stops by. His credits include writing and directing the cult LGBT thriller “Pornography: A Thriller,” editing the acclaimed director’s cut of “54,” and serving as lead editor and co-executive producer on Shudder’s award-winning series “Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror.” Today we’ll talk about his feature documentary “Boorman and the Devil,” about John Boorman and the making of “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
Here’s some background on the documentary:
After the success of “Point Blank” and “Deliverance,” Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, “The Exorcist.” The result was one of the biggest disasters in movie history. A critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business, but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career… but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker. In the documentary John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and more reflect on the ambition of the film, the artistry and craft, and the value of big creative swings.
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (link coming soon)
Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!
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 sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the stylish and satirical “Onslaught,” the big stars of “Mayday” and the vengeance of “By Any Means.”Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make a sandwich. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the stylish and satirical “Onslaught,” the big stars of “Mayday” and the vengeance of “By Any Means.”Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about why American love a British president, a new wrap artist from actor Tom Hardy a.k.a. Frankie Pulitzer, a Hooters movie, and I review the action flick “Onslaught” and suggest some robot themed cocktaiuls to enjoy with the movie.Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “By Any Means,” a new crime thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and now playing in theatres, a mafia hitman and a young FBI agent reluctantly team to investigate murders targeting civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi. “I believe in justice,” says Special FBI Agent Wayne Strider, “by any means necessary.”CAST: Mark Wahlberg, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas, LisaGay Hamilton, LaChanze, Ethan Embry, David Strathairn, Giancarlo Esposito. Directed by Elegance Bratton.
REVIEW: Set in 1966, and loosely based on real life FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio, “By Any Means” sees Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a by-the-book FBI Agent who passionately believes in Civil Rights for Black people, desk bound in his bureau’s file department. “America won’t be right until Mississippi is right,” he says.
When a prominent Black voting rights advocate is murdered by the Klan the FBI runs into a wall of silence from witnesses who fear retribution from the KKK.
With no witnesses willing to speak, the Agency takes the drastic action of pairing the Mississippi-born Strider with a man “uniquely qualified for the job,” the Colombo family hitman and FBI informant Gregory Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg, playing a character based on a real-life hitman for the Colombo crime family of New York City). “I do whatever I want,” he says. “No rules.”
They are a classic odd couple, forced to form an uneasy alliance. Strider is led by morality and a belief in justice. Scarpa, on the other hand, is a violent psychopath, whose actions are condoned by the FBI as long as they yield results. He believes in nothing but himself.
“I knock some heads around and crack the case,” says Scarpa. “Making people disappear does not solve the problem,” says Strider.
Doling out justice and vengeance in almost equal measure, Strider and Scarpa’s antics bring a morally ambiguous tone to “By Any Means.”
It’s a sort of Good Cop/Really Bad Cop scenario that, for all its talk of doing the right thing and playing by the rules, plays like a historical riff on “Death Wish’s” orgy of retribution.
If there is an ethical cost of Scarpa’s actions—torture and beating confessions out of suspects—it’s one the movie isn’t keen to explore. Scarpa’s coercive violence yields results but his methods are justified rather than questioned. Stride doesn’t like it but, after a spell of feeling helpless when his commitment to law and order fails him, eventually tacitly agrees that a cigarette burn to the chest or a baseball bat applied to the kneecaps are powerful tools in coaxing folks to spill the beans. But with no complexity to the film’s study of the ends justifying the means the effectiveness of the message is blunted. There is a cathartic vibe to seeing the Klansmen get knocked around, but it is a visceral thrill, not an intellectual one.
“By Any Means” is a handsome looking movie, with stylish direction from Elegance Bratton and a powerful performance from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He’s as stoic as Wahlberg, decked out with a giant Spirit of Halloween fake nose and elaborate combover, is swaggerlicious.
“By Any Means” is an entertaining late summer crime drama, but in its treatment of morality is more wish-fulfillment revenge than treatise on systemic complicity in illegal and methods used in law enforcement.
SYNOPSIS: In “Mayday,” an action buddy comedy now streaming on Apple TV+, when Ryan Reynolds plays a U.S. Navy pilot downed in the Russian wilderness, he’s rescued by ex-KGB agent who looks a lot like Kenneth Branagh. Will their friendship cause the Cold War to heat up?CAST: Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh, Marcin Dorociński, Maria Bakalova, David Morse. Written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.
REVIEW: “Mayday” is a throwback to odd couple flicks like “Red Heat” that mixed big stars with Cold War concerns and comedy.
Set in 1987, the movie stars Ryan Reynolds as U.S. pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly sent on a top-secret SR-71 mission over Soviet Russia. When a midair collision forces him to pull the ejection cord, he lands, alone and injured, in the Russian wilderness.
He wakes up in the cabin of Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh), an ex-KGB agent whose home is decorated with American flags, Coors posters and a well-worn VHS copy of “Top Gun.”
“This may shock you,” he tells Kelly. “I admire your country very much. Your democracy, your culture, and your films, and your food. I have never had McDonald’s, but I suspect I would love it.”
With the Kelly’s promise of American citizenship for Ustinov and his daughter (Maria Bakalova), the unlikely duo find a way to work together to find a way to thaw the Cold War.
“Mayday” may have two above-the-title stars, but make no mistake, this is Kenneth Branagh’s movie. Dusting off his “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”/”Tenet” Russian accent, his lovable but lethal Nikolai steals every scene.
There are lots of action scenes—from the high-flying ejection scene and a chase through Moscow in an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launcher to a zero-gravity airplane cabin fight scene and a wild train jump—that feel reminiscent of the 1980s movies that clearly inspired directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
But despite all the action, “Mayday” wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining if not for Branagh’s comedic performance. He makes up for Reynolds’s one note, same-old performance and the film’s lack of an interesting villain. Even when he has to mouth some gag worthy dialogue—”You have found so many ways to fight us, but you never take the time to get to know us.”—he still dominates.
