I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the erotic thriller “56 Days” and the pirate action movie “The Bluff.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:46)
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the music doc “Paul McCartneyt: Man on the Run,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light” and the zombie flick “This is Not a Test.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:21)
I sit with Jim Richards on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and movies playing in theatres. We talk about the effort to bring a Stompion’ Tom statue to his old stompin’ grounds of St. John, New Brunswick, Taylor Sheridan’s new novel “How to Not Die in Prison,” some extreme methods directors use to get performances from actors and I review “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join “CP24 Breakfast” host Nick Dixon to talk about the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the music doc “Paul McCartneyt: Man on the Run” and the Paramount+ docuseries “Wild Boys: Strangers in Town.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the return of Sidney Prescott in “Scream 7,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light,” the zombie flick “This is Not a Test” and the music doc “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to scream seven times. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of Sidney Prescott in “Scream 7,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light” and the music doc “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run.”
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 movie tourism and the “Heated Rivalry” AirBnB, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I review “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” and tell you about Paul’s favorite cocktail!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: “Scream 7,” now playing in theatres, once again says “Hello, Sidney” as Neve Campbell returns to the thirty-year-old horror franchise as iconic “final girl” Sidney Prescott.
CAST: Neve Campbell, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Anna Camp, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons, Joel McHale. Directed by Kevin Williamson.
REVIEW: The labyrinthine world of the “Scream” franchise continues in a bloody movie that delivers the gore but gets lost in a mishmash of nostalgia, legacy characters and tired tropes.
A story about past trauma revisiting the present, “Scream 7” begins with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) starting a new life in a new town. Settling in Pine Grove, Indiana, far from the suburban Northern California town of Woodsboro and the reach of serial killer Ghostface.
Or so she thought until her phone rang.
“I’m going to make everyone you love suffer,” says a familiar voice on the other end of the line. “Including your pretty daughter.”
Could it be her nemesis Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) or an elaborate deepfake?
Either way, determined to protect daughter Tatum (Isabel May) and husband Mark (Joel McHale), Sidney swings into action in a final showdown with her greatest adversary.
Directed by Kevin Williamson (who wrote the original “Scream”) “Scream 7” is a collision of old and new elements that end up feeling almost as lifeless as one of Ghostface’s victims.
What was once a clever meta commentary on slasher movies that deconstructed the tropes of 80s and 90s horror, and later, remakes, toxic fandom and franchise fatigue, now feels rudderless as it takes on deep fakes and AI. The previous “Scream” films would have taken time to formulate a comment on the dangers of technology or at least take a position on it. Instead, here it’s simply a plot device, nothing more or less.
That lack of curiosity extends throughout. Even though “Scream 7” contains the most gratuitous kill of the entire series—and, to be fair, one of the funniest as one unfortunate victim is turned into a human beer tap—it doesn’t invest much into making the new characters compelling or, most importantly, making the Ghostface unmasking shocking or at the very least interesting.
The result is a movie with enough bloody stuff to entertain slasher fans, but it feels like the kind of film the franchise has spent thirty years analyzing.
SYNOPSIS: In “This is Not a Test,” a new zombie movie starring Olivia Holt, and now playing in theatres, a small group of high school students take cover in their high school as their hometown is overrun with zombies.
CAST: Olivia Holt, Luke Macfarlane, Froy Gutierrez, Carson MacCormac, Corteon Moore, Joelle Farrow, Chloe Avakian, Jeff Roop. Directed by Adam MacDonald.
REVIEW: Based on Courtney Summers’ YA novel of the same name, the 1990s-set “This Is Not a Test” is a bloody mix-and-match of” The Breakfast Club” and “Night of the Living Dead.”
When we first meet Sloane (Olivia Holt) her family life is a mess. Her older sister is about to move out, leaving her at the mercy of her abusive family. In despair, she contemplates taking her own life, but before she can act on her suicidal thoughts, a zombie apocalypse grips her town. “This is not a test,” says a radio reporter. “Lock all doors and cover all windows. If you encounter anyone you suspect to be infected, do not attempt to assist them.”
Heading for cover, Sloane and a small group of classmates hide out in the local high school. As death and destruction closes in, Sloane’s survival instincts kick in, giving her a new lease on life.
“This is Not a Test” does not scrimp on the zombie action. Those scenes are visceral, bloody and nasty and deliver the kind of undead violence you expect from a zombie apocalypse movie.
More interesting than the gooey, gory stuff, however, is the dynamic between Sloane and her classmates.
Sloane’s dilemma is the film’s most interesting psychological twist. How does one summon the will to survive when they think they have nothing to live for? It’s a compelling arc for a main zombie flick character and Holt transcends a scream queen performance to give Sloane layers.
Like the others she has no survival skills, but while they are scared and becoming desperate, Holt differentiates Sloane in a risky performance that relies on quietness and emotional detachment as much as it does her action scenes.
“This is Not a Test” has some pacing problems, and some clunky dialogue, but Holt and co-star Luke Macfarlane, as a skeevy English teacher, help bring some life to this story of the undead.
