I wrote about “The Odyssey” for CTVNews.ca:
“Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old-school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling…” Read the whole thing HERE!
On the Saturday July 18, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we spend the hour with with director Michelle Mama, and the subject of her new film, music icon, provocateur, queer trailblazer and Rough Trade singer Carole Pope. The documentary is “Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions,” a new, raw, rollicking look at the underground scene of the 1970s that spawned the band and how Carole Pope’s incendiary lyrics and magnetic presence shattered expectations of what a woman could be onstage.
Today we’ll talk about the movie, which will be hitting select Canadian theatres this summer and premiere on the Documentary Channel, Sunday, July 19, and on CBC Gem Friday, July 24. We’ll explore Carole Pope’s edgy artistry and find out why she doesn’t have to try and bring a dangerous feel to her work these days… here’s a hint, it never went away.
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (link comning 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 appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the Canadian sports comedy “Racewalkers” and the heightened comedy “Gail Daughtery and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:47)
Had an absolute blast hosting the #Racewalkers opening night and doing a Q&A with the cast at the Scotiabank Theatre. The movie is really fun (read my review here: https://richardcrouse.ca/racewalkers-3-%c2%bd-stars-finds-emotional-depth-and-humor-by-not-punching-down/)! Go see it this weekend, you’ll feel better on the way out of the theatre than you did on the way in. Thanks to @Route504PR, producer Evan Landry, co-writers/co-directors/co-stars Kevin Claydon and Phil Moniz, producer/star @RobbieAmell, and stars Greg Bryk, Jess Salgueiro and Rebekah Francoz for letting me lead the conversation! Thanks to @shawngoldbergphotos for the pictures!
Here’s some info on the film: A Canadian sports comedy directed by and starring Kevin Claydon and Phil Moniz. The underdog story follows a struggling racewalking coach and a washed-up pro baseball player who team up to qualify for the Olympics, facing off against an ultracompetitive, villainous father-son racing duo. Often compared to “Cool Runnings” and “Happy Gilmore” for its mix of humor and heart.
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the live-action “Moana,” the sport comedy “Racewalkers” and the wacky “Wizard of Oz” homage “Gail Daughtery and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
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 live-action “Moana,” the sport comedy “Racewalkers” and the wacky “Wizard of Oz” homage “Gail Daughtery and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to drink a Mai Tai. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the live-action “Moana,” the sport comedy “Racewalkers” and the wacky “Wizard of Oz” homage “Gail Daughtery and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by Polynesian mythology, “Moana,” a new live action adaptation of Disney Animation’s 2016 film of the same name, sees the daughter of a Samoan island chief, along with the boastful, shape-shifting demigod Maui, set off on a voyage across the Pacific to bring prosperity back to her community.
CAST: Catherine Laga’aia, Dwayne Johnson, Beau Flynn, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Directed by Thomas Kail.
REVIEW: “Moana” reverberates with messages of self-discovery and respectful nods to Polynesian and Samoan culture, but echoes of the original animated film overwhelm this banal remake.
Set on the island of Motunui, the story involves Moana (Catherine Laga’aia), the precocious daughter of village chief Tui (John Tui) and his wife Sina (Frankie Adams) and her desire to sail beyond the island’s protective reef. Her father forbids her to set sail, but when the island is threatened by a mysterious blight, the sea calls her name, making it her responsibility to restore balance with the return of the stolen heart of the life-giving goddess Te Fiti. “Moana, the ocean chose you,” says Gramma Tala (Rena Owen). “Find Maui and restore the heart.”
Fans of the original movie will remember Maui (Dwayne Johnson) as the egotistical shapeshifting demigod– “It’s true, I do have beautiful hair,” he says. “What can I say except, ‘You’re welcome!’”—who accompanies Moana on her journey across the Pacific and to becoming a wayfinder and leader. “The ocean chose her for a reason.”
It’s a bit of a misnomer to call the new “Moana” a live action remake of the 2016 animated film. There are live performances, by actual actors, but much of the film remains animated, using computer generated image imagery to create the film’s lush island backgrounds and blustery seas faring scenes.
Add to that Dwayne Johnson as Maui. He’s essentially a cartoon come to life, a bigger than life character whose spirit and physicality feels as though it was lifted from an animator’s imagination.
So, it begs the question, Why tinker with a decade old movie many consider to be a modern Disney classic without freshening up the story? There is a new Lin-Manuel Miranda song called “Along the Way,” but mostly it’s a serviceable rehash with “photo-real” technology that lacks the soul and charm of the original.
SYNOPSIS: In “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” Zoey Deutch plays a Midwestern hairdresser who travels to Hollywood in search of her “celebrity sex pass” after her fiancée hooks up with an a-lister.
CAST: Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang, Sabrina Impacciatore, Jon Hamm, Weird Al” Yankovic, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth Perkins. Directed by David Wain.
REVIEW: A Hollywood farce that mistakes sincerity and commitment-to-the-bit for humor, “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” stretches its “Wizard of Oz” parody to the breaking point.
The idea of a celebrity hall pass is simple. An agreement between couples, it allows both partners to get a one-time “pass” to sleep with a specific celebrity without it counting as cheating.
It’s a simple and fun hypothetical unless it actually happens.
That’s the case in “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.” Small town Kansas woman Gail (Zoey Deutch) and her fiancé, Tom’s (Michael Cassidy) relationship is put into doubt when the unlikely happens, and Tom meets and has relations with his celebrity pass, Jennifer Aniston, who plays herself.
Gail decides she must “even the scales.”
“I had a celebrity free pass thing with my fiancé,” she says, “but he took it literally. So now I need to have sex with Jon Hamm to even up the score and save my relationship.”
On her quest for some “Hammertime,” Gail and BFF Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) travel to Los Angeles in what becomes a loose riff on “The Wizard of Oz,” complete with stand-ins for Toto, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow and, of course, Jon Hamm as The Wizard.
Along the way they’re joined aspiring talent agent Caleb (Ben Wang), a paparazzo (Ken Marino) whose lifelong dream is to get a candid snap of Jon Hamm, Hamm’s former “Mad Man” co-star John Slattery who plays a comedic version of himself as an out-of-work, down-on-his-luck actor whose texts to Hamm always go unanswered, and a group of assassins (Sabrina Impacciatore, Joe Lo Truglio, Mather Zickel).
“Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” travels its own Yellow Brick Road in search of whimsy. It’s light and frothy, a nonsensical collection of scenes performed in a heightened, upbeat way, by a cast who energetically commits to the general ludicrous tone of the piece.
The consistent tone, however, when amplified, doesn’t have enough variance from scene to scene to hold interest.
That the cast are stymied by a script that leans into its absurdist style more than presenting genuinely funny moments blunts the film’s effectiveness.
The satire of celebrity culture and the chasm between Hollywood and the small-town Gail, representing Anytown USA, should have provided fertile ground but, time after time, the script, written by director David Wain and co-star Ken Marino, goes for silly over sentiment or any kind of satire with real bite. The result is a film that wastes a hall pass.
