“Late Night with the Devil,” a high-concept horror film starring “Oppenheimer’s” David Dastmalchian, is a hybrid of TV talk show, teen exorcism movie and found footage film.
Dastmalchian plays Jack Delroy, host of the late-night television chat show “Night Owls.” Nicknamed Mr. Midnight, he’s popular, but after six years chasing late night king Johnny Carson, he is a perennial also ran. His highest rated show fell a ratings point behind Carson, and, in a grab for attention, his show has become sensationalized, like Jerry Springer but with a budget.
Facing cancellation, Delroy plans a Sweeps Week Halloween spectacular featuring a traditional costume parade, psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) and an Amazing Randi-esque skeptic named Carmicheal (Ian Bliss). As Christou attempts to speak with spirits, the arrogant Carmicheal debunks his supernatural power as mere parlor tricks.
It’s typical shock TV until paranormal researcher Dr. June (Laura Gordon) and patient Lily (Ingrid Torelli), subject of the best-selling book “Conversations with the Devil,” show up. “Ladies and gentlemen,” says Delroy, “please stay tuned for a live television first, as we attempt to commune with the Devil… but not before a word from our sponsors.”
Goaded into proving that a demon named Mr. Riggles lives inside Lily, Dr. June appears to summon something from deep inside her patient. “Is this a talk show or a freak show?” Carmicheal demands to know.
But is it actually a demon, and most importantly, will it save “Night Owl” from cancellation.
The bulk of “Late Night with the Devil” purports to be the master tape of what went to air on that eventful Halloween broadcast. Although one wonders where the off-stage footage came from, the film’s conceit works well. Directors Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes effectively set the scene, with grave opening narration from legend Michael Ironside, painting a picture of a world plagued by the political unrest, an economics crisis and Satanic Panic.
Into that comes the comforting normalcy of Night Owl.
The talk show format—the live band, the sidekick (Rhys Auteri) and cheesy Jimmy Carter jokes—is so familiar that when the strange stuff starts to happen, the impact is heightened.
It’s all light and funny until all hell breaks loose.
The film’s production value and attention to detail makes it seem like we’re watching a suppressed tape of an actual broadcast, like “War of the Worlds,” only real. The skillful filmmaking builds up the tension to an exciting and eye-popping payoff.
At its heart, “Late Night with the Devil” is a Faustian show biz satire about the price some are willing to pay for success. Delroy is the smiling face of ambition, the man who is willing to unleash evil in exchange for a point or two in the ratings. Dastmalchian nails the hosting duties, but it is his darker side, the suppressed fear, anxiety and greed, that impresses. “We’ve got to get you back as soon as possible,” he gushes to Dr. June seconds after she’s beckoned a demon for the camera, “it could become a regular spot.”
“Late Night with the Devil” feels rushed near the end, but contains enough genuinely disturbing images and ideas to become a found footage favorite.
SYNOPSIS: “Fatherland,” a new historical drama now playing in theatres, is a fictional account of Nobel-winning writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika as they encounter a post-war Germany split into West and East.
CAST: Sandra Hüller, Hanns Zischler, August Diehl. Directed by Paweł Pawlikowski.
REVIEW: “Fatherland’s” slow burn story is an understated, but powerful study in reckoning with the echoes of the past in post-war Germany.
Set in the summer of 1949, “Fatherland” stars Hanns Zischler and Sandra Hüller as and Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann Thomas Mann and his writer and activist daughter Erika. On a car trip, after sixteen years of exile in America they travel from American-occupied Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar where will Thomas accept the Goethe Prize and deliver a speech advocating freedom.
In West Germany Erika is sent anonymous letters accusing her father of being a traitor to his ″fatherland,” and it is suggested that the trip to East Germany could result in charges being levied against Thomas in his adopted American homeland.
Still, they continue as the trip becomes an existential journey, forcing them to grapple with the harsh realities of the country they once called home and a divide in their family’s relations.
Shot in striking black and white, this mix of personal and political has one eye on the past, the other on the future. As Thomas and Erika deal with the wreckage of the past, they must also grapple with ideas of reconciliation and acceptance in all aspects of their lives.
It’s a somber movie, heavy with ideas but not heavy handed. Hüller and Zischler hand in restrained performances, relying on the gravity of the script, co-written by Paweł Pawlikowski and Hendrik Handloegten, and the intensity of the situation to carry the day over any sort of histrionics.
The result is a deeply felt movie about a very specific situation that opens up to become a universal look at moral responsibility, heritage and humanity and the co-opting of art. It’s a period piece but in its examination of political division and polarization it feels contemporary.
SYNOPSIS: in “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” John Turturro plays a pickpocket who gets in over his head with some very bad people with deep pockets.
CAST: John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Steve Buscemi. Written and directed by Noah Segan.
REVIEW: A story of crime and nostalgia, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is a showcase for John Turturro’s restrained portrayal of a man out of time. “I spent my life in people’s pockets,” he says.
Turturro is Harry Lehman, a veteran pickpocket whose best days are behind him. In an increasingly cashless society, pickpocketing wallets is less profitable than ever, and even the watches he’s able to lift aren’t worth what they once were. With a disabled wife at home, he’s in desperate need of quick cash but when he steals and fences a valuable USB stick from Dylan (Will Price), the son of a powerful crime family, he puts his beloved life in danger.
In a race against the clock to protect his vulnerable wife from the ruthless Dylan, Harry must rely on decades of criminal know how to get the USB back. “You know the consequence of stealing from a family like mine,” Dylan says. “There’s no coming back from this.”
Like its main character, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is a throwback. It breathes the same air as other movies that celebrate New York’s old-school seedy side like “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” “Fat City” and “Pickup on South Street.” Henry is an anachronism, an aging thief hanging on to the old ways in a city that is constantly changing.
Turturro captures Harry’s world weariness in a tender performance that emphasizes the character’s charm and tenacity, with a hint of regret. Harry is a skilled, but low-level criminal who values the art of the “lift” as much as he does the money he makes doing it. A virtuoso of a craft that is quickly becoming obsolete, he struggles to find a place for himself in an evolving city.
Turturro’s charismatic but understated work is echoed by co-stars Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito. The trio bring a wistfulness to the story that may be an uncommon tone for a crime drama but works here as a portrait of broken people on the fringes.
“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” is a lion-in-winter character study, wonderfully performed by Turturro, in a film that celebrates a kind of often-forgotten characters pushed aside by changing times.
SYNOPSIS: A story of regret, legacy and the worst dad since Darth Vader, “& Sons,” now playing in theatres, is a nuanced look at intergenerational pain and the difficulty of healing old wounds.
CAST: Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, George MacKay, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Noah Jupe. Directed by Pablo Trapero.
REVIEW: An uncompromising, but often very funny family drama, “& Sons” is anchored by an inhibition free performance from Bill Nighy.
Directed by Pablo Trapero and based on David Gilbert’s novel, Nighy plays Andrew Dyer, an ageing, reclusive one-time literary superstar trapped in a prison of his own making, a booze filled Oxfordshire mansion. Following the death of an old friend, he’s convinced his time has also come.
Feeling his time is short, he summons his adult sons from his first marriage, Richard (Johnny Flynn) and Jamie (George MacKay), and their teenage half-brother Andy (Noah Jupe), the child of the affair that broke up his first marriage to Isabel (Imelda Staunton). “I haven’t been here for like 20 years,” says Richard. “I didn’t think I’d ever come back.”
Any expectation of an apology from their estranged father goes out the window when Andrew divulges a secret that brings decades of jealousy and anger to the surface.
“I know you’re familiar with the story of Andy’s conception,” says Andrew.
“Oh, you mean the one about you having an affair and destroying mom’s life and taking the baby in afterwards?”
“All of which is true,” says Andrew. “Except the story itself.”
A dark comedy about legacy and secrets, the over-the-top “& Sons” could have slipped into melodrama but the twisty-turny family drama is elevated by clever writing, and a powerful performance from Nighy. He’s ably supported by Flynn, MacKay, Jupe and Staunton, who all ensure “& Sons” doesn’t get lost in the absurdity of its central premise.
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the origin story “Clayface,” the stop-motion animated “Wildwood” and the documentary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem.”
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the origin story “Clayface,” the stop-motion animated “Wildwood,” the documentary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” and the adult fairy tale “Wicker.”
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres including the origin story “Clayface,” the stop-motion animated “Wildwood,” the documenary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” and the adult fairy tale “Wicker.”
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the origin story “Clayface,” the stop-motion animated “Wildwood,” the documenary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” and the adult fairy tale “Wicker.”
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to wind your watch. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the origin story “Clayface,” the stop-motion animated “Wildwood” and the documentary “Once Upon a Time in Harlem.”
