On the Saturday November 8, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet John Irving, an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. He achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of the 1978 novel “The World According to Garp.” He is an Academy Award winner whose other work includes “The Cider House Rules,” “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “Avenue of Mysteries.” Today we talk about his new novel “Queen Ester.”
Then we get to know celebrated actress, writer, and musician Elizabeth McGovern. You have seen her in her Academy Award-nominated role in “Ragtime,” and in iconic films like “Ordinary People” and “Once Upon a Time in America.” Her portrayal of Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, helped make “Downton Abbey” a global phenomenon. Today we’re talking about “Ava: The Secret Conversations,” which she wrote and stars in as Hollywood icon Ava Gardner. It is a poignant play about Hollywood legend Ava Gardner, which she’s brought to life in London, New York, Chicago and now in Toronto at the CAA Theatre in Toronto.
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 appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies, on streaming and in theatres. We have a look at Prime Video movie “Hedda” with Tessa Thompson, the Disney+ series “Mardaugh: Murder in the Family,” Richard Linklater’s latest film “Nouvelle Vague” and the Maya Rudolph Apple TV+ series “Loot.”
I sit in with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and let you know what’s happening in theatres. We talk about the history of Hollywood movies at the White House, Francis Ford Coppola’s $1 million watch and I review the decadent period piece “Hedda” and the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head.”
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” for “Booze & Reviews!” This week I review tell you about the ABCs of horror and suggest some creepy cocktails to enjoy while watching the movies.
Click to HERE to listen to Shane and me talk about the recent Star Wars protests, Elijah Wood: Wedding Crasher and Dictionary.com’s latest entry!
For the Booze & Reviews look at The ABCs of Horror and some creepy cocktails to enjoy on Halloween movie click HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the rock biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” the Broadway drama “Blue Moon” and the psychological drama “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”
SYNOPSIS: In the surreal psychological drama “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” an overwhelmed mother and therapist played by Rose Byrne grapples with her child’s mysterious illness, an absent husband and the giant hole in the ceiling of her apartment.
CAST: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, ASAP Rocky. Directed by Mary Bronstein.
REVIEW: Rose Byrne has a singular ability to play people teetering on the edge. Sylvia, the tightly wound character she plays on the Apple TV+ series “Platonic” plays those anxieties and familial crisis for laughs. The tone of her work in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” however, is pitched several shades darker than her TV work.
Shot in tight, claustrophobic close-ups, we meet Linda (Byrne), a therapist whose life is crumbling around her. Her young daughter (Delaney Quinn) has a mysterious illness and needs to be fed through a tube. Her Navy officer husband (Christian Slater) is on deployment and, to cap it all off, a pipe in their apartment’s blew a giant hole in their ceiling, dumping hundreds of gallons of water into their living space. Battling anxiety and depression Linda and daughter are forced into a cut rate motel as their landlord takes forever to fix the damage.
Self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, Linda is a coiled spring, tense and unpredictable and Byrne crawls into her head, delivering a raw nerve of a performance that impresses and devastates.
Director Mary Bronstein opts to shoot Byrne in extreme close-up for much of the runtime, examining the performance in detail. Without a false note, Byrne plays it straight, internalizing the societal pressures, shame and guilt that drives her to extremes. Linda is vulnerable and erratic, but the performance is all behind Bryne’s eyes. Without resorting to histrionics or big gestures, she illustrates Linda’s inner torment in subtle but distressing ways.
Rapper-turned-actor ASAP Rocky follows up his very strong work opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” with another natural, interesting performance as James, the motel superintendent who gets drawn into Linda’s web.
A study of a relentless panic attack, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is a vital, intimate, but difficult, watch.
I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies, on streaming and in theatres. We have a look at the gothic horror of “Frankenstein,” the musical drama “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and the supernatural comedy “Good Fortune.”
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies, on streaming and in theatres. We have a look at the Netflix historical drama “House of Guinness,” staying on Netflix, we talk about the creepy “True Haunting” and “The Reluctant Traveller with Eugene Levy” on Apple TV+.
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies, on streaming and in theatres. We have a look at Cillian Murphy in “Steve” on Netflix and Channing Tatum in the crime drama “Roofman.”
On the Saturday November 8, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet John Irving, an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter. He achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of the 1978 novel “The World According to Garp.” He is an Academy Award winner whose other work includes “The Cider House Rules,” “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “Avenue of Mysteries.” Today we talk about his new novel “Queen Ester.”
