I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend, including the romantic entanglements of “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” and the sci fi love story “The Gorge.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:50)
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the romantic entanglements of “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” the adorable “Paddington in Peru” and the new MCU offering “Captain America: Brave New World.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:09)
SYNOPSIS: In “Heart Eyes,” a new comedy slasher flick now playing in theatres, a serial killer with glowing hearts for eyes, murders couples on Valentine’s Day. When he mistakes Ally and Jay for a romantic couple, the co-workers spend their Valentine’s Day on the run from the Heart Eyes Killer. “He’s like Cupid with a kink.”
CAST: Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, Michaela Watkins, Devon Sawa, and Jordana Brewster. Directed by Josh Ruben.
REVIEW: “Heart Eyes” is a wild movie.
Is it a violent rom com? Yup. Is it a googly-eyed slasher flick? Also correct. By the time the end credits roll, director Josh Ruben has thrown teen comedy, rom coms and slasher flicks into a blender, and whipped up a tasty cocktail of “Scream” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”
The thrill killer with heart shaped eyes takes a back seat to Ally and Jay, nicely played by Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding. Ruben takes his time developing their relationship, whether it as two strangers who flirt, or a warrior duo doing battle against an unrelenting killer. It slows the film’s momentum, creating lengthy periods when there isn’t much happening.
At least by the standards of a bloody slasher flick.
By the time the going gets gory, the relationship is built, and Ruben has fun playing with genre conventions. As Ally starts to warm to Jay after a particularly gruesome Heart Eyes attack, she says, “Tonight should have been the worst night of my life, but it wasn’t.”
“Ditto” he replies.
In a different context those lines could have appeared in a hundred other cheesy rom coms, but here it is funny, a nod to the audience that “Heart Eyes” isn’t taking itself too seriously.
I’m not sure if “Heart Eyes” is a satire of slashers with some romance or the other way around. What I do know is that it is a snappy 90 minutes in which both rom commers or horror fans should find something to enjoy.
SYNOPSIS: “Universal Language,” a new surreal comedy now playing in theatres, mixes and matches three stories of human connection set within Winnipeg’s Iranian community. Two young girls try to retrieve money frozen in ice to buy glasses for a classmate, a tour guide explores Winnipeg’s most absurd landmarks and a civil servant moves from Quebec to Winnipeg to tend to his ailing mother.
CAST: Rojina Esmaeili, Saba Vahedyousefi, Sobhan Javadi, Pirouz Nemati, Mani Soleymanlou, Danielle Fichaud. Directed by Matthew Rankin.
REVIEW: Touted as a “surreal comedy of disorientation” set “somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg,” “Universal Language” takes place in Canada, but in director Matthew Rankin’s idiosyncratic vision French and Farsi are the official languages.
The three, seemingly unrelated stories, form a narrative tryptic about how fate, luck and chance are key components to creating connection between people. While episodic in nature, it dovetails together in unexpected ways by the time the end credits roll, completing the sense of togetherness that lies at the film’s soul.
”Universal Language” is whimsical, both visually and thematically, but Rankin, while playful, takes his ideas seriously. The sense of belonging infused into the trio of tales is heartfelt, but never maudlin. It can be surreal (Why so many turkeys?) but it’s never saccharine. Instead it’s a nuanced look at the value people bring to communities, and how humanity burns bright, even in chilly Winnipeg winters.
SYNOPSIS: In “Companion,” a darkly comedic sci-fi thriller starring Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid, and now playing in theatres, a weekend get-a-way at a billionaire’s palatial home takes a turn when the host is killed.
CAST: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend. Directed by Drew Hancock.
REVIEW: (CAREFUL! MILD SPOILERS AHEAD) “Companion” is a fast paced, entertaining thriller that tackles big subjects like power structures, misogyny and our relationship with technology.
I’m keeping the synopsis and review vague as to not give away the film’s secrets. The pleasure of “Companion” is in its reveals, the way it invites the viewer in, and then subverts expectations.
Writer/director Drew Hancock sets the off-kilter tone off the top, staging a love-at-first sight meet cute between Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) as Iris narrates, “There have been two moments in my life when I was happiest. The first was the day I met Josh. And the second, the day I killed him.” It’s a delicious film noir flourish that hints us at the darkness to come in an intriguing manner.
Without giving too much away, I can say that there is more (or less, depending on how you look at it) to Josh than you might think at first glance. Hidden under his boyish charm is a conniving misogynist, incapable of deep feelings who feels the world owes him a debt. Quaid, who inherited his famous father Dennis’s toothy grin, gleefully goes from hero to zero, slowly revealing the cruelty that simmers inside.
The less you know about Iris the better. Just know that Thatcher, who impressed as a Mormon missionary in last year’s “Heretic,” is given the freedom to showcase many sides of her talent. From rom com princess to otherworldly femme fatale to action star, she does it all in a variety of languages and accents, and she’s a blast.
At its wizened heart “Companion” is a movie about (CAREFUL! SPOILERISH COMMENTS AHEAD) technology. But unlike “Westworld,” which mined similar territory, it’s not a technology gone wild movie, it’s about how tech can be manipulated by humans to do their bidding. (FINAL WARNING! STOP READING NOW!) “You programmed me to murder someone Josh,” says Iris. “It’s really hard to come back after that.”
“Companion” breathes the same air as shows like “Black Mirror” and “The Twilight Zone,” blending social commentary with genuine thrills and lots of dark humor.
I join the CFAX 1070 morning show Mornings with Al Ferraby in Victoria, British Columbia to breakdown the Oscar nominations and promo the upcoming Victoria Film Festival!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend, including Amy Adams in the surreal Disney+ movie “Nightbitch” and the new CP24 show “The Great Debate,” which airs Tuesday January 28 through Friday January 31 (also avialble on CP24).
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to talk about Amy Adams in “Nightbitch,” the ghost story “Presence” and the sky high “Flight Risk.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: A thriller set 3000 feet above the earth’s surface, “Flight Risk” sees a U.S. Marshal, a government witness and a hitman at odds on a small plane flying from Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle, Washington.
CAST: Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace. Michelle Dockery. Directed by Mel Gibson.
REVIEW: “Flight Risk” is the kind of movie Hollywood used to make all the time. Start with a simple premise—US Marshall Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) transporting an important government witness (Topher Grace) from the wilds of Alaska to Seattle—add in an unusual location—a rickety cargo plane—some human drama—Harris has a traumatic past—and a wildcard—the pilot (Mark Wahlberg) isn’t who he seems—and you have a simple, throwback thriller in the vein of “Phone Booth” or “Shut In.”
Essentially a chamber piece in the sky, 99% of the film happens on board the plane chartered to move Winston, an accountant with verbal diarrhea. “This isn’t a private plane,” he says of the rough cargo transport. “This is kite with seatbelts.”
It’s a tight space for the tightly constructed thriller and while it doesn’t exactly offer up much new in the way of plot developments, it makes the most of what its working with.
Basically a three-hander, “Flight Risk” gives “Downton Abbey’s” Lady Mary a chance to kick some as and Grace gets to crack wise. Only Wahlberg, with a Larry the Cable Guy accent, is underused. He isn’t given all that much to do except be bald and bad, both of which he pulls off.
They are all stock characters; there’s the uptight cop haunted by her past, the obnoxious, scared witness and a psychopath who loves his work a little too much. “I do this for free,” he says. “I do it for the fun.” They all behave pretty much the way you expect them to, so there’s not much in the way of surprises from the lead trio.
The movie’s biggest surprise is that it’s directed by Mel Gibson. His name is conspicuously absent from the trailer, although it is trumpeted in the closing credits. Gibson keeps things taut, following Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s rule, “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise, don’t put it there.” You see the flare gun, so you know later the flare gun will be used. In a stripped-down movie like this, the details matter, and Gibson ensures that nothing is extraneous.
“Flight Risk” is a straightforward, old-fashioned thriller with a little bit of human drama, a conspiracy theory or two, some good versus evil and a whole lotta tension. It doesn’t reinvent the form but is reliable in its ability to move you to the edge of your seat.
