Posts Tagged ‘Alexander Skarsgård’

CTV NEWS AT SIX: NEW MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Pauline Chan to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the return of two highly anticipated series, “Succession” and ” Yellowjackets” on HBO and Crave, and, in theatres, the bloodthirsty ballet of “John Wick” Chapter 4.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:58)

CTV NEWS AT 6: SOME MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People,” the surreal “Infinity Pool,” the Harrison Ford series “Shrinking” and the HBO reality show “The Climb.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:48)

YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!

Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to drink a glass of water! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

NEWSTALK TONIGHT WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY JAN 27, 2023.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

1290 CJBK IN LONDON: KEN & MARINA MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I join 1290 CJBK in London and hosts Ken and Loreena to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

INFINITY POOL: 3 ½ STARS. “Cronenberg’s compelling, nightmarish vision.”

“Infinity Pool,” the new horror film from director Brandon Cronenberg, now playing in theatres, takes place in the beach resort of your dreams… if you are prone to nightmares.

The action in “Infinity Pool” takes place against a sun-drenched all-inclusive beach resort in the fictional country of Li Tolqa. The exclusive, and very pricey, vacation spot offers a safe and secluded place for the wealthy to wine, dine and have fun. Imagine a kinkier “White Lotus.”

Just don’t go beyond the barbed wire gates.

That’s a lesson James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman) learn too late. He’s a writer, looking for inspiration; she is his wife, an heiress to a publishing fortune. Their lives take a turn when they meet Gabi (Mia Goth) and Al (Jalil Lespert), an adventurous couple who convince them to leave the compound for a beachside BBQ. “It’s one day,” James says. “Let’s mix things up a bit.”

Some grilled sausage and a graphic sex scene later, it’s night. Time to pile into the car and return to the resort. On the way James accidentally hits and kills a local man. Distraught, he wants to call the police.

“No police,” says Gabi. “Do you know anything about the police in Li Tolqa? This isn’t a civilized country. It’s brutal and it is filthy. We’re not getting picked up for this.”

They skedaddle, but soon enough the law catches up with them, questioning Em and arresting James for murder. After a night in jail, he is sentenced. “Here, the punishment for any crime committed is death.”

But even though Li Tolqa is an eye for an eye kind of place, the rules are different for wealthy tourists. By law someone must atone for the crime, but instead of putting James to death, they offer to make a clone of him. The replica will have his memories and will believe it is being killed for James’s crimes.

It is agreed the son of the dead man will even the score by killing the clone. Justice and vengeance will have been served. But there is a caveat. James and Em must watch the execution. After that, they’re free to go, with the clone’s ashes in hand. “Consider it a souvenir.”

Trouble is, James doesn’t want to leave.

“Infinity Pool” is a deep dive into depravity. Sensuality, violence and horror merge, as death becomes a spectator sport, sex becomes hallucinogenic as James becomes seduced by the hedonism of Li Tolqa and his new friends.

Fittingly, there is an unhinged quality to the filmmaking. In a story where anything could happen, and often does, director Brandon Cronenberg ups the debauchery with slick filmmaking, gorgeous cinematography from Karim Hussain and the kind of nihilism not seen since the days of Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games.”

By design it is an unpleasant movie, a Grand-Guignol commentary on the privilege of wealth and the evil men do. Blood—and other bodily fluids—spurt, cruelty is celebrated and the moral compass is left spinning. It is, in its reflection of the foulness of society, also kind of a singular cinematic experience.

We will see better performances this year, but I doubt that we will see two more committed performances than the ones handed in by Skarsgård and Goth. As James, Skarsgård has few boundaries, pushing the character to disturbing places. Goth is the personification of bored debauchery; a person who treats heartlessness as recreation.

“Infinity Pool’s” mix of sadism and satire will not be for everyone. The gratuitous grotesqueries on display will put many viewers off, but adventurous moviegoers may find something new and compelling in Cronenberg’s nightmarish vision.

CTV NEWS AT SIX: NEW MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

Richard appears on “CTV News at 6” to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week he has a look at the violent and visceral Viking drama “The Northman,” “The Bad Guys,” a heist flick for kids, the documentary “The Automat” and season two of “The Flight Attendant” on HBO.

Watch the whole thing HERE!