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 absurd gravitas of “The Naked Gun,” the body horror rom com “Together” and the stylish kid’s flick “The Bad Guys 2.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the absurd gravitas of “The Naked Gun,” the body horror rom com “Together” and the stylish kid’s flick “The Bad Guys 2.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Deb Hutton is off, so I sit in with host Jim Richards 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 King Charles’ soldiers honoured Ozzy Osbourne with a musical tribute, “South Park’s” huge ratings, the new MuchMusic YouTube channel and the eye popping ticket price for the Grateful Dead’s 60th aniversary concert. Plus, I’ll do a quick review of “The Naked Gun.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I joined CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to have a look at new movies coming to theatres, including the stylish cartoon action of “The Bad Guys,” the absurd gravitas of “The Naked Gun”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the stylish cartoon action of “The Bad Guys,” the absurd gravitas of “The Naked Gun” and the body horror rom com “Together.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: After 31-years “The Naked Gun” franchise returns to theaters with Liam Neeson playing Police Squad detective Frank Drebin Jr., son of the bumbling cop made famous by the iconic Leslie Nielson in the TV show “Police Squad!” and the1988-1994 trilogy. Directed by Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, “The Naked Gun” sees Drebin Jr. following in his father’s footsteps, blundering his way through a murder investigation involving the brother of femme fatale Beth (Pamela Anderson) and tech giant Richard Cane (Danny Huston).
CAST: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, and Danny Huston. Directed by Akiva Schaffer.
REVIEW: The last few years at the movies have been no laughing matter. The Hollywood studios, dollar signs dancing in their eyes, by and large stopped making comedies, opting instead to cater to international audiences with IP-driven superhero movies, sci-fi epics and action franchises.
With a mix of absurd humor, sight gags, and deadpan delivery the rebooted “The Naked Gun” hopes audiences will once again embrace their inner silliness at the theatre.
Based on David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker ‘s crime parody television show “Police Squad!,” which inspired three big screen comedies starring Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling police lieutenant Frank Drebin, the new film captures the spirit and, more importantly, the rat-a-tat rapid-fire joke density.
In other words, don’t like a joke? Don’t worry, the movie is so tightly packed with gags you won’t have to wait long for another laugh. It’s not subtle. From farce and spoof to beastly puns and even pretend bestiality, it’s willing to try anything to raise a smile, including poking fun at itself with a gag about O.J. Simpson, who starred in the original three movies.
It wouldn’t work if Liam Neeson wasn’t game. Whether he’s prancing around in a schoolgirl’s outfit or ripping the arms off a bad guy and using them to beat him into submission, he’s fully committed to playing it straight amid the chaos. His commanding presence, coupled with echoes of the dramatic work that has dominated his career, brings gravitas to a character who does idiotic things. It’s that push-and-pull that generates the film’s anarchic humor.
Leslie Nielsen will always be the king of “The Naked Gun” style comedy, as a pioneer of the sincere deadpan, but Neeson may be the genre’s clown prince.
At his side is Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport, femme fatale and Drebin’s love interest. Following up her Golden Globe nominated role in “The Last Showgirl,” she pivots to a character that plays off her bombshell image but allows her to showcase her comedic chops. She embraces the absurdity, as seen in her preposterousness jazz scat solo scene. Once seen, it will not soon be forgotten.
“The Naked Gun” has a few things going for it. In 84 tight minutes (with two post credit scenes), it’s nostalgic and doesn’t play it safe but most of all, it brings laughter back to the theatres. Surely, you might ask, the reboot can’t be as fun as the original movies. Yes it is, and don’t call me Shirley.
SYNOPSIS: There’s togetherness, the feeling that couples get when they reach a certain comfort level, and then there’s “Together,” the darkly funny story of a couple whose attachment issues are solved by a situation beyond their control.
CAST: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey. Directed by Michael Shanks.
REVIEW: The story of lovebirds Tom and Millie (real life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie), “Togetherness” uses icky body horror to investigate themes of love, codependency, attachment and commitment.
When we first meet them, they’re packing up their city life to move to the country. Millie has taken a job to teach at a smaller school where she feels she can really make a difference to her students. Tom, a mostly unemployed musician, whose recently lost his record deal, is reluctant, but goes in support of his girlfriend.
On a hike near their new house, they have an experience that transforms their relationship in unimaginable ways.
“Togetherness” is an unholy mix of rom com and body horror flick; a movie that imagines what could happen when you completely surrender to your other half. There’s co-dependency and then there’s (NO SPOILERS HERE) what happens to Tim and Millie, emotionally and physically.
Much of the success of “Together” comes from its leads. Franco and Brie not only have chemistry, but they find the balance between the humour and the horror. Oddly, given the film’s tone, there’s a sweetness to them, even when the going gets weird and gooey.
Speaking of gooey, the body horror delivers in a way that is disturbing but also acts as an effective, if literal, metaphor for co-dependency. Even as they try and assert their independence, there is a magnetism between them, and later, an actual bond, that spiritually and physically binds them.
Is it extreme? Yup, but it’s also poignant, and a darkly humorous ode to the all-consuming nature of love. If David Cronenberg was to make a love story, it might look something like this.
“Together” navigates a blend of genres—and one very appropriate Spice Girl needle drop—to deliver a movie that is contemplative on the subject of what it means to be a couple but is also as horrific as it is hilarious.
In “Freelance,” a new action comedy now playing in theatres, John Cena plays a man fighting back against a life of quiet desperation, a feeling audiences will be familiar with by the time the end credits roll.
Cena is Mason Pettits, a do gooder trying to find his place in the world. After few miserable years of practicing law left him wanting more—”I thought it would make me feel normal,” he says, “but it made me hate myself.”—he joins the Special Forces. Fulfilled, he says the job allows him to find a much-needed purpose to his life.
That is, until a mission to assassinate dictator Juan Arturo Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba) goes south. Wounded and disillusioned, he leaves behind the life of adventure, and settles down, returning to law and marriage and a safe suburban life.
Bored and unhappy, he accepts a job from Sebastian (Christian Slater), a former Special Forces colleague now running Contractual Defense Industries, a one stop shop-and-shoot mercenary business. “We sell security,” he says.
The job is sounds simple but there is a catch. He will accompany journalist Claire Wellington (Alison Brie) to South America and keep her safe as she interviews Juan Arturo Venegas, the very dictator at the heart of the mission that ended Pettits’s Special Forces career.
“Freelance” is the kind of movie that once gathered dust in direct-to-DVD bins at Blockbuster.
Not even the considerable charm of the leads, Cena and Brie, can overcome the generic action, the weird shifts in tone from bloody gun battles to light comedy, a forgettable villain (played by the usually reliable Marton Csokas) and a goofy dictator who, on one hand speaks about the exploitation of poor countries by corrupt international corporations, while on the other delivering silly lines like, “I believe when one encounters danger, one must sing to it.”
With very few exceptions, “Freelance” feels very been-there-done-that, as if director Pierre Morel tried to pay tribute to the direct-to-DVD genre, but forgot to bring the fun.
Despite Thomas Wolfe warning, “you can never go home again,” characters in rom com after rom com do just that. Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes “Somebody I Used to Know,” a charming new Alison Brie movie, now streaming on Amazon Prime, that defies the usual romantic comedy playlist.
Brie is Ally, the hard driving producer of the recently cancelled reality show called “Dessert Island.” Cut adrift from the long hours and stress of life in Los Angeles, she ignores Wolfe’s advice and returns home to her hometown, the quaint, Bavarian-styled village of Leavenworth, Washington.
Being home again stirs up some ghosts for her. Memories of the simple, happy life she had before her career complicated everything come flooding back, just as she has a chance encounter with her ex-boyfriend Sean (Jay Ellis).
They haven’t been in contact in 10 years, since Ally skipped town to pursue her career, but both feel a blast of nostalgia. “Here we are,” says Sean, “going down memory lane!”
“I kind of resented your entire industry for a long time,” he tells her, “for taking you away from me.”
A few laughs, some reminiscing and a quick kiss later, Ally wonders if Sean is the one who got away. Trouble is, he’s engaged to Cassidy (Kiersey Clemons), a punk rock singer about to give up her career to settle down.
Determined to win back Sean’s affections, Ally uses all the tricks she learned making reality TV to wage a not-so-clandestine campaign to derail the wedding and win back her ex.
“You’re not going to pull some Julia Roberts, ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ stuff are you?” asks Cassidy.
“Somebody I Used to Know” defies the usual romantic comedy formula. You know how most, if not all, rom coms will end. The good ones are about the journey, not the destination. This one, director Dave Franco’s follow-up to the creepy “The Rental,” is about both, a classic rom com st up that walks a different, sometimes bittersweet, path to its destination.
It is a story about passion, but not romantic passion. It’s about a lust for life, following your heart and making choices. It’s a refreshing genre twist in a film, that despite a slow start, pays off as a compelling story about empowerment.
As Ally, even at her most devious, Brie brings enough authenticity and charm to keep the character likable. There is enough chemistry between her and Elis to fuel the film’s fire, but it is in her scenes with Danny Pudi, one of her former “Community” co-stars, where the platonic sparks fly.
The relative simplicity of “Somebody I Used to Know” is its main selling point. Unlike other recent rom coms—I’m looking at you “Shotgun Wedding”—it avoids screwball situations in favour of human contact and actual emotion.
