Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Graham Richardson to talk the new movies coming to theatres including latest Wizarding World entry, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” Mark Wahlberg in “Father Stu” and the family drama “All My Puny Sorrows.”
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 latest Wizarding World entry, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” Mark Wahlberg in “Father Stu,” the family drama “All My Puny Sorrows” and the HBO series “Winning Time.”
Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about Jude Law and the latest Wizarding World entry, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” Mark Wahlberg in “Father Stu” and the family drama “All My Puny Sorrows.”
Watch Richard Crouse review three movies in less time than it takes to make some toast! Have a look as he races against the clock to tell you about the latest Wizarding World entry, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” Mark Wahlberg in “Father Stu” and the family drama “All My Puny Sorrows.”
Richard joins NewsTalk 1010 host David Cooper on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the latest Wizarding World entry, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore,” Mark Wahlberg in “Father Stu” and the family drama “All My Puny Sorrows.”
As you might imagine from a movie that begins with the voiceover, “In the history of mankind has there ever been a more obvious truth than the statement, ‘We’re all going to die?” and yet in our bones, how many of us can conceptualize that,” “All My Puny Sorrows” does not shy away from the delicate matter of death.
Struggling writer Yoli (Alison Pill) and concert pianist Elf (Sarah Gadon)—short for Elfrieda—are sisters who fled a strict, rural Mennonite upbringing to forge lives in the arts. A deep bond exists between the, even though their lives took very different paths.
Yoli is in the midst of a divorce after sixteen years of marriage. As daughter Nora (Amybeth McNulty) is lashes out, Yoli wonders aloud if she’s handling things correctly. “Ending sixteen years of monogamy with Dan has triggered some kind of weird animal reaction,” she says. “To be honest, the last few months have not been my proudest.”
Elf, though internationally successful and happily married, has lost her lust for life. When she attempts suicide for the second time, Yoli comes to her side, hoping to help her sister avoid the same fate as their father Jake (Donal Logue) who killed himself when they were children, but her pleas fall on deaf ears.
“Will you take me to Switzerland?” asks Elf.
“Yeah, we’ll get Swatches,” says Yoli.
But Elf wants to go to an assisted suicide clinic, “where dying is legal and you don’t have to die alone.”
Writer-director Michael McGowan, adapting the novel-of-the-same-name by Miriam Toews, tells a story all about grief and death that examines the purpose of life. McGowan sensitively shows how life’s decisions have echoes felt by everyone in the inner circle and beyond.
These themes are enhanced by the performances of Pill, Gadon and Mare Winningham as their beleaguered mother. The literary script often feels as though the characters are speaking in carefully constructed prose, but in the mouths of these performers love, frustration and acceptance of the situation is palpable. Pill and Gadon click as sisters, bringing to the screen a lifetime of love and petty squabbles.
“All My Puny Sorrows” is an emotional movie that embraces the totality of the situation, the exasperation, sorrow and even occasional humor.
On Monday, November 3, 2014 Richard, along with lawyer Edward Greenspan and Olympic champion Adam van Koeverden, will read from the Giller shortlisted books at Koerner Hall (273 Bloor Street West in Toronto)! Buy tickets HERE!
As with the inaugural Between the Pages presentation offered last year, readers will get a chance to peer inside the minds and creative lives of the writers who have made it onto the 2014 shortlist. The event will feature special guest appearances and entertainment.
2014 Shortlist:
The Betrayers, David Bezmozgis, HaperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Tell, Frances Itani, Haper Collins Publishers Ltd.
Us Conductors, Sean Michaels, Random House Canada
The Girl WHo Was Saturday Night, Heather O’Neill, HaperCollins Publishers Ltd.
All My Puny Sorrows, Miriam Toews, Alfred A. Knopf Canada
The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, Random House Canada