Watch the whole thing HERE!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
CAST: Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn, Minnie Driver. Directed by Alicia MacDonald.
REVIEW: In true rom com fashion, one night in a loud Manchester student bar sound engineer and bumbling romantic Owen (Spike Fearn) becomes instantly smitten by Emily (Sadie Soverall), a young woman wearing fairy wings he meets on the dancefloor. Before leaving, she gives him her number, then disappears. The next morning as he attempts to text her, he has a terrible realization—she mistyped the number. “It’s missing a digit.”
“I don’t know herb last name,” he says, “or anything that will help me find her.”
Unable to reach Emily, he sets off on a mission to track her down which puts him in the sights of another Emily (Angourie Rice), an American psychology student studying on a visa, who agrees to help him in his search. “She’s a perfect, uncomplicated, heteronormative projection of everything you want her to be,” she says of Emily Number 1.
But she has an ulterior motive. She’s writing a thesis called “Romantic Attachment: A Self-Sabotaging Madness.”
“He’s the case study I’ve been waiting for,” she says. “He’s my very own Stanford prison experiment.”
For her, he’s a case study in how romantic attachments cause “temporary psychosis.”
Owen’s quest to locate “Fairy Emily” soon becomes a sensation, for better and for worse. What some people see as a sweet attempt at getting her attention, other view as stalking.
He becomes a social media star after serenading the missing Emily online and sending e-mails to every woman named Emily at the school. But as Owen gets closer to finding his Emily, psychologist Emily begins to rethink her scientific thesis.
Produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the team behind gold standard romantic comedies like “Bridget Jones,” “Notting Hill” and “About Time,” “Finding Emily” has all the trappings of a regular rom com, but there’s a Northern English grittiness to it—it’s a bit of a Valentine to Manchester—that sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill comedic romance.
The usual web of misunderstandings, personal complications, grand gestures and last-minute declarations are present, but it gently massages these rules of the genre to make it more limber than the same old. Tropes for the age of social media, campus culture and post #MeToo attitudes are welcome additions and never overplayed.
The film also deftly side-steps the toxic masculinity inherent in some of Owen’s dodgier schemes by framing them as ideas for Emily’s psychological study, and not the behavior of a predator.
The film’s heart and soul is Spike Fearn. Looking like the third, long lost Gallagher brother, he brings a scruffy, heartfelt appeal to Owen. Without an ounce of cynicism, he wears his heart on his sleeve and is a charming, if somewhat clueless focal point for the romantic action.
Also, next time around please give Minnie Driver’s terse and hilarious school dean character a movie of her own, or at least more to do in the sequel.
“Finding Emily” is a little longer than it needs to be but it’s just original and charming enough to be worth a look.
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing 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 Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: A story of obsession, desire, jealousy, and hidden family secrets, “Steal Away,” a new psychological thriller directed by Clement Virgo and now playing in theatres, reveals the dangerous truths hidden behind a benevolent façade.
CAST: Angourie Rice, Mallori Johnson, Lauren Lee Smith, Idrissa Sanogo, Arnold Pinnock. Directed by Clement Virgo.
REVIEW: A loose adaptation of author Karolyn Smardz Frost’s 2017 non-fiction book “Steal Away Home,” the film mixes and matches unstated locations and timeframes in a timeless teenage coming-of-age story.
Naive 16-year-old Fanny (Angourie Rice) lives on a large estate her widowed mother Florence (Lauren Lee Smith) uses as a sanctuary for refugees fleeing humanitarian crisis. Fanny’s world view is changed forever with the arrival of Cécile Millepied (Mallori Johnson), a Congolese expatriate who exudes the kind of poise and confidence the teenager admires but lacks.
As she forms a bond with Cécile, Fanny obsessively imitates her new friend’s mannerisms, hairstyle and clothes as she explores her own budding maturity and desires. When Cécile strikes up an affair with the estate’s gardener’s charismatic son Rufus (Idrissa Sanogo Bamba), Fanny experiences jealousy and a sexual awakening.
A reckoning comes when they realize that Florence’s refuge isn’t the safe haven it appears to be.
“Steal Away’s” strength lies in its ability to keep the viewer guessing. From the ambiguous location and timeframe to the story’s machinations, it’s unpredictable in the most tantalizing of ways.
Director Clement Virgo, working from a script by Tamara Faith Berger, balances a compelling story with a varied menu of themes, including power dynamics, cultural appropriation, sexual awakening, colonialism, migration, identity and historical trauma. There’s a lot going on, but it never allows its allegorical nature to overshadow the storytelling.
Powered by emotional performances from Rice and Johnson, “Steal Away” is a thinker, a movie with big ideas that values subtlety that you’ll mull over after the end credits have rolled.
“Mean Girls” returns to theatres with some fetch songs and performances in a new version that updates the story of high school cliques and comeuppance for a new generation.
Angourie Rice plays teenager Cady Heron, the role made famous by Lindsay Lohan in the original film. Homeschooled in Kenya by her zoologist mother (Jenna Fischer), she experiences culture shock when thrown into the wilds of the North Shore High School in suburban Illinois. Helping her to navigate the school’s treacherous social structure are Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), who also serve as the story’s narrators.
They tell her about the school’s various cliques, the theatre kids, the Matheletes, the stoners and, Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and sycophants Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika), the popular girls known as the Plastics, because they’re “shiny, fake and hard.”
Regina is the undisputed leader of the group, a sharp-tongued meanie (“Her love language is anger,” says Gretchen.) who sings, “I am a massive deal. I will grind you to sand, beneath my Louboutin heel.” The Plastics embrace the unassuming Cady, inviting her to join their group. “You could be really hot,” says Regina, “if you change, like, everything.”
Just as Cady is getting tight with her new friends, she falls head-over-heels for Aaron (Christopher Briney), the cute boy who sits in front of her in calculus class. “I’m astounded and non-plussed,” she sings. “I am filled with calcu-lust.”
Trouble is, Aaron is Regina’s ex, and, as such, makes Cady a target for the full fury of the school’s apex predator. With the help of Janis and Damian, Cady launches a preemptive strike to unseat Regina as high school queen bee, but soon realizes she has become just like her enemy.
The new musical “Mean Girls,” and it is very much a musical despite what the talky trailers suggest, holds up well in comparison to the classic, original film. Many of the same elements appear. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows both reprise their roles, the Burn Book is a key plot element and the hierarchy of high school life is very clearly and effectively defined. What’s different are the updates in the film’s deft handling of diversity, the open discussions of sexuality and, of course, the showtunes.
The songs are nicely integrated into the story. Co-directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. find a balance between the stage and the screen, blending highly stylized dance moves straight out of Broadway with a cinematic, and occasionally, even social media spin on the cinematography and choreography. That, mixed with an enthusiastic theatre kids vibe, allows the songs to forward the story, act as the inner thoughts of the characters and give Janis and Damian some tuneful narration opportunities.
Standouts include Rapp, who recreates the role from the original Broadway run, and Cravalho, best known for providing the voice of the title character in Disney’s “Moana.” Both deliver powerhouse performances, although Avantika’s spirited rendition of the Halloween tune “Sexy” is probably the film’s most memorable number.
“Mean Girls,” from its beginnings as Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” through to Tina Fey’s film and stage adaptation, connected with audiences because of its authentic portrayal of high school life. The new version, adds more than just songs to the source material. It’s a joyful celebration of self-respect, anti-bullying and even the importance of STEM-based education. It has plenty of Easter Eggs for fans of the first film but has plenty to offer to all fans, old and new.
