I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the World War II drama “Pressure” and the crime drama/rom com “Tuner.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:04)
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Pressure,” a new World War II drama starring Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser, and now playing in theatres, a meteorologist plays a vital role in the scheduling of the largest amphibious assault in history.
CAST: Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Chris Messina, Damian Lewis. Directed by Anthony Maras.
REVIEW: A study of courage in the face of uncertainty, “Pressure” is a ticking clock drama that takes a well-known historical event and infuses the story with suspense and high-stakes intensity.
Based on true events, “Pressure” takes place in the 72 hours leading up to D-Day in June 1944. The planned Allied forces’ amphibious invasion of Normandy, France is the largest seaborne invasion force in history, but there’s a catch.
“All the pieces are in place,” says Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser). “The only imponderable is the weather.”
Unpredictable weather in the form of two aggressive storms threaten to scuttle the mission.
“If you invade tomorrow,” says Britain’s tenacious chief meteorologist, Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott), “they’re going to be washed away.”
As Stagg attempts to convince the brass that moving ahead will come with the cost of thousands of lives, the ultimate decision lies with Eisenhower.
“The final decision on the timing of D-Day,” he says, “will be mine and mine alone.”
The wrong decision not only puts lives in jeopardy, but also the fate of the free world.
“The storms that I’m talking about are real,” says Stagg. “And the wrath of nature is real.”
“Pressure” is all about the weather and whether or not to postpone D-Day. It is a war epic, but only in the sense that the decisions made by Stagg and Eisenhower are epic in their scope. The movie itself is a rather intimate retelling of events that doesn’t bother diving deep into the inner lives of its characters.
Instead, the characters are broken down into stereotypes. Andrew Scott leaves behind his “Fleabag” Hot Priest persona to play Stagg as a meticulous meteorologist, uncompromising and curt. He does good work, bringing a quiet, internalized intensity to Stagg that effectively conveys the character’s coiled confidence.
As Eisenhower’s aid and left-hand Captain Kay Summersby, Irish actress Kerry Condon acts as an anchor, emotionally grounding her boss as he makes world altering decisions.
Chris Messina as Irving P. Krick, the American meteorologist who butted heads with Stagg, is brash, if a little bland.
It’s with the casting of Brendan Fraser as Eisenhower that the movie runs into stormy weather. Physically imposing, he opts for melodrama over gravitas, a choice that runs counter to the stoic real-life character.
Dialogue driven, “Pressure” is a chamber piece that values its intimacy over action but occasionally veers into theatricality.
Don’t let the word ‘hotel’ in the title of Dev Patel‘s new film trick you into thinking it’s another entry in his lighthearted “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” series. “Hotel Mumbai” is a harrowing retelling of the terrorist attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in November 2008.
The film begins with 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Pakistan arriving in Mumbai. They split into small groups and soon reports of armed gunman rampaging through the city hit the news. They shoot up Mumbai’s main rail terminal, a café and other hotspots, guided by an ideologue who has convinced these young jihadists that paradise awaits if they do the job by spreading terror.
Director Anthony Maras builds tension by cutting between the chaos in the streets and the measured, elegance, of Taj Mahal Palace Hotel where Arjun (Patel) and Chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) work among the 500 staffers who keep the place running like a fine tuned watch. It’s the kind of place where the bathwater is always exactly 48° and, as the staff says, “the Guest is God.”
Soon a small group of the terrorists invade the “otherworld luxury” of the Taj, indiscriminately slaughtering guests and staff alike. Inside the strong willed Chef and Arjun help the guests survive the siege, which lasted almost three days. With the closest Special Forces army 800 miles away in New Delhi the understaffed and unprepared local police must take action. “If we stay in here and wait,” says one cop (Nagesh Bhonsle) looking at the carnage from the street, “there will be no one left.“
There are many moving parts in “Hotel Mumbai.” We follow the sprawling cast—including Armie Hammer and Nazanin Boniadi as an upscale couple staying at the hotel—in various parts of the hotel as they fight for their lives. Despite some boiler-plate flourishes—cell phones that run out of juice at the worst possible time etc— Maras crafts an edge-of-your-seat thriller that puts you in the middle of the action. With so many characters it can be hard to stay invested in them all but the horror of the situation becomes more visceral with every loud gunshot on the soundtrack.
“Hotel Mumbai” is a nicely executed thriller that looks beyond the terror to focus on the resilience of the human spirit in the face of surreal adversity.
