Posts Tagged ‘Ariana Grande-Butera’

CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!

I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CTV NEWS TORONTO AT FIVE WITH ZURAIDAH ALMAN: RICHARD ON WHAT TO WATCH!

I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with guest anchor Natalie Johnson, to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:30)

NEWSTALK 1010 with Jim and Deb: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I sit in with hosts Jim Richards and Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 25:30)

 

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2024!

I  join the CTV NewsChannel to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CP24 WEEKEND REVIEWS & VIEWING TIPS! FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2024.

I joined CP24 Breakfast to have a look at new movies coming to theatres, including “Glicked”: “Gladiator II” and “Wicked.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CKTB NIAGARA REGION: THE STEPH VIVIER SHOW WITH RICHARD CROUSE ON MOVIES!

I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres and streaming including the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

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 swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

WICKED: 4 STARS. “pays tribute to the stage show, but brews up its own cinematic vibe.”

SYNOPSIS: Set before Dorothy Gale blew into the Land of Oz, “Wicked,” the first half of the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, chronicles the unlikely friendship between Shiz University—Where knowledge meets magic!—students Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo), before she became the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande-Butera), who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North. “Are people born wicked,” asks Glinda, “or do they have wickedness thrust on them?”

CAST: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande-Butera, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage. Directed by Jon M. Chu.

REVIEW: A big, bold and brassy reimagination of the fifth longest-running show in Broadway history is an origin story that pays tribute to the beloved stage show, but also brews up its own cinematic vibe.

Fans of the show will be pleased to know the themes that made “the un­told sto­ry of the witch­es of Oz” so popular have been maintained. As the fairy tale unfolds, it reveals commentary on identity, privilege and control woven into the story of Elphaba and Galinda’s friendship and the climatic showdown with Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) and the (not-so) Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).

Elphaba is kind, intelligent and honest but suffers society’s slings and arrows because she looks and behaves differently than the norm. “I don’t cause a commotion,” she says. “I am one.”

She is the green-skinned outsider, misjudged by everyone from her father (Andy Nyman) to the student body of Shiz University who openly laugh at her. With powerhouse vocals (even when she’s singing a duet with a goat) Erivo guides the character along a journey from innocence to a certain kind of jadedness as she learns how the world really works. In doing so, facing racism and persecution, Elphaba, a character who is very specific to the story, turns into a universal avatar for the misunderstood.

When Madame Morrible strips her of her name, dubbing her the Wicked Witch, she is villainized by a powerful bully, but finds strength in that adversity.

Erivo’s intensity is countered by Grande-Butera’s bubbly, hair-flipping comedic take on the spoiled Galinda. “Something is wrong,” she says with wide-eyed wonder. “I didn’t get my way.” Her vocals soar, but it is the chemistry she shares with Erivo and the glittery gusto with which she attacks the role that is memorable.

Thematically and performance wise, “Wicked” gets it right. The beloved mix of lighter songs, emotional numbers and power ballads are expertly and lovingly rendered, and director Jon M. Chu fills the screen with constant movement and elaborate set design, but at 2 hours and 40 minutes—that just five minutes shy of the entire stage show’s runtime, including intermission—the movie feels overstuffed. Several scenes are overlong and over designed, despite Chu’s enthusiastic direction, as though the film is a little too in love with its own iconography.

In other words, Ain’t no rest for the “Wicked.”

Still, by the time “Wicked: Part One” gets to its finale, Elphaba’s transformation into the Wicked Witch and the rousing version of the show’s signature song, “Defying Gravity,” blows off whatever dust may have accumulated. It’s a showstopper that literally brings the curtain down until part two drops in theatres on November 21, 2025.