Posts Tagged ‘Ayham Abou Ammar’

CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MORE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

Richard speaks to “CTV News at 11:30” anchor Andria Case about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week we have a look at Riz Ahmed in the music drama “Mogul Mowgli” on Crave, the feel-good “Peace by Chocolate” now playing in theatres and the weekend’s blockbuster “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!  (Starts at 19:51)

YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!

Watch Richard Crouse review three movies in less time than it takes to cast a spell! Have a look as he races against the clock to tell you about the hallucinogenic “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate” and the Liam Neeson actioner “Memory.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY MAY 6, 2022.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about “M.C. Escher on an acid trip” experience of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate,” the World War II thriller “Operation Mincemeat” and the latest Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL REVIEWS FOR MAY 6 WITH JENNIFER BURKE.

Richard joins CTV NewsChannel anchor Jennifer Burke to talk about the trippy “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate,” the stranger-than-fiction World War II thriller “Operation Mincemeat” and “Memory,” the latest from Liam Neeson.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

NIAGARA IN THE MORNING: TIM DENIS MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

Richard sits in on the CKTB Niagara in the Morning morning show with host Tim Denis to talk the new movies coming to theatres including “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate” and the World War II thriller “Operation Mincemeat.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the “M.C. Escher on an acid trip” experience of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate” and the World War II thriller “Operation Mincemeat.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

THE SHOWGRAM WITH DAVID COOPER: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

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 hallucinogenic “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the feel-good flick “Peace by Chocolate” and the Liam Neeson actioner “Memory.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

PEACE BY CHOCOLATE: 3 STARS. “warm-hearted and cloyingly sweet.”

It should not come as a surprise that a movie called “Peace by Chocolate” is cloyingly sweet. The based-on-a-true-story of Syrian Civil War refugees settling in small town Nova Scotia is played out in broad strokes, but, despite its wintry Antigonish setting, is a warm-hearted film.

When we first meet Syrian born Tareq Hadhad (Ayham Abou Ammar) his dreams of becoming a doctor are sidelined by the war in his home country. His family’s chocolate factory has been destroyed, and the family is forced to flee. Tareq relocates to Nova Scotia to start anew while a Visa is prepared to bring his parents, father Issam (Hatem Ali) and mother (Yara Sabri) in from Lebanon.

Welcomed by the locals, he settles in, but aspires to move to Toronto to study medicine but when the family chocolate business takes off in Antigonish Tareq is torn between his dreams and family duty. “I didn’t have superheroes growing up in Syria,” he says. “I had doctors. They save lives. They command respect. They don’t make sweets.”

“Peace by Chocolate” tackles some big topics. There is displacement of refugees, racism and aspirations, but despite some tension in the storytelling, it has a tendency to lean into the feel-good aspects of the story. The reliance on the saccharine aspects sucks away some of the gravitas inherent to the tale.

Having said that, “Peace by Chocolate,” despite its very specific characters and setting, is a universal underdog story about following your dreams and overcoming adversity. On that level it works because of the likable performances that draw the audience into the situation. It’s an unabashed feel good movie, one that focusses on the family’s triumphs as much as their tribulations.

“Peace by Chocolate”may not be as complex as the delicious chocolate Issam whips up, but it does have its pleasures.