I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the whale of a tale “Whalefall,” the pulpy and pious “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” the documentary “You Can See Everything” and the rock ‘em, sock ‘em action “Street Fighter.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the whale of a tale “Whalefall,” the pulpy and pious “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” and the rock ‘em, sock ‘em action “Street Fighter.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:21)
I join CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko to talk about the whale of a tale “Whalefall,” the pulpy and pious “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” and the rock ‘em, sock ‘em action “Street Fighter.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the whale of a tale “Whalefall,” the pulpy and pious “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” the extraordinary doc “You Can See Everything” and the rock ‘em, sock ‘em action “Street Fighter.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to wind your watch. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the whale of a tale “Whalefall,” the pulpy and pious “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” and the rock ‘em, sock ‘em action “Street Fighter.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” a new action thriller starring Mahershala Ali now playing in theatres, a devoutly religious hitman attempts to care for his family after his wife suddenly passes away.
CAST: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli. Directed by Bassam Tariq.
REVIEW: Oscar winner Mahershala Ali plays Latif, a devout Muslim contract killer torn between his faith, family and the morality of his deadly work when his wife suddenly passes away. “I see her everywhere,” he says. “You take her from me. And you expect me to bow down to you. I thought I was your sword. Now I have to fill her shoes. I’m breaking.”
The soft-spoken ex-military hitman, now solely responsible for their three children, including the youngest, an infant child allergic to baby formula, finds himself distracted from his desperate citywide mission to find a supply of breast milk by a gangster (Laith Nakli) demanding a favor, the disapproving imam (Giancarlo Esposito) who leads his local mosque in Houston and a Charismatic Christian leader (John Cho) who spreads his gospel via violence.
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” is arthouse action that works because the stakes are high. This isn’t just a story of good and evil; it’s the story of a father trying to feed his innocent baby as his life spins out of control.
At the center of it all is Ali. As Latif, he’s a coiled spring, ready to go at any minute. Capable of great violence, he’s also, by times, warm, grief stricken and even funny. It’s a character of great depth and complexity that affords Ali the opportunity to do top tier work that mixes the sacred with the profane.
It also feels like a faraway echo of a movie that might have been. For a time, Ali and director Bassam Tariq worked on a reboot of “Blade,” the sword wielding Marvel Comics half-vampire, half-human vampire hunter. The project was abandoned after years of development, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Latif, like the superhero, has a dual identity, uses a blade to dispatch his victims and radiates a brooding, quiet intensity. If “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” wasn’t such a great movie, it could easily play like a trailer for a film we may never get to see.
Pulpy and pious, and with, it must be said, some unexpected humour, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” uses its unusual breast milk inciting incident to weave a parable laced with tension, bloodshed, but, most of all, devotion.
If a movie starring Riz Ahmed about a musician sidelined by a medical condition sounds familiar, it should. Last year he was nominated for Best Actor for playing a heavy metal drummer suffering hearing loss in “Sound of Metal.” He returns to theatres this week in “Mogul Mowgli,” a rap drama that treads similar ground but with a whole new attitude.
Ahmed, who co-wrote the script with director Bassam Tariq, stars as Zaheer, a London-born rapper known as Zed to his growing number of fans. His lyrics focus on racism, Islamophobia and the issues he faced as a young British Pakistani man.
Based in New York City, he’s about to embark on a European tour. His soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend (Aiysha Hart)—she’s grown tired of their FaceTime relationship while he’s on the road—thinks he needs to get grounded, to reconnect with his family in England. “For someone who raps so much about where they’re from,” she says, “when was the last time you went home? When was the last time you actually spent time with your family?”
He returns to England, welcomed by his family, even if they disapprove of his career and choices. “I can’t give you my blessing,” says his restaurateur father Bashir (Alyy Khan), “if I don’t believe in it.”
Following a scuffle with a fan, he finds himself in the hospital, diagnosed with a degenerative autoimmune disease.
What exactly is wrong? “Your body can’t recognize itself,” his doctor says, “so it’s attacking itself.”
“If you can walk from that chair to that lift,” says his doctor pointing to the elevator ten feet away, “I’ll discharge you.” He can’t, and his treatment begins as he feels his career slip away.
“Mogul Mowgli” is anchored by a raw nerve of a performance from Ahmed. Bruised, physically and mentally, from the indignity of disease and his dreams slipping away, he vacillates between helplessness and anger, sadness and frustration. It’s powerful but most of all, human. He doesn’t play Zed simply as tragic. He’s often unlikeable, often unsympathetic. You know, human.
Often shot in searing close-up, and dotted with surreal sequences, “Mogul Mowgli” is in your face both visually and emotionally. The stark reality of Zed’s disease is tempered by dreamlike sequences that illustrate the chasm between where he came from, to as he imagined it would be to where it is today. It’s a study of cultural identity, divides in families, how illness defines relationships and masculine ambition. It occasionally bites off more than it can chew, but as uncomfortable as it can get, it is never less than compelling.
