Posts Tagged ‘black comedy-drama’

CTV NEWS AT SIX: NEW MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. I’ll tell you about the musical biopic “Maestro” and the drama “May December.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 36:30)

NEWSTALK TONIGHT WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I sit in with NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December” and psychological thriller “Saltburn.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

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

Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to tip your hat! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December” and the action flick “Silent Night.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2023.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December,” the action flick “Silent Night” and psychological thriller “Saltburn.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 1, 2023!

I  join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December,” the action flick “Silent Night” and psychological thriller “Saltburn.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CP24 WEEKEND REVIEWS & VIEWING TIPS! FRIDAY DECEMBER 1, 2023.

I  joined CP24 to have a look at new movies and television shows coming to theatres and streaming services.  Today we talk about the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December” and the Netflix reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

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

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the musical biopic “Maestro,” the drama “May December,” the action flick “Silent Night” and psychological thriller “Saltburn.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

MAY DECEMBER: 4 STARS. “a satire of our fascination with tabloid criminality.”

“May December,” a new melodrama starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, and now streaming on Netflix, is a sorta-kinda retelling of the tabloid story of Mary Kay Letourneau, a Seattle school teacher sent to jail for having a sexual relationship with a sixth-grade student.

In the film, Portman is Elizabeth Berry, a television actress best known for playing a veterinarian on a show called “Nora’s Ark,” who travels to Savannah, Georgia to do research for what she hopes will be a breakout role in a gritty true crime drama.

She will portray on Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Moore), a thirty-six-year-old woman who had a sexual affair with a seventh grader. Caught having relations with the middle schooler in the stock room of the pet store where they both worked, Gracie did jail time, gave birth to the couple’s twins while behind bars, and now, twenty-four years later, lives with the grown-up Joe Yoo (Charles Melton), who is approximately the same age as her eldest son from her first marriage.

Notebook in hand, Elizabeth is a fly on the wall, logging the action like a student at a lecture as she learns about what makes Gracie and Joe tick. But as the couple prepares to become empty nesters as the twins depart for college, Elizabeth’s presence stirs up old ghosts that cause Gracie and Joe to relive the more sensational and troubled aspects of their lives. “She’s getting on my last nerve,” says Gracie. “She’s just everywhere I look.”

A mix of the dramatic and the mundane, “May December” is brought to life by the psychological interplay between Portman and Moore. For example, a make-up tutorial between Gracie and Elizabeth is a stunner. What could have been a TikTok style guide to applying lipstick and foundation becomes a tense transformation as Elizabeth comes one step closer to literally getting under Gracie’s skin. Elizabeth isn’t content with just taking notes, or wearing Gracie’s make-up, she wants to become Gracie.

It is method acting on a Talented Mr. Ripley level as the actress surrenders herself to the role. Portman is terrific, mimicking Moore in interesting, small ways, like adopting her lisp and during the make-up scene, physically resembling her in a truly uncanny way.

Moore has the showier role, playing a complicated woman who is confident in public, but prone to crying jags in private. Moore plays her with a combination of steeliness and vulnerability that can imbue a line like, “I don’t think we have enough hot dogs,” when accompanied by a dramatic music sting, with a deeper meaning that displays the A-type personality that lies at the core of the character.

Both hand in Oscar caliber performances, the kind of above the title work that gets attention, but it is Melton, as a man essentially tethered to Gracie for his entire life, who is most emotionally affecting. Elizabeth’s visit has forced him, reluctantly, to reassess his life and choices, and Melton’s understated, melancholic performance catches his quest for understanding. “This isn’t a story,” he says to Elizabeth. “It’s my life.”

“May December” is, I suppose, a satire of true crime and our fascination with tabloid criminality, of how the worst of human behavior can be exploited as entertainment, but mostly, it is a chance to watch a trio of great performances that draw us into this uneasy story.

CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MOVIES AND TV TO STREAM DURING THE PANDEMIC.

Richard speaks to “CTV News at 11:30” anchor Andria Case about television and movies to watch during the pandemic including some new movies on VOD including darkly comedic revenge story “Judy and Punch,” the home invasion “thriller” “Survive the Night” and the eco doc “2040.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!