CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Callum Turner’
CTV NEWS TORONTO AT FIVE WITH ZURAIDAH ALMAN: RICHARD ON WHAT TO WATCH!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with guest anchor Pauline Chan to talk about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:02)
CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY JULY 17, 2026!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
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 host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
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 make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
ROSE OF NEVADA: 3 STARS. “a challenging time loop story with atmosphere to burn.”
SYNOPSIS: A low-fi sci-fi drama of the mysterious reappearance of a fishing vessel that was lost at sea thirty years ago, “Rose of Nevada” relies on evocative images and sound rather than story to tell its haunting tale.
CAST: George MacKay, Callum Turner, Rosalind Eleazar, Francis Magee, Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Adrian Rawlins. Written, edited, composed and directed by Mark Jenkin.
REVIEW: Unique in tone and style, “Rose of Nevada” is confusing and compelling in equal measure. It’s a challenging time loop story with atmosphere to burn, that defies mainstream tropes.
In the thirty years since the Rose of Nevada and crew vanished at sea, its home port, a remote Cornish fishing village, has fallen into hard times. When the ship mysteriously returns, the villagers see it as a return of their former prosperity. “That boat was lost. Are we gonna try again? Who’s gonna crew?”
Happy to have work, Nick (George MacKay) and Liam (Callum Turner) sign up as crew, working alongside experienced skipper Murgey (Francis Magee). “The only thing worse than being at sea,” says the skipper, “is not being at sea.”
They return to the village after a successful and bountiful voyage—despite the message “Get off the boat now,” carved into the ship’s hull—only to be mistaken for the long-lost sailors of thirty years ago in a village they no longer recognize.
The first thing you’ll notice about “Rose of Nevada” is its roughhewn, grainy look. That’s courtesy of the old-school 16mm Bolex camera filmmaker Mark Jenkin used to shoot the movie. It gives the visuals a dreamlike quality that feels timeless, or, in this case, lost in time. The grain feels tangible, just like the ship’s weather worn wood or the craggy landscapes of the peninsula at the southwestern tip of England.
The result is something that feels otherworldly without announcing itself as such.
But all the atmosphere in the world wouldn’t add up to much is there wasn’t an emotional core to the performances. MacKay and Turner do extraordinary work, grounding the otherworldly movie with natural authentic performances. It adds heart to a film and believably places the themes of identity and sacrifice front and center.
“Rose of Neveda” doesn’t offer any easy answers. The psychological drama is dense, like a particularly confounding episode of “The Twilight Zone,” but the journey is ultimately intellectually rewarding.
ETERNITY: 3 ½ STARS. “a romcom filtered through a ‘Twilight Zone’ sensibility.”
SYNOPSIS: Set in the afterlife, “Eternity,” a new supernatural rom com starring Miles Teller and Elizabeth Olsen, and now playing in theatres, sees a woman forced to make a decision between her two loves, the man she was married to for 65 years or her first love who died young. “This is the junction,” says afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “Where you choose one place to spend eternity and who to spend it with.”
CAST: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Directed by David Freyne.
REVIEW: A romcom filtered through a “Twilight Zone” sensibility, “Eternity” is a whimsical but emotional story of an impossible choice between lost and found love.
When we first meet Joan and Larry, played by Betty Buckley and Barry Primus, they’ve been married for 65 years. When Larry drops dead at a gender reveal party, he enters the afterlife junction, a kitschy 1960s pop art stopover, confused as to how he got there and why he now looks like Miles Teller. “When you get here your form reverts to your happiest self,” says his afterlife coordinator Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). “It can be any age.”
Anna tells him he has one week to figure out where he’d like to spend eternity and with whom. When Joan, now played by Elizabeth Olsen, arrives days later, Larry assumes the two will spend eternity as they spent their lives, together. “Now we can finally have that holiday, but it’s a one and done thing,” he tells her. “They’re very strict on that here. If you want to go to the mountains we can, because the cold won’t kill us now.”
Trouble is, Joan’s first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the war, is also there, and has been waiting for her for decades. “Let me explain exactly what’s happening to my client,” Joan’s afterlife coordinator Ryan (John Early) says, whisking her away. “She clearly has a tough decision to make.”
Placed against a backdrop of the afterlife junction, the colorful gateway to forever, “Eternity” is a metaphysical romance that feels grounded in real emotion. The terrific cast bring both humor and heartache to the high concept story, keeping it light, while diving deep into Joan, Larry and Luke’s relationship.
It’s a tricky balance to juggle humor, some definitely of the slapstick variety, and existential romance, but director David Freyne never fumbles. The mid-section loses the giddy good fun of the opening scenes, relying on flashbacks and soul searching as the characters grapple with what exactly the vow “Til death do us part” means but, even then, the bureaucratic Randolph and Early do the comedic heavy lifting.
“Eternity’s” story of making choices and finding closure tackles heavy topics but never loses its charm and playfulness.
THE BOYS IN THE BOAT: 3 STARS. “plays tug-a-rope with your heartstrings.”
There are underdog sports movies, and then there is “The Boys in the Boat,” the new film from director George Clooney, now playing in theatres. Set during the Great Depression, the characters in this film fight expectations and fascism.
Based upon Daniel James Brown’s book of the same name, “The Boys in the Boat” centers on Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a struggling University of Washington student who, unable to pay the balance of his tuition for the semester, signs up for the school’s rowing team because it comes with a part-time job and a place to live.
“The depression hit everyone hard,” he says. “No jobs. No food. We were broke.”
Under the tutelage of coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) and boatbuilder George Pocock (Peter Guinness), Rantz and the Washington Huskies, his team of inexperienced, working-class student rowers, are pitted against the richest schools in the country.
“We rowed out of need,” Rantz says. “The need to stay in school. The need to eat. To sleep.”
Through need and determination, the Huskies earned a run at the gold at the 1936’s Nazi-overseen Berlin Olympics.
“They said we couldn’t compete with the richest schools in the nation,” Rantz says. “They said we couldn’t beat the Germans. But they didn’t understand who we were.”
An old-fashioned story of grit and perseverance, “The Boys on the Boat” is a mix of stoicism and sports. Of course, the sport is simply the vessel by which the characters glide through the story. The movie spends a fair amount of time on the water, but rowing is secondary to the rush of inspiration that fuels the story. It’s a story of team work, of young men coming together to overcome not only the economic hardships of their lives and illness on the eve of their big row, but also the Nazis.
Unfortunately, the movie also attempts to play tug-a-rope with your heartstrings. It works its way through to the inevitable happy ending with crowd-pleasing beats that will seem very familiar to anyone with a knowledge of 1990s era sports flicks.
Still, it is a handsomely mounted movie with several intense competition scenes that will set your pulse racing, even if the overly sentimental presentation doesn’t.
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD: 2 STARS. “Abracaconvulution!”
If you already know what a ‘magizoologist’ is you’re likely a fan of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world. If not, you’ve got some catching up to do before buying ticket to the second instalment of the Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald.”
When we last saw magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) he temporarily put aside his study of magical creatures to travel to New York City and help MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) bring the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) to justice.
The story picks up as Grindelwald escapes. Like all good villains he craves world dominance, but only on his own terms. He believes in wizarding superiority and sets in motion a plan to lead a new Wizarding Order of pure-blood wizards who will rule over all non-magical beings.
Enter Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and an influential member of the British Ministry of Magic. To stop Grindelwald’s diabolical plot Dumbledore contacts Scamander, a confidante and former student.
The film based on the second original screenplay from J.K. Rowling is more fantastical than magical. There are all manner of creatures and wizard’s tricks that could only have sprung from her fertile imagination but there is very little actual cinema magic. Sure Potter fans will love seeing Hogwarts and a glimpse of Quidditch again but that is nostalgia, and Alison Sudol’s Judy Holliday impression is as winning as it was the first time out but overall “The Crimes Of Grindelwald” feels like a placeholder for the films yet to come.
Non-Potter-heads will likely be confused by the barrage of names, the myriad of subplots and a deadly scene about the family tree of Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) that gives the word convoluted a whole new meaning. Part of the joy of the Rowling’s story weaving in the Potter series was its depth and complexity. Here it feels as though she’s being paid not by the word but by the character.
When director David Yates isn’t bathing the screen with blue digital flames and the like there are things to admire. The set and costume design are spectacular, appropriate for both the 1920s setting and the otherworldly characters. Also interesting are the messages, both timeless—the search for identity—and timely—unity, fear mongering and freedom through force—provide subtext that is more interesting than the actual story.
Ultimately “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald,” despite its grand face, feels thin, over written and under dramatic.
