I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the dystopian rom com “One Night Only,” the rambunctious “Super Troopers 3” and the flavourless “Ice Cream Man.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit with guest host Jim Richards on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about big nme music artists offering $20 tickets to shows, a Celine Dion lotto, the latest “Heated Rivalry” swag and I tell you about the dystopian rom com “One Night Only.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
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 the dystopian rom com “One Night Only,” the rambunctious “Super Troopers 3” and the flavourless “Ice Cream Man.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “One Night Only,” a new romantic comedy starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, now playing in theatres, two strangers attempt to make a connection on the one night of the year when pre-marital sex is legal. “How is anyone supposed to find something real on a night like tonight?”
CAST: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton. Directed by Will Gluck.
REVIEW: Like a mash-up of “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Purge” (only with sex instead of murder), “One Night Only” takes a provocative premise and applies strict rom com rules to the story of two singletons looking for something more than a one-night stand.
“One Night Only” takes place in an alternate New York City where premarital sex is illegal every day of the year except one. “We wanted to go back to a time when sex was reserved for the sanctity of marriage,” says a government official. “Since our resolution passed, teen pregnancy is near zero, STIs are at record lows, and now it’s a badge of honor to be an incel.”
On that day two love-starved strangers, a pizza shop owner Owen (Callum Turner) and a hopelessly romantic jingle singer Allie (Monica Barbaro) have several meet cutes—“Your ears look like car doors,” she says. “Your legs don’t make any sense,” he says.—and begin a flirty and often funny cat and mouse game that will lead them across the city in pursuit of something more than a quick roll in the hay.
“One Night Only” is the rare rom com that uses fascism as a catalyst for the amorous action. But the ban on premarital relations, while central to the story, isn’t the entire story.
The only truly provocative thing in this sex comedy (rated 14A in Canada, R in the U.S.) is the dystopian premise. Strip away the story’s underdeveloped Orwellian satire and you’re left with a charming, mostly chaste search for connection.
Central to the film’s likability are Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner.
Barbaro, an Oscar nominee for her work as Joan Baez in the Bob Dylan-biopic “A Complete Unknown,” channels Meg Ryan with a combination of charm and chutzpah. Equally at home with the dramatic and comedic demands of the role, she’s an effervescent presence whether she’s emoting or doing pratfalls.
Equal parts aw-shucks, sincerity and swagger, Turner clicks with Barbaro as their “After Hours”-style adventures (without the edge of the Martin Scorsese NYC classic) keep them in one another’s orbit.
On one hand “One Night Only” feels like a missed opportunity to examine traditional values in the face of governmental overreach.
On the other, it’s a straight-ahead rom com with nothing on its mind except the happiness of its main characters. It’s no secret how this movie will end. If it comes as a shock, you’ve never seen a rom com, because these movies aren’t about the destination, they’re about the journey, and “One Night Only” is a fun trip despite its reluctance to fully engage with its political premise.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
