Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with news anchor Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the weekend’s big releases including Quentin Tarantino’s latest “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” the Richard Dreyfuss dramedy “Astronaut” and the inspirational surfing documentary “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard has a look at the new movies coming to theatres, including Quentin Tarantino’s latest “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” the Richard Dreyfuss dramedy “Astronaut” and the inspirational surfing documentary “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable” with CFRA Morning Rush host Bill Carroll.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
A weekly feature from ctvnews.ca! The Crouse Review is a quick, hot take on the weekend’s biggest and most interesting movies! This week Richard looks at Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” the inspirational surfing documentary “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable” and the family drama “Astronaut” starring Richard Dreyfuss.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CJAD Montreal morning show with host Andrew Carter to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Quentin Tarantino’s latest “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” the Richard Dreyfuss dramedy “Astronaut” and the inspirational surfing documentary “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Despite the name “Astronaut,” a new film starring Richard Dreyfuss, is a decidedly earth-bound drama.
Dreyfuss plays Angus, an elderly, retired civil engineer grieving the loss of his late wife. As he prepares to sell the home they shared he stays with daughter Molly (Krista Bridges), son-in-law Jim (Lyriq Bent) and grandson Barney (Richie Lawrence) before taking the next step of moving into a retirement home. In frail health, he senses the end is near but is given a boost when he gets the chance to fulfill a childhood dream courtesy of a contest from billionaire Marcus Brown’s (Colm Feore) Ventura Space Program’s private shuttle launch. It’s a “lottery for someone who thinks big” that will send twelve lucky people into orbit. Angus is too old and too sick, but he has always dreamed of going to space. “People have been looking up at the stars forever,” he says, “and I think it’s always for the same reason. To see where we belong.”
“Astronaut” never quite gets airborne but has its charms courtesy of the straightforward storytelling and nice performances. It’s lovely to see Dreyfuss in a film that allows him to show the character’s humanity while still looking at the stars. It also stirs up nostalgic feelings, like a lo-fi revisit of his character from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He anchors the film, whether he is interacting with his grandson or relating to Len (Graham Greene), a non-verbal resident in the nursing home, in a performance infused with the gravitas of an older person trying to assert his worth.
“Astronaut” makes some obvious choices that prevent it from fully taking flight—a dance sequence at the nursing home is particularly awful—but has enough to say about aging and following your dreams to earn it a look for family audiences.
Richard joins CP24 anchor Jee-Yun Lee to have a look at the weekend’s new movies including “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” the creepy kid movie “The Prodigy” and the Taraji P. Henson comedy “What Men Want.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
A weekly feature from from ctvnews.ca! The Crouse Review is a quick, hot take on the weekend’s biggest movies! This week Richard looks at the pure pop art blast of “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” the creepy kid movie “The Prodigy” and the icy story of survival “Arctic.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard has a look at “Cold Pursuit” and the Liam Neeson controversy, the outer space Lego adventure “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” the creepy kid movie “The Prodigy and the supernatural comedy “What Men Want” with Taraji P. Henson with CFRA Morning Rush host Bill Carroll.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Imagine being frightened of your own child. That is the terrible situation of young mom Sarah (Taylor Schilling) in “The Prodigy,” a new psychological horror from director Nicholas McCarthy.
Schilling is mother to Miles (Jackson Robert Scott) an extraordinarily gifted child who spoke at twenty weeks and could generally outthink everyone by the time he was old enough to walk. “Nothing wrong with this little guy,” says a doctor. “He’s very aware. Here’s what we call a smarty-pants.”
Soon though he displays antisocial behaviour. He can’t seem to connect with people at school, perhaps because he beat a classmate with a wrench in lab class. In his sleep he angrily mumbles some kind of foreign language. “You were having a bad dream,” mom says waking him. “It wasn’t a bad dream,” he says. “It was a good dream.”
Concerned that something is amiss Sarah takes Miles to a psychologist. Unable to find a medical reason for Miles’s condition the doctor refers him to another specialist, a professor (Colm Feore) who believes there is a battle being waged inside Miles. Most of the world believes in reincarnation he explains, wondering if could Miles be an old soul having another go at life. “These souls return for a reason to complete a task,” he says.
If Miles is sharing a body with an invading soul, what job must he complete? Which one will become dominant?
As far as creepy kid movies go “The Prodigy” is a six out of ten. The kid, with his blank stare and mismatched eyes gives Damien a run for his money—especially when he says stuff like, “Sometimes I leave my body when I sleep. I do it to make room.”—it’s the details that earn a demerit or two.
Director McCarthy does a good job at building tension and sets up some good set pieces but he’s undone somewhat not by the silly-but-fun premise but by ridiculous things that don’t make sense that distract from the main story. How is Miles still allowed to attend school after he wacked a kid with a wrench? Why does Sarah leave some material that clearly gives away what she’s about to do where Miles can see it? It goes on. I’m not looking for credibility in a movie about (MILD SPOILER!!) a reincarnated serial killer but virtually everything that doesn’t make sense also could have been avoided without changing the DNA of the story one iota.
“The Prodigy” is a little heavy-handed—Miles washes off his Halloween skull make up, but only from one side of his face, leaving behind an image that represents the duality of his personality—but it embraces the wild nature of its story, providing just enough uncomfortable moments to earn a recommendation.
