Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to turn on the lights! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of the grand old man of action-adventure in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and the animated movies “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” and “Nimona.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” a new animated coming-of-age story from Dreamworks, now playing in theatres, flips the usual idea of the tentacled sea creature from fearsome to heroic.
The Kraken-out-of-water tale isn’t a franchise—although it may be the beginning of one—but it does owe a debt to recent Pixar films “Turning Red” and “Luca,” movies about the transformation of body and expectations.
Years after leaving the sea to live on land and raise their family, ocean creatures Agatha (Toni Collette) and Peter Gillman (Colman Domingo) are secretive about their past. “We’re from Canada,” they say to explain away their blue skin, gills and lack of spines.
Fifteen-year-old daughter Ruby (Lana Condor) goes along with the lie, and admits to “barely pulling off this human thing.” At school, she feels different and has a hard time fitting in outside of her squad, a small group of BFFs.
“I just want to be Ruby Gillman, normal teenager,” she says.
Despite her mother’s strict rule of never going near the water, days before the prom, when her high school, skater-boy crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White) almost drowns, Ruby dives into the ocean to rescue him. Contact with salt water releases out her true self, a giant luminescent, kraken. “I’m already a little weird,” she says, “but I can’t hide this.”
In short order Ruby learns of her heritage, and that her grandmother, Grandmahmah (Jane Fonda) is a warrior queen, the Ultimate Lordess of and ruler of the Seven Seas, and charged with keeping the undersea world safe from the main maritime threat—evil mermaids.
“But people love mermaids,” says Ruby.
“Of course they do,” says Grandmahmah. “People are stupid.”
Grandmahmah wants Ruby to become her successor and possibly settle an age-old score.
Themes of self-acceptance, family love and overcoming insecurity are common in films for kids and young adults, and “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is no different. But what it lacks in originality—“Turning Red” got to the transformation as a metaphor for coming out of your shell first—it makes up for with good humor, fun voice work, particularly from Jane Fonda and Annie Murphy as a mermaid, and an engaging lead character.
Ruby is a sweet-natured math nerd wrapped up in a blanket of insecurity. As she attempts to navigate high school and her newfound kraken alter-ego, she never loses the teen aura that makes her so relatable. She may be able to morph into a giant, but the biggest things in her life remain her family and friends. It’s heartfelt, and somehow, not as sappy as it sounds.
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” may not break new ground, or part the oceans, but it tells its story with panache, finding a way to merge a kid-friendly story with some decidedly adult jokes.
I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 36:37)
I sit in for 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 rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to talk about the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join 1290 CJBK in London and host Ken Eastwood to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join “CP24 Breakfast” to talk about what to see in theatres and on streaming service this weekend, including the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland,” the Paramount+ true crime series “FBI True” and the Crave drama “Little Bird.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the rock ’em, sock ’em action of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” the biopic “Daliland” and the documentary “Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
