I join CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisco to talk about the playful “Toy Story 5,” the grim historical drama “The Death of Robin Hood” and the supernatural horrors of “Leviticus.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join “CP24 Breakfast” hosts Nick Dixon and Jennifer Hsiung to talk about the playful “Toy Story 5” and the grim historical drama “The Death of Robin Hood.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I review “Toy Story 5” for ctvnews.ca: “By the time a franchise gets to the fifth instalment it’s usually a case of diminishing returns. The further you get from the source, the worse the movie. Luckily, “Toy Story 5” defies traditional wisdom, delivering a movie for the whole family that brims with heart and humour…” Read the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the playful “Toy Story 5,” the grim historical drama “The Death of Robin Hood” and the supernatural horrors of “Leviticus.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Toy Story 5,” the new Pixar animated film now in theatres, eight-year-old Bonnie shifts from tradition toys to a newfangled tablet.
CAST: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Tony Hale, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Blake Clark, Keanu Reeves, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal, Ernie Hudson, Melissa Villaseñor, Greta Lee, Conan O’Brien, Craig Robinson, Shelby Rabara, Matty Matheson, Bad Bunny. Directed by Andrew Stanton.
REVIEW: By the time a franchise gets to the fifth instalment it is usually a case of diminishing returns. The further you get from the source, the worse the movie. Luckily, “Toy Story 5” defies traditional wisdom, delivering a movie for the whole family that brims with heart and humor.
The story revolves around lonely eight-year-old Bonnie (Scarlett Spears), the only kid on the block who still plays with toys, like the cowgirl rag doll Jessie (Joan Cusack) and superhero action hero Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). The other kids spend their time on their screens and don’t have time for a girl who still plays with dolls.
Hoping to help her fit in, Bonnie’s parents (Lori Alan and Jay Hernandez) buy her a Lilypad (Greta Lee), a frog-shaped smart tablet that comes complete with games, chat rooms, social media and a very assertive attitude.
“Once tech enters your home,” says tech-phobic toy Dr. Nutcase (voiced by Matty Matheson), “it’s over.”
As Bonnie plays games and joins chat rooms on the device she spends less and less time with Jessie and the other toys.
“Extinction!” yelps Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn). “Not again!”
With the help of a team of Buzz Lightyears and cowboy ragdoll Woody (Tom Hanks), who returns from rescuing abandoned toys, Jessie sets off to make sure Bonnie makes new friends, without forgetting about her toy pals.
“Playing games isn’t play,” Woody says.
“Toy Story 5” isn’t the old man of the franchise, yelling at tech to get off their lawn. Nor is it a story about the evils of tech. Instead, it’s a testament to the power of imagination.
It’s about screens vs. imagination and the joys that come when an unstructured young mind is allowed to run wild, to create and learn. But the screenplay, by Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris, doesn’t dismiss the place of passive tech in the modern world, it simply favors playtime over screen time.
As a movie, “Toy Story 5” has a sense of play about itself. Like the best of Pixar, it tackles real world issues like on-line bullying, insecurity (“What if am I just no good at being a toy?” asks Jessie.), the value of childhood memories and what true friends are but does so in a way that never feels maudlin. Director Stanton keeps things lively, pulling fun voice work from the returning cast, plus new additions like Conan O’Brien who has a blast voicing Smarty Pants, a toilet training tablet, and inserting some self-aware jokes, like depicting Woody, presumably the oldest of the toys, with a bald spot.
Add to that, beautiful cinematic visuals, with state-of-the-art 3D computer animation embellished with a lovely, handcrafted look for the imagination scenes, and you have a fine addition to the “Toy Story” franchise, rich in timely themes of the effects of tech on blossoming minds but never preachy or pedantic.
I join CHUM-FM’s Marilyn Denis and David Corey to talk about “Toy Story 5,” “The Odyssey” and why people are going back to the movies!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
See video HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In the animated family comedy adventure “In Your Dreams,” now streaming on Netflix, siblings Stevie and Elliot must navigate their dreams—and a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie pamcakes and the queen of nightmares—in hopes that The Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream, saving their parent’s marriage.
CAST: Craig Robinson, Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Elias Janssen, Gia Carides, Omid Djalili, and SungWon Cho. Co-directed by Alex Woo, and Erik Benson.
REVIEW: A story of a fractured family wrapped up as a surreal adventure delivers some kid friendly thrills, but at its heart is a grounded story of acceptance and the understanding that not every family has to be perfect.
When perfectionist Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) learns that her mother (Cristin Miloti) is considering taking a job in another city, she assumes it means her parents are getting a divorce. In hopes of keeping them together she drags her rambunctious younger brother Elliot (Elias Janssen) into her dreams in the hopes of being granted a marriage saving wish from The Sandman (Omid Djalili).
In the dream they are thrust into a surreal world where they meet a disco-ball moon with trust issues, a glibly sarcastic stuffed giraffes and zombie pancakes who guard The Sandman’s filing system. If they are to get to the all-important Wish Desk they must learn to work together to solve their problems.
In its heart “In Your Dreams” is a kindhearted movie about reality, not dreamland. The dream sequences, from co-directors Alex Woo, and Erik Benson, are beautiful, populated with imaginative characters kids should enjoy, but Stevie and Elliot‘s journey is a personal one, not strictly an otherworld one.
The messages of accepting imperfection, teamwork and resilience are mixed with eye popping visuals and fun needle drops. It may be a little too intense in its representation of the nightmare scenes and the frankness of its depiction of divorce for the under 7 set, but it contains the kind of heart and soul usually associated with Pixar, which is enough to earn a recommend.
SYNOPSIS: “The Bad Guys 2,” the animated sequel to the 2022 hit “The Bad Guys,” reunites the above-the-title stars, Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina in a story about trying to do the right thing. “Things sure have changed,” says Bad Guys leader Mr. Wolf. “Not everyone believes it, but the Bad Guys went good.”
CAST: Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, Alex Borstein, Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova, Natasha Lyonne. Directed by Pierre Perifel.
REVIEW: Based on the children’s book series “The Bad Guys” by Australian author Aaron Blabey, “The Bad Guys 2” the titular naughty characters, ringleader Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), master of disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and the gang’s short-tempered “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), have gone straight.
Or at least they’re trying to.
Framed for a series of robberies they didn’t commit, they’re kidnapped by the Bad Girls, a band of baddies led by a devious snow leopard named Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), who blackmail them into one last heist. “Life is like is like a car chase,” says Mr. Wolf ((Sam Rockwell). “There will be bumps along the way.”
Like a riff on “Oceans 11” but for kids and with an outer space component, “The Bad Guys 2” has a groovy soundtrack that mostly sounds like it escaped from a mid-Sixties Matt Helm movie, stylish animation and the quick pacing of a kid’s adventure movie.
“It’s not the action, it’s the distraction,” says Mr. Wolf about the movie’s elaborate cons, but he may well have been speaking about the movie. There are big action sequences sprinkled throughout “The Bad Guys 2” but that is just the distraction from the clever character work from the voice cast.
Sam Rockwell voices Mr. Wolf with an appealing George Clooney swagger, so much so I’m surprised George isn’t asking for residuals, and the rest of the cast keeps up, delivering fun and funny characters that round out the cast. MVP Awards belong to Marc Maron for his lovestruck delivery of Mr. Snake and Richard Ayoade as the diabolical Professor Rupert Marmalade IV.
Unlike “Jason X,” the tenth installment of the Friday the 13th series which was buried by a trip to outer space, “The Bad Guys 2,” and (NO SPOILERS HERE) their trip to the cosmos plays pretty well although it goes on a bit too long, dragging out the film’s finale, without the sharp writing of everything that came before it.
Still, it’s a funny movie for the whole family about doing the right thing, even if it isn’t the easiest option, that has entertainment value for all ages.
September 23, 2022 at the Jane Mallet Theatre! Join us for an advance screening of episode 2 and more sneak peeks from Season 2 of the highly anticipated, critically-acclaimed HBO comedy series, Los Espookys, hailed by Vanity Fair as “bilingual genius.” The series follows a group of friends who turn their shared passion for horror into a peculiar business, providing horror to clients who need it, in a dreamy Latin American country where the strange and eerie are just a part of daily life.
Following the screening, we’ll hang out with the co-creators, writers, executive producers and stars of the show, Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres as they discuss the upcoming season, reveal behind-the-scenes stories and answer your questions about what “espookys” them the most.
The series returns to HBO & HBO Max in the U.S. and CRAVE in Canada on Sept. 16.
Season two of LOS ESPOOKYS is created by Fred Armisen & Ana Fabrega & Julio Torres; executive produced by Lorne Michaels, Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres along with Broadway Video’s Andrew Singer and Alice Mathias; co-executive produced by Nate Young; produced by Sharon Lopez and Andy Garland. Produced by Broadway Video, Antigravico and Oscar®-winning Chilean production company Fabula. Written by Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, Bernardo Britto and Mara Vargas Jackson. Directed by Ana Fabrega and Sebastian Silva.
Moderated by Richard Crouse
September 25 at the Jane Mallet Theatre! Beginning as a stand-up comedian, Robinson first made his mark in the comedy circuit at the 1998 Montreal “Just For Laughs” Festival. Now headlining venues and festivals across the country, he does both solo acts as well as full-band sets with his band “The Nasty Delicious.” Before deciding to pursue his comedy career full time, Robinson was a K-8 teacher in the Chicago Public School System. He earned his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University and his Masters of Education from St. Xavier University. It was while Craig was studying education in Chicago that he also discovered his love of acting and comedy when he joined the famed Second City Theatre. Craig is best known for his portrayal of Daryl Philban in NBC’s “The Office” but has also starred in such movies as KNOCKED UP, THIS IS THE END, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2, MORRIS FROM AMERICA, TRAGEDY GIRLS, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME! with Eddie Murphy, TIMMY FAILURE, and MONA LISA AND THE BOOD MOON with Kate Hudson. Craig also starred in his very own sitcom, MR. ROBINSON on NBC, as well as GHOSTED on FOX.
