I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” and the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I jointhe CTV NewsChanel to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and let you know what’s happening in theatres. We talk about the Netflix deal to buy Warner Bros and what that means for the industry, a new RoboCop statue, Mr. Simmons Goes to Washington, a name change for Pamela Anderson and reviews of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CP24 to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Netflix show “My Next Guest with David Letterman with Guest Adam Sandler” and “The Beatles Anthology” on Disney+.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
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 jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Merrily We Roll Along,” a filmed version of the Tony Award winning Broadway show starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe, a composer (Groff) reflects on his fracrtured relationships with his two besties, playwright Charley (Radcliffe) and novelist Mary (Mendez).
CAST: Natalie Wachen, Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clarke, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, Max Rackenberg, Daniel Radcliffe, Reg Rogers, Jacob Keith Watson. Directed by Maria Friedman.
REVIEW: What a difference a few decades can make. A flop that lasted only two weeks on Broadway in its 1981 debut, Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along” rebounded in 2023 in a revamped, all-star staging that won four Tony Awards and bested the previous run by 50 weeks.
It’s that vaunted production, starring Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe—who both won Tonys for their work—that comes to the big screen this week.
Filmed live in front of a Broadway audience—you hear applause and laughter but never see them—the show is a story of success and ambition told backwards.
Despite the show’s reverse chronology conceit, the story is fairly straight-ahead. When we first meet Franklin Shepard (Groff) he’s a Broadway composer turned Hollywood hotshot. During a booze fuelled party at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by hangers-on and his soon-to-be-ex-wife he is filled with longing for his estranged friends, novelist-turned-alcoholic-critic Mary Flynn (Lindsay Mendez), who has always carried a flame for Franklin and his former partner Charley Kringas (Daniel Radcliffe), the hot-headed playwright who has little use for the business part of show business.
As Franklin’s memories unfold, the story winds backwards two decades in time, from the bitter acrimony of present day to their first blush of success and the happy beginning of their friendship.
The story should end on a high note, but the beauty of the movie’s jigsaw puzzle construction is that it allows for mixed emotions at every stage. Over the course of the show Franklin’s regret shifts to bright-eyed optimism, but it is always coloured by the melancholic notion that we don’t understand the important things in life until it is too late.
Key to the success of the show, other than Sondheim songs like “Old Friends” and “Good Thing Going,” is Groff’s skillful performance. As written, Franklin is not immediately likeable, but Groff plays him as someone who we merrily rolled along through life, leaving behind a trail of broken relationships in his pursuit of success. That one character tweak transforms the character from villain to someone who becomes sympathetic as he realizes all that his ambition and artistic compromise have cost.
Mendez brings both a comic touch and heartbreaking pathos to the lovesick Mary and Radcliffe, as the neurotic Charley, bridges the gap between stage and screen, handing in a performance big enough for Broadway but intimate enough for the movies.
The beauty of a filmed adaptation of a stage bound show is the ability for the camera to pick up on the small moments that can easily be lost on stage. Mendez’s work benefits from the up-close-and-personal medium as Maria Friedman’s camera catches Mary’s subtle moments of heartbreak as they flash across her face.
But “Merrily We Roll Along” doesn’t look or feel like a traditional movie. There are close-ups and the camera moves through the space, but it feels lodged somewhere between a live show and a film. Still, while the grand overall effect of the Broadway show may get lost in the shuffle, it is a treat to get a better look at these committed performances.
On this special Halloween edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Ainslie Hogarth, author of “Motherthing,” darkly comedic novel about a woman who must take drastic measures to save her husband and herself from the vengeful ghost of her mother-in-law.
Then, David Cronenberg stops by. The director of “Eastern Promises,” “A History of Violence,” “The Fly” and “Videodrome,” among many others, talks about “Crimes of the Future,” an all-star story of eroticized human evolution starring Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux and we’ll find out whether he likes the nickname for his fans!
We go to the vault to find an interview I did with Daniel Radcliffe the night after I hosted the Canadian premier of his first post Harry Potter movie, a brooding gothic horror film called “The Woman in Black.” In the film Daniel plays a recently widowed layer who is grieving the loss of his wife when he is sent to a remote village on business. Once there he discovers his client’s house is haunted by the spirit of a woman who is trying to find someone and something she lost, and that no one is safe from her terrible wrath.
We’re talking horror, and who better to talk to than John Landis. As the director of An American Werewolf in London and the groundbreaking music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” he knows a thing or two about how to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. In this conversation we talk about The Exorcist, The Omen, ghosts and one of th4e scariest scenes he’s ever seen in a movie. Ninety years ago Charles Laughton starred in The Island of Lost Souls as Dr. Moreau, a brilliant surgeon who performed vivisection on animals with the goal of turning animals into half human beings.
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Link coming soon)
Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
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Richard joins host Jim Richards of the NewsTalk 1010 afternoon show The Rush for Booze and Reviews! Today we talk about Sandra Bullock and Tatum in “The Lost City,” the inspirational dramedy “Run Woman Run” and the poignant “Learn to Swim.” Then, we tell you all about the cocktail named for “Tomb Raider” Angelina Jolie.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
