I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the big screen adventures of “Supergirl” and the drama “Blood Lines.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 38:44)
I sit with guest host Mark Towhey on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about a movie to watch to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The CN Tower, an animated version of “Survivor” coming soon to theatres, “Supergirl’s” flight onto the big screen and a very expensive piece of Ted Lasso swag.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Matt Skube to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the adventures of “Supergirl,” the jackassery of “Jackass: Best and Last” and the drama of “Blood Lines.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the adventures of “Supergirl,” the jackassery of “Jackass: Best and Last” and the drama of “Blood Lines.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about how a rogue line of code almost derailed “Toy Story 2” forever, Michael Caine’s Odyssey and then I review “Supergirl” and offer up a couple of super cocktails to enjoy with the film.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join NewsTalk 1010 host Deb Hutton to talk about Owen Gleiberman’s notorious pan of “Supergirl” and the role of the film critic in the arts.
Listen to 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 adventures of “Supergirl,” the jackassery of “Jackass: Best and Last” and the drama of “Blood Lines.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Supergirl,” a new DC Comics superhero film now playing in theatres, Milly Alcock plays Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl. “My cousin and I,” she says, “have very different ideas about what it means to be a hero.”
CAST: Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa. Directed by Craig Gillespie.
REVIEW: “Supergirl” has an obvious affection for not only DC Comics, but also “Star Wars,” “John Wick” and a handful of post-apocalyptic flicks but allows those influences to get in the way of establishing a style and personality of its own.
After spending the first fourteen years of her life on Krypton, watching everyone and everything she loved be destroyed, Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) finds herself more flawed than fierce. “Krypton didn’t die in a day,” she says. “The gods are not that kind.”
After a life of loss—and a wild interplanetary bender to celebrate her twenty-third birthday—she discovers a sense of purpose when she meets Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a heartbroken child looking for vengeance after merciless villain Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), destroyed her home and killed her family.
Together they set off on a mission of interstellar justice that uses their pain to find strength.
Loosely based on the “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” comic book series, the origin story is darker in tone than you might expect. What could have been a “Guardians of the Galaxy” style space romp is, instead, more of a mixed bag.
A raw and physical performance from Alcock, who channels both the character’s heroic spirit and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’s?” drunken, unpredictable Martha, lies at the film’s center. It’s highwire work with a lot of grit—have we seen a superhero vomit on screen before?—and emotional depth. Her trauma has left her scarred; cynical about her place in the world, and Alcock goes for it, embracing both the character’s hedonistic, haunted and heroic sides.
Her trauma drives the story, and, for a time, it feels unique. As the story develops, winding its way from a revenge drama to a more traditional superhero narrative, however, it becomes generic. The large-scale battle scenes are cluttered and so frenetic, it’s often impossible to follow the action. When you can, despite some good fight choreography—Supergirl is an agile, animated brawler—the fights are chaotic, but not fresh.
“Supergirl’s” real kryptonite, however, is in its desire to both defy audience expectations while, at the same time, making a big budget superhero flick. Director Craig Gillespie, working from a script by Ana Nogueira, smooths off the rough edges that make Supergirl interesting in favor of a generic, derivative approach. The result is a movie that folds a unique character into the usual collection of big battles, laughs and cool creatures. It feels familiar, which maybe doesn’t breed contempt in this case, but it does evoke a certain kind of apathy.
SYNOPSIS: “Look, up at the IMAX screen! It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s the rebooted Superman!” Set in the DC Universe, the new film is the story of 30-year-old Metropolis journalist and Kryptonian Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman (David Corenswet) and his commitment to the old-fashioned values of truth, justice, and kindness. “My parents sent me to serve the people of Earth and be a good man,” he says. His benevolence has left the cynical public skeptical of his motives, including tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) who is tired of being overshadowed by the Man of Steel, and is steadfast in his belief that Superman’s unrestricted power is a threat to humanity. “Superman is not a man,” he says. “He’s an ‘it’ who somehow became the focal point of the entire world’s conversation. Nothing has felt right since he showed up.” Capitalizing on the fear of the “other,” Luthor uses technology and disinformation to dehumanize and destroy Superman.
CAST: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, María Gabriela de Faría, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, and Milly Alcock. Directed by James Gunn.
REVIEW: The new “Superman” is a state-of-the-art movie with whiz-bang special effects that nonetheless feels old-fashioned. The moody, sombre vibe of the Zack Snyder films has left the building, ushering in a heartfelt story that harkens back to the optimistic, earnest tone of the 1950s and ‘60s comics.
Where Snyder portrayed the Man of Steel as a modern god, new DC head honcho James Gunn frames him as an extraterrestrial with human foibles. “They’ve always been wrong about me,” Superman says, “I love, I get scared… but that is being human. And that’s my greatest strength.”
It’s a throwback, but there’s a timeliness to it as well.
Gunn’s “Superman” reflects a polarized public, poisoned by tech billionaires, the government and on-line toxicity. Hope is a rare commodity, and anger is the new normal.
Sound familiar?
You don’t have to look further than your X feed to see the real-world inspiration for Gunn’s Metropolis. He weaves hot button references to the Russia–Ukraine war, grooming, Fox News and even bot farms that stoke outrage 24/7 into the story’s fabric. Shows like “The Boys” and the animated “Invincible” have used similar methods to essay the world’s current cynicism, with often grim results, but Gunn flips the script, opting for optimism.
Is it corny or is it heartfelt and hopeful? It’s all that, and proudly so.
Under the superhero’s S-shield is a beating heart, brimming with compassion for a world in which goodness is as rare as a hair on Lex Luthor’s head. It’s a gear shift from Snyder’s dark, introspective storytelling; not necessarily better, just different. It’s more surface, but it’s a pretty good surface. The messianic messaging is gone, replaced by a Clark Kent conflicted by his dual identity as an alien and a human, raised on a Midwestern farm. Mix in some of Gunn’s trademarked goofy humour, and a riff on John Williams’ classic “Superman” theme and you’re left with a character-driven film that values uplift over angst.
David Corenswet brings both nostalgia and a modern sensibility to his charismatic take on the Man of Steel. His heroics recall the Supermen of the past, but his Clark Kent is of the present day. In a less cartoonish performance than the exaggerated take of some earlier movies, his Clark is grounded in reality.
He shares great chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Whether they’re sharing intimate moments as Lois and Clark, challenging one another as journalists and love interests, or in action as the movie leans into the big set pieces of the final third, Brosnahan’s dynamic Lois easily sits on the shelf next to Margot Kidder’s beloved performance.
Every superhero movie needs a villain, and Nicholas Hoult delivers a cold, calculating tech billionaire framed as a modern-day baddie.
There are fun supporting turns from Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific and Nathan Fillion as the abrasive Green Lantern Guy Gardner, but the film’s scene stealer is the CGI, scruffy-but-loyal superdog Krypto.
It would be easy to be cynical about a movie that wears its heart on its sleeve as loudly and proudly “Superman” does, and while it gets a little supermanic in its final half hour, it delivers an up-to-the-minute feel filtered through the nostalgic lens of a vintage comic book.
