I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the kid-friendly Pixar film “Elio,” the ragelicious “Years Later,” the action-comedy “Bride Hard” and the 50th anniversary of “Jaws.”
I sit in with host Jim Richards on NewsTalk 1010 to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week I talk about buying Ozzy Osbourne’s DNA, the 50th anniversary of “Jaws” and review Pixar’s latest “Elio,” and the scary “28 Days Later.”
Listen to 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 kid-friendly Pixar film “Elio,” the ragelicious “Years Later,” the action-comedy “Bride Hard” and the gamer documentary “The Hobby: Tales froim the Tabletop.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: “Elio,” a new Disney and Pixar animated adventure now playing in theatres, centers on Elio, a space-obsessed young boy who accidentally gets beamed up to the Communiverse, a cosmic hub where representatives from Earth meet with extraterrestrials. Mistaken for an ambassador from the blue planet, Elio learns about other civilizations and himself. “Back home I didn’t fit in,” he says. “I thought Earth was the problem, but what if it’s me?”
CAST: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, and Shirley Henderson. Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina.
REVIEW: As empathetic as it is predictable, “Elio” treads familiar ground but packs a light emotional punch with its story of an outsider who learns he is not alone.
Humans have always gazed at the stars and wondered, “Are we alone?” That includes Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) an eleven-year-old boy being raised by his Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña) after the death of his parents. Despite Olga’s best efforts, Elio feels abandoned and alone. “There’s 500 million inhabitable planets out there,” he says to her, “and maybe one of them will want me because you don’t.”
When his efforts to be abducted by aliens lead to trouble, he’s sent to a military school where his ham radio helps connect him to the stars and he is beamed up to a colorful world whose aliens think he is an ambassador from Earth who will save their “Communiverse” from the evil Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett).
“Elio” is a kid’s film, with imaginative, vibrantly colored characters and fanciful new worlds, that looks to what Carl Sagan (whose voice appears briefly near the film’s end) called “the deepest of human concerns: Are we alone?” It’s a big concept for a film aimed at the little ones, but it’s presented with a sense of childlike wonder that makes it accessible for all ages.
Beautifully animated in Pixar’s signature style, it looks great but doesn’t have the nuance or deeply felt emotion of the company’s classics. Films like “Up” and “WALL-E” masterfully wove story and sentiment together to form soulful movies that hit the head and heart in equal measure. “Elio” reaches for the stars but remains earthbound in terms of finding the texture that once made Pixar so special.
Still, while “Elio” isn’t a gushing firehose of authentic emotion, it is an imaginative journey into empathy, community and self-acceptance.
Richard joins CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to talk about the Ryan Reynolds time travel adventure “The Adam Project,” the Toronto set fantasy “Turning Red” and the contemplative “After Yang.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
You can tell Pixar’s “Turning Red,” a charming new animated film now streaming on Disney+, was directed by someone who grew up in Toronto. Academy Award® winning director Domee Shi includes such staples of city life as a TTC pass and the CN Tower, but it is her reference to the Skydome, the original and only proper name, of the arena now known as the Rogers Center, that cements her Hogtown bona fides.
Meilin Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), the movie’s main character, is a free spirit in a traditional family. She likes to dance, hangout with her friends and she especially loves the boy band 4*Town. “Ever since I turned thirteen,” she says, “I’ve been doing my own thing.”
She is navigating the line between dutiful daughter to mother Ming (voice of Sandra Oh) and nonconformist. “Number one rule in my family is honor your parents,” she says, “but, if you take it too far you might forget to honor yourself.”
Everything changes for Meilin one morning after she has a nightmare and before you can say, “Poof!,” she changes into a giant red panda. Hearing a commotion upstairs, Ming investigates. “You are a woman now and your body is starting to change,” she says through the door to her obviously upset daughter.
When the truth of the situation is revealed, Ming is not surprised. Turns out the panda transformation runs in the family, usually following some kind of emotional episode. Unless Meilin wants to be a shapeshifter for the rest of her life, she has to listen to her parents. “There is a darkness to the panda,” says Mei’s father Jin Lee (Orion Lee). “You only have one chance to banish it. And you cannot fail, otherwise you’ll never be free.”
A special ceremony can cure her of the plight, but it must be performed under the red moon, which is one month away, the same night as the big 4*Town show at the Skydome.
“Turning Red” is an imaginatively animated movie that will make your eyeballs dance. Toronto is lovingly recreated and the characters have personality to burn. Mei’s alter ego, the giant red panda, is equal parts terrifying and adorable, a metaphor for puberty come to life, writ large. Topped off with great voice work from Chiang and Oh, it’s a Pixar worthy effort that can sit on the shelf next to the classics like “Up,” “WALL-E’ and “Toy Story.”
The coming-of-age story is equally well handled. The importance of family is a key message, like it is in many kid’s movies, but it is Shi’s sensitive (and very funny) lessons of asserting and being true to yourself that set it apart. Mei feels smothered by the overprotective Ming, but she sticks up for herself, even if it is scary. “I’m changing mom,” she says. “I’m afraid it will take me away from you.”
“Don’t hold back, for anyone,” replies Ming. ”The farther you go, the prouder I’ll be.”
It’s more touching and more nuanced than you might expect from a film about a young girl who changes into a panda, but “Turning Red” is that movie. It is unafraid to be silly, serious and heartfelt, often at the same time. It’s a lovely, insightful portrait of the chaos of being a kid and how respect, family and friends (and a little boy band music) can help smooth out the wild ride. Oh, and Toronto has rarely looked better on screen!
“After Yang,” a new sci fi film starring Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith now playing in theatres, is about a sentient robot life, but the firepower of humanoid android movies like “The Terminator” has been replaced by a slow, contemplative mood.
Set in the near future, “After Yang” begins with the loss of the artificially intelligent Yang (The Umbrella Academy’s Justin H. Min), an android purchased by Kyra and Jake (Jodie Turner-Smith and Colin Farrell) as a cyborg companion and “older sibling” to their adopted Asian daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). When Yang suffers a core malfunction and shuts down, Mika mourns the loss of her “gege” or older brother in Mandarin.
Jake’s search for a way to repair the “technosapien” caregiver is trickier than you would think. It’s more complicated than taking a malfunctioning iPad back to the Apple store. The manufacturer will only fix the twelve most common problems, and warns Jake it is illegal to access the data stored in the robot’s memory banks.
Nonetheless, Jake accepts a tool to access Yang’s core chip from museum curator (Sarita Choudhury), only to discover he’s been refurbished several times and holds memories from his many experiences.
Director Koganada focuses attention on the meditative aspects of the story, not the mechanical, creating introspective sci fi that elegantly and subtly explores issues of existence, grief, love and memory. The film’s cold, detached exterior melts away as the running time clicks along, as the sci fi aspects of the story become a study of relationships and why we connect with the people and objects that we do.
Understated but heartfelt performances from Farrell, Turner-Smith , Min and Tjandrawidjaja add emotional resonance to a speculative story that is geared to appeal to the heart as much as the brain.
“Ultimately, the film Koganada has made is a poignant family drama with some sci fi elements. But just because “After Yang” is more interesting than exciting doesn’t mean it isn’t effective and memorable.
Richard joins Jim Richards, NewsTalk 1010 host of The Rush, to discuss the controversy surrounding a review for the film “Turning Red,” written by CinemaBlend managing director Sean O’Connell, that suggested the film’s story about a young Asian girl struggling through puberty, limited the film’s ability to connect with audiences.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard speaks with Domee Shi, the Canadian director of the animated hit ‘Bao’ about her inspiration for the film.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
