I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best shows, including the Netflix series “The Four Seasons,” “Spider-Noir,” the Prime Video show with Nicolas Cage and, at the movies, the Kafka-esque horror of “Backsrooms.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:50)
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Michelle Dube to talk about new movies in theatres including the World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:55)
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
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 World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
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 World War II drama “Pressure,” the romantic crime drama “Tuner” and the existential horror of “Backrooms.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Backrooms,” a new psychological thriller starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve and now playing in theatres, a man finds a portal to a strange reality.
CAST: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell. Directed by Kane Parsons.
REVIEW: The Kafka-esque story of “Backrooms” centers on wannabe architect Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a broken man with a broken marriage, reduced to sleeping in a bedroom display in his furniture store.
The action begins when a mysterious portal appears in the basement of his store. Behind the portal are a maze of dingy rooms, with all the charm of an abandoned call centre, that could easily be as big as the New York subway system. “I’ve been here every night since I found the place,” he says, “and I still barely scratch the surface.”
Intrigued, Clark disappears into the otherworldly labyrinth of identical yellow rooms prompting his therapist, Dr. Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve) to enter the nightmarish nest of rooms to find and rescue him.
With a dollop of David Lynch and a surreal slice of “Severance,” “Backrooms” defies easy explanation. “Nothing in recorded history means more than this,” says Phil (Mark Duplass), “but I don’t understand it.”
And neither do I.
An introspective exploration of the effects of difficulty of escaping destructive personal patterns, the film uses a hellscape of endlessly connected rooms, the likes of which would make M.C. Escher’s head spin, that appear to be manifestations of “everyplace that ever was.” Each interconnected space represents Clark and Mary’s fears, and the unbroken loop of dysfunction and victimhood which define their lives.
At least that’s what I think it’s about. You may disagree.
What we may agree on, however, is director Kane Parsons’s effective use of an anxiety inducing score and sound design to accentuate the growing sense of dread.
That feeling is enhanced by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve who anchor the story, with vulnerability and quiet intensity.
“Backrooms” is unique, introspective, psychological horror that relies on anxiety over jump scares.
On the Saturday April 12, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet artist and musician Sean Ono Lennon. A new documentary called “One to One: John & Yoko,” is a look at New York City in the early 1970s through the actions of two of its most famous residents, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Newly restored footage, with remastered audio overseen by Sean Ono Lennon, of John Lennon’s only full-length, post-Beatles concert is intercut with talk show appearance, home movies and news accounts to create a sense of time and place. In this conversation we talk about the film and how, for Sean, working on it is “almost like getting more time with my dad.”
Then, we’ll meet the creative team behind an intense new film called “Warfare.” Based on ex-Navy Seal Ray Mendoza’s real-life experiences during the Iraq War, “Warfare” is a harrowing portrait of modern warfare that sees a platoon of American Navy SEALs in battle with enemy combatants. On this show we meet co-directors Alex Garland and Rayn Mendoza and star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
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!
All iHeartRadio Canada stations are available across Canada via live stream on iHeartRadio.caand the iHeartRadio Canada app. iHeartRadio Canada stations are also connected through Alexa, Siri, and Google Home smart speakers.
Listen to the show live here:
C-FAX 1070 in Victoria
SAT 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
SUN 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
CJAD in Montreal
SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM
CFRA in Ottawa
SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM
NEWSTALK 610 CKTB in St. Catharines
Sat 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM
NEWSTALK 1010 in Toronto
SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM
NEWSTALK 1290 CJBK
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SYNOPSIS: Based on ex-Navy Seal Ray Mendoza’s real-life experiences during the Iraq War, “Warfare, now playing in theatres, is a harrowing portrait of modern warfare that sees a platoon of American Navy SEALs in battle with enemy combatants.
CAST: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Finn Bennett, Taylor John Smith, Michael Gandolfini. Directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland.
REVIEW: “Warfare” is not a movie you “enjoy.” It’s one you experience.
Created from the memories of the actual combatants, “Warfare” is a gut-wrenching recreation of the Navy SEALs who oversaw the movement of U.S. forces through insurgent territory in Iraq in 2006.
It’s a visceral slice-of-life-and-death that strips away all the pretence of war movies by highlighting the sacrifices made by the Seals. The up-close-and-personal combat sequences provide an interesting take on warfare. The battle scenes are visceral, “you-are-there” in nature, with visuals of dismembered limbs and carnage that would make Hieronymus Bosch turn his face away, but it is the portrait of the personal toll paid by the soldiers that resonates.
The first half hour is all about quiet, nervous expectation as the soldiers prepare for the onslaught to come. Once shots are exchanged, it becomes a visceral, boots-on-the-ground story of modern warfare, told in real time.
A bomb blast leaves soldiers on fire, mutilated and screaming in agony. These scenes, which make up the majority of the film’s running time, are gorier than most horror films and left me jarred, unable to shake the intensity of the experience.
Am I glad I saw “Warfare”? Yes. Would I want to sit through it again? Hell no. It’s an antiwar film that very effectively makes its point by immersing the viewer in a world of violence. Not an easy watch, but it isn’t meant to be.
