CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!
I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Harris Dickinson’
CTV NEWS TORONTO AT FIVE WITH ZURAIDAH ALMAN: RICHARD ON WHAT TO WATCH!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with guest anchor Natalie Johnson, to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:30)
NEWSTALK 1010 with Jim and Deb: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?
I sit in with hosts Jim Richards and Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 25:30)
RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY NOVEMBER 22, 2024!
I join the CTV NewsChannel to talk about the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
CKTB NIAGARA REGION: THE STEPH VIVIER SHOW WITH RICHARD CROUSE ON MOVIES!
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres and streaming including the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the swords and sandals of “Gladiator II,” the origin story of “Wicked” and the WWII drama “Blitz.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
BLITZ: 3 STARS. “deftly directed moments give the film an emotional punch.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Blitz,” a new World War II drama starring Saoirse Ronan, and now streaming on Apple TV+, nine-year-old George, resentful at being evacuated to a school in the countryside to keep him safe amidst the blitz, defiantly embarks on a journey back home as his distraught Rita searches for him.
CAST: Saoirse Ronan, Elliot Heffernan, Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller, and Stephen Graham. Written, produced and directed by Steve McQueen.
REVIEW: The fire and brimstone of the Nazi bombing raids on London, so vividly portrayed in the film’s opening minutes, set the scene, but not the over-all tone of the film.
At its best “Blitz,” and McQueen, capture the tenor of the times of WWII London, particularly on the central characters, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), her father Gerald (The Jam’s Paul Weller, making his feature film debut) and young George (Elliot Heffernan).
But director Steve McQueen, who also wrote the script, has a lot on his mind and allows “Blitz” to wander as he essays the struggles of working-class day-to-day Londoners and topics frequently ignored in WWII films, racial prejudice and the contributions of women to the war effort. Add to that the biracial George’s perilous journey and you’re left with a movie that is part road trip, part social commentary and part war film.
As “Blitz” splinters off in several directions it feels unfocused, as if it’s afraid to settle on one topic for too long.
Still, Heffernan, in his film debut, impresses as George navigating his way home, meeting everyone from a kindly Nigerian air warden (Benjamin Clementine) to a Fagin-like character (Stephen Graham) who recruits the youngster to loot corpses and bombed-out buildings.
It’s a reserved performance, one that relies on his inner monologue as he is exposed to things no child should ever witness. In one poignant moment he comes across a Punch and Judy style puppet show. A small group of kids are laughing, enjoying the antics, but George cannot. His blank stare speaks to a childhood stripped away by circumstance.
George’s journey is the heart of the film, but it isn’t just about his adventures. “Blitz” is a journey of self-discovery as the youngster connects with his heritage. He has experienced racism and name calling in his young life, but, because of his quick bond with Nigerian warden Ife, he learns to take pride in his ancestry.
As usual Ronan, one of the best actors of her generation, hands in top notch work, showcasing Rita’s vulnerabilities and her steeliness.
Despite the episodic wandering of its storytelling and its flirting with clichés, “Blitz” offers up stunning visuals. For example, McQueen’s camera finds a man drinking a cup of tea, in his favorite chair, attempting to lead an ordinary life in a bombed-out building. It’s deftly directed moments like these, and George’s fraught journey, that allows the film to pack an emotional punch in its final moments.
THE IRON CLAW: 3 ½ STARS. “somber movie that looks beyond the ring.”
Steeped in tragedy and trauma, “The Iron Claw,” a movie about the Von Erich wrestling family starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White, and now playing in theatres, isn’t a sports movie. Set against the backdrop of professional wrestling, the movie is study of toxic masculinity and how the sins of the father can be visited on their sons.
The film begins with Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) patriarch of the championship Von Erich wrestling dynasty. Early in his career, in an attempt to create a villainous heel persona, he changed his name from Jack Adkisson to the German sounding Fritz Von Erich. The switch purposely stoked post-war animosity and made him a wrestler audiences loved to hate.
In the ring he was a relentless competitor, the purveyor of the deadly Iron Claw, his much-feared finishing move that squeezed his opponent’s face into mush. Outside the ring his drive to win saw him push his sons Kevin (Efron), Kerry (White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simons), into the family business.
“Now, we all know Kerry’s my favourite, then Kev, then David, then Mike,” said Fritz. “But the rankings can always change.”
Under Fritz’s hardnosed guidance, the Von Erich’s became one of the first wrestling families to become popular, winning championship belts and fans for their high-flying, acrobatic style but their accomplishments are tempered by tragedy, which son Kevin blames on a curse brought on by the family’s adopted name.
“Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed,” Kevin said. “Mom tried to protect us with God. Dad tried to protect us with wrestling. He said if we were the toughest, the strongest, nothing could ever hurt us. I believed him. We all did.”
“The Iron Claw” is about sports, and clearly stars Efron and White spent time in the gym to prepare for their shirtless bouts in the ring, but like all good sports movies it isn’t about the sport. It’s about the universal subjects of tragedy, brotherhood, brawn and bullies. The backdrop may be unusual, but anyone who has ever been browbeaten by a bully will find notes that resonate in the Von Erich story.
At the heart of the film are Efron and White as sons Kevin and Kerry. Both hand in performances etched by their physicality but deepened by the emotional turmoil that envelopes each character.
Efron digs deep in a career best performance. As Kevin watches his family fall apart, he slips into a depression, afraid that the curse is real and may affect his own wife (Lily James) and kids. For such a physical film, it’s internal work that reveals a well of emotion and sublimated anger underneath the character’s bulky frame.
White has a showier role, but as Kerry, the son who pays a huge personal price for wanting to please his overbearing father at any cost, he is more outward in his reactions to the story’s twists, but the sadness he carries with him is palpable.
Maura Tierney does a lot with little as mother Doris Von Erich. A stoic figure, when her buried feelings threaten to overflow, the look on her face has such quiet intensity it speaks louder than words.
McCallany has a much larger role. He is the catalyst, the bully who pushed his sons toward the ring by any means necessary. He’s the movie’s obvious boogeyman. Trouble is, the family can’t see it until it is too late.
“The Iron Claw” is a slow moving, somber movie that looks beyond the ring to focus on the price this family paid for success.
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS: 3 STARS. “An audacious mix of Luis Buñuel and ‘South Park.’”
There is nothing subtle in “Triangle of Sadness,” Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund’s over-the-top tale of hypocrisy, greed, and ambition, now playing in theatres.
Divided into three sections, it begins with an examination of the dynamic between men and women, in the form of supermodels Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean, who passed away at age 32 in August). At dinner they fight over the bill when she makes no effort to pony up cash, even though she makes much more money than he does. In their superficial world, the real currencies are good looks and social media followers, she thinks, but he feels if they are to truly be equals, they mustn’t let money come between them, with one lording their wealth over the other.
The second, must-be-seen-to-be-believed, sequence is social satire of the highest and grisliest order. Set aboard a luxury yacht, Carl and Yaya, invited because they are well-known, beautiful people, are joined by a rogue’s gallery of ultra-rich folks used to flaunting their privilege. “The success of a luxury cruise mainly depends on you,” says staff leader Paula (Vicki Berlin) to her team. “I don’t want to hear anybody saying, ‘No.’ It’s always, ‘Yes sir! Yes ma’am!’”
At the helm is Captain Thomas Smith (Woody Harrelson), a drunken American communist, who deliberately schedules the fancy Captain’s Dinner during a patch of very rough weather. As the waves rock the ship, the motion of the ocean coupled with some spoiled seafood, lead to mass sea sickness, and a ballet of bodily fluids.
Both sections dovetail into an apocalyptic third sequence that examines social hierarchies, and what can happen when the powerless get a taste of control.
There is nothing subtle in this over-the-top tale of ambition, power and entitlement. The social satire is as delicate as a punch to the jaw and is not for the faint of heart, but not simply because the satire cuts so deep.
The middle section, the captain’s dinner sequence, turns into a burlesque of barf so vivid it makes the Mr. Creosote sequence from “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life” seem restrained. Rarely have bodily fluids been so celebrated on screen. It’s a lot, and its message that these wealthy folks are messy, gross humans, is not subtle, but you have to admire Östlund’s commitment to the bit.
Heavy handed as it may be, “Triangle of Sadness” is a singular film. An audacious mix of Luis Buñuel and “South Park,” although often grotesque, it entertains and provokes thought.
