I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres including the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night” (VOD/Digital).
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 alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Her Private Hell,” a new sci-fi mystery thriller from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, and now playing in theatres, a mysterious killer comes into contact with characters in two timeframes.
CAST: Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, Hidetoshi Nishijima. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
REVIEW: Few things are worse than listening to someone explain their nightmares. Watching the dreamlike “Her Private Hell” is one of them. Nicolas Winding Refn’s impenetrable endurance test strains patience as much as the most long-winded dream recounting.
A story of fathers, daughters and a nasty serial killed named The Leather Man, “Her Private Hell” is set against the surreal backdrop of a fog drenched netherworld that recalls a Billy Squier video from 1984. “Don’t fight the mist, just move through it.”
Sophie Thatcher plays actress Elle, star of a cheesy sci-fi film called “Candy Floss.” A cross between “Star Wars” and “Barbarella,” it also features Hunter (Kristine Froseth), a newbie obsessed with the trappings of fame.
Elle’s job is complicated when her movie producer father Johnny Thunders (Dougray Scott) announces his wife, Dominique (Havana Rose Liu), who happens to be Elle’s former lover, will be taking over as producer.
“This movie’s gonna be hell,” Elle says and at this point it’s as if she’s warning the audience about the film they’re watching not the fictional one she’s starring in.
When Elle and Hunter witness The Leather Man gruesomely kill a young woman, the story suddenly switches to postwar Japan, and a GI named Kay’s (Charles Melton) quest to find and destroy The Leather Man.
Both beautiful and banal, “Her Private Hell,” Refn’s first film in ten years, is all style and no substance. It indulges in his trademarked aesthetic—scenes bathed in neon light, hypnotic long takes and graphic violence—while offering little in the way of a comprehensible story. Despite its gloss, and high-minded ideas about revealing each character’s personal hell, it is crushed under the weight of its own moody pretention.
Refn, who now goes by the brand name NWR, isn’t afraid to take chances—his story is all over the place and he even has his characters speak in a wolf language at one point—but it’s all in service to a story that is more punishing than pleasurable.
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Michelle Dube to talk about new movies in theatres including the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”
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 wazzzzup with the new “Scary Movie,” the live-action cartoon “Masters of the Universe” and the tuneful “Power Ballad.”