Posts Tagged ‘Ilya Naishuller’

CTV NEWS AT SIX: NEW MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

Richard speaks to “CTV News at Six” anchor Pauline Chanabout the best movies and television to watch this weekend including Disney+’s “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers,” the animated Amazon Prime superhero series “Invincible,” the techno body horror of “Possessor” on HBO and Bob Odenkirk’s action flick “Nobody,” now playing in theatres.

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 39:37)

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY MARCH 26, 2021.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including Bob Odenkirk’s action flick “Nobody,” (Theatres), the gonzo prank movie “Bad Trip” (Netflix) and the lo fi sci fi of “Doors” (VOD).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

THE SHOWGRAM WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

Richard joins NewsTalk 1010’s Jim Richards coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse like these movies?” This week we talk about the Bob Odenkirk one man army flick “Nobody,” the prank road movie “Bad Trip” with Tiffany Haddish and Eric Andre and the examination of trauma, “Violation.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FOR MARCH 26, 2021!

Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with host Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including Bob Odenkirk’s action flick “Nobody,” (Theatres), the gonzo prank movie “Bad Trip” (Netflix) and “Violation’s” (Shudder) examination of trauma.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Matt Harris to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including Bob Odenkirk’s action flick “Nobody,” (Theatres), the gonzo prank movie “Bad Trip” (Netflix) and the lo-fi sci fi of “Doors” (VOD).

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

NOBODY: 3 ½ STARS. “a violent, funny mix of ‘John Wick’ and ‘Home Alone.’”

Every action movie worth their salt has a catchphrase, and “Nobody,” in theatres only, has a pretty good one. “Don’t call 911,” Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) says to his wife (Connie Nielsen) before taking on an army of baddies. It’s his “I’ll be back,” a line that tells you everything you need to know about the character’s confidence in his special set of skills.

But, when we first meet him unassuming suburban dad Hutch leads a life of quiet desperation. Under appreciated at home, a joke at work, he makes Rodney Dangerfield look like a well-respected man about town by comparison.

He is, by his own admission, a nobody.

When burglars invade his home, his son (Gage Munroe) fights back, but Hutch freezes. Later, when one of the cops of the scene says, “You know, if this was my family…” Hutch’s humiliation hangs heavy in the unspoken words.

But there’s more to Hutch than meets the eye. Turns out he’s an everyman who can kill every man. A former clean-up guy for “one of those three letter organizations,” he left the game for a normal life, but “over-corrected” and became everybody’s doormat. “I always knew it was a facade,” he says of his suburban life, “but it lasted longer than I expected.”

The aftermath of the burglary awakens a long dormant piece of his personality and when he single-handedly takes on a group of Russian toughs on a bus—to the strains of Steve Lawrence crooning “I’ve Gotta Be Me”—he earns the attention of karaoke singing crime boss Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksey Serebryakov).

What follows is a violent, funny mix of “John Wick” and “Home Alone.”

There isn’t much to “Nobody” except for Hutch’s transformation and his ever-escalating way of offing the hordes of gun toting goons sent to silence him. Director Ilya Naishuller keeps the narrative to a minimum, doling out the exposition in the form of action instead of words. It’s fun, fast-paced and owes a nod to Guy Ritchie’s patented tricky editing and may be the most unexpected good time at the movies since terrible people killed John Wick’s dog.

From bewildered to badass, Odenkirk is an unlikely action star. Slight and wiry, he’s a like a coiled snake, and when he strikes he takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’. Unlike most action stars he gets the crap knocked out of him, but like most action stars, he’s relentless. It’s about as far away from his work on the “Mr. Show” as you could get. It’s more like a bloodied and bruised 1970s one man army character—think Charles Bronson—than anything he has done before.

It’s a compelling character, but a movie like “Nobody” is nothing without the fight scenes. Rest assured the action sequences are, as Hutch’s dad David (Christopher Lloyd) says, “just a bit excessive, but glorious.”

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY APRIL 8, 2016.

Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 2.21.04 PMRichard and CP24 anchor host Nneka Elliot have a look at he weekend’s big releases, Melissa McCarthy’s “The Boss,” Jake Gyllenhaal in “Demolition” and “Hardcore Henry’s” wild action.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S “CANADA AM” REVIEWS FOR APRIL 8 WITH JEFF HUTCHESON.

Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 10.38.38 AMRichard and “Canada AM” host Jeff Hutcheson kick around the weekend’s big releases. They find out if the boss is always right in Melissa McCarthy’s “The Boss,” if Jake Gyllenhaal can overcome his grief in “Demolition,” how Hank Williams became a star in “I Saw the Light” and if “Hardcore Henry” should come with a medical advisory.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

 

HARDCORE HENRY: 2 STARS. “an orgy of capital ‘V’ ultra violence.”

HardcoreHenry“Hardcore Henry,” a new in-your-face voyeuristic violent fantasy starring Sharlto Copley, is the first movie of the year that should come with a medical advisory. It is such a visceral You Are There experience, I fear the rollercoaster cinematography may not only cause nausea, but also sleep disturbance, constipation, flatulence, and vomiting.

You’ve been warned.

Shot from the perspective of the main character, the story begins with Henry strapped to a gurney. He’s in rough shape, missing an arm or two, a leg and who knows what else. Luckily he’s under the care of his wife Estelle (Haley Bennett), a brilliant doctor who not only supplies tender loving care but prosthetic limbs as well. When she is done he’s a modern-day Six Million Dollar Man, part cyborg, part human. Just as she’s about to insert his vocal chip all hell breaks loose and he’s forced to make a daring escape. Separated from Estelle he finds an ally in a mysterious and resilient man named Jimmy (Copley) who helps him track her down.

Cue the carnage—parkour, tanks, fist fighting, gunplay, testicle squeezing, grenades, no form of combat is ignored. Remember, this is all shot from his point of view in a blur of fists, bullets and blood. It’s capital ‘V’ violent.

Depending on your POV “Hardcore Henry” either plays like a fun, inventive twist on the action genre or a demo to illustrate director Ilya Naishuller’s abilities at staging action scenes. His style is fleet-footed, undeniably male—for no good reason, other than titillation, he sets one bloody scene in a brothel—and ham-fisted. There is creative use subtitles in one frenzied scene and the odd kill that’ll make you sit up and take notice, but it is such an orgy of ultra violence that by the end I was feeling desensitized to Henry’s antics.

Gamers will find “Hardcore Henry’s” first person technique familiar, but at ninety minutes the film feels like an idea that overstays its welcome by at least half-an-hour.