CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the teen horror of “Whistle,” an amorous “Dracula” and the mockumentary “The Moment.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Jamie Demetriou’
CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 06, 2026!
I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the teen horror of “Whistle,” an amorous “Dracula” and the mockumentary “The Moment.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
NEWSTALK 1010 WITH DEB HUTTON: PERFECT DRINKS FOR THIS MOMENT!
I sit with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and movies playing in theatres. We talk about Will Arnett’s love of Harvey’s hamburgers, the Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile race, big changes at Wordle and I review the Charli XCX mockumentary “The Moment.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to slam the door! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the teen horror of “Whistle,” an amorous “Dracula” and the mockumentary “The Moment.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
THE MOMENT 2 STARS. “The movie captures the spirit of Brat Summer. “
SYNOPSIS: “The Moment,” a musical mockumentary about pop star Charli XCX sees her grapple with fame and her first arena tour. “I just want this moment to last forever,” she says.
CAST: Charli XCX, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, Alexander Skarsgård. Directed by Aidan Zamiri.
REVIEW: Fans of Charli XCX should know that “The Moment” isn’t a concert film. The satirical mockumentary could best be described as a film about a concert.
Set on the eve of the stressed-out singer’s first headlining arena tour, it’s meant to be a poke in the side to a music business who take innovative artists and suck them dry of authenticity.
Folks unfamiliar with Charli XCX may want to check out her songs, like “Von Dutch’s” brash electronic pop, and her Wikipedia page or otherwise be baffled by references to Brat Summer and the color lime green.
In short, the movie takes place in the aftermath of Charli XCX’s sixth studio album “Brat.” Not just a title, it was a state of mind that celebrated a messy, unapologetic, hedonistic, party-girl lifestyle through bangers like “Girl, so confusing” (featuring Lorde).
“The Moment” begins as Charli XCX is having her moment. As she prepares for her biggest tour ever, the singer grapples with her record company’s expectations, exhaustion and loss of creative control. She feels the authentic cultural impact of Brat Summer is being commodified, or worse, might be slipping away. “Everybody’s waiting on the moment I fail,” she says.
The movie captures the Brat vibe. It’s messy, audacious, unapologetic and flawed.
Playing a heightened version of herself, Charli XCX finds some humor, humanity and a healthy dose of vulnerability in the tortured artist syndrome. She hands in a credible lead performance as a woman at a career crossroad, balancing the demands of her record label, a pushy film director (Alexander Skarsgård) and her management. She effectively portrays the fraying effect of fame as her creativity is commercialized and she is increasingly treated like a product rather than artist.
Her performance is aided by director Aidan Zamiri’s extreme up-close-and-personal photography. Her expressive face reveals much in these close-ups, particularly the pressure she feels to be effortlessly cool. The framing provides an interesting look at the woman behind the image and the work that goes into propagating the “Brat” image and allows the singer to let down her guard and reveal the often-insecure person behind the party image.
Skarsgård’s obsequious take on the director of the film-within-the-film provides several memorable, funny moments and raises obnoxiousness to stratospheric heights. His role of manipulative foil to Charli’s creative authenticity pushes the movie’s themes of artistic compromise to the fore.
Unfortunately, that is about as deep as “The Moment” gets.
Director Aidan Zamiri’s fondness for cinéma vérité style jiggly camera requires a dose of Dramamine as the story meanders repeatedly through the same plot points of artist manipulation and the stresses of leveling up.
“The Moment” is a movie with lots of extreme style desperate to say something about what happens when pop culture turns its eye on an artist, but the message gets bogged down by its own Brat style.
BACK IN ACTION: 3 ½ STARS. “predictable, it’s still an old-school crowd pleaser.”
SYNOPSIS: In the new Netflix action comedy “Back in Action” Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz star as retired CIA spies drawn back into action when their secret identities, and quiet family life, is compromised. “I always knew you guys were lying about something,” says daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts), “but I never thought you were cool enough to be spies.”
CAST: Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Kyle Chandler, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jamie Demetriou, McKenna Roberts, Rylan Jackson. Directed by Seth Gordon from a script he co-wrote with Brendan O’Brien.
REVIEW: After appearing together in the 1999 sports drama “Any Given Sunday” and 2014’s all-singing-all-dancing “Annie” remake, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz reteam for the amiable Netflix action comedy “Back in Action.”
Tasked with pulling off a dollop of romance and large-scale action, all set against a backdrop of a “Married with Kids” style family comedy, the frequent co-stars bring versatility and charm to the predictable, but entertaining story.
Diaz, in her first movie in a decade, reminds us why she was such a commercial and critical success before she stepped away from the spotlight. Toggling between relatable mom and kick-ass spy, she delivers the funny and some high-flying action.
Foxx makes short work of Matt. Like Diaz, he makes the mix-and-match of action and comedy look easy and shares effortless chemistry with his co-star.
As the kids, McKenna Roberts and Rylan Jackson ably assist the headliners, with Jackson delivering some of the movie’s funniest lines. “They’re not criminals,” he says of his parents. “They belong to a pickleball league! They watch HGTV!”
Glenn Close shows a previously unseen flair for action (no spoilers here) and British comedian Jamie Demetriou takes a role we’ve seen before—a bumbling fool who aspires to greatness—and milks it for all it is worth.
It’s the characters and performances that make “Back in Action” a bit of distracting fun.
The movie itself delivers on its promise. There are laughs and a big action set piece every fifteen minutes or so, but, story wise, there isn’t much here we haven’t seen before. It plays a like a sequel to a movie that doesn’t exist, something that seems familiar, but you can’t quite put your finger on where you’ve seen it before.
“Back in Action’s” story may be as generic as its title, but although predictable, it’s still an old-school crowd pleaser.
STRAYS: 3 ½ STARS. “the most adorable, yet rudest movie of the year.”
If you have seen the trailer for “Strays,” a new comedy starring a pack of very cute dogs and the voices of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, you know what you are in for.
If you haven’t seen the trailer, think of it as an animal road trip movie like “The Incredible Journey” minus the family-friendly bits. Or maybe as a riff on “The Adventures of Milo and Otis” with raunchy dialogue that would make Snoop Dogg blush.
Ferrell is trusting Border Terrier Reggie. He lives with Doug (Will Forte), a cruel owner who only puts up with the dog because his girlfriend adopted him from a local general store. The goodhearted Reggie calls Doug, “the best owner in the world,” despite the fact that their game of Fetch involves stranding Reggie far away from home to see if he can find his way back.
When the girlfriend leaves, Doug wants Reggie gone. He leaves the gullible dog to fend for himself on the street three hours away from home, alone and unloved. But Reggie doesn’t understand that he’s being abandoned. He thinks they’re playing another long-distance game of Fetch, and is determined to return to Doug and win the game.
Trouble is, he’s hopelessly lost. Dog-gone it.
On his journey Reggie meets Bug, a street-wise Boston Terrier, who runs with a pack of stray dogs that includes an Australian Shepherd named Maggie (Isla Fisher), and a therapy Great Dane named Hunter (Randall Park). Bug doesn’t trust humans. He was abandoned, and believes humans harvest dog poop to make chocolate.
Reggie’s new friends convince him that Doug has abandoned him. “Take it from me, kid,” Bug says, “he left your ass.” In disbelief, Reggie mumbles, “That would mean Doug doesn’t love me.”
His world turned upside down, Reggie vows to get revenge on his former owner. “You’re a stray,” Bug says. “You can do whatever you want.”
I think it is a safe bet to crown “Strays” the most adorable, yet rudest movie of the year. Reggie and his pals are a cute canine quartet but the film’s “beyond the chain” jokes and situations, mostly involving poop, vomit and doggie sex, are anything but sweet. It is a raunchy coming-of-age story as Reggie learns from his new friends that everyone has worth. It’s a great message, laced with laughs, for those with a high tolerance for poop-and-scoop humor.
As Reggie, Ferrell revisits the naiveté of the “Elf” era. The unsophisticated Border Terrier is a wide-eyed innocent, unaware of the ways of the world. He sees the good in everyone, including his hateful owner Doug. He’s a lovable waif, so the movie’s revenge fantasy angle plays well, but the real appeal here is his open-hearted way of viewing the world.
Ferrell is ably supported by Reggie’s new friends. Fisher and Park, are a flirty and often filthy duo, but it is Foxx’s finely tuned comic delivery that brings the funny. Add to that a truly strange cameo from Dennis Quaid and a ton of shock value, and you have a doggie style movie like no other.
“Strays” is not “Marley and Me.” It’s a deeply silly movie that fully embraces its extreme side. There is something inherently funny about watching these adorable dogs saying terrible things and while the humor may not be family friendly, the message that we should be nice to animals or they may do terrible things to us, is a good one.
