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 misplaced heroics of “Sharp Corner,” the character study of “The Luckiest Man in America” and the wild action of “Fight or Flight.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Roger Peterson to talk about the infamous Western “Rust,” the misplaced heroics of “Sharp Corner” and the character study of “The Luckiest Man in America.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Steph Vivier to have a look at movies in theatres including the misplaced heroics of “Sharp Corner,” the character study of “The Luckiest Man in America,” the wild action of “Fight or Flight” and the infamous Western “Rust.”
Listen to 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 misplaced heroics of “Sharp Corner,” the character study of “The Luckiest Man in America,” the wild action of “Fight or Flight” and the infamous Western “Rust.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” for “Booze & Reviews!” This week I review the game show drama “The Luckiest Man in America,” suggest some fun and games drinks to enjoy with the movie!
Listen as Shane and I talk about Gandalf and his giant eagle airport experience, William Shatner’s solution to the 51st state problem and why Bella Ramsey doesn’t think award shows should get rid of gendered categories HERE!
Click HERE to hear about the fun and games of “The Luckiest Man in America” and a drink to enjopy with the movie!
SYNOPSIS: Set in 1984, “The Luckiest Man in America,” a new drama now playing in theatres, stars Paul Walter Hauser as Michael Larson, an unemployed ice cream truck driver who was accused of cheating, to the tune of $110,237, by the producers of the game show “Press Your Luck.”
CAST: Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins, Shamier Anderson, Brian Geraghty, Patti Harrison, Haley Bennett, Damian Young, Lilli Kay, James Wolk, Shaunette Renée Wilson, David Rysdahl, Ricky Russert, David Strathairn, Johnny Knoxville, and Maisie Williams. Directed and co-written by Samir Oliveros.
REVIEW: Loosely based on real life events, “The Luckiest Man in America” is a slight story with a kitschy 1980s sheen.
A thriller set against the backdrop of “Press Your Luck,” “the most Vegas game on television,” the action hinges on Paul Walter Hauser and his itchy performance as Michael Larson. “He’s got nerves of steel, this guy,” says showrunner Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn) as Larson’s jackpot grows. Thing is, he’s more desperate than confident. “All I want to do is have breakfast with my family,” he says, “but the only way I can do that is if I’m on the television set. Tune in on the right time, on the right day.”
Show host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins) calls Larson “an ordinary man from Ohio,” but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Estranged from his family, Larson figures out how to game the system by memorizing the so-called “random” patterns on the game board. As the prize money grows Larson sees a way out of his financial hole and a way back into his family’s embrace.
But, as the jackpot swells, so do suspicions about his “lucky” streak.
As we learn more about Larson, director Samir Oliveros structures the story as a thriller, carefully doling out info and clues. But Hauser’s character study is the film’s most interesting aspect. Although “The Luckiest Man in America” smooths down some of Larson’s real-life edges, he’s still not particularly likeable. Instead, he’s a delusional dreamer, a guy who has messed up his life and found a far-fetched way to fix things.
Hauser gives him layers. He’s cocky and confident, desperate and determined. Most of all, he’s in over his head. When Carruthers accuses him of memorizing the board, Larson sheepishly replies, “Is that cheating?” He is, as “Press Your Luck” host Tomarken says, “dumbly great,” a guy who stumbles into his fifteen minutes of fame. Hauser embraces Larson’s brokenness, his heartbreak and awkwardness, but adds in a dollop of optimism to add a layer of emotional complexity. He’s a cypher, but an interesting one.
“The Luckiest Man in America” succeeds because of Hauser and the strong supporting cast. Oliveros vividly fashions the flash and trash of the game show set, paying careful attention to the period details, to create a slightly surreal backdrop for this human story of dreams, hope and greed.
Richard joins CTV NewsChannel and anchor Jennifer Burke to have a look at new movies coming to VOD and streaming services, including Johnny Knoxville and the unnatural acts of “Jackass Forever,” the reboot of “Scream,” the unhappily ever after fairy tale “The King’s Daughter” AND the great punk rock doc “Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
“Jackass,” the shock value stunt show that began on MTV in 2000 before branching out to movies, should never have lasted this long. The self-destructive punishment inflicted on the original cast should have broken their bodies, minds and spirits by now, and yet twenty-two years of jackassery continues this weekend. Those purveyors of puerile pratfalls, Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and Wee Man, along with a new cast of daredevils, careen back into theatres with more idiotic and dangerous stunts to make you say, “Oh, that must hurt.”
For some, the title “Jackass Forever” may seem like a threat. A promise to further erode the fabric of civilization by banging these extreme stunt movies out until Knoxville and Company have collectively broken every bone in their respective bodies to the delight of their bloodthirsty fans.
For others it’ll be like hanging out with old friends. Old friends who put one another in constant danger, but old friends nonetheless.
Camaraderie is at the core of the “Jackass Forever.” The stunts are dangerous, often gross and most definitely childish, but there is something that bonds the cast other than a Wile E. Coyote-style tolerance for pain. They’re pals who do stupid things and there is something endearing about the way they push the boundaries of safety and good taste, yukking it up all the while.
I think the appeal of “Jackass” is kind of like the appeal of true crime. You get a dopamine rush when terrible things happen, but somehow comforted that they’re happening to someone else.
It’s all about vicarious thrills.
Like the folks who attended the Roman Coliseum for the vicarious thrill of watching public spectacles involving man and beast, audiences will likely pay good money to watch what maybe the most jackassy of all the “Jackass” spin offs. Giggle as Steve-O gets assaulted, below the belt, by a swarm of bees. What’s it like to lick a taser? Step right up! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Folks, watch the Flight of Icarus! See a winged Knoxville get shot out of a canon!
It’s very silly, often cringeworthy but as guest star Eric Andre says, “This ain’t a Mensa convention.” Instead, it is an exploration of the art of the wedgie and other Theatre of Cruelty pranks.
I would love to report that no Knoxvilles were harmed during the making of this movie but that isn’t the case. He takes on a bull and loses, breaking his wrist, some ribs and suffering a traumatic brain injury but the show goes on.
The audience for “Jackass Forever” already knows what to expect. Nudity. Puke. Scorpion Botox. Unnatural Acts, Close-Up Nudity and Humiliation. For the most part they’ll get what they paid for. It’s a chaotic, funny, plotless mix of friendship and don’t-try-this-at-home stunts that is complete fan service for folks who know that it is never not funny to see someone get kicked in the testicles.
For the uninitiated, you have been warned.
According to wikipedia the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a “parody of four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics’ ‘Daredevil’ and ‘New Mutants,’ Dave Sim’s ‘Cerebus’ and Frank Miller’s ‘Ronin.’” They quickly became something of a sensation, but with popularity came an erosion of the subversive aspects of the story. In short, they became the thing they once poked fun at. That self-unaware tradition continues with the release of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a Michael Bay produced big screen reboot.
The plot of the new film can be summed up by one line from obnoxious cameraman Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett). “Four turtles, one’s fighting a robot samurai. Why not?”
If that doesn’t whet your appetite for this turtle soup, here’s more detail:
Megan Fox stars as April O’Neil, a television lifestyle reporter with pastel blue nail polish who wants to be taken seriously. When she follows a lead on a stolen chemical plot to a dark and rainy dock she discovers the biggest story of her life, the existence of seemingly indestructible vigilantes. Trouble is, no one believes her, least of all her colleagues at the station. “I think you found Superman,” mocks one reporter. Risking her career and her life, she follows the story only to discover the vigilantes are actually sewer dwelling super turtles fighting against the evil Shredder and his Foot Gang minions. As strange as the story is, she soon discovers she may have a personal connection to these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
When people say they hate CGI movies “TMNT” is the kind of movie they’re referring to. A microcosm of what’s wrong with summer spectaculars, it’s a soulless exercise in generation X brand nostalgia that creates an elaborate backstory—one that throws away the original origin story—as an excuse for the TMNT to spout one liners.
But no matter how quippy Leonardo (voice of Johnny Knoxville), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Donatello (Jeremy Howard) may be, it’s near impossible to get on side with this noisy, cluttered movie because it’s simply a frantically shot—director Jonathan Liebesman never met a zoom or dolly shot he didn’t love—collection of pixels with very little organic matter on display—other than Megan Fox’s teen dream face; all pouty lips and tousled hair—and when everything is fake, nothing feels real or emotionally connected.
Perhaps I’m overthinking a movie about Ninja turtles, but the film wants you to underthink and that’s the problem. Unlike “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which mixed humor, action and self-awareness, “TMNT” feels more like an exercise in brand revitalization than a movie.
