I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” and the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I jointhe CTV NewsChanel to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and let you know what’s happening in theatres. We talk about the Netflix deal to buy Warner Bros and what that means for the industry, a new RoboCop statue, Mr. Simmons Goes to Washington, a name change for Pamela Anderson and reviews of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CP24 to talk about the jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Netflix show “My Next Guest with David Letterman with Guest Adam Sandler” and “The Beatles Anthology” on Disney+.
Watch 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 jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
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 jump scares of “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” the Broadway stylings of “Merrily We Roll Along” and the thrills of “The Secret Agent.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Merrily We Roll Along,” a filmed version of the Tony Award winning Broadway show starring Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe, a composer (Groff) reflects on his fracrtured relationships with his two besties, playwright Charley (Radcliffe) and novelist Mary (Mendez).
CAST: Natalie Wachen, Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clarke, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, Max Rackenberg, Daniel Radcliffe, Reg Rogers, Jacob Keith Watson. Directed by Maria Friedman.
REVIEW: What a difference a few decades can make. A flop that lasted only two weeks on Broadway in its 1981 debut, Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Merrily We Roll Along” rebounded in 2023 in a revamped, all-star staging that won four Tony Awards and bested the previous run by 50 weeks.
It’s that vaunted production, starring Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe—who both won Tonys for their work—that comes to the big screen this week.
Filmed live in front of a Broadway audience—you hear applause and laughter but never see them—the show is a story of success and ambition told backwards.
Despite the show’s reverse chronology conceit, the story is fairly straight-ahead. When we first meet Franklin Shepard (Groff) he’s a Broadway composer turned Hollywood hotshot. During a booze fuelled party at his Los Angeles home, surrounded by hangers-on and his soon-to-be-ex-wife he is filled with longing for his estranged friends, novelist-turned-alcoholic-critic Mary Flynn (Lindsay Mendez), who has always carried a flame for Franklin and his former partner Charley Kringas (Daniel Radcliffe), the hot-headed playwright who has little use for the business part of show business.
As Franklin’s memories unfold, the story winds backwards two decades in time, from the bitter acrimony of present day to their first blush of success and the happy beginning of their friendship.
The story should end on a high note, but the beauty of the movie’s jigsaw puzzle construction is that it allows for mixed emotions at every stage. Over the course of the show Franklin’s regret shifts to bright-eyed optimism, but it is always coloured by the melancholic notion that we don’t understand the important things in life until it is too late.
Key to the success of the show, other than Sondheim songs like “Old Friends” and “Good Thing Going,” is Groff’s skillful performance. As written, Franklin is not immediately likeable, but Groff plays him as someone who we merrily rolled along through life, leaving behind a trail of broken relationships in his pursuit of success. That one character tweak transforms the character from villain to someone who becomes sympathetic as he realizes all that his ambition and artistic compromise have cost.
Mendez brings both a comic touch and heartbreaking pathos to the lovesick Mary and Radcliffe, as the neurotic Charley, bridges the gap between stage and screen, handing in a performance big enough for Broadway but intimate enough for the movies.
The beauty of a filmed adaptation of a stage bound show is the ability for the camera to pick up on the small moments that can easily be lost on stage. Mendez’s work benefits from the up-close-and-personal medium as Maria Friedman’s camera catches Mary’s subtle moments of heartbreak as they flash across her face.
But “Merrily We Roll Along” doesn’t look or feel like a traditional movie. There are close-ups and the camera moves through the space, but it feels lodged somewhere between a live show and a film. Still, while the grand overall effect of the Broadway show may get lost in the shuffle, it is a treat to get a better look at these committed performances.
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to do a high five! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the wild ‘n wacky “A Minecraft Movie,” the doggie drama of “The Friend” and the rom com “A Nice Indian Boy.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “A Nice Indian Boy,” a new rom com starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff, and now playing in theatres, an Indian American doctor introduces his white boyfriend to his traditional parents.
CAST: Karan Soni, Jonathan Groff, Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, Harish Patel, Peter S. Kim, Sas Goldberg. Directed by Roshan Sethi.
REVIEW: Adapted from the 2014 play of the same name by Madhuri Shekar, “A Nice Indian Boy” feels like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with a cultural twist.
You may get a sense of déjà vu while watching the set up for “A Nice Indian Boy,” which takes a handful of rom com conventions and molds them into something that feels new, yet old-fashioned.
Karan Soni plays Naveen, the kind of rom com character we’ve seen many times before as the story’s anchor. He’s a timid Indian American doctor, from a traditional family, who spends his off hours obsessing about his exes. “I guess you’ve been eating an apple a day because you’ve kept this doctor away,” he says in a message to a former fling.
He’s given up on finding love—”I don’t want to hear sweeping notions of love. It’s 2024, the world is burning!”—until he’s booked with photographer Jay (Jonathan Groff) to update his hospital headshot.
Jay, a white man adopted and raised by an Indian family, hence his last name Kurundkar, just may be the one to crack the shell Naveen has constructed around himself.
First though, the new couple must meet Archit and Megha (Harish Patel and Zarna Garg), Naveen’s traditional parents.
The basic plotting and romantic hurtles Naveen and Jay must traverse are straight out of Rom Com 101. But what sets “A Nice Indian Boy” apart isn’t just the queer and South Asian twists, but the warm hearted brush with which Calgary born director Roshan Sethi paints this portrait of love and family.
Soni and Groff have great chemistry and are ably supported by a cast who add comedy to the romance. As Naveen’s BFF Peter S. Kim is the perfect foil to friend’s shyness. As his sarcastic sister, “GLOW’s” Sunita Mani provides a few laughs and a poignant pregnancy subplot. But it is Patel and Garg as his parents, the latter of whom hilariously explains the meaning of the film “Milk” to her gay son, who steal the show.
“A Nice Indian Boy” doesn’t go anywhere you don’t expect it to go, but despite its predictability, it’s a charming sit-commy diversion.
