Posts Tagged ‘Lauren London’

CTV NEWS AT 6: SOME MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People,” the surreal “Infinity Pool,” the Harrison Ford series “Shrinking” and the HBO reality show “The Climb.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:48)

YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!

Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to drink a glass of water! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

NEWSTALK TONIGHT WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY JAN 27, 2023.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

1290 CJBK IN LONDON: KEN & MARINA MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I join 1290 CJBK in London and hosts Ken and Loreena to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

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

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the Jennifer Lopez action comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” the Jonah Hill comedy “You People” and the surreal “Infinity Pool.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

YOU PEOPLE: 3 STARS. “has a heavy, although well-intentioned, hand.”

The new rom com “You People,” starring Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy and Lauren London and now streaming on Netflix, has the frank social commentary of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” mixed with “Meet the Parents” family dynamics.

Directed and co-written (with Hill) by “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris, “You People” begins as unhappy, socially awkward thirty-something Ezra (Hill) wonders if he’ll ever find a woman who understands him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a man who ever wanted to be in a relationship so badly,” says Ezra’s best friend Mo (Sam Jay), “besides Drake.”

The part-time podcaster and full-time office worker’s pampering mother Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wants him to settle down, but there are no prospects in sight until he mistakenly jumps into fashion stylist Amira’s (London) car, mistaking it for an Uber.

It isn’t exactly love-at-first sight—“You’re a Jew from West L.A.,” she says. “What do you know about culture?”—but over time love blossoms.

“You’re dating a Black girl?” asks Mo. “I have never felt so understood by somebody in my entire life,” he replies.

It’s all sunshine and roses with Ezra and Amira, but this is a romantic comedy, so there have to be obstacles to their happiness. That friction comes in the form of the couple’s parents.

Ezra’s folks, Shelley and Arnold (David Duchovny) are rich, progressive and cringey in their attempts to prove to Amira that there isn’t a hint of racism in the family.

Amira’s parents, the devoted Nation of Islam Muslim followers Akbar (Eddie Murphy) and Fatima (Nia Long), do not warm to Ezra, and make no secret of their feelings over lunch at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles.

“So,” asks Akbar, “do you hang out in the hood all the time, or do you just come here for our food and women?”

“You People” takes on hot button subjects, like cultural differences and racial divides, but this is, at its heart, a rom com, so at the end, hurdles will be overcome and happily-ever-afters will be had. That is a given, not a spoiler, just reality, but it is also the weakest part of the movie.

“You People” is at its best when it puts the seasoned cast on screen together. The scenes that gather the young couple and the two sets of parents are highlights, delivering laughs and plenty of situational humour. Subtlety is not on the menu, but Louis-Dreyfus and a deadpan Murphy milk every laugh out of the script, playing up the cultural and faith-based differences that open between the families like a yawning chasm.

“You People” grasps at cultural relevance, but does so with a heavy, although well-intentioned, hand. As the run time moves towards the closing credits, the misunderstandings and accentuation of differences becomes repetitive, miring down the story, despite the efforts of the cast.

The comedy pros keep it as fleet footed as it can be. Only Murphy could get a laugh with a line like, “You shat your slacks?” and I was happy to take the giggles where I could as the movie wound down to its Rom Com 101 ending.

“You People” doesn’t exactly waste its bold face name cast—there are some very funny moments within—but the film’s predictable finish blunts much of the edgy/awkward humour that came before.