I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the return of Ghostface in “Scream 7,” the music doc “Paul McCartneyt: Man on the Run,” the northern noir of “In Cold Light” and the zombie flick “This is Not a Test.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:21)
SYNOPSIS: In “This is Not a Test,” a new zombie movie starring Olivia Holt, and now playing in theatres, a small group of high school students take cover in their high school as their hometown is overrun with zombies.
CAST: Olivia Holt, Luke Macfarlane, Froy Gutierrez, Carson MacCormac, Corteon Moore, Joelle Farrow, Chloe Avakian, Jeff Roop. Directed by Adam MacDonald.
REVIEW: Based on Courtney Summers’ YA novel of the same name, the 1990s-set “This Is Not a Test” is a bloody mix-and-match of” The Breakfast Club” and “Night of the Living Dead.”
When we first meet Sloane (Olivia Holt) her family life is a mess. Her older sister is about to move out, leaving her at the mercy of her abusive family. In despair, she contemplates taking her own life, but before she can act on her suicidal thoughts, a zombie apocalypse grips her town. “This is not a test,” says a radio reporter. “Lock all doors and cover all windows. If you encounter anyone you suspect to be infected, do not attempt to assist them.”
Heading for cover, Sloane and a small group of classmates hide out in the local high school. As death and destruction closes in, Sloane’s survival instincts kick in, giving her a new lease on life.
“This is Not a Test” does not scrimp on the zombie action. Those scenes are visceral, bloody and nasty and deliver the kind of undead violence you expect from a zombie apocalypse movie.
More interesting than the gooey, gory stuff, however, is the dynamic between Sloane and her classmates.
Sloane’s dilemma is the film’s most interesting psychological twist. How does one summon the will to survive when they think they have nothing to live for? It’s a compelling arc for a main zombie flick character and Holt transcends a scream queen performance to give Sloane layers.
Like the others she has no survival skills, but while they are scared and becoming desperate, Holt differentiates Sloane in a risky performance that relies on quietness and emotional detachment as much as it does her action scenes.
“This is Not a Test” has some pacing problems, and some clunky dialogue, but Holt and co-star Luke Macfarlane, as a skeevy English teacher, help bring some life to this story of the undead.
“I’m not the person to write a romcom,” says Billy Eichner as the acerbic Bobby in “Bros,” the first major studio LGBTQ+ rom-com to play exclusively in theatres.
It’s a meta line in a movie that is both subversive and cliched. Star, co-writer and producer Eichner has melded frank sexuality with rom con conventions to create a funny, sincere movie that kicks the celluloid closet door wide open.
Eichner, the former host of the guerilla-style talk show “Billy on the Street,” plays Bobby, a gay, commitment-adverse podcaster. “I’m like whatever happened to Evan Hanson,” he says.
For Bobby random and anonymous Grindr hook-ups are a way of life until he spots handsome Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) in a club. At first, they appear to be polar opposites. “I don’t think he’s my type,” says Bobby. “He’s like a gay Tom Brady.”
But soon their mutual fear of commitment brings is the glue that bonds them. “Maybe we can be emotionally unavailable together,” Bobby says.
The confirmed bachelor who meets his partner is a standard rom com set-up. “My whole life, I prided myself on being self-reliant,” says Bobby, “but this *bleeper* has gotten into my head.”
But this story about the difficulty of dating is given a facelift by a meta joke about writing a gay rom com and the addition of steroids, thruples, a hat shaped like the Stonewall Inn and extensive use of Grindr.
“Bros” has echoes of “When Harry Met Sally” and “You’ve Got Mail” throughout. It’s a pure rom com from the nice apartments, New York City backdrop and the trademarked Drew Barrymore Misunderstanding That Leads to a Temporary Break-up©. You know where the story is going, but rom coms are not about the destination, they’re about the journey and, “Bros” is a fun trip.
Eichner layers this story of self-acceptance and love-at-first-sight with laugh-out-loud jokes, an unexpectedly caustic cameo from Debra Messing and heartfelt observational humor. It embraces the innate vulnerability and complexity of Aaron and Bobby’s exploration of masculinity and queerness without forgetting the funny.
But just as it makes you laugh, Eichner subverts the form with some more introspective moments. As a gay man with aspirations to chronicle his community, Bobby has a long, earnest monologue about waiting for the world to catch up with him.
“Bros” is a queer rom com; a subversive, new, crowd-pleasing take on a Hollywood staple.
