I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with guest anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the thriller “Drop,” the gritty “Warfare,” the Rami Malek revenge drama “The Amateur” and Prime Video’s “G20.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:00)
I sit in with CKTB morning show guest host Karl Dockstader to have a look at movies in theatres including the thriller “Drop,” the gritty “Warfare,” the Rami Malek revenge drama “The Amateur” and Prime Video’s “G20.”
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 thriller “Drop,” the gritty “Warfare,” the Rami Malek revenge drama “The Amateur” and Prime Video’s “G20.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “G20,” a new action thriller starring Oscar and Emmy winner Viola Davis, and now streaming on Prime Video, terrorists take over the G20 Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. American President Danielle Sutton evades capture and uses her military training to defend the captured world leaders and her family. “If you want to survive,” she says, “you’ll follow me.”
CAST: Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Ramón Rodríguez, Antony Starr, Douglas Hodge, Elizabeth Marvel, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Clark Gregg. Directed by Patricia Riggen.
REVIEW: It comes as no surprise that Artificial Intelligence is the weapon of choice for the “G20” baddies. Their evil plan to use AI to create Deep Fake videos of world leaders plays on Hollywood’s fear of the disruptive technology, which is odd because the movie, with its clichés and throwbacks to movies like “Air Force One,” feels like it could have been written by AI. It wasn’t, there are four “screenplay by” credits (Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, Noah Miller and Logan Miller), but it certainly feels like the script originated with a prompt on ChatGPT.
Take the snarling bad guys for instance.
Little more than a list of modern grievances come to “life” they are bonded by a belief in a litany of fringe conspiracy theories and tote high caliber guns which they don’t know how to use (more on that later). Led by Rutledge (Antony Starr), they’re standard issue new world order villains straight out of central casting who use violence and AI to stage a global coup and spout meme-worthy sayings about “rebelling against world leaders who strip away the rights of their citizens.”
As President Danielle Sutton, Viola Davis delivers a standard issue action movie heroine. She can throw fists and, like so many action stars before her, is able to run through a hail of bullets unharmed. For some reason, the evildoers in movies like this shoot like their gun barrels are bent at a ninety-degree angle while her aim is true. Her character is all pluck, equally comfortable using her wits as she is pressing a hulking bad guy’s face on a hot grill.
Amid the chaos are her precocious teen kids, Serena and Demetrius (Marsai Martin and Christopher Farrar) who watch their mom kill the bad guys and joke, “Did you know she could do that all the time? Lucky we only got grounded.”
“G20” is a parade of cliches that leads up at an unlikely twist and a logic defying climax that only plays out in the way that it does to provide another opportunity for some showy action theatrics. By the time the end credits roll it’s clear that AI isn’t the only threat facing Hollywood. Unoriginality is.
As the “PAW Patrol” franchise enters its 66th year—that’s in dog years—it shows no signs of slowing down. A new film, “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” based on the canine first responder characters from the wildly successful Canadian kid’s show, now playing in theatres, is a big story about a small pup.
Featuring an all-star voice cast, the begins with a meteor crash in Adventure City. “It’s giving off some kind of energy,” says Ryder (Finn Lee-Epp), the leader of the PAW Patrol. The mysterious meteor imbues the PAW Patrol pups with superpowers, like super strength, elasticity, super speed and the ability to manifest fireballs. “Great, now the clumsy pup shoots fireballs out of his paws.”
For seven-year-old cockapoo Skye (Mckenna Grace), the smallest member of the newly dubbed Mighty Pups, the new powers finally levels the playing field, giving her the chance to make up in super strength what she has always lacked in confidence and size.
When Humdinger (Ron Pardo), the ex-mayor of Adventure City, and his Kitten Catastrophe Crew escapes from prison and teams with meteor expert and supervillain Victoria “Vee” Vance (Taraji P. Henson) to steal the superpowers, the Mighty Pups must fight back to save their city and possibly the world.
“When you go up against one of us, you go up against all of us,” Ryder tells Vance.
“PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” is bigger and louder than 2021’s “PAW Patrol” or the television show. Returning director Cal Brunker pumps up the action, creating a sort of Marvel movie for the preschool set. Colourful action scenes will grab kid’s attention, but the spirit of cooperation, and messages of over-coming obstacles and never judging a book by its cover, that lie at the heart of the “PAW Patrol” franchise are never far away.
Voice work from Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Lil Rel Howery, Kristen Bell and James Marsden is solid, but Henson is having all the fun here. Her villain—don’t call her a “mad scientist”—is a blast, funny and fearless, she steals every scene she’s in.
“PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie” maintains what made the TV show so appealing for kids, but also has enough gags aimed at parents to round out the experience for the whole family.
It’s been almost two decades since the adventures of a Kiger Mustang stallion named Spirit were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” lost to another spirited entry, “Spirited Away” from Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki, but spawned a cottage industry in the form of television shows and video games.
This weekend the headstrong horse goes on another feature length DreamWorks Animation adventure in “Spirit Untamed.” Now playing in theatres, it’s a re-imagined version of the television series “Spirit Riding Free.”
First some background.
Lucky Prescott’s (Isabela Merced) mother Milagro was a fearless horse trick rider from Miradero, a small town in America’s Wild West.
Milagro’s legend looms large in Lucky’s imagination, but she never got to know her. After her mother’s death, Lucky was raised on the East Coast by Aunt Cora (Julianne Moore), a straightlaced woman who struggled with his niece’s inherited wild side.
When Lucky pushes her luck too far, Aunt Cora decides the youngster needs stability in the form of her father, Jim (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the family home in sleepy little Miradero.
Life in the small town doesn’t sit well with Lucky until she meets her kindred spirit, a wild Mustang who shares her independent streak. The horse, Spirit, is the leader of a herd of wild stallions who become the target of animal poachers led by the evil Hendricks (Walton Goggins).
In an effort to save the horses from a life of captivity and hard labor Lucky recruits two local horseback riders, Abigail Stone (Mckenna Grace) and Pru Granger (Marsai Martin), and embarks on a rescue mission.
“Spirit Untamed” contains good messages about independence but also about being connected to a larger community. Lucky and Spirit are, well, spirited in their own ways but their true strength lies in their respect for the people and horses around them.
It is a simply told story of empowerment that doesn’t gallop over any new ground but, hackneyed though the message may be, it’s still an important one for younger viewers.
The big-eyed Margaret Keanesque character animation is nicely rendered, accompanied by energetic voice work, and should appeal to fans of the original. Younger viewers, who may not have been around when the original made a stir, could find parallels between this and the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise.
With “Cruella” taking a dark turn, “Spirit Untamed” is the best family flick of the season.
