I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the animated “Zootopia 2,” the existential romance of “Eternity,” the detective story “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” and the touching story of “Meadowlarks.”
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 animated “Zootopia 2,” the historical drama “Hamnet” and the touching story of “Meadowlarks.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Meadowlarks,” a new family drama now playing in theatres, four Cree siblings are reunited in a week-long retreat in Banff fifty years after having been forcibly separated during Canada’s Sixties Scoop. “We were five little birds in one nest,” says Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), “and they scattered us like the wind scatters meadowlarks.”
CAST: Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice, Michelle Thrush, Lorne Duquette. Directed by Tasha Hubbard.
REVIEW: Based on Tasha Hubbard’s 2017 doc “Birth of a Family,” “Meadowlarks” is an intimate, emotional look at the devastating personal effects and loss of cultural identity that came as a result of the Sixties Scoop.
The film reunites siblings Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), Connie (Carmen Moore), Marianne (Alex Rice), and Gwen (Michelle Thrush), a Cree family separated as babies by the Sixties Scoop, placed in the child welfare system and raised by non-Indigenous families.
Apart for fifty years, they are strangers who share DNA and fragmented memories, but little else. Over the course of a week in Banff they share stories of their lives, past and present. Emotions ebb and flow as they get to know one another after a lifetime of estrangement.
Director Tasha Hubbard, herself a Sixties Scoop survivor, keeps the story simple to highlight the complexity of the situation. Although siblings, these four are very different people, and once the initial “get-to-know-ya” small talk fades away, raw memories surface.
As they ride a rollercoaster of emotions they become closer, closing the gap that has separated them for decades. When camaraderie develops so do vulnerabilities as they talk about their lost childhoods in a way that would be impossible with anyone else. Their trauma isn’t erased, but reconnecting and sharing their experiences leads to a certain kind of comfort.
Fueled by terrific performances, “Meadowlarks” is a hopeful, heartfelt movie, one that suggests that the fabric of family can be mended no matter how frayed.
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 hungry-for-humans dinosaurs in “Jurassic World Rebirth,” the dystopian drama “40 Acres” and the dramedy “Sorry, Baby.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “40 Acres,” a new Canadian post-apocalyptic film starring Danielle Deadwyler and Michael Greyeyes, a family fights invaders and cannibals to protect their remote 40-acre plot of land.
CAST: Danielle Deadwyler, Kataem O’Connor, Jaeda LeBlanc, Michael Greyeyes, Milcania Diaz-Rojas, Leenah Robinson. Directed by R.T. Thorne.
REVIEW: A dystopian drama with edge-of-your-seat thrills and a beating heart, “40 Acres” does what good speculative fiction is meant to do, present a “what if” premise that comments on contemporary social issues.
Director R.T. Thorne, who co-wrote the script with Glenn Taylor, injects a vibrant family dynamic into a post-apocalyptic scenario—a world torn apart by societal collapse and cannibalism—that highlights the domestic lives of the characters without skimping on the action.
That the household is a blended Black and Indigenous family brings a unique cultural and racial angle that allows Thorne to seamlessly weave historical references, issues of land ownership and cultural preservation into the story. This is a story of survival, but these thematic echoes from the past deepen and enrich the storytelling, infusing the apocalyptic tale with a poignant sense of ancestry and allegory.
In a fierce and uncompromising role, Danielle Deadwyler plays Hailey, the matriarch of the family, with the panache of an action star while still allowing vulnerability to seep through. It’s a physical and emotional performance that blends nicely with the quiet power of Michael Greyeyes as Hailey’s partner Galen.
Director Thorne builds a detailed world for the characters to inhabit, and finds interesting ways, like lighting one gun battle only with the flashes of firing gun muzzles, to keep the action compelling.
A dystopian movie featuring cannibals is going to offer its share of violence, and “40 Acres” doesn’t hold back on that score, but by the time the end credits roll it is the film’s themes of family, heritage and community that linger.
I join “CP24 Breakfast” to talk about four must-see Canadian films to watch on Canada Day!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
On the Saturday June 28, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet acclaimed Canadian filmmaker R.T. Thorne. Known for his work on television series like The Porter and Utopia Falls, he brings a unique perspective shaped by his Trinidadian and Chinese heritage, as well as his roots in Calgary and Toronto.
Today we’ll talk about “40 Acres,” a poignant exploration of family, survival, and resilience that premiered at TIFF and garnered praise at festivals like SXSW and Red Sea. It’s a post-apocalyptic film starring Danielle Deadwyler and Michael Greyeyes, in which a family fights invaders and cannibals to protect their remote 40-acre plot of land.
Canadian Olympic gold medalist, television host, and inspirational speaker Jon Montgomery. He won the men’s skeleton event at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, famously celebrating with a “beer walk” through Whistler Village, and since 2013, he has hosted “The Amazing Race Canada,” earning two Canadian Screen Awards. Today we’ll talk about his latest project, “Savour the North” is a new, docu-style cooking series showcasing Canadian brands, recipes and the unique, authentic stories behind them.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
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Here’s a list of Canadian zombie movies with both gore and Braaaaains. I’ll tell you about a kid friendly zombie flick, heavy metal flesh eaters and a Civil War era zombie story that Variety says merits appreciation for really trying something different.
Listewn to the whole thing HERE!
It’s unclear whether or not a remake of the blistering 1984 Stephen King movie “Firestarter” is a burning concern for audiences, but here we are with a new version of an old story, in theatres now, about a young girl with pyrokinesis.
All parents think their child is special, but Andy (Zac Efron) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon) truly know their daughter has a gift. “You’re going to change the world,” he tells her.
Years ago, Andy and Vicky were injected with an experimental serum whose side effect left them with telepathic abilities, which they passed down to the daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) along with the talent for conjuring up heat and fire when angry or in pain.
For a decade they have been on the run from a secret government agency who wants to kidnap Charlie and study her superhuman power. Up until now they have trained the preteen to control her fiery ability, but as she grows up it becomes harder and harder to manage. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Charlie says, “but it feels kind of good.”
When the family’s location is accidentally revealed, a mysterious government operative (Michael Greyeyes) is sent to bring her in as Andy and Charlie look for sanctuary.
The big question about “Firestarter 2.0” is whether or not it improves on the 1984 original. That movie was unfavorably compared to “The Fury,” a 1978 Brian De Palma film that treads, more successfully, similar ground. Looking back now, the original “Firestarter” isn’t a great movie but it does have George C. Scott in full-on menacing mode and a cool soundtrack from Tangerine Dream amid the flames and fire.
Does the new movie bring the heat?
In another cinematic multiverse (which is o-so-hip right now) Charlie could have been a member of the X-Men Jr. or the Preteen Fantastic Four, so it makes sense, particularly in today’s superhero happy market, that the new movie leans into the science fiction and allegorical aspects of the story over the horror. It’s just too bad it doesn’t do much with either approach. Charlie spits fire, and things burn but, cinematically, nothing really catches fire.
The paranoiac feel of government interference is gone, replaced by long boring stretches of exposition and Greyeyes’ underused villain. Set to an interesting score by legendary director John Carpenter (with Cody Carpenter and Daniel A. Davies), who was supposed to helm the original film, the new version gets the soundtrack right, but most everything else feels like a backfire, rather than a “Firestarter.”
