Richard joins Ryan Doyle and Jay Michaels of the NewsTalk 1010 afternoon show to talk about the history of champagne cocktails, the Kardashians retreat from television and “In the Heights”!
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the feel good musical “In the Heights” (theatres and PVOD). the music doc “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl” (VOD/Digital) and the crime drama “Akilla’s Escape” (VOD).
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard and CTV NewsChannel morning show host Marcia MacMillan chat up the weekend’s big releases, the big, splashy musical “In the Heights” (theatres and PVOD). the music doc “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Gir”l (VOD/Digital) and the crime drama “Akilla’s Escape” (VOD).
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard joins NewsTalk 1010’s Jim Richards coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse like these movies?” This week we talk about the joyful musical “In the Heights” (theatres and PVOD). the music doc “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Gir”l (VOD/Digital) and the crime drama “Akilla’s Escape” (VOD).
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including the big, splashy musical “In the Heights” (theatres and PVOD). the music doc “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Gir”l (VOD/Digital) and the crime drama “Akilla’s Escape” (VOD).
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“In the Heights” (in theatres and on PVOD) is a crowd pleaser that offers heart and uplift in almost every frame. HERE’S Richard’s interview with stars Jimmy Smits and Olga Merediz! HERE’S a a shorter version OF “Vax for Joy!”
“In the Heights,” now playing in theatres, is a joyful movie based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony award-winning musical, that will make you feel better by the end of the movie than you did when it began. Energetic, exultant and empathetic, it feels like a long weekend away from real life.
A series of connected stories, “In the Heights” transcends its Broadway bound beginnings with a production cut loose from the confines of the stage. Shot on the streets of Washington Heights, New York, the story of a bodega, gentrification, a winning lottery ticket, love, community and the dreams of its characters is lovingly painted in big, bright colors by director John M. Chu.
The spider-web of a story weaves in and out of its character’s lives, centering around bodega owner Usnavi, played by the charismatic Anthony Ramos. Like almost everyone in the film Usnavi has a dream of a life beyond his neighborhood, and, in a sentiment borrowed from another famous musical, soon, most everyone discovers there’s no place like home.
“In the Heights” is a story of the immigrant experience that touches on the DREAM Act and fear of deportation, but is more concerned with its characters and their day dreams of creating better lives for themselves. It’s a story of resilience, of hope and it’s a tonic during these pandemic times when it seems the media, both social and mainstream, are incapable of delivering anything but unsettling news.
In an eager cast, Olga Merediz, who reprises her Broadway role as the neighborhood’s grandmother Abuela Claudia, and Melissa Barrera as Usnavi’s love interest Vanessa, are standouts.
The sheer spectacle of it all, however, may be the real star. Chu’s camera is in constant motion, capturing the many ensemble dance numbers that accompany the soundtrack’s hip-hop, salsa, merengue, soul and R&B, in an eye-popping manner. The Busby Berkeley-style “96,000” number, shot at a public swimming pool is a total throwback to Hollywood’s Golden Age, as is a terrifically staged gravity-defying dance on the side of a building.
It doesn’t all work, however. A framing device that sees Usnavi tell his story to a group of kids is clunky and the opening number, “In the Heights,” an almost eight-minute set-up to the story, is stylish but overstays its welcome.
Still, those are small issues in an invigorating crowd pleaser that offers heart and uplift in almost every frame.
As many of you know Andrea and I officially hitched up this week in a small, private ceremony at Sardis on 44th Street in New York City. The “I do’s” took place under the knowing gaze of dozens of Broadway caricatures in “The Little Bar,” the small room on the main floor where we first sat many years ago on our first visit to Sardis. It’s our favourite watering hole in NYC and we were thrilled when Andrea’s parents Ron and Angela joined old friends of mine, John and Gina for the actual tying of the knot in the space where we have shared so many memorable moments.
Want to go to Sardis but not get married? Do it. It’s like walking into an episode of Mad Men without the cigarette smoke and Don Draper’s bad attitude. Ask Jeremy for a Bloody Mary. They’re fantastic, and so is he. He’s Jeremy Wagner, King of the Bartenders and our much-loved mixologist (although Sardis is WAY too old school to use such a term) who graciously took a break from pouring cocktails to be our witness.
It truly was everything we hoped for despite Andrea whispering in my ear, “This is weird,” about one second before our officiant Alice Solway started the vows. It was weird. I guess after fourteen years it felt strange to stand up in front of everyone and verbalize what everyone already knows about us, but that is part of what makes it important and special. And weird.
The day went by in a blur. Andrea looked beautiful in a Vera Wang dress. My shoes were so shiny you could see them from space. We took pictures with a slightly tipsy Elmo in Times Square and an epic photo with Chewbacca, Iron Man and Cat Woman. My shiny gold brocade jacket—it can only properly be described as a relic from the Sammy David Jr. 1968 Comeback Special—and Andrea’s bejewelled pumps sparkled in the neon glow of 44th Street.
Thanks to John and Gina who drove many, many miles to share the day with us. It was so special to have them there. John and I have known one another since we were foetuses and no matter how many years pass we still behave like kids. Gina took over 1600 photographs! She was both the official documentarian and spreader of the most delicious pub cheese in the world. They helped make an already special time even more special. Isn’t that special?
Ron and Angela have literally known Andrea since she was a foetus and the day would not have been complete or as extraordinary without them there.
It was a big day. I discovered that when you parade a beautiful woman around in a wedding dress in any of the five boroughs it is impossible to pay for a drink. I also discovered how gracious and wonderful all my Facebook friends are. You guys showered us with good wishes and it really meant a great deal to us to know that people, worldwide, were sending good vibes our way. You know what? It worked. We had a perfect week in New York, topped by a day I will never forget.
The day after the wedding we went to the Comedy Cellar. It’s a legendary room and almost every time we go someone cool stops by to do an impromptu set. This time Ray Romano, who has an apartment down the block, stopped by. During his set he asked me if we were married. I said, “Yes, for about 26 hours.” He looked at us and said, “The first 12 hours is the best.”
He’s not entirely wrong. The first twelve hours was great… but I anticipate many more great hours, days, weeks, months and years.
It would be easy to mistake “Fading Gigolo” for a Woody Allen film. First there’s the obvious stuff—it’s set in New York, has a jazz score, younger women flirt with older men and, of course, Woody is in the center of it all cracking wise.
But it’s not a Woody Allen film. It was written and directed by John Turturro, who is a formidably talented actor but as a director, suffers in comparison to his co-star and obvious inspiration.
Allen is Murray Schwartz, a New York bookseller—he sells “rare books for rare people”—is forced to close his store and let his single employee Fioravante (Turturro) go. Fioravante is a soulful jack-of-all trades, but master of none until he embarks in a new gig that suits him to a tee—gigolo. Murray becomes an unlikely pimp, setting Fioravante up with older, bored rich women (Sharon Stone and Sofía Vergara) who become smitten with his puppy dog eyes and sweltering sensuality. Trouble is, although his bank account is full, Fioravante finds the job personally unfulfilling. That changes when he falls for Avigal (Vanessa Paradis), the demure widow of a rabbi.
“Fading Gigolo” attempts to find the balance of humour, pathos and romance that seems to come so easily to Allen, but is more “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” than “Annie Hall.” From the sexual shenanigans of the gigolo scenes to the more repressed romance of the Avigal storyline, the muddled story fails to generate any real heat. Add to that a subplot involving Liev Schreiber as a neighborhood ranger with feelings for the widow who reports Murray for breaking Jewish law and you have enough stories for two movies crammed into one.
Performance wise, Turturro is so stoic it’s as if he’s planning the next shot in his head while also trying to act in the film, but Stone, Vergara, Paradis and Schreiber each have a moment to shine. Stone, playing a doctor with a philandering husband, becomes more than a stereotype as she quietly cries, from trepidation and nervousness the first time Fioravante stops by to ply his trade. It’s a revealing moment in a movie that could have used a few more of them.
Since this is a de facto Woody Allen movie it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Allen walks away with the whole thing. There is a thrill that goes along when he describes Fioravante as “disgusting, but in a very positive way.” It’s a Woody-ism that provides a whiff of nostalgia that makes the audience long for the good Woody Allen movies, not imitations like this one.
