On the Saturday May 9, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet YouTuber, actor, screenwriter, comedian, and musician Jasmeet Raina. His series “Late Bloomer,” a dramedy about a millennial Sikh content creator balancing online ambitions, family expectations, community pressures, and personal growth, is in its third season on Crave right now. Critics call it funny, heartfelt, and eye-opening.
He rose to fame in the late 2000s/early 2010s on YouTube with sharp, satirical sketches about growing up in a Punjabi immigrant family in Guelph, Ontario. His irreverent humor on culture, family, and identity earned him millions of views and a loyal following but he stepped back from YouTube around 2018, to created, write, produce, and star in the semi-autobiographical “Late Bloomer.”
Then, we’ll meet actor Shamier Anderson. He’s best known for roles like Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls in Wynonna Earp, Trevante Cole in Invasion (Apple TV+), and the memorable Mr. Nobody / The Tracker in John Wick: Chapter 4. He’s also involved in initiatives supporting Black Canadian talent, like co-founding awards and events with his brother, actor Stephan James.
Today we’re talking about how he made the switch from law enforcement to acting, studying kung fu and his latest role, playing controversial Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson. “Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story” is a satirical comedy miniseries for Paramount+ and GameTV that focuses on Johnson’s 1988 Seoul Olympics 100m gold medal win (and world record), the subsequent doping scandal that stripped him of it, and a “definitely-not-biased” retelling that explores the legacy, the pressure, and perhaps the bigger picture of athletics in that era.
Finally, we spend some time with Nicholas Braun. You’ve seen him in supporting roles in films like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “How to Be Single” and “Zola,” although the 6’7″ actor is best known as the awkward, ambitious Cousin Greg Hirsch on Crave’s “Succession,” a role that earned him three Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Today, we’re talking about his latest project, “The Sheep Detectives,” a new, all-star whodunnit comedy now playing in theatres, about a flock of sheep attempt to solve a murder mystery.
You heard me right. This bizarre but crowd-pleasing murder mystery for the whole family that could have been titled “CSI: Livestock.” Murder, talking sheep and philosophy intertwine to create echoes of “Babe: A Pig in the City” and “Old Yeller.”
Nicolas Braun plays Tim, the only, and rather clumsy, police officer in a small town, who investigates the murder of the local shepherd played by Hugh Jackman, as a flock of crime-solving sheep try to crack the case first.
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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I sit with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about a lawsuit against James Cameron, newly unearthed interviews of Arthur Miller discussing his wife Marilyn Monroe, blue dot fever and I review the action flick “Mortal Kombat II” and the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives.”
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renee Rogers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the bloody “Mortal Kombat II,” the family murder mystery “The Sheep Detectives” and the road trip “Omaha.”
SYNOPSIS: In “The Sheep Detectives,” a new, all-star whodunnit comedy now playing in theatres, a flock of sheep attempt to solve a murder mystery.
CAST: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, and Emma Thompson with the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby. Directed by Kyle Balda.
REVIEW: “The Sheep Detectives” is a bizarre but crowd-pleasing murder mystery for the whole family that could have been titled “CSI: Livestock.” Murder, talking sheep and philosophy intertwine to create echoes of “Babe: A Pig in the City” and “Old Yeller.”
Hugh Jackman is George, a sheep herder with an uncommon connection to his flock. Called a “grouchy-pants” by the locals in the village of Denbrook, on the farm he’s all sweetness and light to his sheep. He gives them names, dotes on them and reads them detective novels as bedtime stories, even though they can’t understand him.
Except they can.
Among themselves they speak English and spend their late nights discussing George’s murder mysteries, trying to guess who the killer will be.
When murder comes to the farm, there are suspects galore, but it is up to the sheep to become little wooly Columbos and crack the case.
Paced and performed like a family flick,” The Sheep Detectives” certainly has appeal for the whole clan. The cute CGI talking sheep and gentle humor should be appropriate for ages seven and up. Some of it is dark, like the story of a sheep who was raised on the carnival and there are some “Old Yeller” style realities that may be upsetting to very young children.
Still, despite the Ovine Agatha Christie elements, director Kyle Balda, best known for co-directing the Illumination films “The Lorax,” “Minions,” “Despicable Me 3” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” keeps the tone light and breezy, peppering the story with humor to offset any intensity the story offers up.
Populated with standard issue murder mystery characters, like “Successions” Nicholas Braun as bumbling cop Tim Derry, Nicholas Galitzine as cub reporter Elliot Matthews and Molly Gordon as a long lost relative, it’s the sheep who sell the story. Sure, Hugh Jackman brings warmth and a steely gentleness to the role of George, but it is the nimble voice work of Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Lily, the smartest sheep in the world, Bryan Cranston as a sheep with a tortured past and Chris O’Dowd as the curious Mopple, that add a human touch as they grapple with understanding he changing nature of their world, loyalty and take chances to find answers. These sheeple break away from the herd, bringing surprising commentary on the idea of “dumb animals” and the people who care for them.
“The Sheep Detectives” is a charming and clever film that adds layers to what could have been a simple story for kids.
SYNOPSIS: A screwball take on the rom com, “Spiltsville” begins when Ashley (Adria Arjona) blindsids her husband, the good-natured Carey (Kyle Marvin), by asking for a divorce. Looking for support, the heartbroken Carey turns to his best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson), a move that inadvertently turns all their relationships upside down.
CAST: Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Marvin, Covino, Nicholas Braun, David Castañeda, O-T Fagbenle, Charlie Gillespie, and Simon Webster. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino.
REVIEW: “Splitsville” uses a fiercely funny look at modern relationships as a vehicle for a close-up examination of self-discovery and acceptance.
Married for fourteen months, Ashley (Adria Arjona) and Carey’s (Kyle Marvin) marriage crumbled in just ten tumultuous minutes. She is a podcaster and life coach who says things like, “If it isn’t said, it can’t be put to bed,” he’s a laid-back guy with a penchant for Dad jokes— Still wanna go to the beach house? Are you shore?—who dreams of starting a family.
She’s looking for excitement, he’s booking pottery classes for them.
On the way to a beach house owned by their rich friends Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), they inadvertently cause a car accident, an event that prompts Ashley to admit that she’s been having affairs and no longer wants to be married.
At the beach house Paul and Julie offer up a mix of condolences, jabs—“You married a life coach, what did you expect?”—and a startling confession. The secret to their seemingly perfect union, they say, is an open relationship.
Over the next several years, bonds are tested as the four main characters discover the enduring nature of love and relationships, even when they go wrong.
If Neil Simon wrote about love in the 2000s, he might have come up with something like “Splitsville.” It’s silly and sophisticated, unafraid of male nudity but willing to seriously contemplate messy relationships with a mix of heartbreak and humor.
One sequence, an extended fight between Carey and Paul, is hilarious, but at its heart it’s fueled by raw, unchecked emotion, the consequences of jealousy and insecurity. It’s absurd, and knee slappingly funny, but it also hits the heart.
“Splisville” is a comedy, and often a farcical one, but underneath its comedy veneer is a carefully observed look at desire vs. romance.
SYNOPSIS: In “Saturday Night,” a new show business biography from director Jason Reitman, and now playing in theatres, tensions run high as producer Lorne Michaels and his not ready for prime-time gang of young comedians count down the minutes until the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 11, 1975.
CAST: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons. Directed by Jason Reitman.
REVIEW: “Saturday Night” captures the anxiety, the humor and the sheer nerve it took to get the first episode of “SNL” off the ground. Chaos reigns for much of the movie’s run time as producer Lorne Michaels attempts to wrangle an unruly cast, a drug addled host (a terrific Matthew Rhys as George Carlin), indecision and a network executive (Willem Dafoe) who may, or may not, order a Johnny Carson rerun to air instead of Michaels’s disorganized counterculture circus.
Reitman captures the behind-the-scenes action with a restless camera that never seems to stop moving, rat-a-tat-tat Arron Sorkin style fast talking dialogue and meticulous recreations of the iconic “SNL” set and sketches.
Reitman’s biggest storytelling accomplishment, however, may be that he imbues the film with a sense that everything may come crashing down at any second. We know it won’t, of course—“SNL” celebrates 50 seasons this year—but the threat of imminent collapse hangs over frame.
Michaels’s high wire act is the film’s engine, but it’s the insights into the cast that provide the key to deciphering what made the original 1975 cast so compelling.
Cory Michael Smith captures “SNL’s” first superstar Chevy Chase’s comic ability, fueled by talent, ego and bluster. Dylan O’Brien’s take on Dan Aykroyd is eerily accurate vocally and physically, and Matt Wood puts John Belushi’s troubled genius routine front and centre. Lamorne Morris plays Garrett Morris, the lone Black performer in the original cast, as a searcher, looking for purpose in a show that appears to be rudderless.
The women in the boy’s club, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, and Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, are given less to do, but each has a moment amid the chaos. Hunt gets Radner’s buoyant, sunshiny personality, Fairn is all eagerness as Newman and Curtain’s one-on-one backstage chat with Morris is a funny, yet poignant, conversation about her place in this cast. Cumulatively, they are at their best in a recreation of a sketch where the women, as construction workers, ogle and objectify Aykroyd.
The large ensemble cast is rounded out by a scene-stealing J.K. Simmons as Hollywood legend Milton Berle and “Succession’s” Nicholas Braun in the dual roles of Andy Kaufman and Muppet master Jim Henson.
The film’s soul comes courtesy of the pairing of Gabriel LaBelle and Rachel Sennott as Michaels and his wife and “SNL” writer, Rosie Shuster. “We may be married,” she says, “but I’m not your wife,” and it is their bond, in whatever form it takes, that grounds Michaels as everything appears to spin out of control.
“Saturday Night” is a love letter to show business. It’s high energy nostalgic fun, told in almost real time, that captures the tenacity of the creative mind and the beginnings of a cultural institution.
It had to happen. We’ve seen movies based on comic books, board games and trading cards. Now comes “Zola,” a darkly comedic crime drama, now playing in theatres, that was inspired by a 148-tweet thread by A’Ziah King a.k.a. @zolarmoon. “You wanna hear a story about why me and this b*tch here fell out?” she writes. “It’s kind of long but full of suspense.”
When we first meet Zola (Taylour Paige) she is a Detroit waitress trying to take an order from Stephani (Riley Keough) and her friend. Stephani is flirty, playfully inappropriate and soon the two bond. Both are exotic dancers, and share a similar world view. The very next day Stephani calls with an offer. She invites Zola on a road trip to Florida to perform at a strip club and make some fast cash.
Needing money, Zola hastily agrees but suspicions are raised when Stephani’s hapless boyfriend Derek (Nicholas Braun) and the mysterious X (Colman Domingo) come along for the cross-country drive.
Once in Florida, it becomes clear that Zola is in over her head, the target of a set-up by Stephani and X. It’s going to be a long, dangerous weekend for everyone involved.
“Zola” is much more than a Twitter storm. Director Janicza Bravo (who also co-wrote the script with Jeremy O. Harris) sets a frantic pace, unfurling the story with urgency, humour and clever sound design. The result is a slick look at a gritty story that places us in Zola’s shoes. She made a bad decision to go south with someone she barely knew, but now, like her, we’re caught up as things spin out of hand.
The tour guides for this chaotic trip are Paige and Keough. They take turns stealing scenes, filling the screen with bravura performances.
Paige plays Zola as impetuous but strong, vulnerable but powerful. Zola could have been played as a victim, but Paige flips that script, allowing her character to be in control in an out-of-control situation.
The performance is at odds with Keough’s work. She embraces Stephani’s messiness, playing up the cavalier attitude that masks her character’s pain. It’s a nervy performance, both funny and tragic.
“Zola” is a roller-coaster ride up until its final moments. An abrupt ending leaves many unanswered questions, but until then, it feels like the most in-the-moment 2021 movie to date.
