I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about “Pracxticakl Magic 2” and the concert flick “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 37:41)
I join CJAD afternboon host Aaron Rand to talk about the return of “Practical Magic 2,” the medieval rebellion of “The Uprising,” the buddy action of “Runner” and the rock doc “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Sean Keathong to talk about the return of “Practical Magic 2,” the medieval rebellion of “The Uprising,” the buddy action of “Runner” and the rock doc “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:35)
I sit with NewsTalk 1010 host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about being at TIFF on 9/11. Then, we talk about the rerelease of The Man in Black’s 1976 comic book “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,” what the ghostly figure adorns the cover of Black Sabbath’s debut album is up to today, how the “South Park” guys are satirizing Trump’s America-first renaming push in the show’s new season, and I recview “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger” and “Practical Magic 2.”Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 21:23)
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the return of “Practical Magic 2,” the medieval rebellion of “The Uprising,” the buddy action of “Runner” and the rock doc “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger.”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 a sandwich. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the return of “Practical Magic 2,” the medieval rebellion of “The Uprising” and the buddy action of “Runner.”Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about the biggest summer at the movies in years, the return of the Owens sisters in “Practical Magic 2” and I suggest some witchy cocktails to drink with the movie.Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: A story of secrets and sacrifice, “Practical Magic 2” reunites the above-the-title stars from the 1998 original as they attempt to break the curse that has plagued their family for generations.CAST: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, Joey King, Lee Pace, Maisie Williams, Xolo Maridueña, Solly McLeod. Directed by Susanne Bier.
REVIEW: Fans of the original film will welcome the return of the supernatural Owens sisters, but newcomers may find the sequel less than magical.
Set twenty-five years after the events of the first film, the Owens family of witches, sisters Sally and Gillian Owens (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) and eccentric aunts Frances (Franny) and Jet (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest), has expanded to include Sally’s daughters Kylie (Joey King, in the role originally played by Evan Rachel Wood) and Antonia (Maisie Williams). They are a tight knit group, but Sally hasn’t told her daughters that they have magical powers or about the family curse.
“No magic is stronger than sisterhood,” says Aunt Frances. “Cast by fate, tested by time, and never broken.”
When Kylie falls in love with “tall, dark and possibly cursed” Gideon (Xolo Maridueña), he becomes the latest victim of the family’s centuries old curse.
“Everyone we love dies,” says Sally. “It’s not great for the Tinder bio,” says Gillian. “We’re Owens women. Love is our undoing.”
Desperate to break the curse’s cycle, Kylie jets off to England, with Sally and Gillian in hot pursuit, to get to the bottom of their family history and the curse that has fated their loved ones to die. “I’m gonna go fix this,” she says.
A legacy sequel with one foot planted firmly in the past and the other in present day, “Practical Magic 2” offers callbacks to the original, a hint of romance, lighthearted humor, curses and witch’s spells. It’s a bit of a hodge podge that binds together the disparate elements with fan service and good will.
Bullock and Kidman effortlessly slip into their roles of the quarter century ago, recreating the same kind of chemistry that made the original film a hit, but it is Dianne Wiest as kooky Aunt Jet who finds the balance between warmth and comedy.
It’s a fine line in an unnecessarily complicated story that involves a missing daughter, a century’s old curse, and an innocent man in a coma because of the family hex. The very survival of the Owens family hangs in the balance, and yet, Sally and Gillian still find time to goof around. One minute they’re in tears, wondering if they’ll ever see Kylie again, the next Gilly is de-pantsing Sally and telling her to lighten up. The comedy doesn’t match the situation and Bullock’s sharp way with a line often breaks the film’s dramatic spell.
“Practical Magic 2” is bewitched with its characters. Perhaps a little too much. Even at just a titch over two hours, the film feels overlong, padded with character work, subplots and moments that don’t forward the story. By the time we get to the feel-good ending–with Sally and Gillian using their powers to make margaritas–it feels like the movie delivers more tricks than treats.
SYNOPSIS: In “Holland,” a new Nicole Kidman thriller now streaming on Amazon Prime, Nancy suspects her husband of having an affair. Her self-styled investigation hints that nothing, and no one, may be what they seem.
CAST: Nicole Kidman, Gael García Bernal, Matthew Macfadyen, and Jude Hill. Directed by Mimi Cave.
REVIEW: “You think you know someone, then you don’t,” says Holland, Michigan suburban home economics teacher Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman).
Intruding into her perfectly curated world are nagging suspicions that her optometrist husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) is having an affair. When she finds Polaroid film, she tells her friend Dave (Gael García Bernal), that Fred uses it to “take kinky sex photos with his lover.”
As Nancy’s distrust grows, she and Dave begin a homegrown investigation into Fred’s behavior. As they dig deeper and deeper to find proof of his infidelities, they develop feelings for one another.
As their relationship bears fruit, so does their investigation, and for the first time Nancy imagines a life outside of the one she has always known.
File “Holland” under the Suburban Anxiety category. The seemingly perfect small Michigan town is, of course, less than perfect, let alone wholesome, and director Mimi Cave, working in concert with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, infuses the film with a sense of undefinable unease.
That vibe is continued in Kidman’s performance. Nobody does off kilter like Kidman. Her resume is dotted with eccentric characters, like Nancy, who present a polished veneer but soon reveal a darker underbelly. But Nancy isn’t completely quirky. She is simply a person who allows her dissatisfaction to dictate her extreme actions. Kidman masterfully finds the humanity in her and never overplays her hand, no matter how deep down the rabbit hole she falls.
Unfortunately, Nancy is placed at the heart of movie that is short on thrills. The action unfolds slowly without enough twists and turns to fully immerse the audience in the strange world of Nancy and Holland, Michigan.
