I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about Harry Styles in “My Policeman,” the Jennifer Lawrence drama “Causeway, the music doc “The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile,” the coming of age story “Armageddon Time” and the drama “The Swearing Jar.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CKTB Niagara in the Morning morning show with host Tim Denis to talk the new movies coming to theatres. This week we look at Harry Styles in “My Policeman,” the Jennifer Lawrence drama “Causeway” and the music doc “The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Harry Styles in “My Policeman,” the Jennifer Lawrence drama “Causeway, the music doc “The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile,” the coming of age story “Armageddon Time” and the drama “The Swearing Jar.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“The Swearing Jar,” a new drama now playing in theatres, is a relationship story about finding the love of your life, not once but twice.
Adelaide Clemens and Patrick J. Adams are married high school music teacher and novelist Carey and Simon. They’re happily married, but change is in the air. When Carey announces she is expecting a baby, their first order of business is to curb the cuss words that so easily flow out of their mouths. “Holy frickin’ poop,” Simon says, embracing the spirit of the new house rules.
The main thorn in their side is Simon’s mother Bev (Kathleen Turner). She is a dark cloud whose visits are filled with passionate passive aggression, and non-stop references to her own failed relationship with her former husband. Unhelpfully, with the new baby on the way, Bev even goes so far to warn Carey that Simon inherited his father’s worst traits.
Still, despite Bev’s worst intentions, things are OK at home. But when Carey has a chance encounter with struggling musician Owen (Douglas Smith), she finds herself charmed by his flirtatious, but slightly awkward presence.
I am leaving out one major detail of “The Swearing Jar’s” plot. It is a crucial one, and I’m trying to avoid spoilers here, so read on with caution (it’s best to go into this one cold) as I try and talk around the plot twist.
Mixing Carey’s past and present, “The Swearing Jar” examines one person’s experience with grief. Dramatically, when her life is turned inside-out, the film takes on a richer texture, while maintaining the dual nature of humor and drama that fuel the first half. It’s the story of perseverance and an emotional reckoning, and it is effectively rendered by Clemens’s heartfelt performance.
“The Swearing Jar” is has its ups-and-downs, both stylistically and emotionally, but emerges as a nicely calibrated, resonant look at grief, love and moving on.
Richard joins CP24 anchor Nathan Downer to have a look at the weekend’s new movies including the speculative “Clara,” the dark comedy “Dead in a Week” and the delightful “Nothing Like Dame” starring Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
A weekly feature from from ctvnews.ca! The Crouse Review is a quick, hot take on the weekend’s biggest movies! This week Richard looks at the metaphysical drama “Clara,” the dark comedy “Dead in a Week” and the delightful “Nothing like a Dame” featuring Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
No one will accuse “Clara” director/co-writer Akash Sherman of playing it safe. For his debut feature the twenty-something filmmaker essays no less a topic than the existence of life in outer space.
Suits star Patrick J. Adams is Dr. Isaac Bruno, a university professor placed on sabbatical when his obsession to find life on other planets gets in the way of him doing his job. Time off is no remedy for his fixation and he continues his search with the help of a co-worker Dr. Charlie Durant (Ennis Esmer ) and a research assistant named Clara (Troian Bellisario).
Bruno is a facts and figures guy, a pragmatist who studies the data looking for connections, desperate to fill the hole left in his heart by the death of his child by finding new life in the universe.
Clara is more abstract, a believer in the randomness of the universe beyond the numbers and maps. The push and pull between their approaches makes for a rocky relationship but her spiritualism may hold the roadmap for Isaac’s quest.
Austere, low-key and yet ambitious, “Clara” is about the power of loss and discovery. Add in a big dollop of spirituality and you have a movie that isn’t quite sci fi even though it spends much of its time ruminating on speculative themes. It’s solemn and often feels overwrought, asking question after question without offering much in the way of insight or true emotion.
Director Sherman shows an undeniable eye for composition and atmosphere. It’s in the storytelling that “Clara” wobbles. The push-and-pull between objectivity and intuition is interesting but overplayed to the point of exhaustion. The climax reaches for the stars, offering a hopeful note, that will strike some as poetic, others as the very definition of schmaltz.
