Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to VOD and streaming services including the Netflix animated movie “The Willoughbys,” the Netflix doc “Circus of Books,” the high school crime drama “Selah and the Spades” and a pair of big screen movies coming to VOD, “Bad Boys for Life” and “Run This Town.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Based on a book by Lois Lowry, “The Willoughbys,” a new animated film now available on Netflix, is a parody of “old fashioned” classic children’s stories where terrible things happen, babies are abandoned, long-lost relatives show up and nannies look after the kids. Yet somehow, a happy ending and a lesson or two always emerge from the chaos.
Narrated by Ricky Gervais—”I’m the narrator. And a cat. Get over it, yeah.”—the story takes place at the Willoughby mansion, a home tucked away between two skyscrapers, hidden from the modern world. The family has a long and distinguished legacy of tradition, invention creativity and courage. “Their greatness passed down from generation to generation like their magnificent facial hair,” says the narrator, “until this one.” Enter the youngest son (Martin Short) and his new bride (Jane Krakowski). Madly in love, they only have eyes for one another. They don’t even care for their kids. “I am your father and that woman in there you insulted with your rude burp is your mother,” father says to eldest son Tim (Will Forte). “If you need love, I beg of you, find it elsewhere. Thank you.”
All they gave Tim was their name, and siblings Jane (Alessia Cara) and twins, both named Barnaby (Sean Cullen). “Let’s face it this Willoughby family isn’t great,” says the narrator, “and by the looks of it, they never will be. Not without a little help.”
So the kids hatch a plan to create a better life for themselves. “We can send them away!” says Tim. “What if we orphaned ourselves? We shall craft a murderous adventure that gives our insidious parents exactly what they want.” “To be left alone with their love!” says Jane.
Tim concocts a “a romantic get-a-way hiding deadly orphaning opportunities. If they do not melt in the hottest places on earth, they shall drown in the wettest. Cannibals will feast on them unless they freeze in glacial ice.” They create a travel brochure from the Reprehensible Travel Agency—No Children Allowed!—and make sure the folks see it. They love the plan but fear the children will destroy the house. The solution? Get a nanny. “But aren’t good nannies expensive?” wonders mom. “Yes, so we’ll hire a not good nanny! For cheap!” says father.
Thus, begins a wild adventure for mom, dad and the kids.
“The Willoughbys” It’s not as dark as “A Series of Unfortunate Events” or as magical as “Mary Poppins.” Instead it finds its own tone, deriving much humour from the dire circumstances. “If you like stories about families that stick together and love each other through thick and thin,” says the cat narrator, “and it all ends up happily ever after, this isn’t the film for you OK?” Director and co-writer Kris “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” Pearn energizes the story with characters that look like they’re shaped out of bubble gum; colourful and highly stylized. Then he puts them in constant motion. It’s frenetic and fun, even when the kids are plotting to kill their parents.
There’s strong voice work from Will Forte, Alessia Cara, Jane Krakowski, Martin Short and Terry Crews but Gervais and his droll narration steals the show. “It’s hard to leave home for the first time,” he says, “although I was six days old when I left. All my folks ever did for me was lick my eyeballs open and sent me packing.”
“The Willoughbys” isn’t remarkably original story wise. It mixes and matches from a variety of sources. There’s a taste of Roald Dahl, a hint of “Despicable Me” and a dollop of “Mary Poppins,” but, all spun together, they form a delightfully dark (but not too dark) story about finding the true value of family.
Richard sits in on the CJAD Montreal morning show with host Andrew Carter to talk about the weekend’s VOD and streaming releases including the Netflix animated film for kids (and their parents) “The Willoughbys” and the documentary “Circus of Books.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard talks about the high and low points of the Golden Globes with CP24’s Stephen LeDrew, host of “Live at Noon.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
On Tuesday, March 3rd, two-time Academy Award nominee, director Mark Osborne was in Toronto to give an exclusive presentation at the TIFF Bell Lightbox about the making of “The Little Prince.”
In the presentation followed by a Q&A hosted by Richard, Osborne spoke about the concept of the animated feature, the making-of, completing production n Montreal, and showed some select images, clips and b-roll from production. Osborne also revealed that Orson Welles once planned an adaptation of “The Little Prince” as a follow-up to “Citizen Kane.”
From Entertainment One: With the voices of Rachel McAdams, Jeff Bridges, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Paul Rudd,Benicio del Toro, Paul Giamatti, Ricky Gervais, Albert Brooks, Bud Cort and Riley Osborne.
Through an inventive narrative concept, the movie will offer a family experience on a grand scale: the audience will be invited to discover a fantastic, dreamlike universe.
https://youtu.be/NMkjtTPsw1w
Richard Crouse sounds off on his reviews for this week’s releases: ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ and ‘Divergent.’
Watch the whole thing HERE!
The Muppets came bounding back into theatres in 2011 with a sweet movie starring humans Jason Segel and Amy Adams that blended the right amount of nostalgia with just enough corny jokes to make it one of the year’s frothiest confections.
The new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations, “Muppets Most Wanted,” is being billed as a sequel to that film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman.
It’s more akin to “The Great Muppet Caper” than Segel’s (who did not return for this film) vision.
The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.”
What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
The movie’s opening song, “Sequel,” is a tongue and cheek tune that melodically states, “everybody knows sequels are never as good.” Maybe so, but since this doesn’t feel like a sequel it’s hard to compare it to the last film.
The puns are back—“It’s not easy being mean,” says Constantine—and so are the tunes from Academy Award-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie and all the characters you know and love, but the movie feels different.
Whereas Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have.
The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin.
Still, the Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.”
By Richard Crouse & Steve Gow – Reel Guys Metro Canada
SYNOPSIS: The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.” What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
STAR RATINGS:
Richard: 3 Stars
Steve: 3 Stars
Richard: Steve, the new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations is being billed as a sequel to the 2011 Jason Segel Muppets film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman. It’s more akin to The Great Muppet Caper than the most recent movie. Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have. Did you sense that?
Steve: I don’t know if edge is quite the word I’d use to describe it. It’s definitely got darker elements but unfortunately, the gimmicky plot of replacing Kermit with an evil doppelganger felt forced and less natural than Segel’s earnest version. Of course even the filmmakers were aware of that and smartly addressed the impossible expectation of sequels in the opening number. That kind of self-consciousness worked better in the last movie but I certainly thought the songs in Muppets Most Wanted surpassed the 2011 film. We even get to hear Ricky Gervais sing!
RC: I’m not sure I agree. The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin. I liked Segel’s take on the sweetness of the Muppets, but having said that, this movie made me laugh.
SG: It’s true. It is fairly funny all the way through. It’s probably slightly unfair to measure this film against its predecessors anyhow – even if it does lack some of the pure warmth of Segel’s. And it was fun to see all the talent showing up in clever cameo appearances – especially Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo as prisoners-turned-aspiring showmen. However, even the sheer bulk of celebrities feels slightly distracting. They should just let the Muppets do the work.
RC: I agree. The Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.” That’s a gag, this one works, but because of the Muppets, not because of the human stars.
SG: In the end, the fans that are going to pay to see Muppets Most Wanted will already have a good idea what they’re in for. Besides, as that aforementioned opening musical number states, “everyone knows the sequel’s not quite as good.”
By Richard Crouse – Metro Canada
I have a secret to tell you that I think Miss Piggy would rather remain undisclosed.
The blonde bombshell, that porcine paradigm of perfection, was in Toronto on Tuesday to do some press for her new film Muppets Most Wanted, and sit in for a press conference hosted by moi.
Like everyone else I had heard the stories. The word diva comes up frequently when Miss Piggy is discussed. She has a No Competing Diva clause in her contracts and has even written a book titled The Diva Code.
In the film she does a duet with Celine Dion, and when asked who was the biggest prima donna on set she snapped back, “Well, naturally moi.” I’m here to tell you it’s not true.
She was on time, primped and ready to go and had very funny answers to all the questions. She admits to enjoying “making a statement wherever she goes,” and Tuesday’s presser was no exception. When I asked her if she got star struck around co-stars Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais, she said it’s others who get star struck by her, before adding, “others are struck by a star if they get between moi and the camera.”
The only hint of diva-ish behaviour came when she was asked who could portray her in a biopic. “Moi, of course,” she said, but later when asked if she knew she was a gay icon she replied, in a most un-diva-like way, “I’m an icon to anyone who will have moi!”
