Watch the whole thing HERE!
Watch the whole thing HERE!
CAST: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers. Directed by Lance Oppenheim.
REVIEW: A sly look at ambition, ego and losing one’s self to the dark side of a job, “Primetime” is a slice of arthouse drama that wonders where entertainment ends and responsibility begins.
Based on the 2007 Esquire magazine article “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” by Luke Dittrich, “Primetime” sees Robert Pattinson play television journalist Chris Hansen, host of “To Catch a Predator.” The hidden-camera show that saw Hansen unmask child predators by confronting adult men who sought to meet underage girls for sex. “Do you watch television? Well, there’s something you should know. I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. And you’re about to be a part of television history.”
The controversial show is accused of vigilantism, manipulation and of entrapping its subjects, but nonetheless, is a ratings hit but the ambitious Hansen wants more. “I want something that matters,” he says. “No more bottom feeders. I want a whale.”
To dethrone prime time juggernaut “Lost,” Hansen, working with the Murphy, Texas police department, arranges a sting of a prominent local official with disastrous results. “We’re gonna be bigger than Lost!” Hansen brays, unaware that his quest for ratings at any cost will place him in the uncomfortable position of being at the center of a story.
Director Lance Oppenheim, working from a script by Ajon Singh, takes an arthouse approach to the story. The story of “To Catch a Predator” is, of course, the film’s core, but the filmmaker is more concerned with blurring the line between reality and performance.
Hansen and the decoys, hired to lure predators, perform, rehearsing their lines in advance, and, in the film’s first recreated sting, Hansen enters the scene, flamboyantly whipping aside a curtain to great dramatic effect.
Pattinson hits a career high here, handing in a heightened performance that captures Hansen’s grandiosity without turning him into a caricature. It’s strange work, marked by odd facial expressions and movements, as though his inner thoughts are manifested outwardly. It’s weirdly affecting, both cartoonish and sinister. His voice and practiced cadence evoke Hansen, but it is the off-kilter body language that grabs the character’s spirit.
Despite Pattinson’s Oscar worthy work, and some nice turns from Merritt Wever as Hansen’s “I don’t do feel good” producer and Skyler Gisondo as the aspiring actor hired to be a decoy in their show’s stings, and the stunt casting of Jeff Zucker, who portrays himself at the time when he oversaw programming at NBCUniversal, “Primetime” doesn’t dig deep. It’s a well-performed television satire but it doesn’t offer much insight into Hensen or the audience’s collective thirst for judgement.
I sit with NewsTalk 1010 afternoon host Jim Richards to talk about the various formats available to view “The Odyssey” and why large and loud is the best.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join “The Vassy Kapelos Show” on the iHeartRadio network to talk about my reaction to Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated “The Odyssey.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic “The Odyssey,” now playing in theatres, sees Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, use cunning and courage to defeat mythical beasts on his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. “After years of war, no one could stand between my men and home. Not even the gods.”
CAST: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
REVIEW: Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling.
Director Christopher Nolan alters story elements from the original epic poem but keeps the core narrative and spirit of Homer’s 2,775-year-old original alive. That includes the ancient text’s nonlinear “in medias res” (starting in the middle of the action), style, flashbacks and parallel storylines. It’s familiar ground for Nolan, whose films “Memento,” “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Tenet” tinkered with time and works effectively here, helping to build suspense that pays off in the film’s final act.
The story begins after the fall of Troy. On his ten-year maritime journey home Greek hero King Odysseus (Matt Damon) encounters mythical monsters, like the one-eyed Cyclops, the alluring-but-deadly Sirens, and Circe, a sorceress who turns his men into swine.
He returns to find his kingdom in shambles, his palace overrun with mobs of suitors pressuring his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) into marriage while son Telemachus (Tom Holland) searches for his lost father. “You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know,” taunts Antinous (Robert Pattinson. “Like some sniveling bastard.”
Reclaiming his throne and family will test Odysseus’s cunning and courage in ways not even the gods could.
Among the first things you’ll notice about “The Odyssey” is a lack of antiquated language. Purists may rankle as Telemachus calls Odysseus “dad,” familiar, modern curse words are placed in the soldier’s mouths and Odysseus yells, “Let’s go,” instead of the Homeric “draw back” or “give way,” but the vernacular, in the style of Emily Wilson’s lauded modern translation, is accessible, without the theatrics of vintage sword and sandal epics.
It takes some getting used to, and for some will break the immersive historical effect of the larger-than-life IMAX images—this is the first feature film shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film cameras—but once the anachronistic language settles, it lends a naturalism to a story that features fantastical creatures like a Cyclops and witches. Although, it must be said that the second time Odysseus hollers, “Let’s go,” as a call to retreat, it borders on parody, as if the king and his men are racing away from a Scooby-Do villain and not giant, man-eating Laestrygonians.
The topline cast, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland deliver topflight work, but Nolan is the film’s star.
He crams a lot into the film’s episodic, three hour run time. After a slow start, the action picks up with a heart-pounding scene, the first of two that can comfortably be described as horror.
In search for food Odysseus and his crew land on an island presided over by a 60-foot one-eyed giant shepherd (Bill Irwin). What begins as a hunt turns into a desperate attempt to survive as the Cyclops defends his flock after an ambush in a claustrophobic cave. Nolan stages the scene largely without the use of CGI, instead opting for a massive puppet with voice and movements provided by Irwin. Nolan is notoriously allergic to CGI, but here using practical effects is absolutely the right decision. It feels organic, and not like Damon and the other actors are staring at a tennis ball to get the right eyeline. It’s the Ray Harryhausen effect, the Cyclops’s tangible nature brings a sense of scale that adds to the terror of the scene.
The film’s most memorable moments reveal themselves in a tour de force body horror sequence. On another island, and still in search of food, Odysseus and his men encounter Circe (Samantha Morton), a witch and goddess who turns unwanted visitors to her home into animals. Once again, using practical effects, alongside clever camera placement by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, the horror is vividly brought to life as Circe transforms them. Beautifully choreographed, it is as impressive as any of Nolan’s large-scale battle sequences.
A bonus is Morton’s detailed, humanizing work as Circe, a character generally played as a villain or seductress. Here she’s more emotionally complex, almost sympathetic.
And then there’s the claustrophobic dread of the Trojan Horse sequence that sees Odysseus and soldiers inside the wooden horse, placed on top of one another like Tetris pieces. The Trojan Horse is the most famous example of Odysseus’s cunning, but Nolan visualizes it in a way that shows the cramped reality of his plan.
Ultimately, “The Odyssey” is a bit of a Trojan Horse itself. It’s a big, flashy package stuffed with surprises. Nolan delivers on the spectacle you expect, but he is more concerned with what’s inside, the unexpected attack of thematic discussions on intergenerational trauma, obsession, grief and the psychological toll of war.
Nolan fans know what to expect. His trademark murky audio is in place, occasionally making the dialogue difficult to understand and, at 2 hours and 50 minutes, it’s a bladder bursting effort, but despite the knocks, when “The Odyssey” is great, which is often, it’s exhilarating filmmaking.
