Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about the bespoke thriller “The Outfit,” the erotic thriller “Deep Water,” the wholesome family flick “Cheaper by the Dozen,” and a pair of horror film, “Master” and “X.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard joins CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to talk about the non-erotic thriller “Deep Water,” the bespoke gangster drama “The Outfit” and the family friendly “Cheaper by the Dozen” on Disney+.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Matt Harris to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the well dressed thriller “The Outfit,” the tense college thriller “Master,” the “adult” horror of “X,” the non-erotic, non-thrilling “Deep Water” and the wholesome “Cheaper by the Dozen.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“Deep Water,” the new movie from Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, now streaming on Prime Video, is an erotic thriller in name only.
Neither erotic or thrilling, it lacks the smoldering energy of director Adrian Lyne’s previous work. Movies like “9 ½ Weeks” and “Unfaithful” established him as a steamer of screens, but that was then.
This is now. A better title for “Deep Water” may have been “Cold Water.”
Affleck plays Vic, a retired software developer who made a fortune designing a chip that helps drones locate and destroy targets. He spends his days with his daughter while his wild wife Melinda (de Armas), having grown bored of their routine, entertains herself with a series of very public affairs. For the most part Vic bites his lip but when one of Melinda’s flings winds up dead, face down in their pool, cuckold Vic becomes a suspect and their already tenuous situation comes closer to the breaking point.
Lyne, in his first film in twenty years, seems unable to tease out the tension from the love-hate story, sexual or otherwise. The repeated affair/disappearance cycle gets old fast and Lyne does little to make us care about any of them, Vic, Melinda or her unfortunate boyfriends.
I can say that Affleck has one of the best scowls in movies, but that’s not enough to hang an entire performance on. A Sad Affleck meme come to life, for much of the movie it appears he’s given up, Ben, not Vic. It’s as though he stopped caring after the first reel. Vic should display hidden reserves of resolve but Affleck’s performance is as inert as the film.
De Armas, so wonderful in “Knives Out” and “No Time to Die,” is reduced to an eye-batting subject for Lyne’s male gaze.
A tepid psychosexual cuckold tale with a side of murder and loose ends galore, “Deep Water” wastes its stars in a movie that does not rise to the challenge of exploring the story’s themes of morality, murder and marriage.
Richard speaks to “CTV News at 11:30” anchor Andria Bain about TV shows to watch this weekend including Viggo Mortensen’s father-and-son drama “Falling” (select theatres, rent or buy on the Apple TV app and other VOD platforms), the trippy “A Glitch in the Matrix” documentary (VOD), and the unfiltered Netflix romantic drama “Malcolm & Marie” (Netflix).
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 18:45)
Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with host Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including Viggo Mortensen’s father-and-son drama “Falling” (select theatres, rent or buy on the Apple TV app and other VOD platforms), the trippy “A Glitch in the Matrix” documentary (VOD), and the unfiltered Netflix romantic drama “Malcolm & Marie” (Netflix).
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including Viggo Mortensen’s father-and-son drama “Falling” (select theatres, rent or buy on the Apple TV app and other VOD platforms), the trippy “A Glitch in the Matrix” documentary (VOD), the unfiltered Netflix romantic drama “Malcolm & Marie” (Netflix) and the Australian sheep story “Rams” (Vortex Media, VOD/Digital).
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“Malcolm & Marie,” a two-hander starring Zendaya and John David Washington and now streaming on Netflix, is a pandemic movie. It was shot during lockdown, in one location under strict health protocols, but there’s no mention of a virus or masks. Instead, it crackles with anxiety, a feeling many are now all too familiar with.
Washington and Zendaya are the titular couple, an up-and-coming movie director and aspiring actress. Their romantic relationship is strained when he forgets to thank her from the stage during his new film’s premier. She’s not in the movie, but believes much of the story was borrowed from the more troubled moments of her life. It’s 1 am, tensions are running high as the gloves come off in an escalating power struggle.
Shot in luscious, grainy black and white, the study of a creator and his muse id first and foremost a showcase for the talent of its stars. Both drip charisma and deliver pages of complicated, emotionally draining dialogue with conviction and ease.
Malcolm is all bluster, a character prone to long diatribes about the politicization of art made by Black directors, the inability of film critics to judge his work fairly and, most importantly, why Marie is upset. He is blinded by ego and insecurity and Washington digs deep to summon his inner demons. His near constant stream of film references—Ed Wood, Ida Lupino, William Wyler, Elaine May and Barry Jenkins to mention a few—that may leave non-cinephiles looking to connect the dots.
Marie is just as fiery but more self-aware. Her frustration bubbles throughout but Zendaya brings layers to her. In the film’s first half she is glammed-up, wearing a sparkling red carpet-ready dress. Midway through she changes into lounge wear and with the change of clothes comes subtle changes to the character. She becomes more real, less guarded. It is a lovely, challenging performance from the recent Emmy winner.
“Malcolm & Marie” has a luscious sheen to the cinematography, some great lifestyle porn—their beachfront mansion is straight out of “Architectural Digest”—and terrific performances, so I have to wonder why I didn’t like it more. Director Sam Levinson provides both style and some substance but watching the movie feels like eavesdropping on a rehearsal for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Ripe with tension, anxiety and some good old-fashioned name calling, it’s an exercise in unfiltered self-indulgence that revels in its louder moments when, in fact, it works best when it is more subdued.
Richard has a look at Jack “o’-lantern” Black in “The House With A Clock In Its Walls,” the birth of Trump in “Fahrenheit 11/9,” and the tear-inducing (but not for the reason you think) “Life Itself” and the fist-in-your-face stylings of “Assassination Nation” with the CFRA Morning Rush host Bill Carroll.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
