I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day” and the spoof “Stop! That! Train!”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 34:37)
I sit with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about to the recent Tony Award winner “Giant,” Rush’s triumphant return to the stage, Glenn Close’s honorary Oscar, and I review the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day,” the spoof “Stop! That! Train!” and the supernatural “The Voice Of Our Mother.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day,” the spoof “Stop! That! Train!” and the supernatural “The Voice Of Our Mother.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day,” the spoof “Stop! That! Train!” and the supernatural “The Voice Of Our Mother.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Stop! That! Train!,” a new disaster comedy starring RuPaul and now playing in theatres, two train attendants get the jobs of a lifetime working for the luxurious Glamazonian Express just as a massive storm endangers the train, their jobs and may even their lives. “It’s a Stormaganza!”
CAST: Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Latrice Royale, Monét X Change, Symone, RuPaul Charles, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicole Richie, Raven-Symoné, Michelle Visage, Chris Parnell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Charo, Natasha Leggero, Joel McHale, Missi Pyle, Jerry O’Connell, Lisa Rinna. Directed by Adam Shankman.
REVIEW: “Stop! That! Train!” is the shameless spiritual cousin to “Airplane” and other spoof movies that never met a joke it couldn’t or wouldn’t crack.
The cavalcade of jokes begins as BFFs Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) report for duty as attendants on the high-speed Glamazonian Express, a train so most glamorous it makes the Orient Express seem dowdy. “There ain’t no rules when you’re riding on a train,” sing the first-class train attendants in the Safety Instructions musical number. “We’re like if Amtrak was gay.”
Their first day on the job is thrown into chaos when a massive storm nicknamed a Stormaganza hits, threatening to crash the train into Los Angeles. The only route to survival is for Tess and DeeDee to team up with the condescending first-class attendants, who, with the help of President Judy Gagwell (RuPaul) just might be able to avert disaster.
One of the co-producers of “Stop! That! Train!” is the aptly named Unapologetic Projects. I say aptly named because this movie is unapologetic in its campy approach. No joke is too corny, no joke obvious, no joke is left unturned. Don’t like a joke? Hang on, there will be another one in the next five seconds.
Legendary crime writer Elmore Leronard once told me you should never use more than one “!” in every 100,000 words. The title alone of “Stop! That! Train!” uses three and director Adam Shankman pitches the performances as if there were an “!” at the end of every joke. It’s a lot, and a bit of a blunt instrument, but it’s all in good fun.
Like an episode of “Drag Race,” “Stop! That! Train!” is colorful, chaotic and escapist. It’s a whole lotta empty calories, but fans of “Drag Race” should lap up this train wreck’s the quotable moments and wild energy.
I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about Ryan Gosling’s sci fi adventure “Project Hail Mary,” the psychological thriller “The Things You Kill” and the horror sequel “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to tune a violin. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Ryan Gosling’s sci fi adventure “Project Hail Mary,” the psychological thriller “The Things You Kill” and the horror sequel “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” a sequel to the 2019 horror comedy “Ready or Not,” Grace MacCaullay is once again targeted by the 1% in a deadly game of hide ‘n seek. “It’s not round two… it’s sudden death.”
CAST: Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg, Elijah Wood. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.
REVIEW: The new film picks up immediately after newlywed Grace MacCaullay (Samara Weaving) survived her new family’s deadly game of hide ‘n seek. Still dressed in her blood stained wedding dress and smoking a cigarette after the action-packed wedding night that left her fiancée and his entire family dead, she finds herself the target in an even deadlier diversion.
“By surviving Hide and Seek you’ve triggered a new game,” says the lawyer for the aristocratic game players (Elijah Wood). “This time against the High Council families. Double or nothing. This part will be familiar. They will try and kill you.”
The High Council families are the 1% of the 1%. Rich beyond belief, their money and power is the result of a deal with the devil, and now they must hunt and kill Grace and sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) for the chance to sit in the “high seat,” the world’s most powerful position.
Questions is, can devil worshippers outwit, outplay and outlast two resourceful women named for the pious properties of grace and faith?
Like many sequels “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” is bigger than the original. There are more characters, more gore, two protagonists—Grace now has a sister, even if they aren’t close. “Biologically speaking, we’re sisters,” Faith says, “but we’re not family.”—and the stakes are higher.
But, like a pimple or a hole in the roof, bigger isn’t better.
The new film, which features the same creative team as the 2019 original, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, gets off to a fun start with Amy Winehouse’s version of the Shirelles classic “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” but soon devolves into a morass of exposition.
In the forty-five minutes before the “game” begins, Weaving has the unenviable task of recapping the plot of the first movie and later Wood wades through the over complicated history of the High Council and the rules of the hunt for Grace and Faith. It’s clunky and even though Weaving and Newton spark off one another, and Wood appears to be having fun, it’s s slog. ighkjfk
What follows is a litany of near misses, bland action choreography and gallons of grizzly gore. The fight sequences are uninspired, although a battle involving pepper spray has the kind of exuberance missing from the other action scenes.
“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has a few laughs—Faith pleads for her life with the well-delivered line: “No, no I’m her emergency contact!”—but the needlessly complicated story leans into the evil without the absurdity that made the first movie so much fun.
