Posts Tagged ‘Space Oddity’

NEWSTALK TONIGHT WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!

Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to cast a spell! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY MARCH 31, 2023.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CKTB NIAGARA REGION: THE TIM DENIS SHOW WITH RICHARD CROUSE ON MOVIES!

I sit in with CKTB morning show host Tim Denis to have a look at the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold,” the Taron Egerton drama “Tetris,” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

1290 CJBK IN LONDON: KEN & MARINA MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I join 1290 CJBK in London and host Ken Eastwood to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold,” the Taron Egerton drama “Tetris,” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

CFRA IN OTTAWA: THE BILL CARROLL MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

SPACE ODDITY: 2 ½ STARS. “simply bites off more than it can chew.”

“Space Oddity,” a new overstuffed feature directed by actor Kyra Sedgwick and now playing on VOD, flits around between space travel, trauma, the ecology, family dynamics and romance without ever settling on any one of them.

When we meet the McAllister family, Rhode Island flower farmers Jeff (Kevin Bacon) and Jane (Carrie Preston), daughter Liz (Madeline Brewer) and son Alex (Kyle Allen), they are dealing with great trauma. The death of their middle son has left the parents and sister lost, throwing themselves into work to cope with their loss.

Alex, however, has an out-of-this-world plan to escape his pain. He joins Mission to Mars, a private company—think Bezos and Musk—with plans to colonize Mars. It’s not a one-way trip either. Earth is dying, Alex says, so why hang around?

His family goes along with his pipe dream until he gets serious, and applies for insurance to help finance the journey. At the insurance office, however, he meets Daisy (Alexandra Shipp), a broker who just might give the rocket man a reason to come down to earth.

The subject of space travel is the method by which “Space Oddity” conveys its real message, about the state of our planet and what needs to be done to save our environment, but the addition of family drama and romance makes it feel like it is madly running off in several directions all at once.

It has the feel of an after school special. The lead, Alex, isn’t a teenager, but he behaves like one and Allen’s wishy-washy performance doesn’t do much to hold our interest at the center of the film. He isn’t aided by a script that telegraphs every plot twist in advance. If the film’s journey had been more interesting, the predictable destination wouldn’t be as bland.

“Space Oddity” simply bites off more than it can chew. The environmental messages are heavy-handed with no new ideas and, as a study of grief, it is far too light weight.

CTVNEWS.ca: David Bowie superfan on lessons learned from the legendary artist

Screen Shot 2016-01-11 at 3.32.08 PMBy Richard Crouse for CTVNews.ca

Today the world mourns the loss of the giant. David Bowie passed away Sunday night from cancer just days after releasing an album and celebrating his 69th birthday.

I’ve been a fan since I was old enough to understand music. The first record I bought was the Space Oddity 45 and today a 6′ x 5′ photograph of Ziggy Stardust dominates my living room. I guess I’m what you would call a superfan. I own all the music, have seen him in concert almost more times than I can count but today isn’t a gloomy day for me.

Simon Pegg summed up my feelings, tweeting, “If you’re sad today, just remember the world is over 4 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.”

Today, in that spirit I choose to celebrate his life. Today I choose to look back at someone whose work affected me more than any other artist. Not just the songs—which are always great, occasionally challenging and frequently transcendent—but more his outlook on life and art. He taught me it was OK to walk my own path, to never rest on my laurels, to push even if it goes against the grain. When he sang “turn and face the strange,” in the song Changes it struck me like a thunderbolt. For anyone who ever felt like a misfit here was an artist who celebrated “the other.” More than any other of his lyrics, with those five words it was as if he gave me permission to look beyond my borders. That was a potent message when I was a teenager and remains one today.

Through his music, his actions and his lifestyle he embodied a way of thinking and it affected me on a cellular level. He revelled in the differences that set him apart from the rest of the pack… and so did I.

Listening to him I learned about literature, Bertolt Brecht, electronic music, The Elephant Man, fashion and much more. I studied the album covers and memorized the lyrics. They opened up exotic worlds for me but the biggest lesson I learned from my nascent adoration of David Bowie was a simple one: be yourself, find your own voice.

He transcended being a pop star or even a pop icon. Instead he was a cultural guiding light, the saviour of square pegs tired of being forced into round holes.

At least that’s how I view him.

I’m sure today as his children and wife grieve him they see him differently, as a father, husband, a man. My heart goes out to them for their loss, but for me, as I sit here writing this and listening to his latest album Blackstar, he is an inspiration, a person who never stopped pushing boundaries right up until the end. We should all be as lucky as David Bowie to have the kind of restless creative spirit it takes to live a life filled with ever shifting boundaries, exploration and challenges. A life lived like an extended art project was his gift to us. Today, as always, I am grateful for it.