Posts Tagged ‘Stanley Tucci’

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY JULY 23, 2021.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the M. Night Shyamalan thriller “Old” (in theatres), the action flick “Jolt” (Amazon Prime) and the dramatic coming of age story of “Beans” (in theatres).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL REVIEWS FOR JULY 23 WITH Akshay Tandon.

Richard and CTV NewsChannel morning show host Akshay Tandon chat up the weekend’s big releases including the M. Night Shyamalan thriller “Old” (in theatres), the action flick “Jolt” (Amazon Prime) and the dramatic coming of age story of “Beans” (in theatres).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

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

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Andrew Pinsent to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including the M. Night Shyamalan thriller “Old” (in theatres), the action flick “Jolt” (Amazon Prime), the rock ‘n roll biopic “Creation Stories” (VOD), the dramatic coming of age story of “Beans” (in theatres), and the throwback skateboarding movie “North Hollywood” (VOD) with Vince Vaughn.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

JOLT: 3 STARS. “enough jolts to keep you entertained for ninety minutes.”

After a few years of appearing in adult dramas, “Underworld” star Kate Beckinsale is kicking butt again. The former action star clenches her fists in “Jolt,” a hard-hitting comedy now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Lindy (Beckinsale) gets mad. Really, really mad.

Doctors believe her uncontrolled rage is rooted in a troubled childhood but whatever the reason, no one is safe from her wrath. Loud chewers. Rude waiters. Men who wear flip flops with jeans. It doesn’t take much to set her off.

She’s tried a laundry list of “cures,” but nothing quelled her murderous anger until psychiatrist Dr. Munchin (Stanley Tucci) outfitted her with a barbaric shock treatment that allows her to live a normal-ish life. Still, she could erupt at any time.

The shock treatment, Dr. Munchin tells her, is just one element of her recovery. She must reconcile her past, he tells her, work through her issues and maybe even date.

Reluctantly, she agrees to try some human contact in the form of a dinner date with an accountant named Justin (Jai Courtney). After a rocky start she discovers he’s the first person in ages she doesn’t want to beat bloody for the slightest infraction.

He’s sweet but unfortunately after their first sleepover, he’s discovered dead, shot in the head.

Heartbroken, she goes on a revenge bender while police (Laverne Cox and Bobby Cannavale) investigate her as a prime suspect in Justin’s untimely passing.

Dr. Munchin advises her to leave it alone, but she can’t. “Some people cry,” she says. “Some write s**t poetry. I hurt people.”

“Jolt” is a bit of blood-stained fun. Zippy, occasionally funny and empowering—“What is it with gross old men always underestimating women!”—it delivers the kind of neck-breaking fight scenes you expect from a movie about a person with violent impulse control issues. Director   Tanya Wexler stages several generic-but-frenetic action scenes—a car chase, fist fights—but also manages to inject some life into a laugh out loud escape from a hospital nursery.

“Jolt” is what is often called a Refrigerator Movie. It makes enough sense as you watch it but later, while you stand in front of the fridge looking for sandwich ingredients, you think back and realize there are plot holes big enough for Kate Beckinsale to walk through.

The movie has enough jolts to keep you entertained for ninety minutes, but I’m not sure I am as interested in the set up to a sequel as the filmmakers are.

CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MORE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

Richard speaks to “CTV News at 11:30” anchor Andria Bain about TV shows to watch this weekend including two with Rosamund Pike, the Marie Curie biopic “Radioactive” on Crave and the dark comedy “I Care a Lot” on Amazon Prime Video, the Disney+ kid’s flick “Flora & Ulysses” and the tearjerker “Supernova” starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci on VID.

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 19:19)

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2021.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the mean-spirited crime dramedy “I Care a Lot” (Amazon Prime Video in Canada), the heartfelt drama “Supernova” (Apple TV app, and everywhere you rent or buy movies) and the kid’s flick Flora & Ulysses (Disney+).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FEBRUARY 19, 2021!

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 the mean-spirited crime dramedy “I Care a Lot” (Amazon Prime Video in Canada) and the kid’s flick Flora & Ulysses (Disney+).

Watch the whole thing HERE!

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

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 the mean-spirited crime dramedy “I Care a Lot” (Amazon Prime Video in Canada), the heartfelt drama “Supernova” (Apple TV app, and everywhere you rent or buy movies) and the kid’s flick Flora & Ulysses (Disney+).

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

SUPERNOVA: 4 STARS. “unhurried love story, beautifully acted.”

“Supernova,” a new relationship drama starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci and now available on VOD, is a touching look at memory, the memories that make up a life and what happens when those memories start to fade.

Longtime couple Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci), a formerly famous classical pianist and well-known author respectively, are on a RV trip through the bucolic north of England. It is no ordinary vacation, however. Sam has a rare gig near the end of the planned trip and says, “He’s practically frog-marching me to it. Let’s see if I’m still any good.” But really, for the sixty-something partners, it’s a farewell to the life they’ve known as they transition to the gradual, but steady onset of Tusker’s dementia.

Tusker, convinced that the pills he’s taking aren’t helping, leaves his medication behind in solemn acceptance of what is to come. “There will come a time when I will forget who is doing the forgetting,” he writes. Sam, who put his career on hold for Tusker, isn’t ready to let go of the man who shares his life and occupies his happiest memories. “Where do you think we’ll be in six months?“ Tusker asks Sam. “Together,” Sam quickly replies.

“Supernova” is an unhurried love story, beautifully acted, about memory and control over one’s life.

Tusker has plans for a graceful exit while Sam is convinced love will triumph over whatever comes next. “I want to see this through to the end,” he says. “It’s all I have left.”

Sam grapples with their future in the film’s most heart-rending set-piece. Over dinner the two finally stop talking around the subject of the future and discuss their feelings, raw and unfiltered. Sam struggles with the thought of being alone, Tusker with the loss of control he feels as his memory slips away. “I want to be remembered for who I was,” he says, “and not for who I am about to become. That is the only thing I can control.”

What comes before this scene is warm, occasionally funny, always affecting but the true power of the story is revealed when the guards come down and Sam and Tusker get honest with one another about the reality of the situation. Firth and Tucci bring a lived-in realism to the scene that, in quiet, subtle ways, lays bare the feelings of grief both are experiencing.

Firth, whose icy, stiff-upper-lip performances have not always revealed a deep well of emotion, allows for heartfelt melancholy here in a delicate film that positively drips with compassion and respect.