I joined CTV NewsChannel to have a look at new movies coming to theatres including the decadent period piece “Hedda,” the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head” and the political thriller “Anniversary.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the weekend’s best movies, on streaming and in theatres. We have a look at Prime Video movie “Hedda” with Tessa Thompson, the Disney+ series “Mardaugh: Murder in the Family,” Richard Linklater’s latest film “Nouvelle Vague” and the Maya Rudolph Apple TV+ series “Loot.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CP24 to talk about the decadent period piece “Hedda,” the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head,” the comedy-drama “Novelle Vague” and the political thriller “Anniversary.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and let you know what’s happening in theatres. We talk about the history of Hollywood movies at the White House, Francis Ford Coppola’s $1 million watch and I review the decadent period piece “Hedda” and the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I joined CTV NewsChannel to have a look at new movies coming to theatres including the decadent period piece “Hedda,” the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head,” the comedy-drama “Novelle Vague” and the political thriller “Anniversary.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Stefan Keyes to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the decadent period piece “Hedda,” the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head,” the comedy-drama “Novelle Vague” and the political thriller “Anniversary.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CP24 to talk about the decadent period piece “Hedda,” the kid-friendly monster flick “Stitch Head” and the scary Crave series “IT: Welcome to Derry.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “Hedda,” a melodramatic reimagination of Henrik Ibsen’s classic 1891 drama starring Tessa Thompson and now playing on Prime Video, a free-spirited woman plays the guests at a lavish party on a country estate as if they were pawns in her elaborate game of chess.
CAST: Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, Nina Hoss. Directed by Nia DaCosta.
REVIEW: An iconoclastic remake of Henrik Ibsen’s classic 1891 play “Hedda Gabler,” the action is transported from the original late 19th century Oslo setting to 1950s British high society.
The action in “Hedda” takes place during one eventful night at a lavish party thrown by Hedda (Tessa Thompson) and her new husband George Tesman (Tom Bateman) on their newly purchased country estate.
On the surface they appear to be a happy couple, but beneath the polished veneer of their relationship lies dissatisfaction, crippling debt and duplicity.
Drowning in debt after buying a house to impress Hedda, they invite Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch) to the bash in the hope he’ll give George a new, good paying academic gig.
As music blares and champagne bottles pop, the party spins out of control when the volatile Eileen Lövborg (Nina Hoss) shows up. Charismatic and brilliant, she is the author of a book exploring sexuality, up for the job George wants and, to complicate matters further, is Hedda’s ex-lover.
“A little chaos is good for the gathering,” says Hedda as the good times give way to desire, jealousy, and betrayal.
“Hedda” is a grand looking film, a document of one hedonistic night, fuelled by the title character’s manipulations. Director Nia DaCosta paints the screen with sumptuous set design and stylish period details that emphasize the decadent vibe of the evening. It’s a cliché, but the setting really is a character, silently creating a Dionysian atmosphere that goes a long way to enhance the storytelling.
This is not a period piece à la Merchant Ivory.
DaCosta, who also wrote the script, throws decorum out the window, portraying Hedda with a crueler edge than previously seen. The character has always orchestrated the lives of those around her, but a character who was once a tragic anti-heroine is now a ruthlessly aspirational, controlling character.
Thompson vividly captures Hedda’s need to “live on her own terms” with a volatile presence that expands the character with racial and queer aspects that add texture to the more than century old character. It’s lively, commanding work that stands out amid the film’s ornate style.
“Hedda” may not work for purists, but in its reinvention of the character for a new generation, it mines new aspects to a classic.
Can “Creed III,” the new Michael B. Jordan film now playing in theatres, really be part of the “Rocky” franchise when it doesn’t feature either Rocky Balboa or even a hint of “Gonna Fly Now,” the original movie’s inspirational theme song?
The answer is a resounding yes. Technically the ninth movie in the series, “Creed III” finds fresh ways to echo the original while doing its own fancy footwork.
“Creed III” begins with a flashback. It’s the early 2000s and fifteen-year-old Creed (Thaddeus J. Mixson) is running with Damian “Dame” Anderson (Spence Moore II), an older guy from his group home. With a lethal right hook Dame is headed for the boxing big time; the nationals, the Olympics and then, maybe, a world championship. “You’ll be with me,” he tells young Creed. “Someone has to carry my bags.”
When things get violent one night in front of a liquor store, Creed runs to safety but Dame goes to jail.
Cut to present day.
In “Creed II” Adonis, (Jordan who also directs this time out), finally stepped away from the long shadow cast by his father Apollo Creed and mentor Rocky Balboa to become his own man. Retired—“I left Boxing,” he says. “Boxing didn’t leave me.”—his career and family life in order, he’s now a celebrity gym owner and boxing promoter.
“I spent the last seven years of my life living out my wildest dreams,” says Adonis. “Rocky. My dad. This is built on their shoulders.”
Adonis moved on, but Dame (Jonathan Majors), fresh out of jail, is mired in the past. The former prodigy boxer wants his shot at a title, at the life Creed has, and he wants to fight Creed to get it.
“You think you mad?” he asks Adonis. “Try spending half your life in a cell. Watching somebody else live your life.”
“Creed III” isn’t really a sports movie. Blows are exchanged, and there’s even a lo-fi training montage—instead of Rocky’s famous run on the 72 stone steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Creed bolts up the Hollywood Hills—but this is more about the trauma of the past revisited in the present, than the action in the ring.
Like the other movies in the “Rocky”/”Creed” Universe, “III” is about family. Creed’s mother (Phylicia Rashad), wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent) provide family dynamics at home, but it is the bond between Creed and Dame, once as close as brothers, that provides the movie’s core relationship.
The two friends, separated by dreams, jail and success, are forever bound by memories and the shared stories of trauma. The difference between them is that Creed has managed his life with control and timing, while Dane is about rage and revenge. Their mano-et-mano showdown may ultimately unfold in slightly predictable ways by the film’s twelfth round, but Jordan and Majors are anything but obvious.
Jordan delivers the goods as Creed, but it is Majors who steals the show. Dame is a complex character, one cursed to feel left behind. “I was the best but I never got a chance to show that,” he says, his voice dripping with anger. Majors makes us feel empathy for an intimidating guy who doesn’t play by the rules, by showing both his steeliness and vulnerability.
“Creed III,” of course, leads up to a showdown between the two frenemies, but as a director Jordan finds a way to make the inevitable fight more personal, more dynamic than the usual boxing movie finale. It’s a knockout climax to a sometimes formulaic, but heartfelt, story of ambition and regret.
