I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about rapper Pitbull’s Guinness World Record, playing darts with Metallica, an AI Odyssey, my review of “The Odyssey” and some ancient cocktails to helpn you drink like Dionysus.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join “The Vassy Kapelos Show” on the iHeartRadio network to talk about my reaction to Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated “The Odyssey.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic “The Odyssey,” now playing in theatres, sees Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, use cunning and courage to defeat mythical beasts on his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. “After years of war, no one could stand between my men and home. Not even the gods.”
CAST: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
REVIEW: Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling.
Director Christopher Nolan alters story elements from the original epic poem but keeps the core narrative and spirit of Homer’s 2,775-year-old original alive. That includes the ancient text’s nonlinear “in medias res” (starting in the middle of the action), style, flashbacks and parallel storylines. It’s familiar ground for Nolan, whose films “Memento,” “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Tenet” tinkered with time and works effectively here, helping to build suspense that pays off in the film’s final act.
The story begins after the fall of Troy. On his ten-year maritime journey home Greek hero King Odysseus (Matt Damon) encounters mythical monsters, like the one-eyed Cyclops, the alluring-but-deadly Sirens, and Circe, a sorceress who turns his men into swine.
He returns to find his kingdom in shambles, his palace overrun with mobs of suitors pressuring his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) into marriage while son Telemachus (Tom Holland) searches for his lost father. “You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know,” taunts Antinous (Robert Pattinson. “Like some sniveling bastard.”
Reclaiming his throne and family will test Odysseus’s cunning and courage in ways not even the gods could.
Among the first things you’ll notice about “The Odyssey” is a lack of antiquated language. Purists may rankle as Telemachus calls Odysseus “dad,” familiar, modern curse words are placed in the soldier’s mouths and Odysseus yells, “Let’s go,” instead of the Homeric “draw back” or “give way,” but the vernacular, in the style of Emily Wilson’s lauded modern translation, is accessible, without the theatrics of vintage sword and sandal epics.
It takes some getting used to, and for some will break the immersive historical effect of the larger-than-life IMAX images—this is the first feature film shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film cameras—but once the anachronistic language settles, it lends a naturalism to a story that features fantastical creatures like a Cyclops and witches. Although, it must be said that the second time Odysseus hollers, “Let’s go,” as a call to retreat, it borders on parody, as if the king and his men are racing away from a Scooby-Do villain and not giant, man-eating Laestrygonians.
The topline cast, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland deliver topflight work, but Nolan is the film’s star.
He crams a lot into the film’s episodic, three hour run time. After a slow start, the action picks up with a heart-pounding scene, the first of two that can comfortably be described as horror.
In search for food Odysseus and his crew land on an island presided over by a 60-foot one-eyed giant shepherd (Bill Irwin). What begins as a hunt turns into a desperate attempt to survive as the Cyclops defends his flock after an ambush in a claustrophobic cave. Nolan stages the scene largely without the use of CGI, instead opting for a massive puppet with voice and movements provided by Irwin. Nolan is notoriously allergic to CGI, but here using practical effects is absolutely the right decision. It feels organic, and not like Damon and the other actors are staring at a tennis ball to get the right eyeline. It’s the Ray Harryhausen effect, the Cyclops’s tangible nature brings a sense of scale that adds to the terror of the scene.
The film’s most memorable moments reveal themselves in a tour de force body horror sequence. On another island, and still in search of food, Odysseus and his men encounter Circe (Samantha Morton), a witch and goddess who turns unwanted visitors to her home into animals. Once again, using practical effects, alongside clever camera placement by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, the horror is vividly brought to life as Circe transforms them. Beautifully choreographed, it is as impressive as any of Nolan’s large-scale battle sequences.
A bonus is Morton’s detailed, humanizing work as Circe, a character generally played as a villain or seductress. Here she’s more emotionally complex, almost sympathetic.
And then there’s the claustrophobic dread of the Trojan Horse sequence that sees Odysseus and soldiers inside the wooden horse, placed on top of one another like Tetris pieces. The Trojan Horse is the most famous example of Odysseus’s cunning, but Nolan visualizes it in a way that shows the cramped reality of his plan.
Ultimately, “The Odyssey” is a bit of a Trojan Horse itself. It’s a big, flashy package stuffed with surprises. Nolan delivers on the spectacle you expect, but he is more concerned with what’s inside, the unexpected attack of thematic discussions on intergenerational trauma, obsession, grief and the psychological toll of war.
Nolan fans know what to expect. His trademark murky audio is in place, occasionally making the dialogue difficult to understand and, at 2 hours and 50 minutes, it’s a bladder bursting effort, but despite the knocks, when “The Odyssey” is great, which is often, it’s exhilarating filmmaking.
I wrote about “The Odyssey” for CTVNews.ca:
“Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old-school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling…” Read the whole thing HERE!
Movies based on videogames are either entertaining or eye-rolling. An interactive videogame that works at home on your PlayStation may not offer the same dopamine rush when translated to the one-way interactivity of the big screen. For every “Detective Pikachu” that hits the mark there’s a dozen “BloodRaynes” or “Mortal Kombat: Annihilations.”
“Uncharted,” a prequel to the wildly successful PlayStation series starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, and now playing in theatres, is the latest entry in the videogame sweepstakes.
Holland plays Nathan Drake, who, unlike Spider-Man, the actor’s other cinematic alter-ego, uses his sticky fingers to steal stuff, not scale the outside of tall buildings. Either way, both characters are adventurers who live outside the margins. In Drake’s case, it comes naturally. He’s a direct descendant of 16th century pirate Sir Francis Drake.
By day Nathan is a bartender in New York, by night he’s a thief. Day and night, he hopes to reunite with his long-lost treasure-hunting brother Sam who he hasn’t seen since he was ten years old. Big brother hit the road, with a promise to return, leaving behind memories and some cryptic clues to the location of $5 billion worth of Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s lost gold. “The gold isn’t gone,” he said, “it’s lost and if it is lost, it can be found.”
When fast-talking slickster Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) asks Nathan to help track down the lost treasure, he agrees, hoping to find the gold and information on his missing brother. “There’s only one rule,” says Sully of their dangerous mission. “Don’t get caught.”
The pair, along with fortune hunter Chloe (Sophia Ali), travel the world in search of two crosses that serve as a key to the mystery, all the while trying to stay one or two steps ahead of ruthless rich guy Moncada (Antonio Banderas), who has a personal connection to the gold, and his team of mercenaries.
“Uncharted” mixes and matches the adventure elements of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Tomb Raider” and “National Treasure” into a generic action movie that loses its way early on. Not even the combined charisma of its stars, Holland and Wahlberg, can put it back on track.
Both play thinly sketched versions of characters we’ve seen before and better. When he’s on-screen Wahlberg plays a riff on his trademarked sarcastic smart alecky character but this is a Where’s Waldo style role for him. He disappears for long sections as Holland takes center stage.
Holland plays Nathan as a cocky young man with a special set of skills. Sound familiar? It’s like watching Peter Parker do parkour without the webs but with an unnatural gift for figuring out puzzles that have confounded others for centuries. He’s fun on screen but he’s not doing anything here that feels new.
Together they banter in playful dialogue that often has the all the charm of an in-gown toenail.
Then there are the action scenes. The movie opens with a frenetic fight scene, heavy on the CGI, that sees Nathan flying through the air, battling bad guys. It’s high-flying action, but don’t worry if you are five minutes late getting to the cinema, the scene is repeated later in the movie. The large-scale action scenes are loud, frenzied but often feel like leftovers from Pierce Brosnan era 007. They fill the screen, but the movie’s flippant, light tone ensures there is very little jeopardy involved for any of the main characters.
“Uncharted” does have a pretty good villain, and no, it’s not Banderas who does little other than speak in a low whisper. Tati Gabrielle as the ruthless killer and schemer Braddock brings some spark to her scenes, but not enough to kickstart this inert action flick.
At the beginning of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the new two-and-a-half-hour-long superhero movie now playing in theatres, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) learns it’s hard to be a masked crime fighter when everybody knows who you are under your red and black suit.
Exposed by supervillain Mysterio at the end of “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” Parker’s life has been turned upside down. And not in a fun way as in 2002’s “Spider-Man” when Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst shared an upside-down smooch in the rain.
That was harmless good fun.
These days, the friendly neighborhood web-slinger’s newfound notoriety makes it impossible for him to balance his personal life and relationships with girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) with his role as a world saving crime fighter.
“People looked up to this boy and called him a hero,” squawks J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons), the conspiratorial host of TheDailyBugle.net. “Well, I’ll tell you what I call him, Public Enemy Number One!”
Some think he’s a hero, others regard him as a vigilante. As his identities become blurred, Parker turns to becaped neurosurgeon and Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), for help.
“When Mysterio revealed my identity, my entire life got screwed up,” Parker says to Strange. “I was wondering if you could make it so it never did.”
Parker wants Dr. Strange to conjure up a spell to brainwash the world and make people forget he is Spider-Man.
It’s a big ask. “Be careful what you wish for,” Strange says, warning Parker that casting such a spell will tamper with the stability of space and time.
Sure enough, the spell blows a hole in the multiverse, the collection of parallel universes with alternate realities, and unleashes “universal trespassers,” the most terrifying foes Spider-Man has ever faced in this or any other realm.
There’s more. Lots more. Big emotional moments, lotsa jokes, nostalgia and fan service, an orgy of CGI and Villains! Villains! Villains! The multiverse offers up a multitude of surprises but there will be no spoilers here. Your eyeballs will dance and, depending on your level of fandom, maybe even well up from time to time.
The trippiness of the story’s inter dimensional leaps, while entertaining, are secondary to the movie’s strongest feature, Spider-Man’s empathy. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a movie about second chances. Peter Parker doesn’t want to simply vanquish his enemies, he wants to understand them, to know why they behave as they do. By the time the end credits roll, the baddies may not be able to wreak havoc anymore, but not for the reasons you might imagine.
In real life the world is divided by ideology and opinion. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” asks us to examine those differences, look for their roots and try and heal them. It does so with plenty of trademarked Marvel action and overstuffed bombast, but the core message of empathy and understanding for others is the engine that keeps the movie chugging forward.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a mix of exhilaration and exhaustion. It is inconsistent in its storytelling, overblown at times and the finale is a drawn-out CGI fest but when it focusses on the characters, empathy and the chemistry between the actors, it soars, like Spider-Man slinging webs and effortlessly zooming between skyscrapers.
Richard finds the perfect cocktail to enjoy while having a drink and a think about the dystopian young adult drama “Chaos Walking.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
