I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in “The Drama” and the eye-popping “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” lawsuit, romance on sale, the Ferris Bueller that almost was and I review the Zendaya and Robert Pattinson uncom rom com “The Drama,” and suggest wedding cocktails to go along with the film.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about new movies in theatres including the uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 15:38)
I join “CP24 Breakfast” host Nick Dixon to talk about he uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the Netflix special “Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and movies playing in theatres. We look at a new drama based on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, the latest meme-worthy edition to the Australian National Film and Sound Archive, Keenan Thompson’s “Unfunny Bunny,” a new book for kids and I review “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the uncom rom com “The Drama.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel’s Scott Hirsch to talk about the uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Watch 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 uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: An uncom rom com (uncomfortable rom com) “The Drama” stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a young couple whose relationship is threatened by an unexpected revelation.
CAST: Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, Zoë Winters. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli.
REVIEW: Unconventional and uncomfortable, “The Drama” is a showcase for Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s embrace of the pitch-black material.
As quirky bookstore clerk Emma (Zendaya) and museum director Charlie (Robert Pattinson) plan for their wedding they take a moment to play a harmless game with friends. “All right, so before we got married, we did this thing where we said the worst thing we’ve ever done,” says Emma’s friend Rachel (Alana Haim). “I’ll tell mine if we all do it. Promise?”
After some encouragement Emma shares a dark secret so sordid it rocks her husband-to-be to the core. As the couple attempt to find “radical acceptance” of each other’s flaws and secrets, they first must ask if they ever really knew one another at all. “You have to stop thinking about it,” Emma says.
What begins as a meet cute rom com takes a turn into dark territory during a party game of “what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” over a bottle or two of wine. No spoilers here, but hot buttons are pushed by Emma’s confession, and the mist of romance disappears, crushed by the weight of the past.
Told with great energy by director/writer Kristoffer Borgli, the film is proof that many things can be true at the same time. It’s often uneasily hilarious but also upsetting. It’s stressful, provocative and yet awkward. Bound to be controversial, the gallows humor embedded in the script may corner the market on uncom rom coms as it mines some pretty dark material for laughs but somehow maintains a relatively fizzy tone.
Borgli uses the conventions of rom coms—the meet cute, obstacles and conflict, etc—but does so without the feel-good tone of a Drew Barrymore or Kathryn Heigl flick. The film’s shocking disclosure is a trigger for hurt feelings and bad behavior, but ultimately it contemplates the limits of love and empathy. It shares connective tissue with run-of-the-mill rom coms, but by its nature it digs deeper, examining the true nature of personal connection in the face of unpleasant surprises.
“The Drama” works because of Borgli’s fearless script, clever editing and Daniel Pemberton’s score, but it sticks because Zendaya and Pattinson bring messy humanity to Emma and Charlie that feel authentic no matter how twisted the plot machinations.
