Archive for October, 2014

YOUNG ONES: 2 ½ STARS. “a sic fi tale about the simple stuff—water and power.”

YoungOnes“Young Ones” mixes sci fi, dystopia and some young stars but unlike recent stories told in a similar vein there are no sorting ceremonies, or mazes or Hunger Games. Instead it’s a futuristic tale about the simple stuff—land, water and power.

Set in the near, dusty future. Water has become the world’s most precious commodity, a resource worth killing for. When we first meet Ernest Holm (Michael Shannon) that’s exactly what he’s doing. He guns down two bandits who try and access his well, the well he uses to hydrate his son and daughter, Jerome (Kodi Smit McPhee) and Mary (Elle Fanning). They lead a rough frontier life, which could be improved by the pipeline construction bigwig Caleb (Robert Hobbs) is building. In an effort to grab Ernest’s land, Mary’s power hungry boyfriend Flem Lever (Nicholas Hoult) helps divert the pipeline, but his assistance comes with a heavy price.

“Young Ones” is divided into three chapters, detailing Ernst’s struggles, Flem’s rise and Jerome’s reckoning. It’s primal stuff, stylishly shot and featuring good performances, particularly from Shannon whose battle with his inner demons is vivid and the most interesting part of the film, but is let down by a weak story. “Chinatown,” the great cinematic water war movie, never let the story get in the way of the characters or vice versa, but “Young Ones” takes an interesting premise that could possess great, almost Shakespearean characters fighting over the most necessary of all human needs and muddles the two so that both fall flat.

It’s an ambitious attempt at redefining what has become of the dystopian genre, but despite some good work from Shannon it’s a bland, bone dry movie.

FORCE MAJEURE: 4 STARS. “high wire balancing act & provocative thriller.”

1401553700“Force Majeure” mixes the banal with the spectacular to create a provocative psychological thriller about the male ego and the power of putting the toilet seat down… or leaving it up.

On a family skiing trip in the beautiful French Alps ski resort of Les Arcs, Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke), Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and their two children (Clara Wettergren and Vincent Wettergren) enjoy a meal together after a day on the slopes. In what is to become the defining moment of Tomas’s life, he recoils in terror when an avalanche threatens the life of his wife and kids. Everyone survives physically, but Tomas’s masculinity takes a tremendous hit. His instinct for self-preservation haunts him and causes a rift between him and the people he loves.

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund takes him time setting up the story, pausing on the minutia of the family’s life, until the astonishing avalanche scene. It’s visually impressive, a wall of fluffy snow that is equal parts beautiful and terrifying, and a perfect backdrop for this test of the power of a parent’s love versus our modern idea of masculinity.

It’s the first of several memorable scenes—another stand-out being Tomas’s extended crying jag, a deeply personal moment that verges on comedy—that detail the crumbling emotional state of a guy who wonders if he is not the man he always thought he was. “Force Majeure” is emotionally insightful; a high wire balancing act that juggles the observation of Tomas’s disintegration and, less satisfyingly, his redemption.

Between the Pages: An Evening with Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists

B1kVBpBIgAAYp-SOn Monday, November 3, 2014 Richard, along with lawyer Edward Greenspan and Olympic champion Adam van Koeverden, will read from the Giller shortlisted books at Koerner Hall (273 Bloor Street West in Toronto)! Buy tickets HERE!

As with the inaugural Between the Pages presentation offered last year, readers will get a chance to peer inside the minds and creative lives of the writers who have made it onto the 2014 shortlist. The event will feature special guest appearances and entertainment.

2014 Shortlist:
The Betrayers, David Bezmozgis, HaperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Tell, Frances Itani, Haper Collins Publishers Ltd.
Us Conductors, Sean Michaels, Random House Canada
The Girl WHo Was Saturday Night, Heather O’Neill, HaperCollins Publishers Ltd.
All My Puny Sorrows, Miriam Toews, Alfred A. Knopf Canada
The Ever After of Ashwin Rao, Random House Canada

 

 

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Metro Canada: “Citizen Marc,” The Prince of Pot. “egomaniac or great activist?”

10292612By Richard Crouse – Metro Canada

When Roger Larry was considering a subject for his new documentary he wondered, “How do I make a documentary about a character so interesting so I won’t be bored even when I’m doing press five years later?”

Five years after beginning Citizen Marc, his look at outspoken cannabis policy reform activist and Prince of Pot Marc Emery, he remains fascinated by the topic.

“What really what drew me into Marc were the contradictions,” he says. “I was looking for a subject who was facing crisis in the present tense and had a very complicated personality so there were contradictions to wrestle with.

“As we got into the subject more, certainly I was struck by the contrast between what I considered to be truly impressive acts of civil disobedience, a willingness to put his ass on the line and this tremendous ego. I began to suspect the two were very much connected because Marc is one of the most successful Canadian activists ever and I just don’t think it is a coincidence he has this ego.”

Larry and his partner Sandra Tomc agreed Emery was a compelling subject, but also a divisive one. “Is he just an egomaniac or is he a great activist? We ourselves had different points of views on Marc. We tried to assemble the most cogent arguments on both sides of that question.

“What you are seeing is the fruits of five years of arguments.”

Emery and his wife Jodie, however, aren’t happy with the way the activist is portrayed. “Marc has read the transcript but has not seen the film,” says Larry. “Jodie has seen the film. They’ve gone nuts on twitter and facebook attacking the film.”

On October 16 @JodieEmery tweeted: “The “Citizen Marc” movie: sloppy amateur film that manipulates & edits interviews & omits important facts because director hates Marc Emery.”

“In response to that I would say that I have a great deal of respect for Marc Emery,” says Larry, “that I think he has made a great contribution to Canadian society. I’m interested in how his dark side, his ego, had helped him to achieve that. A lot of public figures don’t enjoy the way they are portrayed in the media because we are not just giving the spin. We’re trying to look behind the curtain as it were. I would also say this is a documentary where we shot over a thousand hours of footage, which is very unusual, and so, yes, we edited it! It is true. I will concede that point. We did edit the film. I would have had trouble with that thousand hour running time.”

 

David Cronenberg Q&A after Halloween screening of MAPS TO THE STARS

B1UyEJMIEAAkGUwExclusive Q&A with David Cronenberg following opening night
Halloween screening of MAPS TO THE STARS

Q&A to follow 7:10 p.m. screening at Varsity Cinemas, to be moderated by Richard Crouse

Opening Night Screening
Friday, October 31
7:10 p.m.
Varsity Cinemas (55 Bloor St. W.)

This is a public event. Tickets available via Cineplex.com.

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Maps to the Stars
Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams

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With this tale of a secret-filled Hollywood family on the verge of implosion, award-winning director David Cronenberg forges both a wicked social satire and a very human ghost story from our celebrity-obsessed culture. From a screenplay by acclaimed author, screenwriter and West Coast chronicler Bruce Wagner, and featuring an ensemble cast that includes Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams and Sarah Gadon, MAPS TO THE STARS tours the seductive allure and the tender, darkly comic underbelly of contemporary success.

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Monkey Toast improv show with Richard & Adam Growe, Host of Cash Cab

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Canadian Comedy Award winner, Monkey Toast: The Improvised Talk Show is proud to present its one-of-a-kind talk show at the Comedy Bar. Each show we interview three different celebrity guests. After an interview segment, Monkey Toast’s Host/Interviewer, Ron Tite, throws the focus to the Monkey Toast players who then use the interview as the inspiration for their improvised scenes.

Our rotating cast of improvisers is one of the best in Canada and includes:

  • Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is It Anyway?)
  • Lisa Merchant (Train 48)
  • Kerry Griffin (The Second City)
  • Aurora Browne (Comedy Inc.)
  • Jan Caruana (The Bad Dog Theatre)
  • Herbie Barnes (Tonto’s Nephews)
  • Sandy Jobin-Bevans (The Second City)
  • Jim Annan (The Second City)
  • Jennifer Goodhue (Comedy Inc.)
  • Naomi Snieckus (The Ron James Show)
  • Matt Baram (The Second City)
  • Paul Bates (The Second City)
  • Marcel St. Pierre (The Bad Dog Theatre)
  • Scott Montgomery (The Second City)
  • Lauren Ash (Almost Heroes)

Past guests on the show include, former NDP Leader Jack Layton, Actor/Writer Don McKellar, former Toronto Mayor David Miller, Tony Winner Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Bob McDonald (Quirks & Quarks), Jake Gold (Canadian Idol), Andrew Coyne (Post Newspapers), Michael Landsberg (TSN), Sean Cullen, Richard Crouse (Reel To Real), Peaches, Don Ferguson (Royal Canadian Air Farce), Gavin Crawford (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Author Jan Wong, Dave Bidini, and Jaymz Bee (JazzFM) to name a few.

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Monkey Toast: Saturday, November 1, 2014 9PM

The Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor Street West

$10

Host: Ron Tite

Guests:

• Richard Crouse, Author and Film Critic for CTV’s Canada AM, Metro and NewsTalk 1010

• Adam Growe, Host of Cash Cab

Featuring the Monkey Toast Players: Jim Annan, Jen Goodhue, Jan Caruana, Matt Folliott, Marty Adams, Lisa Merchant

Music by: Ayaka Kinugawa

For advanced tickets call 416-551-6540 or go to www.comedybar.com

Celebrating 40 amazing Years of ECW Press with a new anthology

IMG_2503Proud and pleased to be part of the ECW Press 40th anniversary anthology alongside other authors Tony Burgess, Corey Redekop, Robert Priest and even Neil Peart!

It’s been eleven years since ECW published The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen and next year they’re releasing my next book Elvis Is King. Along the way we have done several other books, including Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils.

It’s been a fun ride and I’d like to thank Jack David, David Caron, Jen Hale, Crissy Calhoun, Jen Knoch, Sarah Dunn, Jenna Illies, Athmika Punja, Erin Creasey and everyone at ECW. Here’s hoping we’re still making books 40 years from now!

 

 

 

 

 

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10734262_10153355578901164_8762493623688460054_nFrom ECW Press

Richard found a copy of his book, Raising Hell, among the samples we brought for everyone to check out (and take home!).

Richard’s “So Long, Marianne” panel with Leonard Cohen’s muse at the IFOA in Toronto!

IMG_2501On Saturday October 25 Richard hosted a panel at the International Festival of Authors with Helle V. Goldman, Kari Hesthamar and Marianne Ihlen. They are, respectively, the translator, author and subject of So Long, Marianne.

Here’s a bit of the story: At 22, Marianne Ihlen travelled to the Greek island of Hydra with Norwegian writer Axel Jensen. While Axel wrote, Marianne kept house. One day while Marianne was shopping in a grocery store, a man asked her to join him and some friends at their table. He introduced himself as Leonard Cohen, then a little-known Canadian poet. When the erratic and explosive Axel abandoned Marianne and their newborn son for another woman, Leonard stepped in and a new, tender love affair began. So Long, Marianne by Kari Hesthamar, documents her story.

“This wasn’t a difficult panel to host,” said Richard about the event, “they told great stories while I sat and listened.” Thanks to IFOA and ECW Press for asking Richard to sit in with these incredible women.

Listen to So Long, Marianne HERE!

 

 

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