Posts Tagged ‘Joe Robert Cole’

CTV NEWS AT SIX: NEW MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND!

I appear on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 36:48)

YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! 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 the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

NEWSTALK TONIGHT WITH JIM RICHARDS: DOES RICHARD CROUSE LIKE THESE MOVIES?

I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY NOV 11, 2022.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL REVIEWS FOR NOVEMBER 11 WITH MARCIA MACMILLAN!

I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

NIAGARA IN THE MORNING: TIM DENIS MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I sit in on the CKTB Niagara in the Morning morning show with host Tim Denis to talk the new movies coming to theatres. This week we look at the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

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

I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Steven Spielberg ‘s coming-of-age drama “The Fabelmans” and the WWII doc “Lancaster.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER: 3 ½ STARS. “acts as a eulogy of a sort.”

The world was shocked when Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2020 at the tender age of forty-four, just two years after finding superstardom as King T’Challa in “Black Panther.” His passing left the future of the “Black Panther” franchise in flux. Would it be possible to make a “Black Panther” movie without the Black Panther?

The second film in the series, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” answers the question. The new film has all the action you expect from a blockbuster Marvel movie, but also acts as a eulogy of a sort to the late actor and his most famous character.

“Wakanda Forever” begins on a sombre note, acknowledging the passing of T’Challa. “Your brother is with the ancestors,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) tells daughter Shuri (Letitia Wright). After a grand funeral fit for a king, director Ryan Coogler moves the action forward by one year.

Queen Ramonda, still healing from the wound left by T’Challa’s passing, is forced to defend her kingdom from international poachers intent on stealing their most valuable resource, a rare metallic ore with energy-manipulating properties called Vibranium. “We mourn the loss of our king,” she informs the United Nations, “but don’t think for a moment that Wakanda has lost its ability to protect her resources.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. military discovers a cache of Vibranium, previously thought to only exist in Wakanda, at the bottom of the ocean. But before you can say “Wakanda Forever,” the expedition is attacked by sea people, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), “feathered serpent god” of an ancient race of teal-skinned underwater people who look like they could have been extras in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

Namor’s kingdom of Talokan also has Vibranium, and now that Wakanda has made the ore’s awesome power public knowledge, his nation is under threat from people who want what they have. That puts Wakanda at odds with an enemy unlike any they’ve fought before, an army outfitted with Vibranium weapons.

With a 2-hour-and-41-minute runtime, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” takes on a lot. It’s a study in loss and grief mixed with big time Marvel action set pieces. In addition, Coogler and co-screenwriter Joe Robert Cole have woven an indictment of colonialism into both the history of Wakanda and the Mayan-influenced backstory of Talokan. It makes for rich subtext in the storytelling, even if the movie occasionally has a rough time balancing all its elements.

If those missteps can be forgiven, its simply because “Wakanda Forever” isn’t a typical Marvel film. It exists outside Marvel Cinematic Universe. That means there is no connection to the other Avengers films, and it is better for it. Instead of feeling as if it is a puzzle piece of a larger picture, it is its own thing, a movie able to walk a different path and get away from the increasingly rigid structures of the late period MCU movies. The mix of the intimate and epic is what makes this movie work, both as a tribute to Boseman and as blockbuster entertainment.

The ensemble cast is very strong, but it is Bassett who leaves a mark. As Queen and T’Challa’s mother, she is majestic and melancholy, a woman attempting to balance duty with grief. “I am Queen of the most powerful nation in the world,” she says in anguish, “and my entire family is gone. Have I not given everything?” It’s a powerful moment and a poignant exploration of the weight that comes with loss coupled with obligation.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has a few draggy moments, but its determination to be its own thing makes for compelling viewing.

CTV NEWSCHANNEL” RICHARD’S INTERVIEW WITH “BLACK PANTHER” STAR DANAI GURIRA!

“Black Panther” actress Danai Gurira explains how she tied her cultural experiences into the narrative.

Watch the whole thing HERE!