Richard appears on “CTV News at 6” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week he has a look at the new Idris Elba thriller “Beast,” the campy horror of “Orphan: First Kill” and Jamie Foxx, vampire slayer, in “Day Shift.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 36:50)
“Day Shift,” a new action comedy starring Jamie Foxx, and now streaming on Netflix, brings a supernatural twist to the familiar story of a father doing what he has to do to hang on to his family.
Foxx plays Bud, a San Fernando Valley pool cleaner and undercover vampire slayer. A fearless hunter of the undead while on the job, at home he’s a devoted father, but things aren’t going well. He and his wife Joceyln (Meagan Good) have separated, and unless Bud can come up with $5000 to pay for private school tuition for daughter Paige (Zion Broadnax), mother and daughter are going to move to Florida.
Neither the pool cleaning or freelance vampire killing pay what they used to, and when a local pawnbroker (Peter Stormare) offers him a fraction of what his trophy vampire fangs are worth, he is left with only one option, join the vampire-hunter’s union.
Trouble is, they don’t want him. “You expect me to let you back in where the sun don’t shine?” asks union leader Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange). He’s a rebel, he doesn’t follow the rules, he’s a wild card but when legendary vamp killer Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg) vouches for him, Bud gets in, but the union has him on probation and his every move will be monitored by straightlaced union rep Seth (Dave Franco). “I have to be with you at all times in the field,” Seth says. “Union rules.”
Bud can now earn the money he needs to keep his family together, unless elder vampire Audrey San Fernando (Karla Souza) gets her bloody revenge on him for killing her undead daughter.
“Day Shift” is an action comedy with an emphasis on bloody action. Between the decapitations, martial arts fight sequences, wooden stakings and Snoop’s Big Bertha rapid fire machine gun, this one has a much higher body count than your usual laugh fest. Foxx does his best to bleed the laughs out of the script. He’s a convincing action star, a kind of jokey Blade, who also has a way with a one-liner. His presence adds some much-needed lightness and his chemistry with Franco makes the character of Seth a tad less irksome.
“Day Shift” suffers from an underwritten script and overwrought plot turns, but despite all that, the action, Foxx and Snoop makes for a pretty good Saturday matinee style horror comedy à la “Monster Squad” or “Fright Night.”
Richard joins NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “Showgram” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse like these movies?” This week we talk about to talk about the much anticipated “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark,” the latest adventures of the Gomez, Morticia and Company in the animated “The Addams Family 2” and the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller “The Guilty.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
The weird and wonderful Addams Family, Gomez (Oscar Isaac), Morticia (Charlize Theron), Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz), Pugsley (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton) and their chrome domed Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), are just like any other family. Sure, they live in a house of horrors and are “mysterious and spooky and all together ooky,” but underneath it all, they are a regular, loving family.
The latest instalment in their lengthy documentation of family life, the animated “The Addams Family 2,” now playing in theatres and premium VOD, sees Gomez and Morticia, like so many parents, concerned that their kids are growing up too fast.
The action begins at Wednesday’s high school science fair. When she only earns a participation award for her project—transferring octopus intelligence into her Uncle Fester—she becomes more withdrawn than usual. To bring the family back together, Gomez and Morticia plan a family road trip to—where else?—Death Valley.
Along the way complications arise, including Cyrus Strange (Wallace Shawn, son of editor William Shawn who ran the Addams Family cartoons for decades in the pages of the New Yorker), an evil scientist who convinces Wednesday she is not really part of the Addams Family.
“The Addams Family 2” has top flight voice work from Isaac, Theron and especially Moretz, who nails the detached but spirited tone of her death-obsessed character. Her empowerment—”I’m not a freak,” she says, “I’m a force of nature.”—will also likely strike a chord with anyone who has felt like an outsider.
What the film doesn’t nail, however, is that Addams Family X-factor, the sense of gleeful dread. This is mainstream family animation, padded with songs and dance numbers, that smooths out the offbeat, macabre heart and soul of the source material. It’s goofy, not ooky, with none of the eccentric charm of the 1960s TV show.
Directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon bring a light touch to the story, where none was needed.
On the August 16, 2020 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Kiesza, a singer, songwriter and pop star with a fascinating story of resilience. From the reserves of the Royal Canadian Navy to writing songs for people like Rihanna to her single “Hideaway” debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart to collaborating with everyone from Duran Duran to Pitbull and Diplo she is a bona fide pop princess. Then, in 2017 she suffered life altering injuries when a taxi t-boned the car she was riding in. Her recovery from a traumatic brain injury was slow and involved staying in a darkened room for six months but she is back with a new album, a new self-run record label and a new outlook.
Then… In a career that spans five decades Chaka Khan has sold an estimated 70 million records, collaborated with everyone from Ry Cooder and Robert Palmer to Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, from Chicago to De la Soul and Mary J. Blige. She’s a musician, singer and songwriter with a shelfful of Grammys. I first saw her, with the band Rufus, on Soul Train singing their mega hit Tell Me Something Good. I became an instant fan and have remained so all these years later.
I had the chance to speak with the music legend via Zoom to talk about her role as the voice of Henrietta the Chicken in the new Disney+ film The One and Only Ivan.
And finally…I speak to Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, the stars of “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.” For more than twenty years Kenny and Fagerbakke have voiced two of pop culture’s favorite animated characters, SpongeBob SquarePants and his pal Patrick Star. In the new film, playing in theatres in Canada, SpongeBob and Patrick go on a rescue mission to save SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary, who has been “snailnapped” by King Poseidon. In this interview e talk about the new movie, the popularity of SpongeBob memes and why these characters have endured for more than two decades.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Richard and CP24 anchor Nick Dixon have a look at the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including including the silly and sublime “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” the road rage flick “Unhinged” and the anti rom, com, “Spinster.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard and “CP24 Breakfast” host Pooja Handa have a look at some special streaming opportunities and television shows to kill time over the weekend including the rock doc “The Go Go’s” on Crave, the look into the world of pro Rubik’s Cubes players on Netflix’s “Speed Cubers,” “The Legend of Zorro” on ctv.ca and the theatrical release of the wet ‘n wild “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.”
Watch the whole thing HERE on Instagram!
Richard sits in on the CTV NewsChannel with host Marcia MacMillan to have a look at the new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the silly and sublime “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” the road rage flick “Unhinged” and the anti rom, com, “Spinster.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including the wet and wild “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,” the crazed driver flick “Unhinged,” the old codgers on a mission film “Never Too Late” and the anti rom com “Spinster.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
