Posts Tagged ‘Taron Egerton’

NEWSTALK 1010: NOAH PINK + GREGORY SESTERO + HUGH JACKMAN

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Noah Pink, screenwriter of a new movie called “Tetris,” starring Taron Egerton, and now playing on Apple TV+, that tells the story of how Dutch video game designer Henk Rogers fit the differently shaped pieces of international intrigue and video game creation together to secure the intellectual property rights to popular game. It’s a story of international intrigue, the Cold War and of the deep friendship that grew between entrepreneur Henk Rogers and the game’s Russian creator Alexey Pajitnov.

Then, Gregory Sestero, star of the found footage film “Infrared.” In the film he plays the creepy caretaker of an abandoned schoolhouse. If Greg’s name rings a bell, it’s likely because you’ve attended one of the midnight madness screenings of “The Room,” a movie so deliciously awful, it has become a cult favorite since its release in 2003. Gregory turned the experience of making the so-bad-it’s-a-hoot movie into a book, which eventually went on to become the Oscar nominated movie “The Disaster Artist,” starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. We talk about “Infrared” and whether or not, twenty years on, if “The Room” is an embarrassment or a source of pride.

Finally, we go to the vault to hear a vintage interview I did with Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. We don’t talk superheroes, instead, the actor gets personal, talking about the projects that worked, the ones that didn’t and what drives him.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!

Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!

Listen to the show live here:

C-FAX 1070 in Victoria

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Click HERE to catch up on shows you might have missed!

Listen to the whole thing HERE! (Link coming soon)

Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!

Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!

Listen to the show live here:

C-FAX 1070 in Victoria

SAT 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

SUN 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

CJAD in Montreal

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

CFRA in Ottawa

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 610 CKTB in St. Catharines

Sat 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1010 in Toronto

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

NEWSTALK 1290 CJBK

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

AM 1150 in Kelowna

SAT 11 PM to Midnight

BNN BLOOMBERG RADIO 1410

SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM

Click HERE to catch up on shows you might have missed!

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 two movies inspired by games, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “Tetris.” And we give you a sneak peak at my W5 story on how Foley is used in thge movies.

Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 36:45)

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY MARCH 31, 2023.

I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres.  Today we talk about the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

CKTB NIAGARA REGION: THE TIM DENIS SHOW WITH RICHARD CROUSE ON MOVIES!

I sit in with CKTB morning show host Tim Denis to have a look at the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold,” the Taron Egerton drama “Tetris,” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

1290 CJBK IN LONDON: KEN & MARINA MORNING SHOW MOVIE REVIEWS!

I join 1290 CJBK in London and host Ken Eastwood to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the action fantasy of “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” the rock ‘n’ roll biopic “Spinning Gold,” the Taron Egerton drama “Tetris,” and the family drama “Space Oddity.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

TETRIS: 3 STARS. “could use the simplicity of the game whose story it tells.”

The addictive puzzle video game “Tetris,” created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov, couldn’t be simpler. Stack differently shaped pieces to form a whole and win points.

The story behind its success isn’t.

A new movie starring Taron Egerton and now playing on Apple TV+, tells the story of how Dutch video game designer Henk Rogers fit the differently shaped pieces of international intrigue and video game creation together to secure the intellectual property rights to popular game.

“The Soviet Union has worldwide rights,” says Rogers. “Nothing gets out easily.”

And how. In what is essentially a big business ticking clock story, Egerton is Rogers, an aggressive entrepreneur who discovers an early version of the simple game at the Consumer Electronics Show in the mid-1980s. An early adopter of video game technology, Rogers knows Tetris can be a hit.

“It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen,” he says. “I played for five minutes, and I still see falling blocks in my dreams. It is poetry. It is the perfect game.”

Developed by a Russian government software engineer Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) in 1984, the game was an underground hit in the USSR, and starting to attract attention from other big players. The underdog Rogers finds himself up against Nintendo, media mogul Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and the Russian government.

“You want to play with the big boys?” threatens Maxwell. “This is how the world works.”

“Tetris” is a convoluted tale of how Rogers navigates dubious agreements, business backstabbing and the very real threat of Russian prison, to secure the rights to the game and a future for his family. Unlike the game, the movie’s pieces don’t fit together easily. Part business story, part spy thriller, it piles a great deal of information into every scene, beginning with an unloading of exposition off the top that sets the scene, but may try the patience.

Once past the initial mound of info, screenwriter Noah Pink keeps up the pace, piling double-crosses on top of political scheming on top of jet setting skullduggery. It zips along at the speed of level 10 game play, and while it is sometimes hard to keep track of who is zooming who, Pink keeps it fairly linear, mostly focusing on how the various deals affect Rogers. Told from this point of view, the complicated story of contract law and how the negotiations for a video game became a Cold War concern, is marginally easier to follow.

At the center of it all is the elaborately mustachioed Egerton. As Rogers he brings an energizer bunny approach to the entrepreneur’s unrelenting belief in the game and himself. As the story gets bigger and bigger—Henk against the world—it is Egerton that provides the human element, particularly in his friendship with Pajitnov. The surrounding performances are rather broad, but Egerton keeps it real.

Although it does feature 8-bit animation, “Tetris” isn’t a video game movie. Instead, it is a John Le Carre Lite political thriller, which could have used some of the simplicity of the game whose story it tells.

CP24: WHAT MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO WATCH TO THIS WEEKEND!

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at Canadian movies and television shows coming to VOD and streaming services.  Today we talk about the new crime drama “Black Bird,” starring Taron Egerton and Ray Liotta, on Apple TV+,  Jack Black’s return to “Kung Fu Panda” in “Dragon Knight” on Netflix and the the crime series “Mind Over Murder” on HBO.

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S CTV NEWSCHANNEL REVIEWS FOR DEC. 17 WITH LOIS LEE.

Richard joins CTV NewsChannel and anchor Lois Lee to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including the virtual reality of “The Martrix Resurrection,” the coming of age dramedy “Licorice Pizza” and Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and the jukebox musical “Sing 2.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

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

Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with guest host Matt Harris to talk the new movies coming to theatres, VOD and streaming services including the virtual reality of “The Martrix Resurrection,” the coming of age dramedy “Licorice Pizza” and Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and the jukebox musical “Sing 2.”

Listen to the whole thing HERE!