Not a lot happening this week, as we find ourselves in the pocket between Toy Story 4 and Spider-Man: Far from Home. But there’s one magnificent surprise.
Annabelle Comes Home: Creepy doll? Yup, still bothering people. [Glenn]
Ferrante Fever: That author you like? Real popular.
Isabelle: Domestic horror, trying way too hard.
Yesterday: What jukebox musicals ought to be.
So have a happy Canada Day weekend, everybody! And go see Yesterday!
No, not “Help” the Beatles song — that’s for tomorrow — but actual medical help, in the form of the paramedics of Save Me, the web dramedy returning for a second season today on CBC Gem. I wrote about Fab Filippo’s show, which doesn’t quite accomplish what it says it wants to but does something else really well — for NOW. In other TV news, I reviewed The Loudest Voice, the all-star Showtime series which doesn’t really do anything at all.
Also, I contributed a couple of capsules to our Crave July preview, and there’s a new Superhero Nonsense column up, looking at a bunch of little entertainment stories including the return of Legion and the Captain Marvel home release. So check those out, why don’t you, and I’ll see you back here tomorrow.
This week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie is a little different from most of them, but that’s okay; so is my guest.
Judy Wood works entirely outside the filmmaking sphere, as an immigration lawyer helping refugees and asylum seekers start new lives in America. But her efforts served as inspiration for the new drama Saint Judy, in which she’s played by Michelle Monaghan.
Judy wanted to talk about Vivre Sa Vie, discussing Jean-Luc Godard’s monumental 1962 drama in the context of her clients’ lives and the extremes one must experience before abandoning everything to start over somewhere else. Godard’s movie was set aside fairly quickly, but it’s a good conversation with at least one startling revelation — and not the sort of revelation I was expecting.
I mean, I think you should hear it. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher and get the episode right away, or download it directly from the web. And give a moment’s thought to people who’d do anything to change their lives for the better.
We’re in the last third of the month, so it’s time once again for NOW’s monthly Netflix preview — any guesses which ones I wrote? It shouldn’t be that hard, really.
Also, if you’re in Toronto and find yourself craving barbecue, come on out to the Danforth Saturday night for the 10th annual Thrill of the Grill — I’ll be there in the evening as one of the celebrity judges for the grilled corn contest, because someone at NOW clearly thinks it’s funny.
In all honesty, I really do enjoy the event; it’s silly, sure, and I have no business being there, but it’s fun, and Sunnybrook’s Odette cancer centre gets a boost out of it. Plus I get corn!
If you can’t make it, keep an eye on my Twitter feed for images. That’ll be fun too.
There are two movies about toys coming to life this weekend. That’s just weird, right?
Anyway.
Anna: La Femme Nikita, but on shuffle.
Buddy: Good dogs. Good, good, good dogs.
Child’s Play: Chucky’s back! And it doesn’t suck!
Dogman: Garrone’s latest also has good dogs.
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir: A magical migrant story. Oh, okay.
Gaza: Doc captures daily life in Palestine. [Susan]
Toy Story 4: Forky shows up, things get weird.
Wild Rose: British underdog drama: Fine but familiar.
Also, Rad reviews the HBO series Years and Years, a tragicomic (but mostly tragic) look at the immediate future from Russell T. Davies which I will probably watch at some point, because I am me.
Open up this week’s NOW, and surprise: I’m in the books section! But it’s still on brand; I’m there talking to actor and activist Joanne Vannicola about their new memoir All We Knew But Couldn’t Say.
It’s an account of a harrowing childhood both inside and outside the Canadian film and television industry, and the slow, complicated evolution of Joanne’s queer, non-binary identity.
We talked for almost two hours; I had to condense it into a thousand words. I think it came out okay. Joanne’s happy with it, which is really all that matters.
So I was on Jeremy LaLonde’s Black Hole Films again a couple of weeks ago, to discuss the original Godzilla with Ian MacIntyre, Christopher Warre Smets and Saul Pincus, and I forgot to mention it here.
I am a bad podcast pal.
Anyway, if you catch up to it now it’s just as much fun, a conversation peppered with kaiju trivia, the usual genre digressions and a general refusal to talk about the Roland Emmerich movie for more than four seconds at a time. Enjoy!
It’s not often that I welcome someone back to Someone Else’s Movie, but neither is it often that someone asks to do another episode.
Fortunately, Samora Smallwood — who tackled Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri last year — was so taken with Jordan Peele’s Us that she messaged me immediately after watching it. How could I say no?
I couldn’t, because I knew Samora would have plenty to bring to the table on this movie — and the resulting conversation is a blast and a half.
Wanna join us? Of course you do! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher and get the episode right away, or download it directly from the web. Just make sure you see the movie before you listen to the episode, which shouldn’t be too difficult, since Us arrived on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD this very morning. Get to it.
Nothing else matters this weekend because THE RAPTORS WON THE BASKETBALL but yes, there are movies opening and some of them are pretty good!
The Dead Don’t Die: Jarmusch zombie movie, future cult classic.
Late Night: Talk-show comedy feels like TV. [Rad]
Men in Black International: Ooooh, this does not sound good. [Rad]
Rolling Thunder Revue: Bob and Marty goof around some.
Shaft: No jokes here. It’s fucking awful.
There Are No Fakes: Art-fraud documentary confronts ugly truths.
Watergate: Remember when presidents could be shamed?
I also reviewed the third season of Jessica Jones — or rather, as much of the third season as Netflix made available. But it’s pretty good! Still my favorite Marvel series, and I’m sad to see it go.
And now, back to the basketball.
Jen Gunter has a TV show! Well, technically it’s a web series, Jensplaining, which drops on CBC’s Gem streaming service on August 23rd and offers Twitter’s favourite women’s health advocate the chance to push back on popular misinformation about a whole host of subjects.
Jen and I sat down last week to talk about the show, so it made sense that NOW run a little preview thing about it on the heels of the official announcement. So I wrote one!
I also realize I never posted links to my June film festival roundup or my Q&A with Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher last week, or to NOW’s roundup of the best new Netflix shows, which went up on Monday. I’ve been really busy with stuff. But here they are now, just to show you I care.