The Fight for Warner Brothers and What it Means for Canada

Warner Bros has gone through so many mergers, acquisition and ups and downs that it is difficult to even keep up with nowadays. It is important to note that the legacy Hollywood studio did start off with four brothers. The name Warner Brothers is the anglicized version of their name from the old country. The youngest of the brothers Jack was born in London, Ontario but was raised in the States. The first film production began in New York in 1910 but by 1917 they began to do work out of Los Angeles.

The patents of Thomas Edison were ended in 1915 by the U.S. courts in an anti-trust case that took the handcuffs off the movie industry. Warner Brothers was the most junior of these new film companies and only took off with the story of a Canadian dog called Rin Tin Tin. But this isn't the history of one of the leading companies in film and television. It is about the future.

Warner Brothers has been constantly been bought and sold by big players. Most recently AT&T sold the company off and it merged with Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery. And now this massive company is in play as Paramount and Netflix fight over it. This has caused widespread panic in Hollywood because Netflix is not a company that produces movies for exhibition as part of its business model. The other suitor Paramount looks like it is very close to the Trump administration and his family and might take the company in a conservative direction. All of the TV and film industry is worried by fewer buyers and distributors of content in the world market. Every one of the mergers is marked by cutbacks.

Warner Bros. Discovery is massive but lately top execs have been treating all non-digital assets as trash and splitting them off from the company. They call the split off part Shitco. That would be the cable assets and the legacy TV channels. Streaming is where the growth is. The big money people hate those assets and yet those assets continue to generate huge cash.

Warner has shot a lot of movies over the years in Canada. It and Deadpool among many have filmed in Canada. Winnipeg has not seen too many. Universal, Netflix and Hallmark are more frequent American studios who film in the city. If Warner gets bought up, do they simply become an inhouse library for either Paramount or Netflix. Do we see massive cuts, shifts in production? Do they simply go all AI?

Warner has gone from one crappy deal to another from AOL to AT&T. It is so bad they call it the "'Warner Bros Curse." Corporate civil war at all times, terrible debt and mismanagement. Buying any studio seems a recipe for debt and heartache. It can work if your corporate structure is set up to support your other businesses. In the case of Sony, was hardware and software coming together where it made sense for it. 

Too often studio purchases are ego trips with terrible debt. And if accountants get too involved, the creativity part that makes the business work gets drowned in a numbers game. While it is nice to have franchises, it can turn on a studio and lose a massive amount of money if the magic is gone.

If Warner does get swept up in Netflix or Paramount, it may hurt supply chains across the world. For example, Warner Bros. produces content for other television networks and partnerships. Netflix tends to keep things in-house and vertically integrated. A Warner merger with Netflix might make a company so powerful that that United States and Europe might order it broken up or not approved at all.

In Canada, it could mean a sold Warner Bros. might equal fewer buyers and distributors of Canadian content. It may hurt Crave TV which uses HBO content. It could hurt cable which uses Discovery content. It just doesn't seem to pass anti-trust laws in any country. Even Donald Trump seems to get that although he couldn't care less about Canada and the world. However, he does know that Netflix would be so powerful that it could be a threat to him. At least Trump's family member has stepped aside from the bid. It might be he saw the potential legal problems or the price was just going to be too high.

The loss of Warner Bros is not the same as Amazon buying MGM. While concerning, MGM was just not the huge player Warner is. Nor did it have news and sports divisions like Warner does. The Paramount deal might have Saudi Arabia and interests owning CNN as part of Warner. The Netflix deal might have CNN stop broadcasting on cable and move to Netflix. All theatres might lose product. It is safe to say that the deal will not close as quickly as any of the parties want and that by 2026, electoral changes could mean a deal is rejected.

Not every deal goes through in business. In Canada, the big five banks wants to merge down to three. The Liberal government of the day said no. The banks survived. It would have not served any Canadian had we gone down to three. One wonders if the government had said no to the Sobeys takeover of Safeway in 2013. The Conservative government of the day let it happen and it did none of Canada good. The lack of competition of food prices is partly to blame for that decision.

Does Canada have a say in it? Possibly. But every time we try to regulate online, the more the U.S. complains. In this case though, it is American interests themselves that fear the Warner Bros. takeover by Paramount or Netflix. The market is also dubious with Netflix stock down. This should be of concern. Disney's takeover of 20th Century Fox is still a drag on their stock price. Because of the world implications on this deal, the Europeans could reject some or all of it. Canada is just thought to be part of the American market so no consideration will be made even if it hurts the theatres, cable industry and our streaming business.

It s unclear what politics might be in play. If Paramount gets the deal, does the company become ultra right wing? If Netflix gets the deal, do become political? It is an overall mess. And may go on long into 2026.

Towne 8 to Permanently Close Downtown Winnipeg

The last of downtown movie theatres (save for Cinematheque) have permanently closed down. It was 1981 when Canada's first standalone multiplex went up. With 8 screens and 1,726 screens altogether, the Towne 8 was the shape of things to come for movie halls in Canada.

It was a race to see which multiplex would open first in Winnipeg between 7 Cineplex Odeon theatres in Eaton Place or the Towne 8. Ultimately, it was the Towne 8 in August 21 versus Eaton Place on December 18 in 1981. For many people, especially kids, it was amazing. Eaton Place overall was initially busy combined with Eaton's. The mall also included an arcade which came in handy as pre or post entertainment after a movie.

One thing was clear though and that not all theatres are created equal. Eaton Place theatres were small. In fact, some people's theatre rooms at home are probably larger than the smallest theatre at Cineplex Odeon. While this was good for a foreign film with captions, it was less exciting for a an Indiana Jones sequel. Moreover, the Towne 8 had arcade games by the concessions in the theatre! The biggest box office movie was always in Cinema 1 which had 484 seats and Dolby Stereo and 70mm screen.

The Towne's location at 301 Notre Dame was very close to the Capitol and Garrick Theatres and the Odeon (Walker) was right across the street. In 1981, a Tim Horton's restaurant was next door and down Princess Street was Prairie Theatre Exchange.

The Exchange District was just beginning to take off with the Spaghetti Factory and Brandy's down the block and Chinatown still quite active for restaurants. Many of the surrounding buildings were still being used by the garment industry. It would be years till festivals like Fringe and Jazz Fest would be hosted in Old Mark Square. Young people would come downtown for movies, shopping such as record stores and arcades. And we'd all take the bus.

If there was a new golden area for movie houses downtown, it was probably 1980 to 1990. The Towne 8 was an industrial building site housing Silverwood Dairies. You can still see the Silverwood sign on the wall beside the theatre. In 1980, the dairy moved to a suburban site leaving Landmark the opportunity to build the first stand alone multiplex.

The year 1980 was a terrible time for Winnipeg with major industrial losses everywhere such as The Tribune, Canada Packers and Swifts plants shuttering sending thousands of workers to unemployment and in a lot of case migrating to other provinces. To goose the numbers of people attending during the week, Towne 8 did discounts on Tuesdays and were embraced by full houses in 1982. The rest of the country now in recession started to do the same and not just movie houses but restaurants and others.

To make things more interesting for movie theatres like Towne and others was the video rental business was just taking off. Early adopters of VCRs started in 1982 and by 1983, many Canadian homes had VHS or Betamax machine at home. Some of the older single screen theatres were having a tougher time towards the end of the 1980s. Multiplexes became the chosen way to compete against home entertainment. The multiplex at St. Vital Centre in 1986 instantly drew crowds.

For over 40 years of operation, Towne 8 has been bold, innovative and affordable. Like many businesses Covid killed it. In July of last year, it temporarily shuttered because of the difficulty in getting staff. Remaining staff were transferred to the higher end Landmark at Grant Park. As 2022 drew into 2023, half year gone by, the decision was to close permanently. However, the company will not sell to someone who wishes to run a discount theatre. The building is likely to be bought demolished and become housing. 

I enjoyed many visits to the Towne. The $5 tickets were hard to beat in any movie entertainment. Downtown was once alive on many streets with just 29 screens in the 1980s. People lined up in the heart of the city to see movies. The result was a pretty likely evening and weekend crowd.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Teaser Trailer (2022)

No Time to Die James Bond

The author of James Bond died the year before I was born. Ian Fleming had created a character working for an intelligence agency that people were not particularly well informed about.  While Bond was not the first agent with a licence to kill (Johnny Fedora) came first, he was the most enduring. The film life of James Bond has extended decades and has included other writers continuing the storyline.

The movies started years before I was born and by the time I began watching in 1971 on TV, there were several done. There would be a few more before before I'd be old enough to see a movie on the screen in 1977 with The Spy Who Loved Me. From then on, I saw all of them in theatres. And re-watched all the old ones.

Roger Moore became the Bond I saw most because Sean Connery did not appear as Bond from 1971 until 1983. In that year, as I finished high school and started university) both Roger Moore and Sean Connery appeared in competing Bonds. I saw both. Inevitably, even then, a comparison of Bonds arrived with every new one and Moore and Connery were compared even then. Throw along A George Lazenby and David Niven into the works too. I actually liked Lazenby even as he appears to be universally loathed. I did find On Her Majesty's Secret Service a compelling story. As for Niven, I don't think I have ever seen the full version of his Bond parody.

James Bond in movies, like the books themselves, was never going to be limited to the realpolitik of the Cold War. The villains were greater then mere nation state and Bond was not going to cultivate sources using tradecraft. As M in the movies said...Bond was a blunt instrument with a licence to kill. He was a man who was going to be pointed at something and had permission to kill to get it. And this was only fair because those opposed to him were out to kill him too.

None of this would work if Bond was not an attractive character with great humour and and a supportive cast of Bond women and fellow agents from Q to Moneypenny. As Britain has changed, so has Bond. No longer a smoker for some time now, Bond also encounters women who are formidable including his former boss M. He's a man who struggles to recover from physical as well as mental injury on the job. In the past Bond barely bent the crease is his pants and it certainly wouldn't have left him anguished of people who were lost along the way.

Each era of Bond over the decades including Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan were enjoyable as the moved from gritty to glam and from more grounded to fantastical. Charismatic villains with world spanning ambition were always lurking and could only be foiled by the British agent Bond. 

One of the best game of punters has been the speculation about who the next Bond will be. It can be a cruel sport. And by the time an actor has been chosen, they sometimes have aged out of the desired range Bond should be. Or at least by the time they are finished the role can qualify for a pension. Both Moore and Connery were up there, Moore still putting Bonds out till mid 1980s.

Pierce Brosnan appeared to have the tap on the shoulder after Moore but contract obligations had him tied down and the role went to Timothy Dalton. Known more for theatre than movies, Dalton was a mystery to many audiences. I had only seem him in the less than successful Flash Gordon. He wasn't a bad Bond but the influence of Lethal Weapon and other 1980s movies played a part in storylines revolving around arms dealers and drug lords. It seemed less worldly ambitious for a Bond villain. 

The long wait for Brosnan to take over the role of Bond attracted top tier directors and while the storylines and some other casting brought questions, the action oriented charms of the lead and world wide locations and effects harkened back to earlier times. The box offices were enormous. Despite his success, he was dismissed as Bond with no real explanation aside from that he was nearly 50 years old.

Speculation about who was to play Bond was rampant and Daniel Craig being chosen surprised many. Too blonde, too rough, too short...too not Bond. I had seen him in a few movies such Lara Croft and Munich. I thought he was a good actor but I was wondering if they had a Timothy Dalton on their hands who was more unknown to the general public. The producers themselves probably thought that simply leaving off where Brosnan left off was just not on. It seemed an origin story was in order. And why not? Every other serial seemed to do it. Why not Bond?

The very quick origin story showed how Bond rose to become 007 in Casino Royale. It was only snippets but it had never been done before. It embraced Daniel Craig's muscular and rough attributes in fight and chase scenes that pushed the boundaries of what M called the "blunt instrument." However, it also introduced how he found his favourite drink and first time with his favourite car the Aston Martin DB5. And lastly, ended with his famous "Bond, James Bond."

Daniel Craig in Casino Royale got to rock a few tuxes and fight in them and replace them over and over in a high stakes card game. And the first woman Bond met Vesper Lynd in Casino Royal, would haunt his career the rest of his days. Vesper played by Eva Green was no mere damsel in the movie, Her character had strength and will and would be memorable for incredible dialogue and compelling storyline.

Any thought that Daniel Craig was not a perfect Bond and that producers and writers were correct in going back to the beginning was erased by Casino Royale. What's more, the movie ended in a cliffhanger because only a single layer of onion had been peeled. This would go on to include all of the Daniel Craig's Bonds until the conclusion with No Time to Die. And each had a level of personal growth in the character that felt all the more real with Craig's acting.

Is it possible to watch No Time to Die without seeing the four Craig movies before? Yes, but there are so many reference points for the story that you are richer for it knowing the pain and commitment Bond has gone through. Characters who were just foils for levity have weightier presence and Bond women are their own women.

No Time To Die is a fine wrap up to this series of five movies with Daniel Craig. For those who originally thought Craig was not the Bond they were looking for, it is hard to imagine who if any could fit in his shoes. And how do you continue a storyline knowing the character has reached the end of an arc? Can you really introduce a new Bond as you did in the past and not have audiences not quite accept that as they did in the past?

Everyone is speculating more on who will be the new Bond rather than how they will be the new Bond. A re-boot might not be accepted. A continuation of the character will not likely be accepted. Thankfully, a clever writer might be able to solve this. But we have seen whole seasons of TV series explained as dreams or suggesting all the characters were dead and in some twilight zone. Not sure that will cut the mustard. I have an idea of how it might go but then in I'm not sure that is at all how the producers will take it.

In Winnipeg, from the 1970s on through till today, we have been able to watch Bond marathons on CKND, TBS and other networks. I suspect Daniel Craig's Bond might come to be one of the better loved ones for generations to come.

TV and Movie Reviews Snapshot...Chernobyl

With so many competing streaming services, cable and premium channels and regular TV, it could generally be said peak TV has arrived. Streaming is even competing with movies now with a short window in theatres and then exclusive rights on Netflix or Amazon or whatever.

I occasionally review movies here but don't get to as many as I once did. That's the price of work and also trying to do other recreational things within and outside the city. Time and a budget are always at a premium.

In the days of fewer channels, the shared experience of watching things together at the same time on TV or theatres was huge in its immediacy. Now, only live sports is that immediate. Video recording starting in the 1980s changed things a lot but it was more about the speed than total loss of immediacy. For example, recording TV usually meant you tried to watch the recorded program within a short timespan. The reasoning behind that was that blank tapes were not exactly cheap in the beginning.

TV series were rarely rented or sold on tape as they would take up so much space.  I remember how the only video cassettes I often saw of series were Seinfelds.

Streaming has killed both the video rentals market as well as downloads. The only recordings people make now are with PVRs for TV. Even that is not really owned by you. It is digitally stored and has some limits. It can expire and delete. You can reach maximum amount of storage. It is not the same as having the movie or TV series in your hand. But then again people seem to have accepted that.

My big complaint about cable has been and still is that despite so many channels there is not as much international TV series or movies on it. Netflix and others in the never ending drive to feed content goes everywhere to find as well as fund it. And now other streamers are doing it too.

Truth be told the big studios and broadcasters are all reaching a convergence where they do everything from theatrical releases, DVDs, Video on Demand, network and cable, streaming and downloads. And working with partners to create bigger productions, shared budgets or access to other markets including broadcast and production.

HBO has become more than a premium cable channel. In Canada it is now an anchor for Crave TV in Canada for their streamer. Game of Thrones has been an important part of driving traffic to the channel in recent years. However, it is not the only quality program that has come from there. In some ways HBO originally faced the same accusation that it mostly made money from movie content produced by other studios including its own. If that was once true, it isn't the case now. They have produced their own material from all the way back to the 1980s. In 1983, they produced Fraggle Rock which was filmed in Canada in partnership with CBC.

Following Game of Thrones many wondered if HBO still had the chops to draw eyeballs to their network. That has proved true with Chernobyl.

Chernobyl

This is a five part mini-series based on the real event of the explosion in a nuclear plant in the USSR in 1986. It is by the far the scariest series I have ever seen. The first episode I could only take in short amounts. So deep was my sense of dread that I winced every time a decision was made that was truly and curled up in fear as it unfolded.

There has been a great deal made about how authentic the series is. Complaints and kudos are all over the place. The producers went to great lengths to tell the story and make it look and feel like 1986. However, it is a dramatization and some characters are a composite. And the dialogue is at best a guess as the interactions among the players. 

While there is a large cast, there main focus is on three. The actors are Jared Harris, Stellan Skargard and Emily Watson. Essentially, the represent the political and scientific response to the nuclear disaster. Quite simply the performances by the stars is simply the best are are likely to be forgotten during award season.

As for the story, the first episode starts off with a bang and confusion and absolute terror. That horror comes from the fact that no one seems to know what happened or how bad it is. There is denial even as evidence of people being exposed to huge doses of radiation is exhibited. Once the extent of the continuing disaster happens, the story in future episodes tells what the response is in terms of evacuations, putting the fire out and the capping the damage.

The continued exposure and deaths of those responding to the crisis weighs even as the investigation goes on side by side of the response to the explosion. And throughout this, the oppressive and secret Soviet society denies, covers up or otherwise inhibits the truth until it threatens all the Soviet Union and Europe.

The final episode takes place in a court and re-creates how and why the explosion takes place. It is still frightening but intercut with explanations that make it more clinical. In the end, the story concludes with vignettes about the players in the story.

All in all it is great television. The best. I suspect the ending might have been more conclusive with an a death estimate but even now there is controversy in regards to it all in both the east and the west. Still, great television on a subject you would not expect such great writing and acting from.

Movie Review: Spider-Man Far From Home Review

In fifteen years we have seen a lot of Spider-Mans. Sony has done origin stories with two different actors and the first started well and ended off worse and the second didn't gain traction. Good but quite enough for the marquee hero of the Marvel universe. More concerning for Sony/Columbia Pictures was that their asset was on the outside looking in at Marvel Entertainment/Disney's 22 film enterprise with dozens of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This is no longer the case as Marvel Entertainment bridged the gap between Spider-Man's two studios, Sony and Disney, and made it possible for Spider-Man to be with his Avenger superhero friends. As of the time of this review, Far From Home has scored one of the most successful 4th of July openings in history. Already it is being talked about as possibly saving the summer box office as the latest X-Men and Men in Black franchises fizzled.

The young actor chosen to play Spider-Man Tom Holland was put under the wing of Iron Man's Robert Downey Jr. both figuratively and literally.  The two had real chemistry together in the first Spider-Man movie Homecoming as well as the Avengers movie. For those not wanting to be spoiled read no further. The new movie Far From Home is how young Peter Parker/Spider-Man is coping with the loss of his mentor Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is mourning and wants to take a break from the monstrous responsibility of being an Avenger.

The timeline of Spider-Man makes it a direct follow-up of Avengers: Endgame. Not only does Peter Parker have to still cope with high school, he has to cope that like half his class, he didn't age during "the snap." This means he goes back to school where he left off five years later with kids who would have been in junior high when half the universe disappeared. A funny scene in the movie demonstrates how students from the marching band appear in the gym when the snap is undone. Everyone is bumping into one another as it is so unexpected and sudden.

Suffice to say everyone is still adjusting to the new world including Peter Parker. All he would like to do is going on a field trip and tell the girl he likes how he feels and perhaps kiss her for the first time. If only Nick Fury as played by Samuel Jackson would let him. He and former SHIELD member Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders) need Spider-Man as the ranks of the Avengers are depleted due to deaths and other assignments. Peter dodges the calls even as Happy (Jon Favreau) warns him Fury won't be put off. Happy, Iron Man's best friend and still working for Pepper Potts at Stark Industries looks out for Peter and gives him a gift of Tony's glasses as per the inventor's last request. To confuse things more it appears that Happy and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) might be dating.

Peter continues to ghost Nick Fury even as the world seems to be fighting off a new threat known as the Elementals. Since it seems far away, Peter concentrate on his European trip and his plan to get next to his crush MJ played by Zendaya who capture the awkward, geeky but beautiful girl perfectly. At every turn his plans seem to be thwarted and his best pal Ned (Jacob Batalon) who said they should be bachelor's in Europe suddenly has a girlfriend even before their flight arrives.

The gift that Peter gets from Tony is the man's glasses which we learn is tied to an Artificial Intelligence called E.D.I.T.H. that controls the database and battle drones of Stark Industries. In his haste to remove a potential rival for MJ's attention, he almost has a drone strike do the job for him. It once again affirms to him that he is over his head.

The humour and action are never far away and even as Nick Fury highjacks his school trip and even gets him a superhero disguise which gets dubbed the Night Monkey. He fight the Elemental threat with the aid of Jake Gyllenhaal's character of Beck/Mysterio. It is then in desperation to shake the unworthiness, he gives Beck Tony's glasses and the key to the database.

It is only after in the presence of MJ where she reveals to him that she knows he is Spider-Man that he sees evidence that Mysterio is a fraud and how dangerous he is. This inevitably sets up a high profile clash, various turns and surprises and incredible CGI action.

For an audience, it never completely overwhelms because Tom Holland makes you believe everything you see and hear with an authenticity and humour throughout. It feels like this movie is both the close of story behind and a representation of the story ahead. In other words, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in good hands.

Double secret spoiler ahead!

The mid credit scenes have so many twists and funny parts and action that it is a shocker when Spider-Man is outed as Peter Parker.

And in the very end credit, we see Nick Fury in a funny scene in space. Only seeing it will somehow explain it.

The End of Space Channel

Space, the Imagination Station came into existence in 1997 primarily to block the entry of the American Sci-Fi Channel which started in 1992. The CHUM network was the original owner and where it might not have had a lot of original Canadian dramatic material produced in the beginning, it did produce innovative entertainment and news covering sci-fi and science in general.

The first movie aired was Forbidden Planet followed a commentary from Canadian author Robert Sawyer. Mars Attacks! came next. And so it was that a mix of old and new sci-fi became the staple of programming with zippy documentary style snippets in between. Canadian programming produced on other networks such as Relic Hunter would find a home on Space as did Stargate SG-1. In the past such programming might find it hard to land a spot as second run or syndicated programming. Not every program such as Star Trek was as lucky to be continually running in syndication. On Space, not only Star Trek but every American as well as Canadian program that had even an inkling of sci-fi in it would land on the network.

In some ways Space was able to land programming that even Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. couldn't land as studios would direct their second run stuff to affiliated cable networks. In Canada, Space was almost always the central repository of sci-fi programming whatever country, network or studio originally aired it. CTVglobemedia acquired CHUM in 2007 and the formula continued of broadcasting sc-fi from around the world and from Canada. in 2011, Space went high definition. That same year Bell took 100% control of Space.

In 2013, Bell began its first re-branding of Space by changing the logo and the slogan to "It's all around you." This coincided with the Canadian co-production of Orphan Black and the network was concerned that the audience associated Space with Star Trek and the like and not on fantasy or speculative fiction.

This was untrue of course. The original slogan of the network was "The imagination station." It was an attempt to broaden Bell's programming restrictions which they chafed at constantly. They always wanted less Canadian in CRTC hearings and as it turned out, less sci-fi programming. Somehow the least sci-fi program Castle was broadcast non-stop on the station.

In the U.S., the Sci-Fi Channel was re-branded SyFy in the same year of 2013 to give Universal a trademark name. This spread all over the world or alternatively Universal channel which was owned by NBCUniversal. To the annoyance of sci-fi fans as early as 2006 the U.S. network was airing Law and Order spin-offs and well as other non-sci-fi entertainment.

Space remains Canadian owned and this will fall will be re-branded once more at CTV Sci-Fi. It will have sister stations CTV Drama, CTV Life and CTV Comedy. The CRTC remains steadfast on Canadian content and the success of some Canadian produced shows has encouraged networks not only to broadcast material but take ownership stakes in it.

Canada is a top producer of TV and film programming but it remains to be seen if the new CTV branding strategy is to help production or to package the entire company for an international sale under a new government.

Movie Review: Avengers Endgame

In Hollywood history there is nothing really to compare to Marvel's 22 movies over a ten year period leading up to a crescendo finale with the stars of all the previous movies in it. The budgets generally were in the hundreds of millions and the box office would eventually grow to $21 billion. Actors, directors, writers and the best crews in the business collaborated on something called the Marvel Cinematic Universe on a story that originally was told in a comic book.

It could have all gone so wrong.

Marvel knew the only sure way for the business plan to work was to go back to their expansive cast of characters and work with material they exclusively held the rights to. This was no easy task as the company has already licensed Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and others to Columbia, New Line and 20th Century Fox, It was unlikely any of those studios would want their own movie franchises hurt by a competing Marvel Studios.

It would all start in 2008 with Iron Man and the casting of Robert Downey Jr. in what was supported to be the start of a new self-financed series of movies. It might have seemed like a slam dunk at the time but there was nervousness about Downey and of the story itself connecting. There was no real telling if acceptance of the whole franchise would be forthcoming. In the end, Marvel's decision and the work of some key people and a whole lot of collaboration made the whole thing seem flawless.

To view Avengers Endgame as a stand alone movie would be like turning to a book and reading the last chapter and understanding all that came before. This became the fun in each movie over the last ten years. A thread of storylines, clues and previews were intertwined and some characters would appear in a number of movies whether it be Nick Fury or Black Widow or Hulk himself. To this end all of the characters would unite as the Avengers. This happened over four movies. The best way to think of Endgame is to think of it as part 2 of the previous Infinity Wars. Endgame takes place three weeks after the events of that movie.

Since the movie is entering just shy of a month in theatres, most of the spoilers are now out of the way but for those that have not seen it stop reading now.

Snap.

The Russo Brothers as directors and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely as writers continue from Infinity Wars into Endgame. The two movies were shot back to back but the snap of Thano's fingers has cut the universe's population in half. It also means half the Avengers are gone and we have a defeated and demoralized group of superheroes left. Some of the questions of why some characters were missing from the last movie are answered. Captain Marvel played by Brie Larsen, Ant-Man played by Paul Rudd and Hawkeye played by Jeremy Renner have their absences accounted for. In the case of Hawkeye, choosing to be with his family instead of the Avengers cost Clint Barton his whole family and turned him to a man wracked with grief and anger.

Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey's Jr. is nursing terrible physical and mental wounds while marooned on a ship with Nebula played by Ken Gillan. They are the only ones left after fighting Thanos and losing. Tony is full of regrets over his love with Pepper Potts and of losing teen Spider-Man to the snap that also took Dr. Strange and most of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Only Captain Marvel's rescue after three weeks of drifting brings Tony and Nebula back to Earth.

The rump of Avengers and left and Nebula include Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Rocket Racoon, War Machine, Captain America and Iron Man quickly locate Thanos and pursue him only to find he had destroyed the Infinity Stones. Nebula says Thanos would not lie on such a thing and his injuries indicate he was exposed to great energy, presumably when the stones were eliminated. Thor, knowing there is now no way to undo The Snap, kills Thanos in a rage.

Five years jump in the story and back on Earth, the devastation of losing half the population brings an relenting mourning for some. For others like Tony, he still has Pepper with who he retreats with and builds a life away from grief and guilt, particularly of Spider-Man who he was extremely fond of. The opposite side the coin in Clint Barton/Hawkeye who did not take part in the Infinity Wars yet loses his entire family to The Snap. His rage turn him into vigilante killer of all those deemed evil who remain alive.

The arrival of Scott Lang Ant-Man from the time realm changes the course of the Avengers. He too was not present during the Infinity Wars but his safe and successful trip through time shows a possible way to reverse what Thanos has done. This raises a lot of questions as well as resistance from the group. For Tony Stark who has carved out some happiness with Pepper as well as having a child, it could reverse all that. He only agrees with Pepper's blessing and the promise that restoration will only happen doesn't erase the past five years.

The last five years have been hard ones for others. Natasha Romanoff has basically been head of Avengers/Shield and doing what she can with Captain America, Rhodes and Rocket along with Captain Marvel. She is exhausted, especially since Hulk, Thor and Iron-Man have taken leave.

Avengers Endgame explore how grief has strained the team to the limits and who has stepped up, almost unexpectedly so. However, Ant-Man's return brings a new enthusiasm  as well as some humour to the prospect that the The Snap can be undone. Funny discussions related to time travel and pop culture were particularly noteworthy.

The explain the plot surrounding the actual time travel and retrieval of the Infinity Stones and the renewed battle with Thanos really defies description. But a Smart Hulk, an overweight and distracted Thor and too smart for his own good Iron Man make for a lot of fun, if confusing, action pieces. The Snap is reversed and Hulk wounded badly but the battle is not over as Thanos travels from the past into the future to stop the plan. This time though he faces a full restored Avengers and allies team that tips the balance. Captain Marvel is a difference maker in the fight but it is Tony Stark as Iron Man who makes the sacrifice for them all.

It is a satisfying ending to ten years of filmmaking. Even if a character is brought back (does anyone ever really die in comics?) it will probably not be the same actors we have grown to love. But this might not be a bad thing. How many actors have played Spider-Man, Hulk, Rhodes? Audiences have shown a willingness to go on. And so the series will. At the end of the movie was a trailer for the new Spider-Man that picks up right where Avengers leaves off.

Here's to the next 10 years.

Movie Review: Long Shot

Long Shot as a romantic comedy is definitely going to be different if Seth Rogen in it. No amount of personal humiliation limits him. Charlize Theron has a wide range of material which includes some romance stuff but in recent years her fare has leaned towards action and drama befitting an Oscar-winning performer. It is not surprising that the script by Dan Sterling (The Interview) and Liz Hannah (The Post) had them both come aboard as producers and stars since the roles play to each of their strengths. Directed by Jonathan Levine (50/50) the story is of a U.S. Secretary of State slowing falling for a lefty journalist who is brought on to write for her in the lead to a potential presidential run.

Charlize Theron channels her inner Veep, Clinton and Madam Secretary to make for a compelling single and earnest Secretary of State. The President played by Bob Odenkirk is a ridiculous Trump-like cutout of a man who gained office via acting in television and wants to leave the presidency after a single term to pursue an acting career in the movies. This opens the door to Theron's character making a run for the president.

There is some political satire in watching Theron playing Charlotte Field running for president but it is Shallow State versus Deep State. It is likely many women will recognize the standard for them is different than for a man. In a meeting looking at her strengths it is revealed none of it is related to her policy but on perceived likability. It is there that she finds that polls say her weakness is humour.
This information is related to her by a very funny Lisa Kudrow in all to short appearance.

Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky  a recently unemployed journalist who quit when a FOX-like owner played by Andy Serkis buys his publication. His best friend played by the very funny O'Shea Jackson Jr. drops everything to commiserate with Fred and take him to a swish part featuring Boyz II Men. Little does Fred know that his former babysitter and girl crush Charlotte will be there.

There is good chemistry between Rogen and Theron that comes from mostly good writing, acting that throw it all out there and good foils in supporting cast. In Theron's case, some of the funny moments to work off comes from her assistants June Dianne Raphael and Ravi Patel. When Charlotte sees Fred at the party as well as his encounter with the man who caused him to quit journalism, she is amused and intrigued. Despite strong misgivings of her staff she looks at his writing and sees in Fred a person that might be able to find a relateable and funny voice she can communicate policy.

Fred is not interested in the job unless it is full out policy change and not the typical politician program than means nothing. She agrees and soon it becomes clear that he is the right man for the job and helps her connect and make real progress on a world-wide tour the get an environmental agreement. The Canadian prime minister played by appears throughout as a genial, handsome empty suit with an unfortunate laugh. It is hilarious as a send up of Trudeau.

Theron is an exceptional actor who makes you believe that she is a real person trying to make it in a fake world. In the movie she swears, fills her face, wants to have rough sex and take drugs. With Fred she feels she can let her hair down although her and she knows that her image can't show this. Despite all this they fall in love.

This is a romantic comedy at its heart and while it is some politics, lots of raunch and quite a bit of satire, it has a sweetness about it that wins the audience over. The continued dominance of superheroes in the movies might just leave a window open for some funny entertainment mixed with a 90s nostalgia vibe. But this isn't your momma's rom-com unless she liked to be spanked. Also, there is one Seth Rogen moment right out of There's Something About Mary that had the audience laughing for several minutes afterwards. A sweet movie...yes, but be prepared for outrageous moments that are as crude as you might find on the screen anywhere.

Netflix Review: Secret City

There are two seasons of Secret City on Netflix starring Anna Torv as an investigative reporter on one the Daily Ntion based out of Australia's capital Canberra. The term Secret City comes from John le Carre's The Honourable Schoolboy, the follow-up to the George Smiley epic Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This should give viewers an idea that the series will have a strong espionage angle.

This series was based on the political novels of Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis and their books The Marmalade Files and the Mandarin Code. The main protagonist is journalist Harriet Dunkley working with the Daily Nation who stumbles upon a young man drowned during the course of her morning rowing. Immediately she sniffs a story and leads to a conspiracy that threatens her life as well as others.

A number of series in Australia have explored the feelings Australians have on the subject of big brother and the state. The China and United States dynamic plays a huge role on modern Australia who feel squeezed and vulnerable while their own state monitors its citizens for signs of protest. It is a level of paranoia we don't see on Canadian TV too much as we seem more focused on corporate control on our lives. This could be a reflection of how much corporations like HBC and Canadian Pacific Railway settled huge portions of Canada. Distrust runs deep.

Anna Torv as Harry the investigative political reporter hearkens back to an older journalism that is hard to find today. She is not a TV personality but a writer who is part of the press gallery in Canberra covering national politics. Shot on location in the capital, Secret City really shows off an area of Australia that has largely been unseen by many. The modern capital building has only been in existence since 1988. Netflix has a number of series courtesy of some of the film funding from Canberra government support and the result is seeing a different side of Australia.

Insights into Australia's intelligence organizations works and fear of both China and the United States plays a huge role as Harry investigates cabinet ministers and spies alike. Murder follows her around, some of it very close to her, that leaves her reeling and not sure who to trust. The first 2016 season of six episodes end climatically but with some unresolved issues which set up the premise of the next season.

The second season in 2018 has Harriet being released from prison for crimes related to her news reporting which violated the law. She remains convinced she knows who the traitor working for China bit wants to turn her back on Canberra and almost succeeds. The troubles of her friend from her prison and a job offer to act as an Independent MP's media adviser bring her back to center of action.

It is there that she stumbles upon information revealing a cover-up of a bomb attack in Australia. The deaths of one family is pinned on Pakistan but Harriet gets video showing it was a drone missile from Australia itself responsible for the attack.

One again the espionage and politics of China and the United States pushes Australia one way and the other. She finds that the conspiracy keeps even the new prime minister out of the loop. Uneasy alliances with some Australian intelligence people and side stories of arms dealing keep the story clipping along. Over two seasons the times that Anna Torv plays second fiddle is when Oscar winning Jacki Weaver is on screen first as Attorney-General and later Minister of Home Affairs Catriona Bailey.

A political thriller worth watching for those who like a spy story, action and great acting and writing performances. Hopefully, a season 3 is in the cards.

Movie Review: The Girl in the Spider's Web

To say The Girl in the Spider's Web is related to the same book written by David Lagercrantz as a continuation of Stieg Larsson's trilogy Millennium series would be a stretch. Sure writer/director Fede Alvarez used characters from the fourth book and referenced the initial trilogy but the plotline is only very loosely based on what the book is about. Additional screenwriting by Jay Basu and Steven Knight rounded out all the writers who would eventually have a hand in bringing the story to the screen. It didn't help.

David Lagercrantz has written two books featuring characters from the original Stieg Larsson trilogy. They are NOT Stieg Larsson but were sufficiently well thought out thrillers that delved more into the history of the girl Lisbeth Salander and her relationship with journalist Mikael Blomquist. They were worthy successors in the absence of the now diseased Larsson (although it might have been interesting to see what this unpublished fourth manuscript that he wrote).

The original trilogy had been adapted by Sweden for a feature film/television broadcast and was wonderfully cast and adapted for the screen. Likewise, an American adaption by David Fincher was extremely well done and made the top 10 lists for film the year it came out. Both Sweden and the U.S. had a box office hit. The lack of any U.S. follow-up has been confounding but it may have been about not being able to get the whole cast back together at the same time for sequels. Daniel Craig, for one, had James Bond commitments that would have been harder to work around.

Rooney Mara who had played Lisbeth Salander in the American feature was ready to go again but ultimately the decision was to go with a younger cast and skip book two and three and go with a soft re-boot of the series using David Lagerantz's book The Girl in the Spider's Web. Initial casting on the award-winning Claire Foy of Netflix's The Crown seemed promising. The rest of the cast seemed capable, quite young and altogether too pretty. Even Plague was more adorable than anyone might have expected if they knew the books.

The big failure wasn't the casting though it was the writing that went off book in more ways that one. They essentially created an entirely new storyline that can only be loosely connected to Lagerantz's book or the trilogy. It seems the script is built on set action pieces that don't appear in the book and it comes at the expense of any character building. Almost all of the characters are cardboard cut-outs. There is zero chemistry between any of them!

I think a key mistake is for Lisbeth Salander's memory of her sister coming back in snippets. This is what Mikael Bloomquist's quest is. It is also in keeping with his investigative journalist profession. Salander is a cipher because any time she has tried to tell her story, it has hurt her. We get to know her by her actions. Through Blomquist's investigation of her actions, we get her back story.

The Girl in the Spider's Web was the biggest box office failure the series has ever seen. I won't go on anymore about its failures. Suffice to say that I hope that the Swedes do a version that does it justice.

Portage Avenue 1960s

In the 1960s it was so hard to get a parking space on Portage Avenue.

Well, not really. This picture was taken across the street from what was the Mall Hotel and Centre which was complete in 1964. A British American Gas sign logo marks where one of their stations was once and a Perth's in the retail block ahead of it. Kitty corner is the University of Winnipeg. The 7 floor Mall office building housed the corporate headquarters of Winnipeg Supply. It was also where the 16 bay bus terminal was.

Sadly by the 1970s the Mall Hotel was one of the most dangerous hotels in the city and one of the seedier ones.

The Gaiety Theatre from Famous Players was later to become the Colony Theatre in the late 1970s. In 1964 it had the longest marquee of any movie house in the province as well as 700 seats in stadium style. A Red Rose Tea sign sat atop the theatre in the 1960s. For a time after 1973 and Gaiety was an adult movie house showing soft porn. It lasted maybe four years before becoming the Colony and showing regular fare again. In mid 1980s it was demolished in favour of Investor Group headquarters which moved from Broadway.

Winnipeg had a fairly lax billboard law in the 1960s and signs were everywhere. Looking way down to Portage and Main a Coca Cola clock sign can be seen. It would be a few years before the Richardson Building and Winnipeg Inn (Fairmont) would be built. The same corner had a Royal Dutch Shell clock sign on the buldings that eventually became the Trizec development (marked with TD logo today).

Overhead of the street are trolley bus wires. One final observation. Look at the awesome VW van parked on the north side of the street.

1982 Films: Blade Runner and The Thing

I had not seen Blade Runner 2049 when it first came out. Thanksgiving weekend in Canada is not as busy as the U.S. but it is busy enough. Between work and dinner, a journey out to the movie just didn't seem to be in the offing. Plus the length of the film left me somewhat intimidated. It is only recently that I've seen it.

The box office for opening weekend for the new Blade Runner was...bad. Made for an estimated $150 million and starring original actor Harrison Ford with Canadians Ryan Gosling co-starring and Denis Villeneuve directing, it was expected to be a blockbuster. It was number 1 on opening weekend but with sluggish numbers. The adult nature made the movie not so kid friendly plus women had little to appeal to them in terms of characters. Ridley Scott admitted the movie at nearly nearly three hours might have been too long. Reviews were excellent but many said it was not an action movie.

I liked the original and still like to learn new things about it or immerse myself in the style of it, the music, the intricacies of the story and Harrison Ford as well as Rutger Hauer. The original Blade Runner movie was one of several sci-fi movies that year that did not do well at the box office in the year it came out.

The reason that 1982 was a bad year for a lot of sci-fi was because of E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial. The movie was released on June 11 that summer and for weeks after crushed the competition. Anything sci-fi that came out later than summer was crushed by the juggernaut that Spielberg created.

Luckily, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan came out June 4 on the weekend before or it might have suffered the same fate as other competing movies. The summer of 1982 really was all about E.T. Movies like Blade Runner and The Thing and others finished far in the wake of that fan favourite.

Were it not for a second life in burgeoning video rental business, it is hard to say what would have happened to movies that had slipped below the radar. Premium movie channels were still a year away in 1983. TV channels such as CKND offered tons of movies from 1974 on but they tended to be older fare and more recent movies didn't show up for some time. Late night TV elsewhere sometimes had movies but it was more likely to be filled by oodles of syndicated TV series.

I saw movies every weekend in 1982. I was still in high school and had a few part-time jobs including delivering the Free Press which was an evening paper at that time. I always had money for movies and partook at the theatre far more than I do now. The hype leading up to a movie had far less of a lead time as it does today. Often a movie trailer would only appear a few weeks before a release in theatres and maybe a week before on television commercials. Movies would come out on Fridays and reviews in the Saturday newspapers. I'd see movies on the Friday and mostly went in blind save for I had previewed the story in an entertainment magazine or in the case of sci-fi in the magazine Starlog.

Starlog started around the time my passion for sci-fi began in the mid 1970s. I'll wrote more on it in another post. Suffice to say though I was very aware of directors John Carpenter and and Ridley Scott from the movies I'd seen of theirs. In truth, I was more aware of Carpenter because of Halloween in 1978, The Fog in 1980 and especially Escape from New York in 1981. I first read about The Thing coming in Starlog and there were trailers which I saw which made me want to see it before Blade Runner.

I loved Ridley Scott's The Thing but heard next to nothing about it aside from the fact that Harrison Ford was going to be it. It was a toss up what movie to see that weekend first but with a bigger body of work and more familiarity with Carpenter, I went to see The Thing with a high school buddy.

Oh my gosh, what a terrifying movie! I was very familiar with Kurt Russell from his Disney to Elvis days and after Escape from New York, it likely tipped the balance in favour of The Thing. And what a movie! Loved the setting, the cast, the music, the writing and suspense and yes, the horror. The special effects were truly scary and this was when things had to be done without a computer. In many ways it felt more real and terrifying.

I saw Blade Runner a week later and it was like nothing like I'd ever seen. It wasn't the cold antiseptic future many earth bound sci-fis portrayed. This was a messy, dark, wet, corrupt and frightening. It was a full realized world and Harrison Ford is tired and dogged detective and narrator. And the ending. It left even director and actor years later debating what in fact it meant. Amazing film.

Even with what was two of the more influential sci-fi movies of all time on the same weekend in the same summer, they both flopped to the E.T. juggernaut. By late 1982/early 1983, the amount of Canadians homes to have a VCR exploded and the mom and pop video stores were everywhere. This is where movies like The Thing and Blade Runner found a new life, success and critical claim.

I have seen both films numerous times over the years but I can say this: I have only seen E.T. twice. I saw it in theatres that same summer and later as a video rental and never again. It was a very good film but there really was not much more I could get out of it.

It is easy to see why a movie that appeals to families would dominate an entire summer. It is very fortunate that the video market allowed for overlooked films to get a second chance.

Blade Runner 2049 was a very good film but unlike Ridley Scott's original, it didn't break any new ground in the look and feel that turned out to be so influential. And it was long which meant getting to the part where our protagonist meets Harrison Ford takes a while. I liked the movie but it is easy to see why one again such a film would do poorly at the box office.

As a last note, a film was done as a prequel to The Thing. It was also very good but travelled down the same worn path of the original like an overlay. It was also a critical and box office failure.

It should be noted that both Carpenter and Scott were not trusted by the studios. After The Thing Carpenter lost a studio gig for Firestarter as well as his confidence. Scott took nearly three years to get Legend produced and like Blade Runner had it edited to a version that was far from his vision. This just goes to show both directors took a while to be recognized for work that are now regarded as classics.

Media is fractious nowadays. Even big tentpole movies can be overlooked. It is no wonder that even small works get plowed under. Netflix has helped with re-discovering old TV series and movies. In 2019 the field competing with Netflix grows as Disney and Warner brothers join the competition. However, let's hope that some movies get a second life via a re-thinking or word of mouth or by sheer chance like The Thing and Blade Runner did.

Movie Review: Avengers: Infinity War

It is hard to believe that the seeds for Avengers: Infinity War was laid in a decision to create a new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that utilized superheroes whose rights or distribution had not been picked up by other studios. Marvel Studios would keep things in-house and would reap the benefits financially compared to their licencing agreements that were less lucrative. More importantly, they would have creative control across multiple platforms on their work.

In 2008 the film portion of MCU released Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. which went on to monster success thereby rejuvenating Marvel and the actor as well. Over the next ten years 18 more films would be released covering many of the other comic superheroes from Thor to Black Panther. All of them would be within the same universe and slowly linked through a series of Easter Eggs that would reveal plot points that would gather all the characters into the Avengers along with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Success was not guaranteed. Fortunately, no box office bombs crippled the project as it went along although some re-casting of characters took place such as Hulk and James Rhodes of the Iron Man movies. Most of the disagreements being over pay and creative control.

Marvel chose quite the talent pool of writers, directors and cast. However, they had seen other properties such Fantastic Four never live up to expectations when done by other studios. As a result, the studio had certain parameters as well as requirements for each of their films. Incredibly, the nearly two films a year pace satisfied nearly everyone and the hallmark of the end credits was to wait for the snippet or sometimes two snippets of a cliffhanger for what was to come next.

And so it comes down to Infinity War where the build up to one of the great villains Thanos (John Brolin) has been gathering. Directors Anthony and Joseph Russo with a good Marvel background of Captain America movies as well as TV comedies were well chosen for the ability to blend action and drama with an ever present humour. And this is a good thing because from the very beginning the audience's favourite characters are fodder for the villain's ambitions. The script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely deftly gives the heroes screen time that plays to their previous strengths from storylines over the past ten years. The writers themselves know those characters well since they scripted four Marvel movies and polished a fifth not to mention created a spin-off TV series Agent Carter.

The talent pool in writing and directing is what attracts the huge amount of acting talent. Over twenty actors compete for screen time with many never working together before in Marvel's universe. Suffice to say, it is interesting to see Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) make for a good match in powers, action and humour.

It is hard to review without giving away the entire story but suffice to say that the villain Thanos has been gathering Infinity Stones as part of his plot to cull the universe of beings for its own good. He doesn't see himself as a bad guy. His view is that with a random fifty per cent of people gone, the universe will be stronger with more resources to use. Without his intervention, he believes universal collapse like on his own planet of Titan is inevitable.

With the McGuffin being the Mind, Soul, Time, Space, Reality and Power stones, heroes and villains alike are searching and battling in multiple locations. As far as the main filming location was, Georgia was the home of the bulk of the work with a few side trips to New York. It is a testament to the state that they can now do a $300 million movie with the best of the world studios.

The Guardians of the Galaxy cross over into Avengers as Thanos has been a thorn in their side for some time. Gamora played by Zoe Saldana has a particularly strong role to play as she is step daughter to Thanos. In many ways, this movie is an origin story for Gamora and Thanos.

The critics, the fanboys/girls will all have something to love about this movie. A few quibbles: Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is good for the most part but the recklessness of his character at one point had me throwing my arms up in the air. In addition, Vision (Paul Bethany) has a stone in the middle of his forehead and yet we see hum use few of his powers used to defend himself.

Despite some confounding moments, the movie is a rip-roaring yarn. Some of the pay-off might come in the next movie since so many people are not sure how to take the ending. A few tears were shed to be sure. But there was a lot of action and laughs along the way.

Movie Review: I Feel Pretty

Even the earliest silent films have told the story about the protagonist wishing they were someone else. Through the power of the camera, they are transformed into beautiful and more confident versions of themselves. The Enchanted Cottage started off as a play, then 1924 silent movie and finally a 1945 motion picture. Audiences were delighted to see the war wounded man and a plain woman see each other as beautiful. The transformation takes place on camera as well and we see how beautiful the couple are. It is all revealed at the end that beauty is a matter of perception and that real beauty is deeper than that.

I Feel Pretty is a vehicle for the comedy talents of Amy Schumer who has lived her life fearlessly as a stand-up comedian and as an actress. In the movie she plays Renee Barrett, a back office worker for a large cosmetics company who is unhappy about her job, her looks and her lack of a relationship. She does have good friends (Busy Philpps, Aidy Bryant) and initiative but like her spin class, she seems to be cycling in place. In a moment of silly inspiration while watching the movie Big she runs out and throws a coin in a pond and hopes to transform. She doesn't. Or rather, it doesn't happen till the next day when she falls off her bike in class and wakes up and sees a different person.

Unlike The Enchanted College or Big, we don't see our heroine change into anything. She is the same person. What changes is that she feels pretty and confident and acts that way. Of course, since it is Amy Schumer, it is over the top confident. In short order, we see Renee trade phone numbers with a guy (Rory Scovel) and actually call and arrange a date. More importantly, the new confidence inspires the pursuit of a job at head office.

The movie can't be talked about without mention Michelle Williams performance as Avery LeClair. She is practically unrecognizable with the long hair and squeaky voice and no one can tell if she is a hero or villain when it comes to Renee. One thing is clear, Michelle Williams steals scenes that she is in.

Other characters such as Lauren Hutton doesn't have much to work with as the founder of Lily LeClair.  Emily Ratajkowski appears as Mallory, an impossibly pretty girl with confidence problems. Character interactions with Renee shows where the script could use work in showing more human moments. Too many wasted moments mark the film. Thinking on the movie Big which I Feel Pretty shows a clip from, I kept waiting for that moment where humour and creativity combine for that great scene. I doesn't happen.

The audience wants to see Amy Schumer be outrageous and we do get that in a strip scene at a bar but the writer/directors Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein just have enough to break through to something more extraordinary. Subsequently, I Feel Pretty is likely to do less well that Schumer's previous outings in Trainwreck and Snatched and that's a shame.

 Eventually, Schumer will find a role worthy of her talents.

Movie Review: Finding Your Feet

Finding Your Feet is a British romantic comedy written by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard and directed by Richard Loncraine. Unlike the vast majority of films out there, it has an older cast and makes no apologies for it. No one likes dwelling on frailties and aging, it is why Hollywood pretty much is youth obsessed and overlooks a large segment of the population in entertainment.

In the UK, the entertainment industry is somewhat like Canada's in that people move back and forth from stage to TV to film. It happens in the States too but there seems more rigid dividing lines which keep people in their lanes. The cast of Finding Your Feet's experience allows them to capture the character they are portraying in those small moments and in the cinematic ones as well. Too often in the big budget films, character gives way to special effects and a lack of story. The comedic timing of TV is evident everywhere and the choreographed dancing is the stage's contribution and the cinematic moments of a morning swim, the boats on the canal or streets of London or Rome all contribute to the storytelling.

The plot starts off ordinarily enough. Lady Sandra Abbot (Imelda Staunton) prepares for her husband's retirement with a party only to find her husband has been having an affair for a number of years. She leaves in a big blow-up in front of everyone and end up at her sister's council estate with her brand name luggage and an air of privilege despite her desperate situation. The sister Bif (Celia Imrie) is a never married Bohemian who has been estranged from her sibling in part due to the class differences which really never mattered to her. Despite the misgivings, Bif takes Sandra in and upon hearing her sister's weeping in the night embarks to bring her out of her shell and try to live a little.

With some prompting Sandra joins her sister at a community club dance hall. It is where she meets Charlie (Timothy Spall), Jackie (Joanna Lumley) and Ted (David Hayman) who are friends with her sister. She treats them rather disdainfully. Their patience and compassion win the day and Sandra comes out of her shell and re-connects with dancing, something she had left behind in childhood.

The feel good moments of the movie outweigh the dramatic and the highly skilled cast make audiences smile and laugh. If there is a weak area of the movie, it is the dancing. It is also the one confounding aspect of the movie in that the final dance number has no real lead in showing how they prepared for in terms of practice or costumes. It just happens.

Aside from that quibble, the movie delivers the goods with a general good script and solid performances and is the antithesis of what Hollywood generally delivers. A good night out.

Movie Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One started off as a debut science fiction novel in 2011 written by screenwriter Ernest Cline. In 2010, a bidding war by publishers and studios over the completed work saw Random House and Warner Bros. emerge as the rights holders. At that time Cline negotiated for first crack at the screenplay of his own book. The movie was originally set to premiere before Christmas but the fear that the new Star Wars sequel would compete heavily pushed the release to March of 2018.

The involvement of Steven Spielberg immediately makes this movie a tent-pole affair. His ability to direct and produce a movie and the 1980s touchstones the book covers are like catnip no one can resist. Still, because the book has a devoted fandom, criticism can be toxic lest you set a foot wrong. For the most part Spielberg does it right with a script from the creator Cline (Fanboys) and Zak Penn (X Men: The Last Stand) ensuring it would be cinematic.

Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) stars as Wade Watts/Parzival, an orphan in 2045 living in a slum within the United States where nearly everyone escapes to a virtual reality world called OASIS created by the late James Halliday. The real world don't nearly complete with the VR one and people world-wide spend their time there being whatever they want and doing whatever they want leaving only to eat and sleep. Wade within this world is a Gunter, a person in search an Easter egg left by Halliday through his avatar Anorak. Finding three keys and solving the puzzle of each will leave the user as the sole owner of the OASIS, the largest and richest company in the world.

The task is so difficult and the reward so great that the second largest company in the world and owner of much of the equipment used to access the VR world has legions of indentured slaves working to crack the problem. Wade and a few independent others pursue their own leads in Anorak's Quest despite the odds against them. Among this group Wade has a friendship with four but knows nothing about them in the real world. Moreover, it appears OASIS doesn't know the real world identities of its users. This is obviously in sharp contrast to today's Facebook.

Make no mistake though, virtual money is what the game is about and it takes real money to play it. And the real world consequences are being wiped out virtually and in reality. The future in 2045 in megacity Columbus doesn't look all that great. However, the OASIS is shown in the book and Spielberg's movie as a joyful place. The 1980s and 90's music, video games and cultural references is a fanboy/girl's dream. It is hard not to be swept up in the DeLorean, King Kong and Iron Giant parts of the film without smiling.

The creator of OASIS James Halliday (Mark Rylance) is an amalgam of Gates/Jobs/Rainman and we get to see his story and wonder how it went all wrong. Perhaps it was lost love of woman he should have made an effort to be with or the business partner who was forced out over direction of the company. It is for the users to guess in a virtual museum of every memory of the creator preserved and watched over by the Curator.

Our protagonist Wade's main motivation in being a Gunter is to be able to leave the slum he lives in. His High Fives friends inside the game keep him engaged and he even starts to fall in love with one them, a VR redhead called Ar3emis (Olivia Cooke). She brushes him by telling him bluntly that he doesn't even know anything about her except what she wants to reveal. Wade's friend Aech confirms by saying his love interest could be a dude named Chuck.

The consistent failure by Wade and everyone else in the game to even get the first key to Easter Egg makes him go back to the drawing board where he takes a different approach that end ups landing him the breakthrough the find the key. He shares that info with his four friend of the High Fives and together they top the leader board. This draws the attention of the bad guys from IOI whose chief wants to either to get Wade work for him to be crushed underfoot so that his company can rule the world. With the help of a bounty hunter and an assassin, they track down Wade in both the real and virtual worlds.

There are real life lessons and perhaps insights to be made about the type of world Ready Player One is. Critics and fans are likely to love this movie. However, as noted, some fans of the literary work might and will hate parts if not the whole movie for not capturing the essence of the book. To that end, acceptance is needed that to be cinematic and for the sake of time limits of film, things need to be adapted. In today's world 3D is overused. In this movie it is as well done as you will see in film.

Look for some fun parts for The Shining as well as Child Play's Chuckie showing up that really rev up the action. And a Buckaroo Banzai salute that is awesome. Despite amazing box office in North America and especially China, this movie will probably be discovered by more in weeks and months to come. Quite simply, audiences are overwhelmed in much the same way Ready Player One's world is an assault on the senses. The only difference now between the 1980s is that we seem to experience things differently, on different platforms, at different times and less together than ever before.

Movie Review: Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow was originally a spy novel from former CIA agent Jason Matthews about the "sparrow" program that first started in the Cold War. The book tells the story of a young woman coerced into the program in the new Russia by her uncle in state security. She is assigned a CIA agent and told to find a way into his life so that he reveals who the mole is within the Russian government.

The book written in 2013 was well reviewed and unlike a James Bond novel was fairly accurate about how clandestine operatives did their jobs. Matthews also wrote far more graphic sex scenes found in the genre and for additional fare ended each chapter with a recipe. The young woman who was the sparrow also possessed the ability to discern people's emotions through synesthesia. This manifested itself in her seeing colours that revealed someone's state of mind.

Even before the book was published, Hollywood swept in a paid seven figures for it and was commissioned to write a trilogy. The studios got in a bidding war and 20th Century Fox picked up the rights and shopped it around directors till Francis Lawrence came aboard. He then went to frequent partner in his Hunger Games movies Jennifer Lawrence (no relation to the director) and she signed on to portray the sparrow Dominika Ergerova.

In the spy movie genre, women seem to fall into two categories...Bond Women and Bond Imitators. Salt, Atomic Blonde and Black Widow are all versions of Bond where the woman is the action hero. It is only the rare movie that is done as a procedural or biographical movie such a Fair Game in 2010 which starred Naomi Watts.

John Le Carre has been the master of the procedural spy novel and his books have made for captivating TV and movie productions. They, however, have always had a male protagonist and while they've had some interesting female roles, they have not been the lead. Part of this possibly stems from the fact that in most countries, women historically were not allowed into combat. Subsequently, aside from a few exceptions women who acted as spies were overlooked or forbidden under official secrets acts to reveal their involvement. There are few excellent female spy writers out but the audience for their work largely appears to be men.

Jennifer Lawrence is a bona fide movie star. She has been part of big franchises such as X-Men and Hunger Games and she has headlined in films such as Joy and mother! Increasingly, she has taken roles on her terms, embraced risk while empowering her character and herself as an actress. As a result, her work and her choices have had her nominated four time for an Oscar. She won best actress for Silver Linings Playbook in 2013.

The screenplay for Red Sparrow was written by Justin Haythe. Some of the minutiae of spywork was left off for the sake of the story as well as Dominika Egerova's abilities in seeing people intention read in visualized colour.  Perhaps both of those book related items would be better explored in a long form series rather than a film. At 140 minutes though, it is a long movie with lots of dialogue with a focus on thrills rather than action.

The film starts with two unrelated scenes. The first is introducing Dominika Ergerova as a prima ballerina in the Bolshoi Ballet injured in a seemingly tragic accident that ends her career. Even then we see hints of how she is pawed by Russian men who would go further if they could. Lawrence's frozen smile as her bare back is touched reveals all.

Meanwhile in Gorky Park a CIA agent by the name of Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) is meeting with a high level Russian mole code named Marble when they are interrupted by police from the vice squad. Nash protects his informant but blows his cover and in one of only a few actions scenes has to hightail it back to the U.S. embassy.

Dominika's uncle Ivan played in a deliciously close resemblance to Vladimir Putin by Matthias Schoenaerts manipulates his niece by revealing intelligence showing her dance partner deliberately crippled her to make room for another dancer and lover. The result of this is that Dominika delivers an epic beating in the showers with her cane before escaping unnoticed. This leaves her and her sick mother (Joely Richardson) even more vulnerable and in desperation, she goes back to uncle for help.

It is at this point, we see how Ivan works in state security. He uses men and women to get close to targets to either extract information or to kill them. He uses Dominika in this case because the target already knows her and of her career ending injury. What happens behind closed doors is that she end up being raped and her attacker is killed by Ivan's assassin. As witness to this her own life is forfeit if she does not agree to work for state security as a SVR agent. She is is sent to State School Four to learn how to be a sparrow. Dominika later describes it as "whore school."

To the movie audience the violence, gore, sexuality and nudity will be too much if they like more PG fare like Black Panther which has only chaste kisses and near bloodless combat. This is a R rated film and they don't get made that much anymore. Some critics will with some justification say it glorifies sexual violence, re-victimizes women and is traumatic in general. The truth is that the "honey trap" used to get information or blackmail suspects in Russia is as old as the country itself. It has not been mentioned anywhere but some even theorize that Donald Trump is not critical of Russia because he is beholden to "sparrows" who were used to bring him to heel.

It should also be kept in mind that the same weekend Red Sparrow comes out that a former Russian agent and woman are poisoned in the U.K. With this all happening and connected to modern day Russia, Red Sparrow seems as current as can be. And while too much for some people, it is based on reality. Who's the say that Matron played by Charlotte Rampling does not exist as a trainer of men and women in using their bodies to gather intelligence?

The issue of the mole in Russian intelligence occupies by both the Russians and Americans. Marble has not re-established contact since his handler Nash escaped back to the U.S. With reluctance, the CIA reactivates Nate and sends him to Budapest to hide in plain sight so that Marble reaches out to contact him. The SVR learns that Nash is in eastern Europe but can't extract him and get the mole's name lest every agent would risk the same thing. Rules for the new Cold War apply: Kill our agent and we'll kill yours.

Despite Dominika's resistance in training or perhaps because of it, she is assessed by her uncle's bosses General Korchnoi and Colonel Zacharov played by Jeremy Irons and Ciaran Hands. They decide to dispatch her to Budapest to get the information but her life hangs in the balance every step of the way. It is there that she meets another sparrow who tell her that her life will never be her own lest she find a way to do things on terms.

Our two protagonists meet and do eventually end up together but time is running out for Dominika as it is apparent that Nash will not reveal who the mole is. She has to improvise and offers up a secondary target of a Senator's chief of staff (played with boozy enthusiasm by Mary-Louise Parker) but the whole affair goes badly where both Russians and Americans believe the were played.

The graphic violence and sex are hard to watch at times but Jennifer Lawrence never is. Nudity abounds. The chemistry between the two central characters is hard to measure as so much is happening. It also has to be contrasted with the thought that both are using each other although we don't see what Dominka's final play will be until the end. In short, her solution plays itself out by being hidden in plain sight.

Black Panther is dominating the box office all month and could set even more records. However, if you want something more adult then Red Sparrow might be more to the liking. There are few true movie stars left. Jennifer Lawrence is the one that shine brightest right now. It is interesting to see what she does when she is not a Marvel superhero herself.

Movie Review: Early Man

Early Man is a British animated stop-motion movie from the creators of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. It has a particular look and feel that has become familiar and a type of humour that is absurdist English that has garnered fans around the world. The movie written by Mark Burton and James Higginson and directed by Oscar-winning Nick Park is an Aardman Animations and BFI production distributed by StudioCanal.

In the thirty years that the team behind Wallace and Gromit began, stop motion has advanced greatly but not so far as to remove the occasional thumb print in the clay that is endearing to the art form. There is an old school feel to work and although this an original tale, it comes from the same family of characters except in this case back to pre-historic times.

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) voices Dug, a caveman with aspirations. He is curious why his tribe only hunts rabbits and what the round object everyone is chasing in the cave drawings.  As we come to learn, the round object is a soccer ball and the ancestors of the tribe invented the game. As for why they hunt only rabbits, it quickly becomes clear his tribe is lucky to catch even those adorable creatures. Dug is accompanied by his trusty hog friend in his adventures by Hognob voiced by director Nick Park himself.

Still, life is good in the valley of what we are told in the prologue is near Manchester in Britain. That is, until Bronze-age interlopers come in with machines and elephant to push out the cavemen to the badlands. Lord Nooth voiced by Tom Hiddleston (Thor) in a very French accent arrives and mining begins immediately. The other Bonze-agers have a variety of European accents and a banner of blue and yellow. This nod to Brexit will be lost on the kids but will generate smirks and guffaws from adults and the analogy is tiny little Britain against big old Europe.

Only Dug looks to challenge Lord Nooth but in the attempt gets knocked out and is transported to the the Bronze-age fortress. It is here and undercover that he discovers that the people here play soccer just like in the drawings in the long forgotten Stone-age caves. Unfortunately Dug is captured and a desperate last measure, he challenges the arrogant Nooth to a soccer game between the tribes. The stakes are if Dug wins, they reclaim the valley they lost and of Nooth wins, the Cavemen will work the mines.

Early Man delivers visual humour, puns and slapstick mixed in with politics and sport. Dug finds an ally in Goona (Maise Williams) who longs to play soccer but Bronze-age team doesn't allow girls. She switches sides and teaches the Stone-age team. Meanwhile the scheming Lord Nooth plans how to undermine Dug even before the game. There is some hilarious scenes with a message bird voiced by Rob Byndon that steal the moment and a play by and play and colour commentary of the final soccer game that are full of puns.

At a breezy 89 minutes, Early Man should keep the attention of the young and not be too long for the old. It is the perfect counterpoint to the movies out there that are just too mature for young families. It is sweet and nostalgic and fun.