By Anne Brodie
The Naked Gun stars the oh so serious actor Liam Neeson as Det. Frank Drebin – a head scratcher- until we see how much fun the Irish brooder is having playing the role originated by Leslie Neilson back in 1988. Both actors smashed their dramatic images to smithereens in playing the part. Pamela Anderson plays Beth pitch perfect(ly?), nailing the unique Naked Gun comic tone in her breakout funny performance. Who knew? She goes full bore as the babe, the catnip and the partner. There’s a fella, Cane, played by Danny Huston, a high-tech villain that reminds us of one Mr. Musk, about to launch his latest invention, a gizmo that “calms people up or down” – to distract while he does his dirty business. I’m not saying Musk does dirty business but Cane does, with deep glee and an o’erweening sense of grandeur. I thought of Huston’s father, the celebrated writer, director and actor John, and how he’d respond to his son in The Naked Gun, with its bawdy, tongue in cheek, fart obsessed familiarity. This outing retains the series’ unabashed mix of comedy styles, sight gags (milk from the fridge), and its habit of underplaying and overplaying in the same moment. It’s not as much laugh out loud, as its quick, surprising, one line or gimmick followed immediately by another, layer upon layer. You can’t make noise laughing or you’ll miss the next thing, and the next. You’ll find yourself grinning at the screen, frozen, waiting, and leaving satisfied. In theatres now.
Japanese actor Noriko Eguchi takes on a massive commitment in her role as Momoko in Rude to Love (Ai ni ranbo) and you’ll never forget her. She’s carrying a heavy load as the homebound, ignored wife of a man who’s cheating on her. Momoko isn’t a strong person, given to bottling up her feelings, even in the face of her husband’s infidelity and his failure to “see” her. It’s like she doesn’t exist even though she does everything to please him, making his favourite foods, being a faithful, good wife and housekeeper. He ignores her, answers questions with grunts and makes himself scarce. Her anxiety is transferred to her detailed, obsessive housekeeping, cooking and garbage collecting; she’s begun to scrub the pavement at the community dump. Based on the novel by same title by Shuichi Yoshida, and screenplay written and directed by Yukihiro Morigaki, we follow her as she crawls under their house to cuddle with a onesie for the baby she miscarried. On top of the rest of it, her beloved cat disappears and soon her spirit. She’s disappearing, becoming a nonentity. Eguchi is mostly silent, perpetually haunted, fearful even as she fulfills her husband’s idea of who she is. She’s nothing. The emotional burden is authentic and achingly real in Eguchi’s powerful, mostly silent performance. She can’t’ rise above nothingness. Rude to Love wont appeal to everyone but it’s a masterclass in acting and discipline. On Film Movement Plus August 1.trailer
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan tells the amazing true tale of one man’s quest to entertain TV audiences while helping crush racism in the deeply divided US. Ed Sullivan, a radio announcer turned unlikely television host broke barriers before the civil rights movement rose on the biggest platform there was – Sunday nights on Television. His hour-long variety show was must-see TV. Sullivan hand picked the acts each week, and besides launching the careers of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in America, he regularly featured Black artists including Harry Belafonte, Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Diahann Carroll, The Supremes, The Temptations, the Jackson Five including a very young Michael, James Brown, Pearl Bailey, Bo Diddly, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Bill Cosby, Louis Armstrong, The Platters, Gladys Knight and the Pips, launching the careers of hundreds of talents. Over twenty seasons, Sullivan changed the face of American entertainment, shining light on the greats whose talents and reputations remain to this day. He says it was his calling to promote those who otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance and ferociously carried out his aims, despite negative feedback, which he fully expected from the US Deep South. Sullivan knew racism. He grew up Irish in New York when being “other” was not accepted and he vowed to change the story using the all-important TV medium. Sullivan rebelled against the status quo and the result? He and the show became phenomenally popular, it was a cultural step forward as most families with televisions tuned in each week. Director Sacha Jenkins speaks with some of his guests, present day, Belafonte, Gordy, and Robinson among others in this most informative doc. Not only is this an important docu its also highly entertaining as we stroll down memory lane, one great song and performance at a time. There is no trailer available. Streaming now on Netflix.
The documentary Goddess of Slide: The Forgotten Story of Ellen McIlwaine paints a glowing portrait of one of the first women – and a Canadian – to elevate the slide guitar during her career. McIlwaine recorded thirteen albums experimented with instruments and created a legacy of power, individuality and innovation. Her complicated guitar patterns and vocals were never rehearsed, and seemed somehow out of body, screeches, snarls, sweet melodies, whatever came out of her and her instrument. “I don’t try”, she said. Jimi Hendrix noticed her talent in a New York nightclub and took her on, as a friend and guide, one music promoter says he witnessed the emergence of all the women, but no one moved him like McIlwaine. She sounded “like an orchestra”. McIlwaine was born in Nashville and adopted out to missionaries who moved to Japan, and later attended university in Tennessee; she noticed the way Black people were treated and took up the antidiscrimination cause. Agents warned her not to perform with Hendrix – she fired them. She wasn’t above covering other performers’ songs but she entirely reinvented them – including a heart stopping rendition of Steve Winwood’s I Can’t Find My Way Home. McIlwaine lived in Canada for much of the rest of her life, in Toronto and then to Calgary where she continued to perform and reinvent music. She died of cancer in 2021, just as she was planning to hit the road again. Her performances must be seen to be truly appreciated, they defy description. Be sure to catch Goddess of Slide written and directed by Alfonso Maiorana and featuring interviews with Taj Mahal, Colin Linden, Michael Williams and Amanda Marshall. CBC GEM PREMIERE and CBC DOCS YOUTUBE CHANNEL or right here now:
Looking for pure, unadulterated sitcom southern cornpone? Leanne, on Netflix, consisting of sixteen very short episodes, finds a southern woman (Leanne Morgan) at the end of her rope. The southern twangs even on Kistin Johnson who plays her sister Carol, is thick as hot pavement. Leanne’s husband Bill (Ryan Stiles) of 33 years has left her for a younger woman but she hasn’t told the kids yet. Carol flies to her side, and quickly realises she’s in for it. As loving and supportive as she is, Leanne’s demanding neediness surfaces and how, forcing Carol to sleep in her bed with her and listen to Leanne’s howls, tears, snarky remarks and one liners about him and marriage as an institution. Sometimes Leanne gets her rifle out, weird choice for a sitcom as the show swings in 33 directions all at once; confused, loosely woven and missing the mark. Leanne’s daughter Josie (Hannah Pikes) drinks and drugs already so the news isn’t going to help anyone. Leanne’s son Tyler (Graham Rogers) seems to be the only regular guy. Their home in Knoxville, Tennessee looks like an old plantation and I wonder if its past will be addressed. Leanne and Carol head off to a bar one night and meet two fellas who dump them for younger women. Next day, she’s off to her lawyers to start divorce proceedings and Bill shows up to say he made a mistake. I dunno. I was afraid someone would start praising Trump and Project 2025 so I stopped there. Produced by veteran sitcom creator Chuck Lorre and Morgan. Streaming now.