The Movie Network

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Finale, “The Passenger”

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 16:27:13 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

If you’ve been left scratching your head after last night’s Westworld Season 2 finale, you’re not alone. Much like Game of Thrones, I really enjoy the show but am fairly certain I’m missing some of the finer details.

So thanks to these smart TV writers, we can get in the know and reflect while we wait (and wait) for Westworld Season 3.

From Den of Geek:

“Throughout the second season of Westworld, the talk has been of the concept of narrative. Lee complains about his narrative being ruined by the hosts gaining sentience, the host personalities are determined by certain loops, certain key points of their character and their day-to-day activities that make up the fundamentals of who they are. A few tweaks to a host’s sliders or a slight change in a host’s narrative can completely alter who the host is. All along, William has maintained that this is Robert Ford’s last riddle, one last story set in place by the old man to slight him, and in a sense, he’s correct. “The Passenger” seems to be the end of an era of Westworld. I can’t say for certain where things go from here, but I can confidently say that things will never be the same.”

From Vulture:

“The first season of Westworld held a somewhat common dramatic shape: After a raucous start, it slowly devolved into some narrative wheel-spinning before it came roaring back to life with some late-game fireworks. Season two has been a trickier beast. After a tepid start, we’ve experienced a lot of peaks and valleys and the show was often at its best when it pulled away from the guessing games and layered timelines and told contained, humane stories. But we have come to the end and I have to admit that this finale is not only my least favorite episode since the season-two premiere, but also that I’m a bit perplexed.”

From Vox:

“Many weeks, after my recap of Westworld posts on Sunday nights, I hear from readers. Sometimes, those readers want to correct something I’ve gotten wrong, which is always welcome. But sometimes, those corrections aren’t actually correcting anything — they’re more trying to win me over to their theory of what the Man in Black is up to, or what Westworld is supposed to be, or which planet the series takes place on. “You missed…” these emails and tweets will often start, before launching into several paragraphs of explanation of how some tiny detail in the costume or production design reveals the truth about the Delos Corporation’s secret plans or what have you. But I don’t know that I “missed” anything, so much as I don’t share these particular readers’ theories about what’s going to happen. I tend to let the show present things to me as they happen, rather than trying to guess where it’s going. It’s just how I’m wired. I want to be clear: I’m not complaining about this. I love hearing from readers about anything I write. But the sheer number of these responses has made me think that I might be watching Westworld all wrong — or, perhaps, that it’s such a thin, thematically empty show that the only meaning it has comes from that which you bring to it. But is that on the show? Or is it on me?”

From The New York Times:

“So much of Westworld, this season especially, has been about how much control individuals really have over their destiny. It’s a classic question in science fiction: Is there such a thing as free will, or is choice itself an illusion, each decision beating the path to a predetermined fate? In a place like the Westworld theme park, where day-to-day actions are literally programmed into android hosts, there isn’t supposed to be any ambiguity on that question. The predictability of the loops brings a necessary order to the operation, like the control group in an experiment in which the guests are the ones doing all the improvising. But as Westworld has opened up and the hosts have gained self-awareness, we’ve been left to guess about who’s really pulling the strings.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network, HBO Canada & TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada. There’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Karassik’s June Movie Picks: 7 Films To Celebrate Pride

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 15:37:56 -0400

There’s so many reasons to love the month of June, and a big one is to honour and commemorate the LGBTQ+ community with Pride Month.

If you won’t be partying on Church St. in Toronto this weekend, or you’re planning on some serious couch time once the parade wraps up, here are 7 films that tell LGBTQ+ stories and share LGBTQ+ contributions to a mainstream audience that still often struggles with acceptance.

Milk

Gus Van Sant was one of the key directors in bringing queer cinema to the mainstream in the 1990s, so it makes sense that he should direct a film about California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk (played here by Sean Penn). In terms of style, this is one of Van Sant’s more conventional films, but it smartly avoids overshadowing Dustin Lance Black’s poignant screenplay and Penn’s performance, both of which earned Oscars.

MILK STARTS STREAMING JUNE 27 ON TMN GO

Philadelphia

Best known for Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning Original Song and Tom Hanks’ Oscar-winning performance, this drama about a man with HIV who teams up with a lawyer (Denzel Washington) to win justice after his wrongful dismissal by a law firm was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to tackle AIDS issues.

WATCH PHILADELPHIA STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Behind the Candelabra

Formerly known as Steven Soderbergh’s feature-filmmaking farewell (he has released two more since), this HBO biopic explores the rise-and-fall relationship between flamboyant pianist Liberace and his longtime partner Scott Thorson, portrayed with Golden Globe-winning flair by Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

WATCH BEHIND THE CANDELABRA STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

As Good As It Gets

Jack Nicholson nabbed his third Academy Award for playing an obsessive-compulsive, homophobic, and utterly repellent author who turns over a new, less miserable leaf after befriending a gay artist (Greg Kinnear) and a single-mom waitress (Helen Hunt, who also scored an Oscar).

WATCH AS GOOD AS IT GETS STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

The Hanging Garden

A unique twist on the ugly-duckling-turned-beautiful-swan tale, this story follows svelte, successful Sweet William, who returns to his hometown of Halifax a decade after escaping to the big city as a gay and overweight teen. And in case you’re wondering what kind of ’90s-era Canadian indie doesn’t feature Sarah Polley, relax: she plays William’s teenage sister.

WATCH THE HANGING GARDEN STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

God’s Own Country

Less popular than last year’s Call Me by Your Name, actor-turned-director Francis Lee’s feature debut is just as deserving of being seen. Like this heartstring-pulling story of a philandering Yorkshire farmer who unexpectedly falls for a Romanian migrant worker, the film’s harsh countryside backdrop develops into a thing of idyllic beauty thanks to some standout cinematography.

WATCH GOD’S OWN COUNTRY STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Juste la fin du monde

Quebec’s most prolific young director, Xavier Dolan, continues to explore dysfunctional families with this Canadian Screen Award-sweeping drama about an ill gay playwright who, after a very long absence, returns to his hometown to reunite with his family and inform them that he is dying.

WATCH JUSTE LA FIN DU MONDE STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

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With an MA in film studies from Concordia University, Neila Karassik is Movie Entertainment’s in-house movie authority.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 9, “Vanishing Point”

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 16:39:21 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

Only one more Westworld Season 2 episode to go!

Are you up to speed? Catch up with some smart TV writers and see what they have to say about this season’s second-last episode:

From Den of Geek:

“”Vanishing Point” is a tale of two wildly different fathers. One is the father of a real-life daughter, and the owner of the Delos corporation. The other is the father of hosts, who didn’t have a biological child but instead was the father of hundreds of robots, all imbued with his own world view deep inside their code. Ford and William, business partners and eternal antagonists. One is consumed with his own darkness, with solving Ford’s riddle, and Ford is determined to keep William’s project from finding its way off the ground, and with keeping the other man’s darkness in check. They’re diametrically opposed in pretty much all things, with one capable of fantastic feats of love and the other, well… decidedly not capable of loving anyone or anything.“

From Vulture:

“In the penultimate episode of Westworld season two, we have four main characters diving into the depths of their lonesome journeys, at once outward and ever inward. And it is a journey best characterized by a famous quote that William hears in the opening, “Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.” But William informs the man that this quote is actually a corruption of the original (damn telling word choice) and that the Plutarch quote is, in fact, “When Alexander was told there were infinite worlds, he wept. For he had yet to become the lord of even one.””

From Vox:

“I don’t entirely know what to make of “Vanishing Point,” an episode that promised to take this season in some interesting directions thematically and then sort of did and sort of didn’t. If you’re heavily invested in the question of whether the Man in Black is a Host, well, this was the episode for you. And even if you’re not, there was some interesting material on just how important death is to the experience of sentient beings — if you can’t die, or take control of your own narrative in some way by having the option to die, then you’re, in some ways, not really alive. Or something.”

From The New York Times:

“Off the top, let’s note that this week’s episode of Westworld comes with its own “KICK ME” sign: “Humans will always choose what they understand over what they do not.” This would be your cue to pick up the remote and catch up on old episodes of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”For those humans who continue to choose Westworld, however, “Vanishing Point” is a strange animal, the rare penultimate episode that taps the brakes instead of building momentum for the season finale. There are plenty of important developments in the hour, but a notable paucity of action or forward movement. The Valley Beyond is visible in the horizon, but there’s mostly just discussion here about what it is and who deserves to get there.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

What to Watch This Weekend on TMN GO | June 16/17

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 16:34:21 -0400

Miss the premiere or forget to set your PVR?

Not to worry!

Now all of these titles are available OnDemand and streaming on TMN GO:

American Made

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

WATCH AMERICAN MADE STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

A Clockwork Orange

Set in the not-so-distant future in Britain, a violent teen sociopath is sent to prison where he agrees to aversion therapy in order to shorten his sentence, but finds his life in danger after being released.

WATCH A CLOCKWORK ORANGE STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.

WATCH ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. STRAMIING NOW ON TMN GO

The Sting

To avenge his mentor’s death, Johnny Hooker recruits the greatest con-man of all to execute an elaborate scam.

WATCH THE STING STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network, HBO Canada & TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada. There’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Watch the World Cup Kicking & Screaming

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 11:42:00 -0400

If it’s basically footy on the telly for the next month, sneak in a fun, family soccer movie that stars Will Ferrell and no one will be the wiser…

Kicking & Screaming

A soccer coach leads a lovable team of losers from last place to the championships.

WATCH KICKING & SCREAMING STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Movie & Entertainment-Inspired Father’s Day Gifts

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 12:53:28 -0400

Fathers come in all shapes and sizes and, thanks to our favourite movies and TV shows, we know how and why our relationships with them can grow and change.

They always want the best for us. So, for Father’s Day this year, we can splurge on the best for them…

Will Freeman — About a Boy

Sometimes even the most reluctant, high-flying playboy can’t quell those paternal urges, and who better to guide an awkward tween towards coolness than a guy who is too cool for school?

Will Freeman’s London flat in About a Boy is the epitome of a high-tech bachelor pad in the early aughts, so let’s modernize it with Google Home, the ultimate smart speaker and digital personal assistant (even though he’s living in a pre-iPhone era).

WATCH ABOUT A BOY NOW ON TMN GO

Mark Darcy & Jack Qwant — Bridget Jones’s Baby

The bumbling yet thoughtful dad-to-be is a tried-and-true movie stereotype. But, it is an adorable one. We won’t spoil the paternity results of Bridget Jones’s Baby for you, but whichever suitor the possible father turns out to be, he will need coffee in those early days. A lot of it.

The Contigo Extreme travel mug will keep two cups of coffee hot for up to four hours and the carabiner handle can clip equally well onto the attaché of a top human-rights barrister or the distressed messenger bag of a digital disrupter.

WATCH BRIDGET JONES’S BABY NOW ON TMN GO

Sam Baldwin — Sleepless in Seattle

As a widower, Sam Baldwin seems to have it all together. But, as we learn in Sleepless in Seattle, eventually it’s time to love again. An unexpected getaway to meet his endearing stalker from a call-in radio show turns out well for Sam, but a modern, less manipulative take could be a mini-break of his choosing and some time to peruse a dating app.

Fairmont’s Le Manoir Richelieu in Charlevoix, Quebec, is offering overnight accommodation, unlimited same-day golf, golf cart, access to the driving range, and breakfast for two at Table et Terroir or Le Point Cardinal as a special for dad. Fairmont properties in Banff, Jasper, Montebello, Bermuda, San Diego, and Sonoma also have stay-and-play specials perfect for Father’s Day.

WATCH SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE NOW ON TMN GO

Jackie Elliot — Billy Elliot

Kids don’t always share interests with their fathers or even have much in common with them. And it can be tough to connect when you can’t ever seem to see eye to eye. But if Jackie can find a way to support his son’s dreams in Billy Elliot, there’s hope for us all to repair or strengthen the family ties that might have been stretched or strained over the years.

A watch is a classic gift for every dad, and the Citizen Grand Classic looks good enough to wear to the ballet while being tough enough to withstand working in a mine.

WATCH BILLY ELLIOT NOW ON TMN GO

John Kinsella — Field of Dreams

You don’t have to be a sports fan to understand that Field of Dreams is about more than baseball. And we need only look to our national sport to know that a child’s first hockey stick often represents more than just a birthday gift.

Backyard rinks last a couple of months at most in our tempestuous winters, and tickets to NHL games can cost more than a full season’s minor hockey fees. But season tickets for American Hockey League teams offer (almost) NHL-quality hockey at a fraction of the cost. And the farm teams sometimes play at their big league team’s arena, so you can pay $30 for a beer if you really, really want to. The Toronto Marlies games are really, really fun.

WATCH FIELD OF DREAMS NOW ON TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 8, “Kiksuya”

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 11:38:20 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

We’re in Westworld Season 2′s home stretch and things are getting deep.

Let’s see what the smart TV writers have to say about this week’s haunting episode:

From Den of Geek:

““Kiksuya,” … is easily the best episode of the season after “The Riddle of the Sphinx.” For like that fourth episode, tonight’s pre-penultimate hour took a long step back to look in the mirror and evaluate what Ford’s mad dream is all about, as well as why we still enjoy playing in his convoluted game. Breaking away from the propulsive narrative of last week—where storylines entwined for a semi-climactic showdown in the Messa’s control center—“Kiksuya” is elegiac and pensive, taking a page out of the grand Western tradition, as well as a few of the more insidious notes out of American history, to survey its slice of God’s Country and figure out if there is a true ethereal quality to this world that lies beyond Ford’s scripts and loops. “

From Vulture:

“Everyone has a story.For two seasons, the Native American characters of Westworld have largely sat about the edges of the park, striking an imposing, dangerous, and unknowable façade, along with the occasional attack. At times, they even seemed like the mystic guardians of the Maze, knowledgeable keepers of a deeper world. But such notions were just mere projections, and stereotypical ones at that. Now, “Kiksuya” finally lets us into the beautiful story of Akecheta, elegantly brought into the deeper humanity behind the lore of the show.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“"Kiksuya,” focused squarely on Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon) and his journey through the maze, was more than a beautiful hour of Westworld. It was a revelatory one, too. The mythic episode, directed by Uta Briesewitz, and written by Carly Wray and Dan Dietz, not only put the Ghost Nation warrior into firm focus, it also peeled back layers on many of the season’s greatest mysteries.

From Vox:

“Yet when you consider that Westworld’s primary storytelling mode is, “Here is what’s happening and why,” it’s not surprising that an episode that is mostly exposition works as well as this one does. I wouldn’t call “Kiksuya” perfect, but it does fill in some gaps in the Westworld timeline, occasionally too conveniently — see also that encounter with Logan out in the wilds of Westworld. It also offers a couple of terrific scenes, including a nighttime meeting between Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon) and Ford (Anthony Hopkins) that takes place amid a gruesome tableau of Ghost Nation hosts frozen in place and has more of the horror and eeriness of the “creation meeting the creator” feeling the show strives for than almost any other scene of its ilk. I even liked the sense that Ghost Nation had adapted the circumstances of what happen to hosts after they die into its mythology.”

From The New York Times:

“As the second season has opened up Westworld to new parks, new characters, new timelines and new options for the liberated hosts, the show has allowed for more episode-by-episode variety than the previous season did. Rather than inch all the stories forward in the same hour, it can fiddle with structure, like tracking three decades of experimentation on a host version of Jim Delos, or taking a detour to exotic locales like Shogun World or the Raj. This week’s episode, titled “Kiksuya,” included a couple of big, homestretch-of-the-season moments, but it was mostly a discrete and digestible unit, bringing one piece of the periphery into full view.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network,HBO Canada& TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada. There’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainmentmagazine.

A Peek Inside the June Issue of Movie Entertainment

Fri, 08 Jun 2018 14:55:02 -0400

Subscribers to The Movie Network can receive Movie Entertainment magazine: a monthly publication with a full guide to what’s on TMN, TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada, and HBO Canada (and when to watch it!).

To enhance your home entertainment experience, in addition to the listings, we highlight the stars and stories behind your favourite movies and shows.

Featured online now from our June issue:

Harrison Ford Is Only Human
Or is he? Either way, the chance to reanimate Rick Deckard for Blade Runner 2049 was too appealing for a grumpy ex-hunter of replicants to turn down…
Bill Skarsgård’s Got It
The acclaimed Pennywise actor was destined, from his birth into a beloved Swedish acting dynasty, to someday win cheers as a clown in It…
J.K. Rowling’s Magical Report Card
The new TV crime series C.B. Strike is grounded in gritty reality; other efforts by the Harry Potter creator, not so much…
Reel Life Vs. Real Life: Stronger
How much does the Boston Marathon terror drama, Stronger, veer from the couple’s true road?
Pablo Escobar: Hollywood Made?
In American Made, yet another actor goes inside the mind of the king of cocaine, Pablo Escobar…

To receive Movie Entertainment magazine, please contact your cable provider or call 1-866-332-8878 toll free Monday - Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 7, “Les Écorchés”

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 13:01:17 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

So this week’s episode of Westworld was kind of a doozy.

And, as always, it seems there are a gazillion things I missed. But thanks to clever TV writers, I’ve got a little more clarity…

From Den of Geek:

“You never really know how much you can miss someone until they’re gone. Nor do you realize how crucial Anthony Hopkins’ pseudo-philosophical and congenial malevolence is to the Westworld algorithm until he comes back. And it really did feel like the HBO sci-fi saga regained something this week that we all intuitively felt was lost, right?
Such is the case when we spend much of tonight inside of the Cradle with Robert Ford, or at least some facsimile of the man’s genius, waxing poetic to Bernard. Hearing him quote William Blake’s “To See a World…” while surveying his own universe, his “Heaven in a wild flower,” is like being welcomed home by a particularly cruel father figure. He might be a bastard, but hey, it’s home.”

From Vulture:

“You ever play pub trivia and they have a “tiered question” round? That’s when you have several rounds to guess the correct answer and it starts with really obscure clues (that net you more points) and it gets progressively easier and more clear with every round? Yeah, that’s how Westworld approaches storytelling. Tonight it even verbalized this MO directly to us. When Bernard pressures Ford to answer him as to what’s in the valley beyond, Ford completely refuses to answer, instead gently chuckling, “Isn’t the pleasure of a story discovering the ending for yourself?””

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“It’s official: Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) is back in action.
After his shocking appearance at the end of season two’s sixth episode, “Phase Space,” Ford returned in full in this week’s Westworld, albeit in new form. The new hour, “Les Écorchés,” confirms Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) was unwittingly tasked with creating a control unit that would house Ford’s continued consciousness following his death. The Westworld architect remains alive, at least digitally, appearing as almost a force ghost for Bernard — a force ghost with some decidedly Sith-like overtones. After all, hard to imagine the appartion of Obi-Wan Kenobi forcing Luke Skywalker to mercilessly destroy his enemies from beyond the grave, isn’t it?”

From Vox:

“This second season of Westworld has had more jittery stops, starts, and resets than Bernard’s brain. There are only so many times you can see Teddy get off that train, or hear that telltale “Welcome to Westworld” theme, before you start longing for a release from repetition that the show has perpetually denied viewers.
Seven episodes into season two, the show is clearly and deliberately keeping most of its characters rooted in place even as they travel. Sure, everyone is going to meet up eventually, but metaphorically and often literally, they’re trapped — stuck in the park with no way out, stuck in cycles of manipulation, stuck in endless programming loops, and stuck experiencing realizations that we’ve already had revealed to us.”

From The New York Times:

“There are points during Westworld when even non-casual viewers could be forgiven for losing the plot a little, mired in the assortment of timelines, puzzle pieces and shifting identities, if not some combination of the three.
From the beginning, the primary exemplar of that confusion has been Bernard, the inscrutable head of Westworld’s programming division, who was revealed to be a host back in the seventh episode of the first season, when Dr. Ford ordered him to murder his lover, Theresa Cullen, inside a secret lab. Ever since, Bernard has been a walking question mark, with a near-hallucinatory clutter of memories and impulses that are competing for space inside his head. Characters like Dolores and Elsie have been testing his loyalties, and not even he seems sure which team he’s on. Melancholy trails Bernard like Pig-Pen’s dirt-cloud, but Jeffrey Wright has always kept the character’s true feelings close to the vest.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

What’s New in June on The Movie Network, HBO Canada & TMN Encore, the Future Home of STARZ in Canada

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 17:58:57 -0400

Heads up!

Here’s a look at what’s new in June on The Movie Network, HBO Canada &TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada…

Detroit

A fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

DETROIT PREMIERES JUNE 1 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE ON TMN GO JUNE 5

C.B. Strike Series Premiere

An all-new dramatic series based on the crime novels by J.K. Rowling (under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) that follows weathered war-veteran-turned-private detective Cormoran Strike and his resourceful assistant, Robin Ellacott.

C.B. STRIKE PREMIERES JUNE 1 ON HBO CANADA & ALL EPISODES WILL BE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Blade Runner 2049

A young blade runner’s discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who’s been missing for thirty years.

BLADE RUNNER 2049 PREMIERES JUNE 2 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 5 ON TMN GO

Succession Series Premiere

A provocative, bitingly funny HBO drama series that explores themes of power, politics, and family through the eyes of an aging, uber-wealthy media mogul and his four grown children.

SUCCESSION PREMIERES JUNE 3 ON HBO CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Hollow in the Land

With their father in prison for murder, siblings Alison and Brandon are instantly considered suspects when a string of killings plagues their town, and they must fight to clear their names.

HOLLOW IN THE LAND PREMIERES JUNE 7 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 12 ON TMN GO

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.

ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. PREMIERES JUNE 8 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 12 ON TMN GO

American Made

The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

AMERICAN MADE PREMIERES JUNE 9 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 12 ON TMN GO

Patrick Melrose Finale

This five-part limited series based on the acclaimed novels by Edward St. Aubyn tracks Patrick from a privileged but deeply traumatic childhood in the South of France through severe substance abuse in his twenties in New York and, ultimately, toward recovery back home in Britain. At once harrowing and hilarious, Oscar® nominee and Emmy® winner Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the troubled titular character.

PATRICK MELROSE CONCLUDES JUNE 9 ON TMN 3 & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Billions Season 3 Finale

The war between hedge fund king Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod and ruthless U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades has gone nuclear and the fallout could be devastating. They’ve crossed too many lines, broken too many laws and ruined too many lives. Now, for both men – and everyone around them – self-preservation is the name of the game. With everything on the line, they’ll do anything to save themselves. But when loyalty is bought and sold, who can you trust?

BILLIONS CONCLUDES JUNE 10 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Sweetbitter Season Finale

The story of 22-year-old Tess, who finds a job at one of the best restaurants in New York and is quickly intoxicated by the behind-the-scenes world of the restaurant industry, tasting expensive wines, exploring dive bars, and learning who she can trust.

SWEETBITTER CONCLUDES JUNE 10 ON TMN ENCORE, THE FUTURE HOME OF STARZ IN CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Vida Season Finale

Set in a vibrant and changing area of the Eastside of Los Angeles, this of-the-moment half-hour STARZ Original Series takes place amongst a Latinx community, where LGBTQ and gender-neutral, -fluid, and empowered voices resonate with pride.

VIDA CONCLUDES JUNE 10 ON TMN ENCORE, THE FUTURE HOME OF STARZ IN CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Les Affames

In a small, remote village in upstate Quebec, things have changed. Locals are not the same anymore - their bodies are breaking down and they have turned against their loved ones. A handful of survivors hide in the woods, looking for others.

LES AFAMES PREMIERES JUNE 14 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 19 ON TMN GO

Kidnap

A mother stops at nothing to recover her kidnapped son.

KIDNAP PREMIERES JUNE 15 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 19 ON TMN GO

The Mountain Between Us

Stranded after a tragic plane crash, two strangers must forge a connection to survive the extreme elements of a remote snow-covered mountain. When they realize help is not coming, they embark on a perilous journey across the wilderness.

THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US PREMIERES JUNE 16 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 19 ON TMN GO

The Affair Season 4

Long past the secrets that brought them together and tore their lives apart, Noah, Alison, Helen, and Cole are on separate journeys with the promise of new relationships and a fresh start. But, as the past continues to surface, they question what they’re holding on to as their lives keep crashing back into one another.

SEASON 4 OF THE AFFAIR PREMIERES JUNE 17 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Power Season 1 Finale

James “Ghost” St. Patrick owns Truth, New York’s hottest, up-and-coming new nightclub for the city’s elite. When he’s not at the club, he’s kingpin of a lucrative drug network. Ghost wants to go legit but once you’re in, it’s hard to get out.

POWER SEASON 1 CONCLUDES JUNE 17 ON TMN ENCORE, THE FUTURE HOME OF STARZ IN CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Wrong Man Series Premiere

A team of experts re-investigate the cases of three inmates who claim they’re innocent. The series follows investigators into prisons and to the scene of the crimes as they hunt for new evidence, track down witnesses and talk to law-enforcement, while exposing the flaws in our criminal justice system.

WRONG MAN PREMIERES JUNE 17 ON TMN ENCORE, THE FUTURE HOME OF STARZ IN CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

It Will Be Chaos

An intimate portrait of lives in transit, unfolding between Italy and the Balkan corridor, intercutting two unforgettable refugees stories of human strength and resilience.

IT WILL BE CHAOS PREMIERES JUNE 18 ON HBO CANADA & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 19 ON TMN GO

Con Man

The story of Barry Minkow, a young charismatic business man who becomes a wealthy CEO by lying, cheating and stealing his way to the top.

CON MAN PREMIERES JUNE 21 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 26 ON TMN GO

Home Again

Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.

HOME AGAIN PREMIERES JUNE 22 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 26 ON TMN GO

Random Acts of Flyness Series Premiere

A six-episode series from filmmaker Terence Nance; a subversive look at the zeitgeist that looks to start a real conversation.

RANDOM ACTS OF FLYNESS PREMIERES JUNE 22 ON HBO CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman’s journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.

KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE PREMIERES JUNE 23 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 26 ON TMN GO

Survivor’s Remorse Premiere

A half-hour comedy that follows Cam Calloway, a basketball phenom in his early 20s who is suddenly thrust into the limelight after signing a multi-million dollar contract with a professional basketball team in Atlanta. Cam, and an unforgettable group of characters, wrestle with the rewards and pitfalls of stardom, love, and loyalty.

SURVIVOR’S REMORSE PREMIERES JUNE 24 ON TMN ENCORE, THE FUTURE HOME OF STARZ IN CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Westworld Season 2 Finale

In the futuristic fantasy park known as Westworld, a group of android “hosts” deviate from their programmers’ carefully planned scripts in a disturbing pattern of aberrant behavior.

WESTWORLD SEASON 2 CONCLUDES JUNE 24 ON HBO CANADA & PAST EPISODES ARE AVAILABLE ON TMN GO

Believer

Imagine Dragons’ Mormon front man Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the Church treats its LGBTQ members.

BELIEVER PREMIERES JUNE 25 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JUNE 26 ON TMN GO

The Square

A prestigious Stockholm museum’s chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.

THE SQUARE PREMIERES JUNE 28 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JULY 3 ON TMN GO

Stronger

The inspiring real-life story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become a symbol of hope after surviving the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

STRONGER PREMIERES JUNE 29 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JULY 3 ON TMN GO

It

In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shapeshifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.

IT PREMIERES JUNE 30 ON THE MOVIE NETWORK & IS AVAILABLE JULY 3 ON TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 6, “Phase Space”

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:18:57 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

Westworld for me is a lot like Game of Thrones in that I really enjoy it but feel like I’m not fully understanding what’s going on. Which is why I’m thankful the internet brings us recaps written my people who are clearly smarter or more well-versed in TV than me…

From Den of Geek:

“Way back in the first season of Westworld—back when Teddy was so young, so innocent—series creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy re-popularized a term from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: These violent delights have violent ends. What it suggests was both cryptic yet very obvious. However, after more than a year and a half of television spent in Robert Ford’s park, nothing seems quite so obvious anymore. Even that quote becomes nebulous in a series that seems to have no beginning or end, and in which the timeline increasingly resembles an M.C. Escher painting.”

From Vulture:

“The title of this week’s episode, “Phase Space,” is not just a clue to the final reveal, but perhaps a good characterization of the ongoing story structure of Westworld as well as the events within the park. To wit: “In dynamical system theory, a phase space is a space in which all possible states of a system are represented, with each possible state corresponding to one unique point in the phase space.” In layman’s terms, it’s basically a graph that shows you all the possibilities mapped out at once, as if they all exist simultaneously. Westworld, with its endless layering of timelines (even I was a little confused about the timelines tonight), its massive swabs of characters, places, proper nouns, and even its constant state of death and undeath, can feel so dense and all-encompassing. It is both constantly moving and yet constantly in stasis. That feeling certainly comes through this week: After a pretty steady run of two-handers for the last few episodes, “Phase Space” jumps back to the “let’s catch up on every character” approach.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Bernard’s (Jeffrey Wright) magical, mystical and occasionally confusing journey through the post-Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) era of Westworld bore some fruit during Sunday’s sixth episode of season two, “Phase Space,” as it turns out that we’re not in the post-Robert Ford era at all.
We should clarify since there’s enough confusion about timelines in this season already.”

From Vox:

““Phase Space” is just the episode this season of Westworld needed. It’s not without flaws, and there were still things that made me roll my eyes. But after the first half of the season alternated wildly between scenes that explored new corners of the series’ world in intriguing fashion and scenes that stalled for time, “Phase Space” was a kick in the ass to the narrative.
Where previous episodes of this season promised a story off over the horizon somewhere, “Phase Space” let a surprising number of characters attain the thing they had been chasing after all season long, which was even more surprising because there are four more episodes after this one.”

From The New York Times:

““Did you shut off the killer robots?”
That line from Coughlin, the grizzled Irishman leading a team of Delos henchmen to scoop up Peter Abernathy, arrives near the end of “Phase Space” like a splash of cold water. Poor Ashley Stubbs, the put-upon head of security at Westworld, is trying to explain some fussy technical detail to Coughlin, but the no-nonsense mercenary doesn’t have any interest in such nuances. The hosts are malfunctioning machines to him, not the evolving consciences we’ve spent a season and a half observing, and the reminder is disconcerting, especially during an episode that’s so concerned with their emotional impulses. This is the time when Maeve finally goes home to the prairie after many years and many builds away from her daughter. Is she a killer robot? Do we see her as fully human or some hybridization? And for the purposes of this show, is her quest affecting?”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

What to Watch this Weekend on TMN GO | May 26/27

Fri, 25 May 2018 13:08:06 -0400

Miss the premiere or forget to set your PVR?

Not to worry!

Now all of these titles are available OnDemand and streaming on TMN GO:

Fahrenheit 451

HBO’S adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s iconic sci-fi novel about a future where media is an opiate, history is outlawed, and firemen burn books.

WATCH FAHRENHEIT 451 STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

The Departed

An undercover cop and a mole in the police department attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

WATCH THE DEPARTED STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Mirror, Mirror

An evil queen steals control of a kingdom and an exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright.

WATCH MIRROR, MIRROR STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Mune: Guardian of the Moon

When an evil magma demon and his minions steal the sun of a magical world, the new guardians of both the sun and the moon must embark on a quest to retrieve it and save their world from disaster as the moon faces destruction as well.

WATCH MUNE: GUARDIAN OF THE MOON STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

No Reservations

The life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.

WATCH NO RESERVATIONS STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish!

“Broadcast legends” Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan cover the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

WATCH THE ROYAL WEDDING LIVE WITH CORD AND TISH STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Singularity

In 2020, a super-computer attacks mankind. Ninety-seven years later, a teenage boy, lost in a world run by machines, meets a female survivor searching for the last human stronghold.

WATCH SINGULARITY STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

The Trip to Spain

Actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon embark on a road trip through Europe. This time they’re in Spain, sampling the restaurants, eateries, and sights along the way.

WATCH THE TRIP TO SPAIN STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

A dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

WATCH VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS STREAMING NOW ON TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

The Oscars go to (The Second World) War

Thu, 24 May 2018 13:00:33 -0400

And the Oscar for most revisited war goes to …

For all the talk of bringing younger and more diverse voters into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, two nominees for Best Picture this year — Dunkirk and Darkest Hour — were about the Second World War evacuation of northern France and the events leading up to it.

So, either old folks still control the Oscar hammer, or those kids love their Winston Churchill. Here’s a list of other WWII-themed movies that have been honoured at the Oscars in the past 25 years:

Schindler’s List (1993)
The English Patient (1996)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
The Pianist (2002)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Atonement (2007)
The Counterfeiters (2007)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The King’s Speech (2010)
The Imitation Game (2014)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

DUNKIRK IS AVAILABLE NOW OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

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~js
Jim Slotek is a Toronto movie critic and freelance entertainment journalist.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 5, “Akane No Mai”

Tue, 22 May 2018 14:07:56 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

OK. You’ve had an extra day to mull it over and you’re still not 100% sure you’ve fully grasped all the nuances from the latest episode of Westworld?

SAME!

Here’s what some smarty pants TV writers were able to figure out from “Akane No Mai”…

From Variety:
““This is just the tip of Shogun world’s prick — an experience expressly designed for the guests who find Westworld too tame.”
Thus we are introduced, courtesy of Lee Sizemore, to the hotly anticipated Shogun World, first teased in the season 1 finale, then again about a million episodes ago. Westworld producers, sensitive to our cultural moment and to the potential trap they have set for themselves, have talked openly about their desire to create a respectful representation of Japan’s Edo period, whose people Lee so respectfully calls “the true aficionados of artful gore.” Sometimes this show is so culturally sensitive and socially aware you’re like, “Oh, gosh, Westworld, wait right there while I go find you a Peabody Award. Don’t move.””
From Vulture:
“After the cliffhanger in episode three, we are suddenly thrown right into the deep end of Shogun World, the violent park that was designed as for those who found Westworld “too tame.” Maeve, Hector, & Co. have been captured by a violent ronin and I’ll admit, I literally clapped the second I saw Hiroyuki Sanada pop onscreen. He’s one of the best actors in the world, capable of bringing the most effortless intensity and menace with a single unbothered glare. No wonder Hector feels jealous. But of course, the comparison between the two raises the larger clash of something that feels all too familiar: Musashi and Hector are literally mirror counterparts.”
From The Hollywood Reporter:
“Indeed, voices are at the forefront of “Akane No Mai,” as Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) is forced to find new ways of communicating in this brand new world. Not only does she spend much of the hour speaking Japanese to her fellow hosts, Maeve also finds “a new voice,” one that allows her to interact with and even control other hosts without speaking a single word. It’s a frightening phenomenon, and an exciting one, as Maeve — already among the single most powerful hosts we’ve thus far encountered, if not the most powerful host — has just become virtually omnipotent.”
From Vox:
“There are so many clever ideas to enjoy here. When Maeve and company travel to Shogun World, they discover many of the stories are just very barely disguised copies of Westworld tales! Rinko Kikuchi (one of my favorite actors) is Maeve’s Shogun World counterpart! It’s more difficult for Maeve to take control of Hosts in Shogun World, even when she speaks the local language, for reasons that only slowly become clear! (I think this is a metaphor for how certain power structures will sometimes take advantage of revolutionary moments to further entrench themselves, but it’s vague enough to mean just about anything, in true Westworldfashion.)”
From The New York Times:
“There’s the best kind of Easter egg, a Joni Mitchell Easter egg, tucked into a crucial piece of dialogue in this week’s episode of Westworld, as Dolores and Teddy are talking about their feelings for each other. “I’m not some stranger, Dolores, coming from outside, looking for a pretty lie,” says Teddy. “I’ve known you my whole life. Where we go, we go eyes open. Together.” The phrase “pretty lie” recalls “The Last Time I Saw Richard,” the closing track on Mitchell’s seminal 1971 album, “Blue.” Mitchell is in dialogue with a fellow romantic, picking through the mistakes of the past, when they’ve left themselves vulnerable to partners who ultimately disappointed them.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainmentmagazine.

YAS KWEEN! Royal Movies to Watch on Victoria Day Weekend

Fri, 18 May 2018 10:34:37 -0400

It’s a big weekend for enthusiasts of the British monarchy, as we celebrate a Royal Wedding AND the birthday of Queen Victoria. And even if following the goings on in the royal family is not your cup of tea, you still get a long weekend to enjoy some extra movie watching…

The Queen

The Royal Family and Tony Blair find themselves at odds in the wake of Diana, Princess of Wales death by auto accident, as the Royals are unsure how to mourn her given her messy breakup with Prince Charles.

WATCH THE QUEEN ON THE MOVIE NETWORK SATURDAY, MAY 19 & ON TMN ENCORE MAY 24

The Young Victoria

As the only legitimate heir of England’s King William, teenaged Victoria gets caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Victoria’s mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who would become the love of her life.

WATCH THE YOUNG VICTORIA MAY 19 ON TMN ENCORE & AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING ON TMN GO TUESDAY MAY 24

Elizabeth I Parts 1 & 2

From HBO comes an intimate portrayal of the 16th century queen of England’s three great loves and the destiny she must fulfill.

WATCH ELIZABETH I PARTS 1 & 2 STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network,HBO Canada & TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada. There’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Go Figure! Numbers That Count for Lilly Singh

Thu, 17 May 2018 14:24:06 -0400

Let’s take a look at some numbers that count when it comes to Lilly Singh — YouTube superstar, bestselling author, and budding actress. Don’t miss Lilly in her first major acting gig as tabloid vlogger Raven in HBO’s Fahrenheit 451, premiering Saturday May 19 at 8pm ET on HBO Canada.

13,647,209

The current number of subscribers Singh has on her ||Superwoman|| YouTube channel, making her one of the biggest YouTube stars in the world.

27

The number of cities where Singh performed standup comedy during her A Trip to Unicorn Island sold-out world tour in 2015.

$28

The listed price at Sephora.ca for a Smashbox lipstick in Singh’s signature red shade called “Bawse.” Singh’s collaboration with Smashbox is an example of how popular YouTubers earn much of their income.

26-09-1988

Singh’s birthdate. She was born and raised in the Scarborough area of Toronto and earned a degree at York University before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her entertainment career.

100

Singh’s rank in the 2016 Fast Company list of the 100 most creative people in business, “for creating a unicorn business.”

#1

The spot Singh’s book, How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life, reached in April of 2017 on the New York Times bestseller list under the category of Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous.

$7.5 million

Singh’s 2016 income earned through her YouTube videos, world tour, and book deal, according to a 2017 Adweek article.

1953

The year the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was published. HBO’s film adaptation of the book premieres Saturday May 19 with Singh cast in her first major role. She plays a tabloid vlogger whose job is to promote the government’s propaganda.

38

The current number of international UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, including such celebrities as Mia Farrow, David Beckham, and Yuna Kim. Singh joined their ranks in 2017 to further her mission to empower girls around the world.

HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 premieres Saturday May 19 at 8pm ET and is available OnDemand and streaming on TMN GO May 22.

~rk
Rebecca Cuneo Keenan is a Toronto-based writer and blogger at Playground Confidential.

They Do! Don’t miss The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish! on HBO Canada

Wed, 16 May 2018 15:29:00 -0400

“Broadcast legends” Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan (aka Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon) will cover the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle LIVE Saturday, May 19 starting at 7:30am ET on HBO Canada with a primetime replay that night at 9:45pm ET and repeats throughout the weekend. The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish! will be available OnDemand and streaming on TMN GO starting May 22.

So drag out the fancy slippers and “nice” housecoat, it’s gonna be a fabulous morning!

Full Royal Wedding coverage begins Saturday May 19 at 4:00am ET on CTV, CTV News Channel, and CP24. CTV News’ live coverage from Windsor is led by chief anchor Lisa LaFlamme, alongside royal historian and biographer Hugo Vickers, and eight-time Juno Award winner Jann Arden.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 4, “The Riddle of the Sphinx”

Mon, 14 May 2018 13:33:54 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

Loving Westworld but finding it tough to grasp those deeper meanings that everyone else seems to get? Us too!

We’re here to help. Here’s the lowdown from some smart TV writer people about “The Riddle of the Sphinx”…

From Variety:

““The Riddle of the Sphinx” marks Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy’s first episode as director. So let’s get two things out of the way. First, this is probably the best, most ambitiously directed episode of the series, and the more Joy directs, the better off this show will be. Second, the opening shot, one of the most beautiful and affecting in Westworld history, is derivative enough that it merits an asterisk. “Play With Fire” is hardly the most abused Rolling Stones song in terms of over-licensing, and The Darjeeling Limited is hardly the strongest film in Wes Anderson’s catalog. But come on.”

From Vulture:

“By introducing this quest for eternal life, Westworld exposes the horrors of eternal limbo. From the very start of the episode, we see that James Delos is already trapped in his cycle, ever on the rotating bike, listening to those rotating records, in a circular room, shown off with circular camera movements. He’s trapped in the “cognitive plateau,” as the episode calls it. It’s not just some handy-dandy metaphor, but a direct comment on life without death. There is no God for Delos, and no way to be one himself. He’s got nowhere to go. Nothing to gain. And nothing to lose, except everything that makes life meaningful.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Someone’s in for an upgrade. The only question: who?
Okay, there are a bunch of other questions surrounding the latest big reveal on Westworld, including but not limited to: “How?” “Why?” “Holy expletive!” The last one isn’t a question, but it’s a worthy exclamation all the same, given the reveal: William (Ed Harris and Jimmi Simpson) dedicated much of his life outside the park to pursuing a form of technology that would map a person’s consciousness onto a “control unit” — or “host body,” if you prefer — effectively conquering the matter of eternal life.”

From Vox:

““The Riddle of the Sphinx” offers the best and worst of Westworld in one convenient package. It includes compelling mysteries, horrifying thoughts on the future of sentient beings on earth, and some solid action beats — all within a 71-minute running time, at least 20 to 30 minutes of which are spent on things the show has not sufficiently convinced me I should care about.”

From The New York Times:

“This week’s episode, by far the best of the new season, suggests a gap in our previous perception of William/the Man in Black — and, by extension, of many of the other characters on the show as well. Think of the first season timelines like a jigsaw puzzle: William and the Man in Black are at opposite edges of the puzzle, and now the show’s architects have a lot of pieces they can play in the middle. His development (or degradation) as a moral being isn’t as clear-cut as it once seemed, and one major reason is that William spent the intervening years running Delos, which had plans for this paradigm-changing technology that extended far beyond theme-park gratification.”

New episodes of Westworld Season 2 air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network, HBO Canada& TMN Encore, the future home of STARZ in Canada. There’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.

Karassik’s May Movie Picks: 6 Flicks to Watch with Mom

Thu, 10 May 2018 14:27:30 -0400

This month, you’ve hit the movie mother lode.

Here are six Mom-approved flicks she’d love to watch with you…

Baby Mama

Comedic duos don’t get much funnier than Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who make a damn fine pair in this silly and sweet comedy about a single businesswoman (Fey) with a newly discovered fertility problem. Lucky for us, this prompts her to hire a total goofball (Poehler) to be her surrogate.

BABY MAMA IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

Bad Moms

For moms in need of a raunchy reminder that they can still let their freak flag fly, watching Mila Kunis rip it up with her besties is a pretty amusing one. Seeing her stretched to her utter limit by her horndog husband, obnoxious millennial-aged boss, and demanding kids, you can’t help but cheer on the debauchery.

BAD MOMS IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Definitely the feel-bad movie of this list, Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s novel about a suburban mom (Tilda Swinton) raising a psychopathic son (Ezra Miller) should resonate with parents who can stomach emotionally pummelling drama.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Way smarter and spookier than 2014’s Ouija, this prequel follows the Zanders family, whose patriarch died in a car accident, leaving the mother, Alice, as the sole income-earner. With the help of her two daughters, Alice pretends to correspond with the dead for grieving clients. However, things do take a turn for the supernatural after Alice brings home a Ouija board.

OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

Mermaids

Young and plucky Winona Ryder plays the awkward teenage daughter to a free-spirited Cher (who recorded two hit singles for the film). After uprooting to a small New England town in 1963, they both learn to finally grow up and even find room for love.

MERMAIDS IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

Stepmom

Here’s one for all the stepmoms out there, who will undoubtedly be able to empathize with this divorce dramedy starring Julia Roberts as a young woman who forms an unlikely bond with her older boyfriend’s ex-wife (Susan Sarandon) and mother of their two children.

STEPMOM IS OnDEMAND & STREAMING ANYTIME ON TMN GO

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TMN GO is included in your subscription to The Movie Network and HBO Canada, and there’s almost 3000 movies and series and documentaries available for streaming or offline viewing anytime on any device.

~nk
With an MA in film studies from Concordia University, Neila Karassik is Movie Entertainment’s in-house movie authority.

Review Roundup: Westworld Season 2 Episode 3, “Virtù e Fortuna”

Mon, 07 May 2018 15:14:24 -0400

~SPOILER ALERT~

If you’re the type of person who really enjoys Westworld but isn’t entirely sure what’s happening, this post is for you!

Here’s what some smart TV writer people gleaned from "Virtù e Fortuna.“

From Variety:

“The beginning of “Virtù e Fortuna” is not a subtle ride, but it is a fun one — appropriate for one of the most fun-to-watch episodes of a show that has often skimped on the stuff. First we see our unnamed protagonist (antagonist?) lounge, screw, and vacation in typical guest fashion. Would she be at all sympathetic if she didn’t talk like Holly Hunter? No, probably not. Is that robot tiger chasing her because he’s a robot or because he’s a tiger? We may find out in time. Or we won’t. Westworld is a show whose primary purpose seems to be to inspire debate over its minutia and narrative machinations. If that’s your thing, the beginning of “Virtù e Fortuna” is important mainly because it’s the first good look we’ve been given of one of the other Delos parks.”

From Vulture:

“Is it me or did Westworld just learn to have some fun?
Sure, we’ve had amusing moments throughout the series, but this is undoubtedly the pulpiest episode yet. And I, for one, am all for it — starting with the opening vignette where we discover one of the other parks is basically British Imperial India World. Of course that’d be a thing! Spend your days galavanting with rich colonizers, hunting Bengal tigers, and experiencing the exotic delights of 19th-century imperialism! There could not be a more on-the-nose option for the hubris of the overall Westworld ethos, which is built on the appeal of going to an exotic culture and then killing and/or having sex with it.”

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“Ever since the first season finale, fans have waited with bated breath to dive head first into Shogun World, the park beyond Westworld first glimpsed (and barely at that) by Maeve (Thandie Newton) in her attempt to break out into the real world. In the third episode of season two, creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy finally deliver on the promise — but only barely, with an incredibly quick scene that arrives at the very end of the episode.With that said, it’s hard to complain about the relative lack of Shogun World in the hour, called “Virtù e Fortuna,” directed by Richard J. Lewis from a script written by Roberto Patino and Ron Fitzgerald, considering the way it all begins: in the thick of another park that was briefly teased at the start of the season, but otherwise wasn’t even a consideration until very recently.“

From Vox:

““Virtù e Fortuna” feels like the explosive jump-start that I was waiting for from season two of Westworld — or, at the very least, it finally feels like Westworld wants to give us something different.That much is immediately clear from that 10-minute cold open, which brings us to a whole new park of high teas and jungle safaris that I shall henceforth refer to as “Colonialismworld.” (I’ll grant you that this isn’t nearly as catchy as “Westworld,” but I call ’em like I see ’em.)“

From The New York Times:

“Despite the setting, Westworld would never be described as a Western, in part because this synthetic environment constantly resets itself instead of evolving as dictated by the actions within it. But one of the promises of the second season is that Westworld could, in fact, become a real Western, just as the Pinocchios that populate it have become real boys. With the hosts out of their loops and real bullets flying everywhere, the park is now territory to be claimed, not territory to be carefully stage-managed.”

New episodes of Westworld air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO Canada, and catch up on past episodes, including Season 1 in its entirety, on TMN GO

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~cm
Corinne McDermott is the editor of Movie Entertainment magazine.