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'Jurassic World Rebirth,' 'The Old Guard 2' — Movie new releases to see or skip this weekend in Canada — streaming and in theatres

'Jurassic World Rebirth,' 'The Old Guard 2' — Movie new releases to see or skip this weekend in Canada — streaming and in theatres

Yahoo13 hours ago
It's you're an action movie lover, there's a lot for you to see this weekend with the release of Prime Video's Heads of State with John Cena, Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra, and the theatrical release of Jurassic World Rebirth with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend. Additionally, The Old Guard 2 was released on Netflix this week, with Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman.
But while there's so much newness in the action genre, much of it didn't land as well as you may have hoped. That being said, on the other side of the genre spectrum, Eva Victor's feature debut Sorry, Baby is a clear hit of the week.Sorry, Baby is certainly my pick of the week if you're going to see a newly released movie. Eva Victor's film is an impressive debut feature that's incredibly thoughtful, endearing and funny, and Victor's voice feels unique.
While it may be tempting to call this a film about trauma, it's really about healing after violence, something that's often left out in films with similar subject matter. Victor also injects so much humour into the story in a way that only works when the filmmaker has impressive attention to detail with fully developed and nuanced characters.
This is already one of my favourite movies of the year so far.
The biggest issue with Jurassic World Rebirth is that it's exactly what you expect, but that means it lacks excitement. Ultimately, it's just boring. But much of it comes down to a continuation of a franchise that's quite tired, and needs a big swing to really reinvigorate these stories. That's not what you're getting with Jurassic World Rebirth.
It's a movie that just falls into the "meh" descriptor. If you're a particular fan of the franchise or the actors, you can have a good time with this one, but otherwise it's two hours and 13 minutes of predictability.
The cast does the best they can with the story, but you can't escape the fact that the magic of this franchise has diminished over the years.
There are two things that make Heads of State watchable. Firstly, the chemistry between John Cena and Idris Elba, who were also castmates on The Suicide Squad, and one sequence with Jack Quaid that is incredibly entertaining in its goofiness.
Other than those elements, the film is holding on by a thin string with dialogue that will make you roll your eyes, and CGI that looks odd at times. But it's your typical mainstream action-comedy, so you know what to expect.
The movie may star Elba, but don't expect this to be The Wire.
Let's get the obvious out of the way, the story in The Old Guard 2 is far less enticing than what we got in the first film. And when that's your starting point, it's a tough uphill battle to try to crawl out from a stunted script.
The story lacks the fun from the first movie, with no real stakes.
Of course, Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman in an action movie together is going to make you want to hit play, they're both absolute powerhouses in the genre. But that being said, you'll be left wishing they had more substance to work with.
Victoria Mahoney certainly tries to use the film's action sequences as effective storytelling devices in the evolution of this narrative, leaning into as much fun and poignancy as she can, but the expansion of this story just isn't on any solid ground.
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Too Much star Megan Stalter reveals she was terrified when Lena Dunham first messaged her
Too Much star Megan Stalter reveals she was terrified when Lena Dunham first messaged her

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Too Much star Megan Stalter reveals she was terrified when Lena Dunham first messaged her

Too Much star Megan Stalter has admitted she was terrified when writer Lena Dunham first approached her to be part of the forthcoming Netflix show. The 10-episode romantic comedy series stars Stalter, who's best known for her role as the chaotic nepo baby Kayla in the Emmy-winning comedy show Hacks, alongside White Lotus actor Will Sharpe. Speaking to The Guardian, Stalter said that Dunham, who has won two Golden Globes for her 2012 series Girls, first messaged her on social media to discuss her being involved in the project. 'I was at home: this really bad apartment in Laurel Canyon [in the Hollywood Hills],' she said. 'The area is haunted, and it was actually a really scary building, and nothing ever got fixed because apparently in the lease I signed they didn't have to repair anything!' She continued: 'We were just about to start filming Hacks again. And there Lena was in my DMs [direct messages]...That's when I lost my mind. Panic set in. Stalter said she doesn't ordinarily 'fan girl over people' but with Dunham, it was different. 'She's a creative genius,' she said. 'I'm such a Girls nut, and always felt so connected to her.' She added: 'Anything she wanted me to do, I would obviously say yes.' Dunham co-wrote Too Much with her husband, British musician Luis Felber, and the series is loosely inspired by their relationship. 'I think obviously the seeds of it came from our life, and then once you begin writing, you find out who the characters are and you take a journey that moves away from it,' she said. 'I always like to write from a place that begins with the personal, because I think personal stories are universal – and then see what it has in store for me.' Too Much follows Jessica, portrayed by Stalter, a New York workaholic in her mid-30s who relocates to London after a painful break-up. There, she meets Felix, played by Sharpe, with whom she shares an unexpected connection. Too Much is available to stream on Netflix from Thursday, 10 July.

Ron Chernow on the life of Mark Twain
Ron Chernow on the life of Mark Twain

CBS News

time21 minutes ago

  • CBS News

Ron Chernow on the life of Mark Twain

The Mississippi Valley is "as tranquil and reposeful as dreamland, and has nothing this-worldly about it … nothing to hang a fret or worry upon." It's a beautiful sentiment, and yet it contrasts with the fretful and worried life of the man who wrote those words: Samuel Clemens, known to the world by his pen name, Mark Twain. Twain died 115 years ago, but his books are still being read, and hotly debated, around the globe. It's quite the legacy for a mischievous boy of modest means raised in Hannibal, Missouri, just steps away from the roaring Mississippi. It was, said Jim Waddell, "the international highway of 1835." Waddell has portrayed Twain for three decades – a performance always in demand when Hannibal's streets are filled each spring for the Twain on Main festival. It's a good gig that requires of Waddell a clean white suit. "You keep the suit white by doing no work!" Waddell laughed. CBS News' Robert Costa with Mark Twain performer Jim Waddell, outside the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Mo. CBS News Korbin Asbury and Ainsley Ahrens competed against other eighth graders in the town to represent the characters Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher in Hannibal. "I love meeting the new people, 'cause there's 44 different countries that visited Hannibal last year," said Asbury. Asked if she were surprised that an author who lived more than 100 years ago still seems so relevant today, Ahrens replied, "I am, but not really, because his words that he said, they still work with us today. They're wise words." Wise words, with more than a touch of humor: "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest." "Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." Twain is quoted as having called himself not just an American, but "the American." "I think that part of the continuing fascination with Mark Twain is that he combines in his person both the best and the worst of our national culture," said Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow. He has chronicled the lives of great Americans, perhaps most famously Alexander Hamilton, whose biography spawned the Broadway musical. Chernow's latest book tackles the life of Twain, a figure who has never left the national spotlight. Penguin Press Twain once wrote, "Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man – the biography of the man himself cannot be written." "That line was in my head every single day that I worked on this book," Chernow laughed. "I kind of had this image of Mark Twain coming back to life and saying, 'I told you so.'" Chernow traces Twain's sardonic humor to the pain in which it was rooted. Although he enjoyed boyhood adventures that would inspire "Tom Sawyer," his father was a failure in business. The fear of poverty, and an anxious pursuit of wealth, would dominate Twain's adult life. In Hartford, Connecticut, site of Twain's home, Chernow described the sprawling mansion that he had built: "I see his personality. All the angles and porches and turrets, it's like all of the different sides of his personality. And he always loved conspicuousness, and this is probably the most conspicuous house in the city." I asked, "Was Mark Twain happy here?" "Not just happy here, it was far and away the happiest 17 years of his life," Chernow said. "It was this idyllic period. He had this large expensive house. He had a rich and gorgeous wife. He had three beautiful and smart daughters. It was really a charmed life." Biographer Ron Chernow with Robert Costa at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Conn. CBS News Although Twain became wealthy as a writer and public speaker, he poured his fortune – and his wife's – into ill-fated investments. The most notorious was the Paige Compositor, a typesetting machine that Twain was sure would make him millions. The themes that run through Twain's life and his work – politics, corruption, money, class, race, get-rich-quick themes – all seem quite relevant to America today. Chernow said, "It's a great American story, and I think that there's so many things that he said – for instance, about politics – that really resonate today. One line that used to drive him crazy was, 'My country right or wrong.' You know, he said that we should support our country always, and our government when it deserves it." Chernow believes President Trump would be a familiar figure to the humorist, "to the extent that one of the great stock characters in Mark Twain's fiction is the salesman. You can see it in President Trump. You could see it in so many different figures in American life – the big talkers, the big shots." It's no small irony that Twain was nothing if not a big shot himself – a man who craved attention as much as money. But fame also emboldened Twain to speak truth to power, most enduringly through his masterpiece, "Huckleberry Finn." Chernow said, "One of the things that I argued in my book was that there was no White author in the late 19th century who engaged more fully, and I think more affectionately, with the Black community than Twain. Now, I had to point out early on, if you read letters that he wrote when he was a teenager, they're full of crude, racist remarks – and not only about Blacks, seems like just about everybody." By 1884, Twain had published "Huck Finn," which, said Chernow, "whatever its imperfections, is still, I think, the great anti-slavery novel in the language." For Chernow, Mark Twain is still a vital presence in American life. His words continue to make us think, and almost certainly laugh. Asked why his works have endured when so many other great authors' books are languishing, Chernow replied, "I think it's a very, very good question. He likened a fine literature to a wine, and he said, 'My writing is water, but everyone drinks water.'" And they are still drinking it (and still reading Twain). READ AN EXCERPT: "Mark Twain" by Ron Chernow For more info: Story produced by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Carol Ross. See also:

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