Guest: Rick Forchuk - TV Week Magazine Columnist and CKNW Contributor
In theatres:
- The Amateur (2025): I love a good revenge movie, and I was all set for a classic in this Rami Malek thriller, Malek having won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Freddy Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." Such films as "John Wick," "Taken," and "The Equalizer," all share similar DNA, with their protagonists having exceptional martial arts skills, near-super strength, and the will to hunt the evil-doers down to the death, and that's what I was looking for here. It was not to be, but that isn't a bad thing. Malek's character is Charlie Heller. He works as a decoder for the CIA, strictly an office job, and he is your typical 97 lb. weakling, to pick a metaphor from an earlier age. Early on we see Charlie and his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan from "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") very much in love, and preparing to say goodbye as she heads to Europe for a business conference. There is an incident involving terrorists, Sarah is taken as a hostage, and she is executed by the desperate men seeking an escape. Charlie is devastated. His colleagues at the CIA offer him time off to heal, but Charlie wants just one thing - he wants revenge
Drop (2025): This film from Blumhouse Productions, best known for such supernatural thrillers as "The Lady in the Yard," "Meghan," and "Insidious," will keep you on edge and expecting the worst for the characters who are embroiled in more trouble than they can possibly manage. What's different is the lack of any supernatural or ghostly elements in a story that would have made Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, proud. We first meet a young mother named Violet (Meghann Fahy from '"White Lotus" and "The Unbreakable Boy," as she is being severely beaten in what is clearly an intimate partner violence issue. Fast forward four years, and she is going out on her first date since those days, having found a good prospect on a dating app. His name is Henry (Brandon Sklenar of "1923") and he too has recently entered the online dating business. They meet in a high-end restaurant in downtown Chicago, only he is late, so she waits at the bar for his arrival. In those few minutes, she interacts with a number of people, one of whom bumps into her causing her cell phone to drop
On Paramount+:
- Mobland (Limited Series) (2025): No one can take us inside the brutal world of organized crime like director Guy Ritchie, and this wickedly violent series is a perfect example of a tour of that underbelly. The casting is outstanding, but this may be too violent, too profane, and too frightening for the faint of heart. Tom Hardy's Harry Da Souza is the key character here, a "fixer" for one of two mob families in London, England, families that are involved in more than a turf war for control of the fentanyl business, gambling, prostitution, and other rackets. It is difficult to imagine any other director being able to assemble a cast such as this. Pierce Brosnan is Conrad Harrigan, head of one of the warring factions. His wife is as brutal and as profane as he is, and maybe moreso. Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan, is just as likely to put a bullet in your back as she is to make you a nice cuppa tea. A long way from the figures of famous royalty that Mirren has played in the past, her face is her fortune here with a look of sheer hatred for her enemies and disdain for the weak