Guest: Rick Forchuk - TV Week Magazine Columnist and CKNW Contributor
In theatres:
- Sinners (2025): I am not releasing any spoilers here about this film, written and directed by Ryan Coogler ("Black Panther," and "Wakanda Forever") is a vampire thriller. Keep what you know about vampires close to your vest, and forget all about hearing anyone say "I vant to bite your neck." There are no Tux-wearing elegant-but-deadly members of the undead, and it's actually an hour into this film's 2:17 running time before we actually get introduced to the immortals who can only die with a wooden stake through their hearts, and/or direct sunlight. The story begins in 1932 in Mississippi and opens with a pair of twin brothers, both played by Michael B. Jordan, nattily dressed and driving a nice Model A Ford despite the Great Depression and prohibition. The boys, named Smoke and Stack, are, we learn recently back from Chicago where they worked for Al Capone. They have returned to their roots to open up a new business, a juke joint in an old barn that they purchased, a place where blues music, and whisky both flow like the waters of the great Mississippi River. They aren't good ol' boys ... early one Smoke shoots a pair of young men who had the temerity to look at the goods carried in their truck, and it's clear that these young men are not folks with which to trifle
- King of Kings (2025): With this being Easter Sunday, perhaps the most important day on the Christian calendar, for those with a mind to, you may want to take the kids to this family-friendly animated version of the life of Jesus, from his birth in a manger, to his Crucifixion and Resurrection. It has a unique approach, beginning with Charles Dickens voiced by Kenneth Branagh, in a London theatre doing a reading to a staid audience, of his famous work "A Christmas Carol." His little boy, his wife, and the family cat are all in the theatre, and the youngster has a wooden sword as he is taken with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. When the reading is complete, Dickens turns to his son Walter (voice of Roman Griffiths) who only wants to hear about dragon slaying and action and thrills, and offers to tell him another story, one about a King who is above all others, the King of Kings. Walter is disinterested if there is no dragon and no knights in shining armour, but he agrees to hear a little bit at least
On Amazon Prime:
- G-20 (2025): Oscar and Emmy winner Viola Davis ("How to Get Away with Murder") stars in this action thriller as the President of the United States, Danielle Sutton, surrounded by an exceptional cast that includes Anthony Anderson ("Black-ish") as her husband Derrick, Ramon Rodriguez ("Will Trent") as her trusted Secret Service bodyguard, and Clark Gregg ("Agents of SHIELD") as her vice-president. The film opens with a bit of a scandal as Sutton's teenage daughter is caught underage in a drinking establishment on the eve that the president is heading to South Africa for the G-20 summit to lead an economic strategy that requires the buy-in of the leaders from the top powers from around the world. The location shooting gives a credible feel to the story, something of a whodunnit, as we quickly learn, as the leaders are amassed in Capetown, that someone is planning to upset the applecart