PENN AS A BOND TYPE? NO THANKS
Bardem as frenemy may save spy flick Gunman
CHRIS LACKNER Here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
MOVIES
Big Releases on March 13: The Gunman; The Divergent Series: Insurgent Big Picture: Ever wondered what Sean Penn would be like as a poor man’s James Bond? The Gunman is your chance. Penn plays a greying, craggy-faced, snaggletoothed ex-military contractor forced to go on the run and play a dangerous game of spy vs. spy to save his impossibly fetching 20-something girlfriend — and clear his name. Guns are fired. Grenades are thrown. Missiles are launched. Damsels are distressed. Thug necks are snapped. And all the way through you’ll keep thinking to yourself: This is the same man who brilliantly played Harvey Milk? Meanwhile, the poor man’s Hunger Games continues in The Divergent sequel. Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) are on the run from Kate Winslet (it must be scary to be hunted by a performer who can act circles around you). Winslet plays the leader of the Erudite clan. So essentially our plucky heroes are battling a clan of nerds and bookworms. Forecast: Javier Bardem as Penn’s frenemy — leaning toward the latter — will play scene stealer in The Gunman. Your mental grocery list or daydream of being an astronaut will play scene stealer in The Divergent sequel. Yawn?
TV
Big Events: iZombie (March 17, The CW; March 18, Shomi); One Big Happy (March 17, NBC) Big Picture: iZombie, based on a critically acclaimed comic book, is Veronica Mars meets Night of the Living Dead meets Medium. Rose McIver stars as Olivia, a quirky, sarcastic, crime-solving zombie who passes for a live woman (think vampire-esque — not rotting corpse). She works as a med student at a coroner’s office — which doubles as her favourite fast-food outlet. When Olivia eats the brain of a fresh corpse, she also digests some of the deceased’s thoughts and memories. Sure, it sounds ridiculous. But if it’s faithful to the inspired original material — and combines the best elements of a crime procedural and supernatural soap — it just might work. (It is also available on Shomi). Meanwhile, on One Big Happy, a lesbian, her best friend and the father of her baby, and his whirlwind-wedding newbie wife move in together. Hilarity ensues? Producer Ellen DeGeneres certainly hopes so. (On a side note: Modern Family is going to start looking like All in The Family if networks keep adding new complexities to the family/roommate format). Elisha Cuthbert, Nick Zano and Kelly Brook co-star. Forecast: These two shows could be trendsetters. By 2016, I predict a sitcom about a lesbian werewolf living with the zombie father-to-be, his best friend and her ex-lover — who just happens to be a Sasquatch, Siamese twins that are inexplicably both the werewolf ’s grandmother — and Elton John. Honourable Mention: Bloodline (March 20, Netflix). This dark all-in-the-family thriller is a must see for two reasons. It’s the brainchild of the creators of the Emmy-winning drama Damages and, it finds Emmy-winner Kyle Chandler (beloved as Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights) finally returning to a full-time TV gig.
MUSIC
Big Release on March 17: Joel Plaskett (Joel Plaskett & The Park Avenue Sobriety Test) Big Picture: The Nova Scotian songwriter should be declared a national treasure. With Plaskett on the cusp of 40, a whole generation of Canadian music lovers feel like they grew up with Joel — and his new album takes them on an autobiographical spin, referencing past albums, youthful East Coast romps and American road trips with his early band Thrush Hermit. Introspective and lyrically playful (as always), Plaskett pulls from his traditional playbook in new ways — from adding a Celtic touch to an acoustic ballad to a rollicking rock number with a lazy dance floor-style percussion. Forecast: The album title is also an anagram for PAST, but Plaskett fans can continue to also look forward to the future. If 40 is the new 30, Plaskett is thankfully still just a young buck.