CHAN FACES OFF AGAINST BROSNAN
The Foreigner is a hawkish tale of a father’s revenge, Chris Lackner writes.
The Foreigner; Happy Death Day
Big picture: London businessman Quan (Jackie Chan) loses his daughter to an act of terrorism and revenge. That begins a hawkish pursuit of the terrorists that would be the envy of Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills (Taken) persona or Bruce Willis’s John McClane (Die Hard). Standing in Quan’s path, a secretive British government official (Pierce Brosnan, channelling Petyr Baelish in Game of Thrones).
Meanwhile, Happy Death Day finds a vapid college student (Jessica Rothe) reliving the day of her ever-grislier murder until she discovers her killer’s identity. It’s like TV’s Scream Queens meets 1993’s Groundhog Day — with less ironic and sarcastic death (i.e. no Bill Murray).
Forecast: The Foreigner, eh? Maybe not the best title in Donald Trump’s America. But Chan and Brosnan make for an intriguing faceoff. As for Death Day, solving your own murder is nothing. Try being a narcissistic, soulless weatherman reliving every day in a small, frozen town in order to become an empathetic human being. Now, that’s a struggle. You’re better off reliving Groundhog Day.
Big events: Dynasty on Oct. 11, CW; Oct. 12, Netflix; Mindhunter on Oct. 13, Netflix
Big picture: Everything old is new again. 90210. Melrose Place. Dallas. Now ’80s prime time soap Dynasty gets the reboot. Bring on the sexy, inter-generational battles of devious, good-looking billionaires!
Meanwhile, David Fincher’s Netflix original drama Mindhunter features Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff as FBI agents who solve murders with the help of imprisoned serial killers. The late ’70s-set series is based on the true stories that inspired Jack Crawford’s character in the various Hannibal Lecter projects. When serial killers are your primary colleagues, every day feels like the worst Monday. Ever.
Forecast: C’mon CBC, where is the new generation of The Beachcombers starring Ryan Gosling as a hunky reincarnation of Relic? (Do I have to save the network for you? You lost hockey, people: Think big!) Honourable mention: Lore (Oct. 13, Amazon Prime). Another reason for Canadians to consider subscribing to Amazon Prime. This anthology series is an early Halloween treat — with six episodes telling standalone scary tales that inspired famous works in the horror genre. Former Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd masterminds this baby, so she knows the turf well.
MUSIC
Big releases on Oct. 13: Pink (Beautiful Trauma); Robert Plant (Carry Fire); Stars (There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light); Tegan and Sara (The Con X: Covers)
Big picture: Forget Halloween, Christmas has come early in one of the best musical release dates of the year. Pink is poppy — and political — in her latest. Rock legend Robert Plant proves he’s still carrying the fire, again backed by the Sensational Space Shifters with guest vocals from Chrissie Hynde.
Meanwhile, look for top-tier Canadian content in the form of Stars, with their first album since 2014. (From the album title, I assume the band explores the pasty, pudgy plight of the modern office worker.)
Tegan and Sara put their homegrown talents into assembling artists for a charity cover album. Ryan Adams and City and Colour are among the many musicians covering the duo’s seminal 2007 album, The Con X.
Forecast: The hills — and playlists — are alive with the sound of music. I predict you’ll download them all in the morning and phone in sick.
Honourable mention: Beck (Colors); St. Vincent (Mass-eduction)
Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, one of the most talented artists on the planet, releases the followup to her 2014 breakthrough. (The album is pronounced “mass seduction” — which is exactly what this album will do in the hands of this multi-instrumentalist and sublime vocalist.) Finally, Beck sounds happy (for him, anyway) on a new uptempo effort partially inspired by his time spent playing live with
The Strokes.