Learn about Ottawa's fast-growing film industry
Lights, camera, Ottawa! The capital's film scene is booming, and we're going behind the scenes.
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CBC
16 minutes ago
- CBC
The Naked Gun reboot is 'trying to constantly make you laugh'
Social Sharing The Naked Gun, a classic cop spoof franchise from the late '80s, has now been rebooted for a new generation. The fourth film in the series stars Liam Neeson as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., who must work to prevent the closure of Police Squad by — you guessed it — solving a case. The film also features Pamela Anderson, and is directed by The Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer as well as produced by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. With such prolific comedy minds behind it, perhaps it's unsurprising that the film has received great reviews from audiences and critics alike for its commitment to packing as many jokes in on-screen as possible. Today on Commotion, film critics Alison Willmore and Adam Nayman join guest host Rad Simonpillai to talk about The Naked Gun, and why this just might be the summer of the comedy reboot. We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, including a conversation about Happy Gilmore 2, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player. WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube: Rad: Alison, how are you seeing this Naked Gun kind of drawing from the original, but also standing apart from it? Alison: You know, it is a spoof. The original Naked Gun was a spoof of these very serious-faced cop dramas. And in some ways, this Naked Gun is riffing on the idea of spoofing those, because it's a sort of cop drama that isn't even really the kind that we're doing now, right? It's not really making fun of Law & Order …. The reason that I was excited for it coming from [director] Akiva Schaffer, who is someone who I think really understands and is, like, a comedy dork … is that it just understands that this is a movie that should be dense with jokes. And they should be silly jokes that come at a speed and a pace, and be unapologetically goofy, or language-based or sight-gag-based in a way that I don't think you get nearly as much anymore. So to see something that is just trying to constantly make you laugh in the moment does feel rare. Rad: You said "in a way that we don't get anymore," and Adam, I think you kind of pointed that out in your review. You said a lot of the jokes in this movie are the kind that we just don't get nowadays. I think I know what you were getting at there, but can you explain that? Adam: The whole Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, ZAZ thing when they started in the '70s was predicated on the idea that these were ancient jokes back then, you know? And the movies kind of keep moving the goalposts in terms of cultural references. There's a great running joke in this where Liam Neeson is nostalgic specifically for the year 2002. Like, he talks about the movie Chicago, and his TiVo and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They're always old jokes. So I think the joy of the ZAZ thing is that the old jokes always work. You just put a new surface on them. And that is something that [Seth] MacFarlane and Schaffer, who are aging Gen Xers, understand and embrace. Because Family Guy, maybe more than The Lonely Island, but both of those as comedy institutions are under the sign of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker — that joke density, that idea that you watch the background as much as the foreground, the idea that something that's really, really stupid, if it's specific, comes all the way back around to being funny. So I think they honour their source material, without betraying what makes their own work funny. And then to Alison's point, it is making fun of and playing with cop films, and then melding it with some sort of hyper-contemporary stuff like AI, and big tech, and Elon Musk and self-driving cars — not because it has any kind of analytical, social-critical agenda. Just because those surfaces help those jokes work. And it's so important … that Neeson is old, or older, because he is a living link to, I think, an analog era of movie-making. Even though he's not an '80s star, he has some of what Leslie Nielsen had, which is he just sweats credibility as a guy who is kind of actually in movies like this. And that's one of the reasons, on top of him being so talented, why he is so funny in this movie.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Toronto's El Mocambo will continue as concert venue: new owner
Our Lady Peace play to a packed crowd as they mark the re-opening of the iconic Toronto music venue The El Mocambo on Saturday, October 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young A spokesperson for the new owner of the El Mocambo says concerts will continue to be held at the storied Toronto music venue after former owner Michael Wekerle defaulted on nearly $56 million in loans tied to the property. In an interview with CTV News Toronto on Wednesday, the director of operations for the company that bought the 77-year-old club says it will be 'nothing too different' from its current iteration. 'The intent is to do it better. To manage operations with a little bit more rigor,' Neil Kerr said on behalf of Cyrus Madon, a longtime executive at Brookfield Asset Management, whose purchase of the venue's assets was approved by an Ontario court on Tuesday. 'Cyrus, he's pretty passionate about music, it's a passion that he's probably had for 50 years… He and his wife are strong supporters of Canadian musicians and charities. There are certainly going to be some charitable functions that are held at the venue as well. I think it's a very, very positive story.' Kerr did not disclose the purchase price of the property. The sale is expected to close in the coming weeks. Wekerele, who became a household name after his time as a star on CBC's 'Dragons' Den,' bought the El Mocambo in 2014 for $3.8 million and spent $35 million to improve the space. The businessman's passion project officially reopened in 2021 after a to-the-studs renovation and delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Court documents filed earlier this year showed Wekerle had defaulted on nearly $56 million in loans linked to the space. A spokesperson for the El Mocambo told The Canadian Press that Wekerle is not involved in the deal to sell the property. In a statement to The Canadian Press, Wekerle called the sale of the venue 'very important' to its future. 'I endorsed the purchaser and feel he is like-minded and will preserve the integrity of the El Mo,' he said. The small, two-storey concert venue fell into financial trouble in the 90s and early 2000s after playing host to legendary acts like The Rolling Stones and U2 in the 70s and 80s. After closing and re-opening under a number of owners, it finally shuttered. It's unclear when the venue will reopen under the new ownership. With files from The Canadian Press
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk sharing cover of NHL 26 video game with brother and dad
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk (left) appears alongside brother Matthew Tkachuk (middle) and father Keith Tkachuk (right) on the deluxe edition cover of the NHL 26 video game. (EA Sports) The captain of the Ottawa Senators will be gracing the cover of one of the world's most popular video game franchises. EA Sports announced Wednesday that Brady Tkachuk will appear on the cover of the deluxe edition of NHL 26, alongside his brother Matthew, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Florida Panthers, and his father Keith, a former NHLer, wearing a St. Louis Blues jersey. Matthew Tkachuk was announced as the cover athlete for the standard edition of NHL 26 on Monday. 'NOW THAT'S A TKOVER!' the Senators said on X when the deluxe cover was revealed. NOW THAT'S A TKOVER 🤩 — Ottawa Senators (@Senators) August 6, 2025 The game will be released on Sept. 12 on Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Players who preorder the Deluxe Edition will get seven days of early access, starting Sept. 5.
