BS detector in fine fettle as Poker Face deals new hand
Opinion
American movie and television director Rian Johnson has always been upfront about his murder-mystery influences. His feature film debut, 2005's Brick, was basically a Dashiell Hammett detective story transplanted to a modern high school. The Knives Out movies (with a new instalment due later this year) owe a debt to Agatha Christie, not so much the Queen of Mystery's books but those star-packed cinematic extravaganzas like 1974's Murder on the Orient Express and 1978's Death on the Nile.
And then there's Poker Face, the Natasha Lyonne-led TV series that has just returned for a very welcome second season. (Season 2 is streaming on Citytv+, a Prime Video add-on channel, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays. Season 1 is available through Citytv+, as well as showing free on CBC Gem.)
Johnson's most obvious pop-culture touchstone here is Columbo. (That show's vintage 1970s seasons are available to rent through Prime Video.) But like the best of Johnson's work, Poker Face is a shrewd, stylish mash-up of the old and the new, taking retro sources and refreshing them in meaningful ways.
The show, which follows Charlie Cale (Lyonne), a former casino worker on the run from the mob, manages to be affectionately nostalgic but also urgently up to date. In each episode, Charlie ends up in some oddball corner of America, solving a crime (that's the old-school part) while also working some precarious, underpaid, temporary job in the gig economy (that's the 2025 part!).
Poker Face's nods to Columbo start with the '70s-style network-TV title credits, which are in a blocky yellow typeface.
Then we meet our underestimated, underdog detective. While Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) had a chewed-on cigar and a clapped-out Peugeot, Charlie has a cigarillo — though this season she's trying to quit — and a beat-up 1969 Plymouth Barracuda. Charlie changes her outfits more often than the good lieutenant, but she does kind of channel Falk's hunched posture and raspy voice.
She also shares Columbo's pesky, tenacious, 'just one more thing' approach to cracking cases. While Columbo seemed to immediately, intuitively home in on the guilty person and then spend the rest of the episode wearing them down with friendliness, Charlie cracks cases with her built-in 'bulls**t detector.' She can tell when people are lying, an ability she views not as a supernatural power but as an inconvenient personal tic, and then she's driven to figure out why.
Like Columbo, Poker Face is not a standard whodunnit but a so-called 'howcatchem.' Using the inverted-mystery structure, it shows the crime being committed, with the audience following along. The suspense comes through wondering how the detective will trap the murderer.
This format was one of the reasons Columbo was able to book guest stars like John Cassavetes, Leonard Nimoy, Laurence Harvey, Johnny Cash and Ruth Gordon. Playing a murderer on Columbo meant a lot of screentime and almost always a role as an extravagant, showy, hubristic charmer.
Likewise, Poker Face is anchored by Lyonne's fabulously eccentric lead performance, but we get loads of great supporting talent playing murderers, victims (and occasionally both). This season kicks off with Wicked's Cynthia Erivo times five — she plays quintuplets! — and follows up with folks like Kumail Nanjiani, Giancarlo Esposito, Melanie Lynskey, John Mulaney, Awkwafina, Method Man, John Cho and 'character actress Margo Martindale.' The list goes on. (Really — check out the Season 2 trailer.)
Using Columbo's 'case-of-the-week' format, Poker Face combines the easygoing, even predictable pleasures of episodic television with a constant rotation of new settings and new characters.
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One of the most charming personality traits Columbo and Charlie share is a genuine curiosity about other people and their lives and work. In the course of solving crimes, Columbo would learn about photography or architecture or magic or orchestra conducting or winemaking. Charlie also takes in a new subculture every episode, but there are key differences. Columbo really specialized in the 'rich weirdos' subgenre of crime, with pampered, privileged people playing for high stakes.
Charlie has occasional run-ins with the rich and powerful, but most of her crime-solving takes place on the social and economic margins, often in overlooked small towns and struggling, stressed-out businesses. In Season 1, Charlie worked at a dinner theatre, a kart-racing track and a highway truck stop. This season has her hanging out with fruit pickers, hired Halloween zombies and a minor-league baseball team that plays at Velvety Canned Cheese Park.
In many ways, Poker Face leans into the fun but formulaic entertainment of 1970s network television, offering self-contained crime-solving that wraps up nicely within 60 minutes. It's in Charlie's ongoing road trip — and the surprisingly realistic sense of people just getting by — that the series finds an empathetic, emotional and very contemporary resonance.
Poker Face isn't just a throwback. As Charlie explores the edges of Americana, the show actually has a lot to say about here and now.
alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca
Alison GillmorWriter
Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.
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Toronto Sun
17 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
As Trump taunts Springsteen, these Republicans stick with 'The Boss'
Published Jun 06, 2025 • 5 minute read American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen performs during Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris's campaign rally at James R Hallford Stadium in Clarkston, Georgia. Photo by Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, an ally-turned-critic of President Donald Trump, says he recently reached out to another target of the president's ire: rock legend Bruce Springsteen. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Springsteen opened his European tour by calling Trump 'unfit.' The president fired back, dismissing The Boss as a 'dried out 'prune' of a rocker.' As a regular Trump punching bag, Christie could relate. Christie 'fell in love' with Springsteen and his music when he first saw him perform some 50 years ago – and loyalty to party or president won't change that. 'The politics, if I take some hits – and I do take some hits – that's fine,' he said. Christie is far from the only Republican standing with Springsteen, with several Republican operatives saying the rocker's music is bigger than politics – even if that means they have to compartmentalize a bit. 'I don't think it matters that he is a liberal,' said Chris Pack, a longtime Republican operative whose office wall has images of Republicans such as former speaker John A. Boehner and former president George W. Bush alongside the framed lyrics to Springsteen's 'Darkness on the Edge of Town.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'These amazing life lessons aren't Democratic or Republican lessons. They're just lessons,' said Pack, who described Springsteen's music as a soundtrack to his life, with 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' inspiring him to leave state politics in New York and take a shot at national politics in D.C. 'I can compartmentalize his politics. … I get that politics is a full-contact sport, but you have to be able to turn that off.' Pack is just one of the fervent Springsteen devotees who work in Republican politics. They exchange messages in Springsteen-focused group chats, endure ribbing from colleagues (especially now) and try to convert the skeptics. For Mike Marinella, a spokesperson at the National Republican Congressional Committee who was born and raised in Springsteen's hometown of Freehold, New Jersey, the artist is a hero. But Marinella is clear that his Springsteen love is just about the music. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Freehold loves Bruce for the art, not the politics,' said Marinella, whose uncle bought the music store where Springsteen bought his first guitar. The Republican operative even remembers making a pizza for Springsteen during his high school job at Federici's Family Restaurant – immortalized by a signed take-out menu that now hangs on Marinella's office wall. 'He is a hometown hero, even if we don't always agree with what he says.' Pack and Marinella exemplify Republicans whose love of Springsteen is bigger than politics, conspicuous in a world where everything – sports, music, movies, arts – is political. Springsteen's politics are no secret: He has endorsed every Democratic nominee since 2004. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But the rift with Trump, someone known to disown Republicans who buck him by supporting his opponents, has made the relationship between the Republican political class and Springsteen more challenging. Not a single member of New Jersey's congressional delegation responded when asked about Trump's feud with the Jersey icon, nor did the three top Republicans running to be the party's gubernatorial nominee. And when Pack spoke of a 'ton' of Republican Springsteen fans in Washington, he declined to provide names. 'I don't want to out people,' he said with a laugh. Christie, whose relationship with Springsteen has gone through rough patches, questioned New Jersey Republicans declining to back Springsteen. 'What the public wants from their politicians more than anything else is authenticity, and so it is not only weak personally, but it is also stupid politically, to act as if you don't have an opinion,' he said, noting that Springsteen is arguably the greatest entertainer from the state, alongside Frank Sinatra. 'If you are a New Jersey person and you are trying to claim you don't have an opinion on this, people know that you are full of it,' he added. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Phil Murphy, the New Jersey Democrat who succeeded Christie as governor, agreed. 'Bruce Springsteen is a Jersey – and American – icon,' said Murphy. 'If you want to win an election in this state, you don't criticize The Boss.' A representative for Springsteen declined to respond to questions when asked about the artist's rift with Trump and exchanges with Christie. Springsteen's music has long been intertwined with politics, most notably during the 1984 presidential election when President Ronald Reagan invoked Springsteen, whose 'Born in the USA' was topping the charts, to say his Republican agenda was 'all about' trying to 'make those dreams come true.' Springsteen disagreed and let it be known days later. 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The jobs he remembers, the jobs his dad had at the rug factory, don't really exist in the U.S. anymore,' said Marc Dolan, the author of 'Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock 'n' Roll,' invoking Springsteen's 1978 song 'Factory' about what his father's factory work gave him and took away. Dolan said he believes Springsteen is aware of this shift, which may be why he made these comments abroad. 'He is very good at pulling the audience in, making them feel like they are having a collective experience, but also challenging them,' said Dolan. 'He has never been one to totally turn off his audience. He is one to put them in a pickle where they don't know how they feel for a bit. But … how do you challenge the congregation without them leaving the church?' Pack was intentionally vague when asked why he thought so many New Jersey Republicans declined to respond to questions about Springsteen amid his spat with Trump. 'Don't wanna piss off the boss,' he said. 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a day ago
- Vancouver Sun
B.C. Lions: Aiming high with Canadian supply in the season opener
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Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. McInnis will do his part to entertain when the ball is snapped. And that could also be quite the show after a career season in 2024. McInnis led all receivers last campaign in league yardage with 1,469, and was the first Canadian since Andy Fantuz in 2010 to lead that category. He was also second with 92 receptions and third in touchdown grabs with seven. H is yards total was second highest by a Canadian member of the Lions after Matt Clark (1,530 yards), and the eighth-best for a Canadian all-time. Check out our Top 10 CFL players heading into the 2025 season! 🇨🇦🏈 Do you agree with our list? 🤔 FULL TOP 50 LIST | The 28-year-old Pierrefonds, Que., native is an imposing target for quarterback Nathan Rourke with a 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame and plenty of zip and zag to leave defensive backs in his wake, or use his vertical skills to out-contest any defender. He did that in practice Wednesday and it bodes well as a weapon. 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Place this season: Who: Saturday, June 21 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4 p.m. Why: Running back Brady Oliveira won most outstanding player and top Canadian honours last season with 1,353 yards on 239 carries. The Winnipeg native also rushed for three TDs. Who: Saturday, July 19 vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders , 4 p.m. Why: Transplanted prairie fans always add to buzz. Lions eager to avenge 28-19 semifinal playoff loss to the Riders last November. The Lions outscored the Riders 35-20 on July 13 at home. Who: Friday, Sept. 26 vs. Toronto Argonauts, 7 p.m. Why: Who are these guys? The Argos stunned the heavily favoured Bombers 41-24 in the Grey Cup last November at B.C. Place. EXTRA POINTS — F ans are encouraged to be in their seats at 5:45 p.m. in advance of Snoop Dogg's performance. The pre-game Backyard Party is back at Terry Fox Plaza starting at 2 p.m. A portion of Robson Street will be blocked off to allow more fans to celebrate another season. bkuzma@
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Calgary Herald
B.C. Lions: Justin McInnis is quite the catch for the season opener
Article content Justin McInnis knows who will have the biggest pre-game impact Saturday at B.C. Place. Article content After all, the B.C. Lions' standout wide receiver understands that you can't beat legendary American rapper Snoop Dogg to get more than 50,000 fans jacked for the club's CFL opener against the Edmonton Elks. Article content Article content 'I'm excited,' McInnis said Thursday following practice. 'I grew up listening to Snoop. But honestly, I'm one of the weirder guys on the team. I don't wear headphones on game day or anything like that. I just like to soak up the crowd and be in the pre-game environment. Article content Article content McInnis will do his part to entertain when the ball is snapped. And that could also be quite the show after a career season in 2024. Article content McInnis led all receivers last campaign in league yardage with 1,469, and was the first Canadian since Andy Fantuz in 2010 to lead that category. He was also second with 92 receptions and third in touchdown grabs with seven. His yards total was second highest by a Canadian member of the Lions after Matt Clark (1,530 yards), and the eighth-best for a Canadian all-time. Article content Check out our Top 10 CFL players heading into the 2025 season! 🇨🇦🏈 Do you agree with our list? 🤔 FULL TOP 50 LIST | — TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 4, 2025 Article content Article content The 28-year-old Pierrefonds, Que., native is an imposing target for quarterback Nathan Rourke with a 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame and plenty of zip and zag to leave defensive backs in his wake, or use his vertical skills to out-contest any defender. He did that in practice Wednesday and it bodes well as a weapon. Article content Article content 'The best part of my game is I've got to use my height,' said McInnis. 'I'm not the fastest in the league, and I'm not able to do a lot of things that smaller guys can do. I'm always going to continuously work on getting better body control and things that will be a big advantage.' Article content Add a full-season pull with Rourke, who spent the last two seasons with four NFL teams before returning to the Lions last August, and the dynamic duo could develop the kind of chemistry to intimidate and dominate. Article content 'Even in the off-season, we threw quite a bit, and at training camp,' said McInnis. 'One thing I like about Nate is that he's always communicating about things he sees and likes, and how he wants us to run certain routes. At the end of the day, it's being on the same page and he does a great job of expressing that.
