Every week, La Presse sifts through the TV offerings to identify four titles to watch.
Co-hosted by Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc, the Zeste culinary competition is back in action in an improved formula. Filmed at the excellent Théophile wine bar, in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, the second season of the Restaurant begins with four first-round shows, during which the candidates try to seduce the customers and, above all, the chef, judge and mentor Vincent Dion Lavallée, with their “signature dish.” The initial confrontation, between the ambitious Olivier, the friendly Rachel and the self-taught Mathew, is particularly captivating, if only for the accumulation of blunders in the kitchen. Their mushroom desserts also piqued our curiosity. If only the show could be offered in odorama!
We knew we were going to like the new offering from Isabelle Langlois (Rumeurs, Lâcher prize) about an inexperienced pole candidate who – against all odds – wins her election. What we didn’t know was the avidity with which we were going to devour its first season. And yet, The Candidate is not exactly the series we imagined. She is much more. With its rich characters, its high-calibre cast led by Catherine Chabot, its finely crafted lines, its never-meaning good feelings and, above all, its intricate plot which, by combining corruption and harassment in the region, sometimes gave us the impression that we had resurrected Facts Miscellaneous, this political comedy gets our vote.
Released in theaters last winter, Cocaine Bear is exactly the film we expected. And this is very well so. Very loosely inspired by a true story from the 1980s, when a black bear died after ingesting 75 pounds of cocaine lost in the forest, this horror comedy starts from a similar premise, except this time, in the absence of die, the enormous beast goes into a mad murderous rage. Despite a more ordinary and ultimately predictable final third, Elizabeth Banks’ feature film is the perfect ingredient for a successful end of the evening with friends, spent shouting (loudly) and laughing (loudly) in front of the TV.
Since language is constantly at the heart of the news, for all kinds of reasons, this documentary series caught our attention. Animated very naturally by the author and playwright Rébecca Déraspe (Those who evaporated, Combat the why-why), it explores the evolution of Quebec French. The first episode demonstrates how linguistic norms have changed over the past 400 years, focusing in particular on the different terms and expressions used in schoolyards and multi-ethnic neighborhoods in Montreal, which could be described as the new joual. Jérôme Charette-Pépin, alias Jérôme 50, who is preparing a Chiller Dictionary, takes part in this extremely detailed half-hour.
