By John H. Foote America celebrated her 200th birthday in style at the movies, with another massive summer laden with blockbusters, the year’s best film was a spring release, and at years end came a film that forever altered the landscape of American film, taking us away from the darkness of films previously acclaimed. It…
By John H. Foote (**) How often has a film become beloved and a financial smash despite being savaged by critics? Let me answer: often. Though a massive box office hit and generational piece of pop culture, a star making vehicle for John Travolta, who exploded off the screen with raw charisma and sex appeal,…
By John H. Foote (****) Let’s start by stating throughout this article the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford will be known as just Assassination for obvious reasons. I was in a full theatre the first time I saw this film, in the excellent Special Presentation category, my favourite, at…
By John H. Foote (****) Along the highway to Disney World in Florida there is a tract of low rent hotels, home to poverty-stricken people who pay by the week for a roof over their head. It is ironic that such low living exists so close to a fantasy theme park where dreams come true…
By Alan Hurst There’s a little too much reality these days and you can get overwhelmed with the barrage of information, dire predictions, and lack of social interaction. This is a new experience for all of us and we’re all going to develop different ways of coping. Mine, not surprising, is retreating to the joys…
By John H. Foote (****) When Stephen King comes to mind, obviously the urge is to think of the great horror novels which have made him the greatest and most prolific writer of our time. Yet King, a born storyteller has stepped outside the horror genre many times with great results often coming to the…
By Craig Leask As we approach what looks to be another global recession, and probably not our last, I started thinking about how economic hardships such as these have been handled in the movies. There are many – from documentaries through to movies based on real events and people to full on creative endeavors. Movies…
By Nick Maylor On this episode of our official podcast, John and I discuss the career of Al Pacino. We also introduced our new news segment where we discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the film industry. Please check out our official YouTube channel and subscribe for all of our shows.
By John H. Foote Though the major American networks were offering quality programs in the late nineties and through the 2000’s, the best on TV was being seen on HBO and Showtime, (The West Wing the exception) the two major cable networks available to subscribers. Free from those pesky network censors, the programs on the…
By John H. Foote (****) The expectations surrounding Quentin Tarantino’s first film since the ground-breaking, sensational Academy Award winning Pulp Fiction (1994) were enormous. And when the film was released, it could not have been more different from Pulp Fiction, which did not sit well with critics and fans. The languid pacing, long, deliberate takes,…