By John H. Foote (**) In theatres I have struggled with writing this review for more than a week, not because I did not know what to say, but I wanted it to be as honest as I could be without being cruel. Nope did not work for me, at all, I found it trite,…
By John H. Foote For the first time in his 50 year career, Steven Spielberg will bring a film to TIFF. The Fablemans, his autobiographical account of his childhood and how he became a film obsessed director will screen here at TIFF. This marks the first time the director has been to the world class…
By John H. Foote (****) On Criterion Blu Ray There is no doubt that Raging Bull is among the greatest films ever made, a visceral and punishing biography of middle weight fighter Jake LaMotta from the forties and through his retirement. I first saw the film opening night in Toronto at the Uptown Theatre with…
By John H. Foote Harvey Weinstein was a bullying sexual predator who preyed on the dreams of young women who wanted into the movie business. He would lure them to a hotel room and then attempt to assault them, often raping them, scarring them for life with his actions. He began doing this in the…
By John H. Foote He was forever Sonny, or Santino. The first time I remember seeing James Caan in a film was the 1971 made for television drama Brain’s Song, in which he portrayed Brian Piccolo, a football star who had died years before of cancer. Piccolo and teammate Gale Sayers were the first black-white…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Let’s be clear: Elvis had a danger about him that this film never approaches, a sexual energy that they just did not capture. One of the best-looking men of the last century, impossibly good looking in his prime, Elvis was a macho man in big capital letters. He…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Prime Emma Thompson should be declared a national treasure for Great Britain. She remains, at 63, one of the most fearless actresses working in film. Though it has been three decades since she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and three years later one for Screenplay Adaptation,…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Netflix For his sublime performance in Hustle, a new Netflix film, Adam Sandler might just get the Academy Award nomination for Best Actor he so deserved for his acclaimed performance in Uncut Gems (2019). Nomination? Hell, he deserved to win Best Actor for his magnificent, jittery, wildly brilliant…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Remember the awe and majesty we felt seeing that massive dinosaur in the very first Jurassic Park film nearly 30 years ago? Taken to the park on a chopper, the good doctor and his assistant land not knowing what to expect. A short time later, riding in a…
By John H. Foote After the Method swept through New York, film actors began studying the system and the results were apparent on screen. More than ever, acting was at a peak for realism from actors such as Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward, and Paul Newman. James Dean claimed to be hardcore Method but was instead…