By Alan Hurst Sleep Hollow and Dragonwyck are set about 50 years apart but they’re eerily effective in provoking the puritanical, malevolent mood of life along New York’s Hudson River in era’s long gone by. They both tell stories that are influenced by the supernatural and occult. They achieve their visual effects through atmospheric cinematography…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres Is this Ridley Scott’s year? With two major films coming out over the coming months, placing him right in the middle of awards season, the gifted director might finally win his Oscar for Best Director. Rumblings have started in the trade papers about him being “due”. I always…
By Marie-Renee Goulet I never much cared for chick flicks. Romantic movies are pernicious. Almost all present an utterly unrealistic set of circumstances that create unattainable expectations by the consumers. The large majority of these movies unfold in a way that would never in a million years happen in real life. However, I sometimes indulge…
By John H. Foote My father introduced me to the original King Kong (1933) when I was a child, and I have been hooked ever since. That classic film has garnered admiration and praise since its release, stirring audiences with its fantastical story of a giant ape smitten by a woman whom he protects from…
By John H. Foote (***) Billy Crystal was never much of an actor. But as Mitch in City Slickers (1991), the sad-eyed father and husband, he was truly brilliant. When his wife tells him to go on a cattle drive with his buddies, that she does not want him in Florida with her, he is…
By Marie-Renee Goulet (****) Streaming on Crave “How much have you paid for your Facebook account?” If you use a service, and it is free, you are the product. Monica Lewinsky was “patient zero” for online harassment. Imagine being the first-ever person that the entire world could freely harass, call names and be completely defenseless…
By John H. Foote With the major film festivals winding down, the candidates for the Academy Awards are becoming much clearer than they were at the end of August. More than 20 films are now being touted by the critics as good Oscar bets. Here is my look at the frontrunners and the categories they…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres and to be streamed on HBO If a group of graduating film students were tasked with watching HBO’s The Sopranos over the course of six weeks, seeing various episodes more than once, and then had to write a prequel, I am positive they could come up with something…
By John H. Foote (**) The last performance John Wayne gave was as a tired, cancer ridden gunfighter in The Shootist (1976), one of the finest he ever gave and he should have been nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor. If there was a way to retire in glory for the Duke, this…
By John H. Foote With the wildly loved and overrated Belfast winning the People’s Choice Award, TIFF is in the books for another year. Good for the people who run this massive event, they made it happen two years in a row amidst the COVID nightmare. I applaud their thinking outside the box, but truthfully,…