By John H. Foote When the film critics assembled to choose the finest films of the 80s, no one was surprised to see Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980), the searing drama about middle-weight boxer Jake La Motta. The film had earned rave reviews, won a slew of critic’s awards, and awards all round for actor…
By John H. Foote (BOMB) In theatres Destined to be nominated for several Razzies at the end of the year as the year’s worst, Firestarter did not as much as spark my interest. Is there an unwritten law somewhere that states every bad movie from the eighties must be remade? Bad enough we had Footloose…
By John H. Foote The art of film acting was evolving in the 30s and did not reach its peak until the 50s with the explosive arrival of Marlon Brando. With the introduction of sound, Hollywood began looting the Broadway stage for actors with effective voices such as Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart, elevating…
By John H. Foote National Star Wars Day celebrates the opening day of the 1977 film that started a franchise that to some has become life defining. My friend in college, Kevin Fox, lived, breathed and loved Star Wars (1977) like no one I had ever seen. Over and over, he had seen the films…
By Alan Hurst Last month the musical Funny Girl was revived on Broadway for the first time in 58 years. Fittingly, opening night was on April 24, Barbra Streisand’s 80th birthday. I say fittingly because the legend of Streisand is irrevocably tied to this musical. Any actress who attempts to play Fanny Brice is inevitably…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres The greatest group of actors to emerge through the 80s includes Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicolas Cage. All have won Academy Awards and countless critics awards; each has in some way elevated the films they have been in. Among that notable list, Nicolas Cage stands…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres Robert Eggars made a stunning directorial debut in 2015 with his haunting horror film The Witch, set during the early Puritan days around 1690. It was easily one of the greatest debuts in modern cinema. An actors’ director with a fanatical eye for detail, Eggars followed that sensational…
By John H. Foote I love acting – not doing it – but appreciating it. So much more goes into a performance than the untrained eye might realize. The lines are agonized over, not just learning them but how they are delivered. A line delivered too strong can be silly, whereas not enough underplays the…
By John H. Foote (****) William Hurt’s passing this year took me back to the period in the 80s when he towered over most other actors as the finest of his generation. Exploding into American cinema with Altered States (1980) after a solid Broadway career, he and Kathleen Turner burned up movie screens in Body…
By John H. Foote (***) In Theatres Michael Bay has been the target of much scornful film criticism the last few years because his movies have, frankly, sucked. Though he is a master technician, capable of creating stunning action sequences, massive bits of chaos onscreen, and overwhelming visual effects, character development has never graced his…