By John H. Foote We are a short time before the announcement of the Academy Award nominations for 2022, so I am going to weigh in on my predictions. It has been an usually fine year especially for women on film, the plethora of performances stunning in what has been a landmark year. Along with…
By John H. Foote After a year in which the industry boycotted the Golden Globe Awards citing many dark reasons, specifically their lack of diversity and inclusion, rumours of bribes, the Association of Foreign Press writers made the necessary changes, and last night the awards were presented with stars in attendance. The Globes have often…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres In 2006, at TIFF I made my way to the screening of Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, because I admired Polley’s work as an actress, had seen one of her short films and liked it, and I adored Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie. I came out of the…
By John H. Foote Has 2022 been a great year at the movies? Like most years, we saw a handful of good films, some really great ones, but more bad films than good. Choosing the year’s best films is always a pleasure, but a job I agonize over. My first shortlist included 31 films; paring…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres Damien Chazelle is a massively talented young director, already an Oscar winner for Best Director for La La Land (2016), and had the Academy been thinking he might have won a second for his space epic First Man (2017), a well reviewed film that never found an audience…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres An awkward film to review because, despite excellent performances, it is about the marginalized in society, not terribly pleasant fare. But the super performances elevate the work in every way. In a society so obsessed with appearance, it must be a terrible thing to be obese and endure…
By John H. Foote (*****) Now in theatres Couple quick reminders. Given it has been more than a decade since Avatar (2009), here is a very brief refresher. Pandora is a planet of great exotic beauty inhabited by nine-foot tall, blue creatures called the Na’vi who do not appreciate man on their home. Man is…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Apple TV Despite the slap heard around the globe, despite the absolute humiliation he brought to Chris Rock, the Academy, the family of Richard Williams, and himself, Will Smith has always been a fine actor, and it was ridiculous to assume he would never be back in the…
By John H. Foote (***) on Apple Streaming The reasons to see Causeway are the performances which are remarkable. Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, who won her Oscar 10 years ago now (seems like a century), gives the finest screen performance of her career, no mean feat because the lady has been damned fine in…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres All the President’s Men (1976) might still reign as the preeminent film about investigative reporting ever made, possessed of an urgency in exploring what would lead to the unseating of a President. The film remains an extraordinary study of reporting before the internet, when research happened in libraries…