By John H. Foote (****) For the first time on Blu Ray, the gentle, sparse love story, and tale of redemption Tender Mercies comes to the small screens. Like a well written country and western song, Tender Mercies is all about hurtin’ and living with the pain. Life deals out some harsh cards and it…
By Alan Hurst One of the lightweight joys of movie going in the 1970’s through the 1990’s was the effervescent good time usually guaranteed by seeing Goldie Hawn on screen. She was pretty, she was funny, she had the dramatic chops when the opportunity allowed, and she was smart. Very smart. She could also sing…
By John H. Foote (***) The moment it was announced the Henry Fonda had been cast as crusty, cranky Norman Thayer in the film On Golden Pond it seemed a given the aged actor would win that long elusive Academy Award for Best Actor. Nominated just a single time for The Grapes of Wrath (1940), it…
By John H. Foote (***) The first time I saw Midnight Express (1978) I was astounded by the story, the direction, the exquisite performances of the cast, that brooding electronic score and the production design. For an 18-year old sitting in the wonderful old University Theatre on a Saturday afternoon, happily on my own, this…
By John H. Foote (***) Tom Cruise became an actor in Rain Man (1988) but he became a great actor as real life war veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, an adaptation of Kovic’s best seller, and his evolution from patriotic soldier to anti-war crusader. Cruise really is magnificent…
By John H. Foote The moment I opened the package containing my copy of Oliver Stone’s new book “Chasing the Light”, a memoir, I devoured it. Putting it down was just never an option, and one day after opening the book, sadly, I was finished. So I promptly read it again. “Chasing the Light” is…
By Marie-Renee Goulet Are there movies that you are unable NOT to watch if you fall upon them while channel surfing? Films that feel like you just stepped into a leg hold trap, and you know you’ll have to sit there and (happily) finish it? I have a list of them. A few movies have…
By John H. Foote Academy Award nominated Best Director Alan Parker has passed at the age of 76. The talented Brit first came to the attention of North American audiences directing Bugsy Malone (1976) but it was his explosive film Midnight Express (1978) that truly brought him to the attention of North American film audiences…
By John H. Foote To begin, how is a fantasy different from a science fiction film? Granted there are cross overs, but fantasy cinema is defined as films which take the audience to the nether land, or bring about fantastical happenings, transcending the bounds of human possibility or the physical laws of nature. They often…
By Craig Leask In this, the final in my series on Armchair traveling, I’m following up on the articles on Italy, France, Great Britain and Sand and Surf with movies filmed in and featuring exotic locations. My definition of exotic locations includes those countries or areas that contain a certain mystique not generally found in…