By John H. Foote Two women were nominated as Best Director for the first time in the history of the Directors Guild! Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman and Chloé Zhao for Nomadland received nominations, along with Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7, David Fincher for Mank and Lee Isaac Chung for…
By John H. Foote There have been so many, narrowing it down to ten was a nightmare, but I felt rather do a massive extended list I would practice discipline and stick with 10. Yes it was difficult, yes I could have done a list of thirty. Here are the greatest travesties of the Academy…
By John H. Foote For the most part, the Golden Globe Awards went to the films we thought they would, some deserving, some contentious. Split into categories for Drama, and another for Comedy or Musical, the Globes have often been the target of scandal, accused of accepting bribes, of enjoying lavish press junkets in Las…
By John H. Foote On March 15, the Academy Award nominations will begin the countdown to the biggest night of the year in Hollywood. Wildly late, and leaned down due to the pandemic, this year’s Oscars are going to be the strangest on record. So many films, major works set for release last year, were…
By John H. Foote By the end of the nineties audiences would know precisely what the following things and people were: CGI, Jurassic Park, the American western, Apollo 13, Dances with Wolves, Woody and Buzz, Quentin Tarantino, Jim Carrey, Paul Thomas Anderson, M. Night Shymalan, Truman Burbank, Tyler Durden, John Travolta, Hannibal Lector and Clarice…
By John H. Foote In a decade when artistic films seemed to disappear after the debacle of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1980), studios took back control over the filmmakers and ruled the day. Great films were less frequent, which hampered the industry and ended the director’s era, so exciting in the seventies. Obviously there were…
By John H. Foote They happen, each and every year. There are films, performances, direction, writing, cinematography, or many crafts ignored for their obvious artistry. Who knows why it happens, but it does, without fail, each year. In this first of five pieces, I explore the greatest decade in film history, the seventies and the…
By John H. Foote Delroy Lindo, Amanda Seyfried and Tom Hanks weep today and with reason. In another day of nominations, actor Delroy Lindo was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor for his critically lauded performance in Da Five Bloods, expected to be a major Oscar player when their nominations are announced.…
By John H. Foote In a stunning turn of events Spike Lee’s brilliant film Da Five Bloods was shut out of the Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture (Drama), Director, and most shocking of all, New York Film Critics winner for Best Actor and almost certain Oscar nominee Delroy Lindo. Further, three of the five…
By John H. Foote Films are often thought to be a purely escapist art form when in fact some of the greatest films ever made both comment and educate on historical and modern happenings, often bringing fresh light to a difficult subject. The Battleship Potemkin (1921), a masterpiece of the Russian cinema, is generally regarded as…