By Nick Maylor Kevin Smith took a brief sabbatical from filmmaking after the perceived failure of Zack & Miri Make a Porno (2008), a film that saw the worst box office opening for star Seth Rogen. With Zack & Miri, Smith was clearly trying to make a film that would play to a certain type…
By Alan Hurst Movie fans can usually trace their fascination with movies/film/cinema (take your pick) back to one or two events: the first time seeing a movie in a theatre, an actor or actress who struck a chord, first time viewing of a classic on TV, video or DVD. Whatever it was, something ignited that…
By Nick Maylor Since Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979), “synthetic” characters (androids/robots) have been a tradition in the franchise, starting with Ian Holm’s character Ash. In Aliens (1986), it was Bishop (Lance Henriksen) and so on. These characters are seen as virtually (if not totally) indistinguishable from humans. In Prometheus (2012), Ridley Scott sought to…
By John H. Foote “I’m a dying man…..afraid of the dark.” – JB Books (John Wayne) Ironically the last time John Wayne was on screen he portrayed a gunfighter dying of cancer while he himself was being ravaged by the disease. Co-stars Ron Howard and James Stewart watched as Wayne gulped oxygen between takes, struggled…
By John H. Foote So yes, this got under my skin today. Seems the Marvel groupies and purists are lashing out at Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola for saying what many of us have been saying for years. The superhero films from Marvel are in no way film art, with The Dark Night (2008)…
By Nick Maylor This Halloween, we here at Foote & Friends on Film will each be taking a look at a specific horror sub-genre, highlighting films that exemplify the best each genre has to offer. Alan’s article came first where he took a look at movies featuring witches. John then explored werewolves. For my piece,…
By Melissa Houghton Do you remember the ABC TV comedy Bosom Buddies? It was my introduction to actor Tom Hanks as Kip Wilson, a struggling New York City ad writer who resorts to cross-dressing alongside his buddy to live at the only apartment they can afford, the female-only Susan B. Anthony Hotel. The series aired…
By Melissa Houghton Netflix has enjoyed nearly free reign of TV and movie offerings via its streaming platform for over nine years. Their mission to dominate video rentals stemmed from the obliteration of Blockbuster Video. Let’s not forget Netflix started out as a DVD rentals-by-mail service. Its business has been booming ever since they introduced…
By John H. Foote Long ago Jack Nicholson passed Marlon Brando as the greatest screen actor of his generation. As good as his friend Brando was, Nicholson had greater range and was fearless with his image. He knew what audiences liked and could not care less, he took roles that interested him, that challenged him…
By Nick Maylor Bill Murray is a comedic legend that has firmly cemented himself as a great dramatic actor. With his appearance in Lost in Translation (2003), Murray showed that he had serious skill for the dramatic in addition to his omnipresent, unrivaled mastery of being one of the funniest people in the world. I…