By Craig Leask The Last of Sheila is a brilliantly clever thriller which tries (and succeeds) beautifully in combining the best of a bitchy Hollywood self-satire, mixed with a traditional whodunit. Ultimately the film is tongue in cheek homage to both the murder mystery genre and the cutthroat world of movie making. It’s about playing…
By Alan Hurst I don’t like using the descriptor “muse” to describe the inspired partnerships between a film director (for the purposes of this article all men) and his female lead when they’ve enjoyed a series of films together. Each of the directors on this list have enjoyed spectacular success with other leading actresses and…
By John H. Foote Usually by this time of year the races for the major Academy Awards are shaping up and this year is no different. Best Actor is a crowded race already, while Best Actress, not so much, at least not yet. The race for the coveted little gold man is becoming a tight…
By Alan Hurst Our own John H. Foote has written the cover story for the latest edition of “Cinema of the ‘70s”, a terrific magazine out of Britain that focuses on one of the greatest decades for movies since their inception. “Cinema of the 70’s” is fast becoming one of the hottest selling magazines in…
By John H. Foote He made us believe a man could fly in his 1978 epic Superman, giving the film the perfect sense that Superman was a God sent from another planet. The entire year had seen previews with a booming voice announcing, “You’ll believe a man can fly” and then finally the film opened.…
By Craig Leask What started as an ego driven concept to market a camera system, developed into a very successful series of star laden road films, all of which are over the top travel films loaded with scenery, locations, and movie stars. What makes these films so entertaining is not necessarily the plot, but rather…
By Marie-Renee Goulet Movies and music were always a source of joy, adventure and escape. However, the world being what it was from 2016 to June of last year, I completely stopped watching movies, and even listen to music. I had news channels on in the background for every waking hour, as if life depended on it. A year ago this…
By John H. Foote As a companion piece to Alan’s brilliant piece on actresses who, when cast against type, had stunned critics and audiences with their work, I have explored the actors. A note to Alan, my dear cousin and colleague: knowing me, you must know why I did not have the discipline to keep…
By Alan Hurst For an actor or actress to play against type, they had to have had a certain amount of success in a particular genre of film or played a consistent type of character. Think of James Cagney’s gangster films, Esther Williams’ aqua extravaganzas, Burt Reynolds’ good ol’ boy comedies. Cagney and Reynolds did…
By Craig Leask In the early 1980’s a rash of new films were released focusing on the teenage demographic in hopes of establishing a new market. The success of Porky’s (1981), which earned $7.6 million on its opening weekend on its $2.5 million budget, launched a rash of teen sex comedies including The Last American Virgin…