By John H. Foote So many fine performances this year, each category for acting at the Academy Awards is jammed packed with potential nominees, with five slots for each. Rather than listing them by category or even by preference, I just wrote them down, lead and supporting together, again in no particular order. These were…
By John H. Foote When composing a Top 10 List of movies, I always like to follow it up with the 10 worst. So, here it is, the worst of the worst I have seen this year. Not much else to say, except no one sets out to make a bad film. But sometimes they…
By Alan Hurst John’s recent look at the Oscar snubs of Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks got me thinking. They’re both winners and multiple nominees, but they also have a resume of performances that somehow Oscar overlooked. Coming from another generation of stars, Shirley MacLaine is another one who can be listed with Kidman and…
By John H. Foote The first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director has passed. Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmuller died yesterday at the age of 93, after living a full life and having an extraordinary career. Her most exceptional period was in the seventies, during which she made history becoming the…
By John H. Foote Tom Hanks is often hailed as America’s most beloved actor. Despite this, the ever-fickle Academy seems to take every opportunity it can to bring him down a notch. The Academy has a long history of ignoring talent once they have received a few nominations. Case in point, Mr. Hanks. Yes, he…
By John H. Foote Throughout my 40-plus years as a film student, actor, director and film critic, I have heard countless arguments about who is the greatest of all actors? Understand the word actor is gender neutral, making the decision all the more difficult. Watching acting in early cinema can be trying, as the actors…
By John H. Foote In the manner Heath Ledger turned a comic book character, the Joker, into an Academy Award winning performance, so could Emma Stone for her delicious performance in the title role of Cruella, the Disney film that beautifully explores the early days of Cruella de Ville. An Oscar winner for Best Actress for…
By Geoff Wertheim (**) In theatres A team of immortal beings were specifically created to protect Earth from monsters called Deviants; a job that began 7,000 years ago and finished about 7,000 years ago. Since then they’ve just pretty much hung out, witnessing the events of human history, giving nudges in our evolution to improve…
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…