By John H. Foote Well aware of her talent as an actress, I was still not prepared for the staggering perfection of Natalie Portman’s performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie. Portman, it seemed to me, did more than merely act the role but rather slipped under the skin to acquaint herself with the very soul…
By John H. Foote 25. DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) By the late eighties Kevin Costner was a major movie star and reasonably well thought of as an actor. His performance in Silverado (1985) as the hotdogging gunslinger on the side of right was great fun and earned him attention from audiences, critics and directors. Delivering…
By John H. Foote Though I have always admired many of the films of Mike Nichols, I think he peaked with his first two films. Though he directed many fine films, did he ever again reach the heights he did with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Graduate (1967) for which he won…
By John H. Foote 26. BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) Honest statement, I have not ever been a fan or watcher of hard-core pornography. The simple fact is I would rather be having sex than watching naked, writhing couples on a TV screen, and frankly just find most of porn insulting to women. What porn I have…
By John H. Foote Had anyone in the seventies suggested to me that one day Clint Eastwood would be a two-time Academy Award Best Director winner, with two more nominations and two nominations for Best Actor, I would have thought them insane and laughed in their face. Eastwood an artist? Stone faced Dirty Harry (1971)?…
By John H. Foote 27. RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (1999) One aspect of the Toronto International Film Festival I have always loved (and there are so many) is discovering small films that might get a release later in the year, to little fanfare, despite solid, even rave reviews. Such was the case in 1999 with…
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 As Dr. Martin Dysart in Equus, Richard Burton delivered arguably his greatest film performance, though his work as George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) certainly must be considered in that conversation. In Peter Shaffer’s breathtaking Equus, Sidney Lumet’s probing camera strips Burton free of everything but his face and…
By John H. Foote 28. NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994) The most controversial film of the decade was also among the most brilliant, a daring picture utilizing different stocks of film and video, animation, breaking all the rules and making them work. Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers is among the darkest masterpieces of its time.…
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…