By John H. Foote It was fortunate that I was in my teens for most of the seventies and able to see the forceful power George C. Scott brought to his roles. He was an astonishing actor, one I had the chance to interview while he was shooting a film in Toronto, just he and…
By John H. Foote 30. TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985) Fourteen years before the release of this exciting thriller, director William Friedkin won the Academy Award for his film The French Connection, the Academy Award winning Best Picture of 1971. Two years later he was back with the blockbuster horror film The Exorcist…
By John H. Foote (**) Netflix / In Theatres Based on the timely, inflammatory memoir by J.D. Vance, this new film from Ron Howard has some tremendously fine moments, even some truly great acting, but Howard is the film’s great liability. Best known for his mainstream, slick and shiny Hollywood hits, Howard is quite often…
By John H. Foote Towards the end of the seventies many of the emerging and established directors suffered huge box office failures that would impact not only their careers, but the cinema of the time. Drunk with power, with access to hundreds of millions of dollars and free to make whatever films they wanted, they…
By John H. Foote Who did win, who should have, in my humble opinion. Contrary to popular belief the Academy does not always get it right, and here we can see why. Granted I have the benefit of hindsight, and hindsight is almost always 20-20. Time is the greatest enemy of a film, of all…
By John H. Foote (****) In Theatres / Streaming on Netflix (December) The American Film Institute routinely names Citizen Kane (1941) the greatest film of all time each time the group comprises its list of the 100 Greatest American Films. As well as being a film critic, I also taught Film History for 15 years…
By John H. Foote THE GODFATHER PART II (1974) And here we are, at number one. After going through the seventies, listing and writing about the 29 best films of the decade, we arrive at number one, Francis Ford Coppola’s greatest work, The Godfather Part II. Not only do I believe this is the finest…
By John H. Foote 2. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) “The horror, the horror …” – Kurtz (Marlon Brando), Apocalypse Now The lights went down, the curtains opened, and we found ourselves staring at a lush, thick jungle, filled with green palm trees and foliage. Far off, it seemed in the distance, music began as the trees…
By John H. Foote 3. THE GODFATHER (1972) “I believe in America…” – Bonasera to Don Corleone in The Godfather The masterful film The Godfather is about so much more than an Italian family and their worldwide Mafia operation. Francis Ford Coppola, the visionary director of the film, saw so much in the film when…
By John H. Foote 4. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975) Breathtaking. That word best describes the purity of Jack Nicholson’s mesmerizing performance as R. P. McMurphy in Milos Foreman’s superb film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted from the Ken Kesey novel. Nicholson was never better, and let’s be clear he has…