By John H. Foote (***) The moment it was announced the Henry Fonda had been cast as crusty, cranky Norman Thayer in the film On Golden Pond it seemed a given the aged actor would win that long elusive Academy Award for Best Actor. Nominated just a single time for The Grapes of Wrath (1940), it…
By John H. Foote (***) The first time I saw Midnight Express (1978) I was astounded by the story, the direction, the exquisite performances of the cast, that brooding electronic score and the production design. For an 18-year old sitting in the wonderful old University Theatre on a Saturday afternoon, happily on my own, this…
By John H. Foote (***) Tom Cruise became an actor in Rain Man (1988) but he became a great actor as real life war veteran Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, an adaptation of Kovic’s best seller, and his evolution from patriotic soldier to anti-war crusader. Cruise really is magnificent…
By John H. Foote The moment I opened the package containing my copy of Oliver Stone’s new book “Chasing the Light”, a memoir, I devoured it. Putting it down was just never an option, and one day after opening the book, sadly, I was finished. So I promptly read it again. “Chasing the Light” is…
By John H. Foote Academy Award nominated Best Director Alan Parker has passed at the age of 76. The talented Brit first came to the attention of North American audiences directing Bugsy Malone (1976) but it was his explosive film Midnight Express (1978) that truly brought him to the attention of North American film audiences…
By John H. Foote To begin, how is a fantasy different from a science fiction film? Granted there are cross overs, but fantasy cinema is defined as films which take the audience to the nether land, or bring about fantastical happenings, transcending the bounds of human possibility or the physical laws of nature. They often…
By John H. Foote One of the many aspects of my job as a film critic I love is the consistent ability to still be surprised by an actor. Just when you think an artist is doomed to disappoint and fail, or never evolve, they completely shock you with a performance that is without a…
By John H. Foote (***) To watch this magnificent horse in full flight was a miracle, a thing of natural beauty. Four legs, powered by a great heart, a mass of muscle hurtling down the track towards the finish line, setting records in his wake, he is hailed as perhaps the greatest racehorse to ever…
By John H. Foote (****) Martin Sheen spent most of the seventies making made for television films, developing a loyal audience fascinated with the electrifying young actor. On the small screen he was brilliant in Sweet Hostage (1974) opposite Linda Blair, and The Execution of Private Slovik (1974). He stunned critics with his haunted performance…
By John H. Foote (****) It is inconceivable to me that Kathryn Bigelow would win the Academy Award and the Directors Guild of America Award (DGA) for the fine war film The Hurt Locker (2009), then three years later actually surpass that achievement with Zero Dark Thirty (2012), be nominated again by the DGA, yet…