By John H. Foote Amy Adams has been a frequent nominee for Best Actress yet has just as many times been a shocking omission – Enchanted (2007) and Arrival (2016) the most bizarre of the performances passed over. In the past it was often a challenge to find five female performances to nominate, though in…
By John H. Foote 15. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992) How is it possible that a film as fine as this, bathed in warm nostalgia of a time gone by, focusing on the great American pastime when America was at war, so beautifully acted, directed, written and created did not receive a single Academy…
By John H. Foote In honor of the great Delroy Lindo, one in a very long line of actors snubbed cruelly (this year) for his sterling performance in Da Five Bloods, I went back through the last 20 years and chose ONE to TWO snubbed actors who deserved to be there for their performance. Knowing…
By John H. Foote 16. DEAD MAN WALKING The argument for capital punishment, the death penalty, remains one of the most controversial conversations in modern government. If a person is found undeniably guilty of taking a life, planned it out and killed a human being, shouldn’t they pay with their life? I believe so, as…
By John H. Foote 17. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998) When Harrison Ford strode to center stage to present the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1998, Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998) had already won Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Director, so naturally everyone in the audience and…
By John H. Foote 18. FORREST GUMP (1994) The leaf that blows away from Forrest (Tom Hanks) at the beginning of the film, carried by the wind through the air, coming to light on various objects and places in its unpredictable journey is a direct metaphor for Forrest Gump himself. Like that leaf, he is…
By John H. Foote 19. CASINO (1995) Martin Scorsese’s Casino is among the greatest films of the master’s career, yet only now, 25 years after its initial release, is it finally recognized for being the work of art it is. Upon release the film was slammed for being too much like GoodFellas (1990), his masterpiece,…
By John H. Foote 20. THELMA AND LOUISE (1991) The biggest difference in this buddy road movie was that the heroes were instead heroines, women. Wildly entertaining with spectacular performances from Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and a very new Brad Pitt, the film was an immediate hit with audiences and critics, superbly directed by Ridley…
By John H. Foote 21. NIXON (1995) When it was announced Oliver Stone would direct a film biography of former President Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace in 1974 amidst the Watergate affair, audiences and critics, hell most of Hollywood, held their breath, expecting a powerful attack and expose on the man rather than a…
By John H. Foote 22. LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995) One of the most profoundly heartbreaking films I have ever seen, as a man Ben (Nicolas Cage) loses his job, his family and heads to Las Vegas to “drink himself to death”. His words. There he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a pretty hooker walking the Vegas…