By John H. Foote Now streaming on Prime / Available soon on Blu Ray (****) The first time I screened this film I liked it very much, but it did not knock me out as most of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films tend to do. The second time, it blew me out of the room. Was…
By John H. Foote The year 1950 marked the beginning of an age-old war with the small box, television. Television became the greatest enemy of cinema, a war that exists to this day, now led by streaming services. Ironically, COVID made TV necessary for the film industry’s survival when audiences were forced to stay home.…
By John H. Foote (BOMB) In Theatres My late colleague Nick adored super hero movies, I mean he loved them. Watching the latest Spider Man – No Way Home (2021) I could almost hear him beside me giggling like a school girl when Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, both former Spider Men, showed up in…
By John H. Foote It has now been reported Will Smith and his wife were asked to leave the Academy Awards ceremony after he slapped Chris Rock and he refused to do so. Obviously knowing he was about to win the Oscar as Best Actor weighed on his decision to leave. But this goes deeper.…
By John H. Foote So much Oscar history was made last night yet all anyone is talking about is the slap heard round the word, the one WiIl Smith delivered to comedian Chris Rock, who Smith felt had insulted his wife, Jada Pinkett. On one hand, good for Smith for defending his wife, but should…
By John H. Foote By the time the Oscars roll around, it is an anti-climatic event. The glut of award shows since years end, the constant writing from bloggers (including me) since TIFF has worn me down and I just want the whole thing over with. Surprises are rare, they just do not really happen…
By John H. Foote The collective gasps heard around North America at nearly 6 a.m. the morning of the announcement of the Academy Award nominations were just. Lady Gaga, winner of the coveted New York Film Critics Circle award as Best Actress, had been snubbed for an Oscar nomination. GOOD GOD!!!!! The diminutive pop icon…
By John H. Foote The stories of the epic temper tantrums of former hairdresser, lover to Barbra Streisand and movie mogul Jon Peters are the stuff of legend, and witnesses attest, absolutely true. Peters had a ferocious, volatile, hair trigger temper that could be unleashed at any given time though he was called on it…
By John H. Foote (****) Warren Beatty had wanted to direct as far back as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) but his desire for perfectionism made him hesitate. He did not want to look like a fool. He had a lot to say on Shampoo (1975) but it was Hal Ashby who got the directing credit.…
By John H. Foote ‘For the period of 1981-1991, William Hurt was among the actors to dominate the art and craft of American acting with an array of brilliant performances. Hurt died Sunday of natural causes at 71. He broke into film, after graduating from Juilliard and working onstage, in Ken Russell’s strange film Altered…