By John H. Foote (***) In theatres and streaming on Amazon I love being surprised by a film. After 30 odd years as a film critic and 50 as a film junkie, trust me when I say it is hard to surprise me. When it happens, it takes my breath away. Every few years comes a…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres Do you remember the first time you experienced Sean Penn onscreen? I do, as if it was yesterday. But it wasn’t until the second time that I realized just how great an actor he was and was going to be. The first time was not a great role,…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Bit of a rant coming here folks. Is anyone else tired of comic book superhero movies? I get that some people like them, but we have been bombarded with them since 2000. I would say that maybe seven of those can be called truly great pieces of cinema.…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres For too long, film biographies were often fictionalized stories about the perceived life of the subject, ignoring the darker aspects of their lives. It was not until the 90s, with Malcolm X (1992), Schindler’s List (1993), and Nixon (1995), that filmmakers found the courage, and perhaps permission, to…
By John H. Foote My two favourite categories have always been the supporting actor and actress awards. One can quite literally watch a star be born within this category, often moving on to the Best Actress award. Among the actresses who have made this leap have been Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, Cate Blanchett, and Renée…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Apple Val might be the most compelling documentary I have ever experienced. The film deals with Val Kilmer’s life, moving from his time at the Juilliard School, where he was accepted as the youngest student in their history, through his stage career into movies, his marriage and subsequent…
By John H. Foote Now that two women have won Oscars for direction, expect more to come. Along with the ladies, expect more Black nominees, Asian, all ethnicities including foreign language film directors. Quite often a wildcard nominee like an out-of-the-blue foreign language director will burst into the party. Expect more of this as the…
By John H. Foote Could Frances McDormand make history and tie Katherine Hepburn with her fourth Academy Award for Best Actress this year? Yes, she could, but should she? For my money, the only actress deserving of four or more Oscars is Meryl Streep, and she sits stalled at two for Best Actress and a…
By John H. Foote Usually by this time of year the races for the major Academy Awards are shaping up and this year is no different. Best Actor is a crowded race already, while Best Actress, not so much, at least not yet. The race for the coveted little gold man is becoming a tight…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres I am astounded by how few films are made from the 13th century tales of Arthur and his knights of the round table and that legendary place called Camelot. There are a few—the musical Camelot (1967) of course, John Boorman’s bloody and brilliant Excalibur (1980) and more recently,…