By John H. Foote (****) Watching Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) trudge up that long concrete set of stairs on his way home each day, we can feel the burden he carries. Like a stone metaphor for his everyday existence, those steps are what each day must be to him. Each step feels impossibly weighted down…
By John H. Foote (****) Perhaps the most acutely aware film of the decade about the future of television, Sidney Lumet’s lacerating film Network foreshadowed what TV has become, which is a series of reality programs. Incredibly, it was predicted thirty years before reality programming took over the major three networks. Written by Academy Award…
By John H. Foote There was a time he was the most electrifying actor in movies, his performances earning raves from film critics around the world, legions of fans following his work, his peers celebrating his artistry, from film audiences around the globe. In the seventies his work was astounding, seeing him nominated for four…
By John H. Foote First some housekeeping: SPOILERS AHEAD. HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD! That said, this film has grossed more than a billion dollars and if you are a movie fan, comic book fan or super hero film nut who has not seen it, shame on you. Now, could and should Avengers: Endgame be a Best…
By John H. Foote (***) Let me begin by stating that the performance given by Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy is the odds-on favourite to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Yet it is so much more, less a performance than a merging of Garland’s broken, damaged soul to that of Zellweger.…
By John H. Foote When the Academy Award nominees for film excellence in 1967 were announced, there were some audible gasps when the Best Picture category was read. As expected Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate and In the Heat of the Night were nominated, all richly deserved. But also among the five was Guess Who’s…
By John H. Foote It is often forgotten that comic Eddie Murphy won the prestigious National Society Of Film Critics Best Actor Award for his brilliant performance(s) in The Nutty Professor (1996), though no Oscar love came his way. It was his superb supporting performance in Dreamgirls (2006) that earned the actor his first and…
By John H. Foote The two major acting categories will be over crowded with potential nominees this year, offering the Academy to answer the call for diversity. As with the two supporting categories, previous winners and nominees will be there, as well as some first timers. Looking like an acting year. BEST ACTOR Adam Driver…
By John H. Foote ‘The big three festivals that end the summer and kick off the fall always have a staggering impact on Oscar season. Films and performances are like race horses, moving ahead, falling back, disappearing altogether then surging to the finish, we pretty much have the race outlined with a few exceptions. The…
By John H. Foote (****) Science fiction works best, I think, when it reaches far beyond the mere expectations of the given narrative. When small, intimate moments with the characters, or a visual sequence take us deeper into the film than we thought possible. The extraordinary star child at the end of 2001: A Space…