By John H. Foote After the streaming service leaped into the production business in 2015 with the critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation, which earned critical acclaim and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor for actor Idris Elba, Netflix was taken seriously. They were, however, not necessarily feared or even taken as…
By John H. Foote In what has to be the stunner of the season, the long awaited, highly anticipated Dune, directed by the great Oscar nominated Denis Villeneuve, has been bumped to October 2021. Originally to open to December, the science fiction remake of the David Lynch bomb has been bumped just under a year.…
By John H. Foote Hollywood took a major hit yesterday with the cancellation of three major films, one of then an Oscar front runner directed by an industry giant. Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated remake of the Oscar winning film and Broadway smash West Side Story has been postponed an entire year, pushed back to 2021.…
It is with profound regret and deep sadness that we announce the passing of Nick Maylor, one of our original writers and the producer of our podcast at Foote and Friends on Film. Nick passed away last week. Nick encountered John H. Foote as a student at the Toronto Film School, where Nick was often seen…
By John H. Foote (?) Another film I have heard much about by reading the reviews from other festivals but again Elevation has bullied the festival into. No press and industry screenings, meaning the studio controls who sees the film, banning (yes, I said that) those they are withholding the film from. So I cannot…
By John H. Foote (?) I am told this is a masterful film. I WOULD NOT KNOW BECAUSE ELEVATION REFUSED TO HAVE PRESS AND INDUSTRY SCREENINGS. NOR WOULD THEY PROVIDE ME WITH LINKS OR SCREENERS TO SEE THE FILM. SO A STUDIO IS DICTATING TO THE FESTIVAL THAT THEY CANNOT SHOW THE FILM TO THE…
By John H. Foote Sadly I will not be able to review either Ammonite or The Father, two of the most anticipated titles of TIFF this year. The studio, Elevation Pictures, has chosen NOT to hold press screenings for accredited media, incredibly shocking considering the festival is to celebrate film, and build awareness and buzz. I understand Elevation…
By John H. Foote Normally I screen 30 or more films at TIFF, depending on how well my poor legs hold out. My record is 52, but that included festival pre-screenings and was well before my legs were shattered, suffice to say those days are gone. TIFF usually screens more than 300 films per festival…
By John H. Foote Why? Why would Francis Ford Coppola return to one of his most maligned films to re-cut, add and take away? There is but one way to fix The Godfather Part III (1990), which is to erase the film from existence. It has never existed in my world since that first dreadful…
By John H. Foote For several months I worried TIFF might not even happen, but the brilliant minds that run the festival found a way. Thank God. I cannot imagine my life without TIFF, that festival has become such an integral part of my existence. Beyond the memories of great films I have experienced, there…