By Nick Maylor It’s long been my contention that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (1843) is the greatest story ever told. It has been adapted for the stage and screen countless times, often in musical form. Some carolers appear in the original novella and music has often…
By John H. Foote (****) The greatest films of divorce are often demanding, difficult films that have the courage to ask the audience not to take a side. Yet as great as An Unmarried Woman (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Shoot the Moon (1982) are superb films, a side is usually taken, we are…
By John H. Foote (**) Adventure films are often dazzling visual treats for the audience. Consider the Indiana Jones tetralogy, beautiful films all, with splendid production design, exotic lavish locations, and constant motion driving the non stop narrative. Even if the film is more cerebral, such as John Houston’s soaring epic The Man Who Would…
By Nick Maylor This film was widely disliked. Henry Cavill was heavily criticized. Zack Snyder has gotten some truly undeserved hatred. I loved Man of Steel (2013). I think it is the best Superman film yet made. With all due respect to Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner, Superman (1978) has one of the dumbest, laziest,…
By John H. Foote (****) I loved every second of this magical film. No humbug here folks, this was pure enchantment. Though The Polar Express has its detractors, humbugs among us, I thought director Robert Zemeckis, his computer artists, his sound and sound engineers, editors, cinematographers, musicians and songwriters, designers, and his wonderful actors captured…
By Alan Hurst This month has been a full-on immersion into the life Julie Andrews with the release of her second autobiography “Home Work”. The book details Andrews’ experiences in Hollywood and abroad, from her arrival in 1963 to film Mary Poppins (1964) to That’s Life! 22 years later. It’s a continuation of her more…
By John H. Foote (***) Every once in a while a film slips by me, through the cracks as it will, and I end up catching up with it on Blu Ray to be very surprised. This is such a film. An original, striking, genuinely frightening horror film, the picture is anchored by a sensational…
By Nick Maylor The fourth episode of the Disney+ original The Mandalorian (titled “Sanctuary”) is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard and continues the story of the titular Mandalorian after he has rescued the child AKA (but not actually) “Baby Yoda” and searches for a planet where the two can stay under the radar from the…
By John H. Foote (*) Given my deep dislike for the Disney Studios and their “suits” one might think I am the wrong person to review their films. Believe it or not I am able to distance myself from the powers that be and be fair and impartial to all their films. While I loathe…
By Craig Leask A throwback to the classic whodunit murder mysteries of yesteryear, director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out has successfully resurrected the genre – dead corpse, creepy mansion and a handful of suspects, all with plausible motives. With an approach reminiscent of an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery the basic premise of Knives Out surrounds the…