By John H. Foote (****) Let’s start by stating throughout this article the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford will be known as just Assassination for obvious reasons. I was in a full theatre the first time I saw this film, in the excellent Special Presentation category, my favourite, at…
By John H. Foote (****) Along the highway to Disney World in Florida there is a tract of low rent hotels, home to poverty-stricken people who pay by the week for a roof over their head. It is ironic that such low living exists so close to a fantasy theme park where dreams come true…
By Alan Hurst There’s a little too much reality these days and you can get overwhelmed with the barrage of information, dire predictions, and lack of social interaction. This is a new experience for all of us and we’re all going to develop different ways of coping. Mine, not surprising, is retreating to the joys…
By John H. Foote (****) When Stephen King comes to mind, obviously the urge is to think of the great horror novels which have made him the greatest and most prolific writer of our time. Yet King, a born storyteller has stepped outside the horror genre many times with great results often coming to the…
By Craig Leask As we approach what looks to be another global recession, and probably not our last, I started thinking about how economic hardships such as these have been handled in the movies. There are many – from documentaries through to movies based on real events and people to full on creative endeavors. Movies…
By John H. Foote (****) The expectations surrounding Quentin Tarantino’s first film since the ground-breaking, sensational Academy Award winning Pulp Fiction (1994) were enormous. And when the film was released, it could not have been more different from Pulp Fiction, which did not sit well with critics and fans. The languid pacing, long, deliberate takes,…
By Craig Leask Casablanca was one of those movies which that, for whatever reason, just lucked out more due to circumstance then planning. No one involved in making Casablanca had any idea the film was going to end up becoming a highly successful American classic, with the most identifiable quotes and ranked by Roger Ebert as…
By John H. Foote From the beginning of film movies have explored sports in their narratives, and various forms of sport have provided some the most remarkable stories in film history. Be it biographical accounts or fictional works, audiences and critics have long thrilled to the stories set on the playing field, boxing ring, ice…
By Alan Hurst You’ve gotta love streaming. You don’t realize what you have access to until you start venturing down one of the many rabbit holes supposedly organized by genre. That happened on the weekend when I found Crimes of the Heart (1986), Bruce Beresford’s film adaptation of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize winning play from…
By John H. Foote (***) Armed with three Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Charlize Theron and Best Supporting Actress for Margot Robbie, Bombshell hits Blu Ray Tuesday after what can only be described as a disappointing release into cinemas. Expected to be a controversial film, destined to open the eyes of millions around…