By John H. Foote (****) In Theatres The great love story for the ages is said to be Romeo and Juliet. Frankly. I have always preferred Cyrano de Bergerac, written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand, a mature and brilliant love story that vastly soars past Romeo and Juliet. No question, Shakespeare created a magnificent piece…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres now. Streaming in January. Some in the theatre world hold a superstition that to utter the title “Macbeth” or any lines from that play will doom the stage performance. Some actors hold this belief religiously, some do not. I was directing in the 80’s and 90’s and worked…
By Geoff Werthiem (***) Very few studios excel when it comes to “event movies” like Disney owned Marvel Studios. What started with Iron Man in 2008 grew into an extended franchise over 11 years, encompassing several comic book superheroes including Captain America, Thor and The Hulk. In 2012, with just 5 movies under their belt,…
By John H. Foote (****) In Theatres and Steaming on Netflix Black comedy has always been the best of the sub-genres of comedy for me. Taking a subject that is in no way funny (murder, nuclear explosions, divorce, a drunken Santa and now a meteor speeding towards earth) has always tickled my funny bone. My…
By John H. Foote Maybe it is the strange familiarity of A Christmas Story that hits home. Each year I watch the film a few times before Christmas Day. I do not know why the film has such a profound impact on me. It takes place in the late 50s, when I was born, so…
THE YEAR’S BEST MOVIES By John H. Foote Movies returned with a thundering triumph this year, exploding back on big screens. As we all slowly, hopefully, leave our basements and adjust our eyes to daylight, movie making and theatres are beginning to make a comeback, inching their way back to where once they ruled. Nothing…
By Alan Hurst Remember the Night starts off as a snappy and fast paced comedy, very typical of the genre in the late thirties and early forties. But then it takes you places you aren’t expecting – first a little risqué (but not really) and then it becomes quite dark, almost threatening. But minutes later…
By Marie-Renee Goulet The season is upon us, and my team suggested we pick our favourite Christmas movie and go through why it was so meaningful to us. Like every other time this situation comes up, I smiled and nodded and stayed silent. How do I tell them? Should I tell them? I don’t have…
By John H. Foote (**) Streaming on Netflix The American western has always been my favorite film genre. There is undeniable depth to the deceptive simplicity of westerns if you look for it. Sadly, not everyone does. They picture cowboys and Indians, bad guy wearing a black hat, good guy wearing white, and the marshal…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres Let’s get right to it — it is a knockout, a masterpiece, brilliant on every level. And to the question everyone will ask: it is equal to the original? In fact, I think it’s greater. Steven Spielberg, finally creating his musical dream, has made an angrier, edgier, more…