By Alan Hurst Thirty-two years after her passing, 2021 is seeing a resurgence of interest in Lucille Ball, the pre-eminent comedienne of the 20th century. I Love Lucy, the landmark sitcom created with then-husband Desi Aranz, is still available on streaming services and some local TV stations. It’s also available on DVD, along with The…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres and streaming on Amazon I love being surprised by a film. After 30 odd years as a film critic and 50 as a film junkie, trust me when I say it is hard to surprise me. When it happens, it takes my breath away. Every few years comes a…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres Do you remember the first time you experienced Sean Penn onscreen? I do, as if it was yesterday. But it wasn’t until the second time that I realized just how great an actor he was and was going to be. The first time was not a great role,…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Bit of a rant coming here folks. Is anyone else tired of comic book superhero movies? I get that some people like them, but we have been bombarded with them since 2000. I would say that maybe seven of those can be called truly great pieces of cinema.…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres For too long, film biographies were often fictionalized stories about the perceived life of the subject, ignoring the darker aspects of their lives. It was not until the 90s, with Malcolm X (1992), Schindler’s List (1993), and Nixon (1995), that filmmakers found the courage, and perhaps permission, to…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Apple Val might be the most compelling documentary I have ever experienced. The film deals with Val Kilmer’s life, moving from his time at the Juilliard School, where he was accepted as the youngest student in their history, through his stage career into movies, his marriage and subsequent…
By Marie- Renee Goulet (*) Why? The sudden loss of Anthony Bourdain by suicide in June 2018 left us all gutted and shocked. Bourdain was a tall, charismatic, and incredibly candid former chef with our dream career. But depression can be debilitating. He was a brilliant writer who did not leave a note. He was…
By John H. Foote (****) In theatres I am astounded by how few films are made from the 13th century tales of Arthur and his knights of the round table and that legendary place called Camelot. There are a few—the musical Camelot (1967) of course, John Boorman’s bloody and brilliant Excalibur (1980) and more recently,…
By John H. Foote (***) In theatres Matt Damon began his career wanting to be more than just a major movie star; he wanted to be an acclaimed actor. His breakthrough came with a trio of films beginning with the war drama Courage Under Fire (1996) for director Edward Zwick, followed by the critically acclaimed…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres More than 20 years have passed since we were stopped in our tracks with the trailer of Haley Joel Osment whispering with hushed urgency and terror, “I see dead people.” M. Night Shyamalan exploded into the forefront of American film with his extraordinary ghost story The Sixth Sense…