By Marie-Renee Goulet The movie is based on the true story of Harvard Law graduate Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan). After declining lucrative job offers, he uses a federal grant to open a legal defense office in Alabama with the help of a local activist Eva Ansley (the brilliant Brie Larson). They run in many…
By John H. Foote (****) To be straight from the very beginning of this piece, Kevin Bacon portrays Walter, a pedophile just released from prison trying to make a life for himself. It is a very demanding, often difficult and uncomfortable film, but brilliant in its depiction of a man cast out from society by…
By John H. Foote (****) To begin, let me get the hornets’ nest out of the way. I do not believe a word of the bile that has spewed from the mouth and mind of Mia Farrow for the last 25 years about Woody Allen supposedly assaulting his daughter, the now grow Dylan. Understand I…
By John H. Foote (****) Dressed in a steely grey suit, his hair salt and pepper grey, Tom Cruise reminded me of a sleek barracuda or shark in this fine film from director Michael Mann, his character a lethal predator stalking the Los Angeles night for his victims. In one of his finest performances, Cruise…
By John H. Foote (**) Now Streaming on Apple. Tom Hanks has enjoyed a solid history with the war genre. In fact World War II has been very good to the two-time Academy Award winning Best Actor. Hanks was first seen in a war film in the brilliant Saving Private Ryan (1998) for which he…
By Marie-Renee Goulet These past few months have been challenging. In light of the most recent protests in support of Black Lives Matter, I’d like to bring attention to Netflix’s Original Documentary 13th, titled after the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Running at only 1h and 40m, it is compelling and concise. You…
By John H. Foote (****) For two agonizing hours we experience the breakdown of a marriage, though through broken narrative, we also see what drew the two together. Blue Valentine, a difficult film from director Derek Cianfrance, explores with unflinching honesty the beginning and end of a relationship between two young people with a child.…
By John H. Foote (****) “…I am your father.” You could have heard a pin drop. The chewing of popcorn ceased, there was a collective audible gasp and the packed cinema went deathly silent with the intake of breath. With those four mind-altering words Darth Vader turned the Star Wars narrative on its ear, suddenly making…
By John H. Foote (***) Nancy Dowd would spend months on the road with minor hockey teams, soaking in the atmosphere of life waiting for the call to “the show” – the big league, the NHL – though most of the players are resigned to being minor league lifers. Her script for Slap Shot was…
By Marie-Renee Goulet **** This film is inspired by the survivors’ testimonies of the tragedy that took place on December 6, 1989. Out of respect for the victims and their families, all the characters are fictional. From all accounts, the events are accurate in their chronology and depictions. The film was shot simultaneously in both…