By John H. Foote With the release of his extraordinary new crime epic The Irishman, once again the legendary Martin Scorsese flexes his artistic muscles to show why he might be the greatest American director in movies. Listing 10 of his greatest films proved impossible so I pushed it to 15. Let me be clear,…
By John H. Foote November, 2004. The Aviator was headed for Oscar glory, there seemed no stopping this superb Howard Hughes in Hollywood biopic with Leonardo Di Caprio as Hughes for no less than Martin Scorsese. Critics loved the film, audiences adored it, this was the film that was finally going to bring the great…
By John H. Foote (****) Watching Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) trudge up that long concrete set of stairs on his way home each day, we can feel the burden he carries. Like a stone metaphor for his everyday existence, those steps are what each day must be to him. Each step feels impossibly weighted down…
By Alan Hurst Peyton Place was a big deal in the fifties and sixties, first as a best-selling and scandalous novel, then as a hit motion picture (followed by a sequel), and finally as a must-watch prime-time TV series. When Grace Metalious’ novel was first published in 1956 the book shocked readers with its depiction…
By Nick Maylor This fantasy-comedy starring and co-directed by Warren Beatty was adapted from Harry Segall’s play of the same name, which had already been made into a film once with Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The story involves life, death, second chances and the fallibility of guardian Angels (particularly ones new on the job).…
By John H. Foote (****) Perhaps the most acutely aware film of the decade about the future of television, Sidney Lumet’s lacerating film Network foreshadowed what TV has become, which is a series of reality programs. Incredibly, it was predicted thirty years before reality programming took over the major three networks. Written by Academy Award…
By Nick Maylor “If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!” – The Joker (From Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke) The Joker was created by Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane and Bill Finger. While credit for the Joker’s creation is disputed, as is the case with Batman himself, Bill…
By John H. Foote (***) Let me begin by stating that the performance given by Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy is the odds-on favourite to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Yet it is so much more, less a performance than a merging of Garland’s broken, damaged soul to that of Zellweger.…
By Nick Maylor Charles Chaplin was a Master of Physical comedy. Countless hours of footage of him in character as “The Tramp” serve as testimony to the notion that he was perhaps the greatest slapstick performer in history. Chaplin was also a writer, director, producer and composer for much of his famous works. In his first…
By Craig Leask Many may not know this, but the play The Philadelphia Story (and it’s subsequent film adapation in 1940 and musical remake entitled High Society in 1956) was inspired by the true-life Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904–1995), a Philadelphia socialite known for her mischievousness shenanigans and high-spirited flirtations. She was the daughter of…