By John H. Foote Cecil B. DeMille’s thundering story of Moses, The Ten Commandments (1956) comes back to Blu Ray with his original silent film of the same title from 1923 on Tuesday. DeMille’s massive four-hour Biblical epic is the film that forever addicted me to movies, with its scope, size, massive cast and production…
As far as I’m concerned Some Like it Hot is a perfect comedy. Part screwball, part spoof of 1930’s gangster films, part romance, part musical, and filmed in glorious black and white at the iconic beachfront Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Throw in the flawless chemistry of the perfectly cast leads – Tony Curtis,…
By John H. Foote Comedy is a genre all its own consisting of ten subgenres, and they evolve and expand as the years slip past. It is also, along with horror, the single most personal of the cinematic genres. I saw Monty Python’s The Life of Brian (1979) with my wife, howling as the film…
By Craig Leask It began with an idea. Producer Charles Brackett had a strong desire to make a picture set around Niagara Falls – and not about honeymooning couples. It ended with box office success and the record for the longest filmed walk in the history of cinema. A record that still stands to this…
By Alan Hurst On a long commute home I often go to my “happy place” which usually involves movies and conjuring all sorts of lists – ten best of this, ten worst of that – you get the idea. Because we’re in a new decade, I’ve decided to pick one movie from each of the…
By John H. Foote During the first press screening of Hook (1991) I remember spending a great deal of the time shaking my head in disgust. When the film was over I felt nothing but relief, but oddly could not move from my seat. I hated it. On so many levels I hated the film.…
By John H. Foote (****) Simply said, Under Fire (1983) is among the greatest films ever made about American involvement in a war-torn country, a startling political work which includes a real-life event, the killing of ABC News reporter Bill Stewart by Nicaraguan forces while gathering news information. The first time I saw Under Fire…
By John H. Foote (****) Paul Mazursky was a fascinating director-screenwriter who emerged in the great American cinema explosion of the seventies. His finest films were humanist dramas sprinkled with light comedic moments, slice of life films. Best of all his films was the exquisite An Unmarried Woman (1978), a raw and stunning work about…
By John H. Foote (****) In 1977 my younger brother Steve and I made the trip into Toronto to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) opening day at the old York Cinemas. Over two hours later we emerged from the theatre into the warm winter sun, stunned by what we had just experienced.…
By John H. Foote (****) Atom Egoyan’s profoundly austere, astounding and ethereal film stunned audiences at the Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals in 1997, earning prizes going into the fall movie season, drawing attention to its artistry. I first saw the film at TIFF, and was shocked into silence and tears, it hit me…