By John H. Foote (****) On Criterion Blu Ray Fifty-nine years before the election of Donald Trump to the office of President of the United States came this cautionary tale directed by two-time Academy Award winner Elia Kazan, and starring a rising actor named Andy Griffith. The film was not a success, though in the…
By John H. Foote (**) Watching this film today, having not seen it for years – 25 I think – it struck me that the Ira Levin novel would today be written as a graphic novel. The film feels like an exciting comic book and, as directed by Oscar winner Franklin J. Schaffner, is just…
By John H. Foote (****) When Halle Berry won a much-deserved Academy Award for her searing performance in the incendiary drama Monster’s Ball, she became the first black woman honoured with an Oscar in a leading role. Since 1927, not a single black actress had ever won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and shockingly,…
By Marie-Renee Goulet The province of Quebec has produced many high quality, unique Canadian films and television series in the past decades. One of Quebec industry’s advantages is that the province’s population is a loyal audience and will see pretty much anything that is produced within. Many of the highest grossing films in Canada are…
By John H. Foote (****) On Criterion Blu Ray Can one imagine what it must have been to exist as poor John Merrick, that misshapen, horrifically deformed human being known as the Elephant Man? I doubt it. There is a scene near the beginning of David Lynch’s film biography The Elephant Man, where Dr. Frederick Treves…
By John H. Foote (**) Criterion Blu Ray I first saw this odd, creepy film when it was released in 1990, my wife and I coming away truly feeling creeped out, disliking the characters, but neither one of us could shake the film. We had planned to see it again, but it was out of…
By John H. Foote (****) Long revered as one of the greatest films made in Canada, Goin’ Down the Road burst onto the Canadian film scene in 1970 and has been among the most discussed and written about films since its debut. Goin’ Down the Road played for over a year in New York City,…
By John H. Foote (****) We were in New York City in the summer of 2010 for a week, my wife and daughters. Sherri was doing very well after chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and though filled with energy, she would be gone in less than two years. As our cab weaved through the busy streets…
By John H. Foote Do film buffs truly understand just what a ground-breaking film Alfred Hitchcock’s terrifying Psycho was? This was a monumental film, breaking fresh ground for a tried and true genre, and influencing dozens of films in the future. To this day I still encounter film students who discuss the massacre in the shower…
By John H. Foote Each year when the esteemed American Film Institute (AFI) announces its annual Lifetime Achievement Award winner, I hope to hear the name Francis Ford Coppola. For 30 years I have listened for his name, for 30 years I have been disappointed. Three times I have interviewed Coppola, and each time the…