By John H. Foote (***) When I hear or heard a film student refer to this as “that disco movie” I always did my best to correct them gently, refusing to explode and lose my mind on their stupidity. Released in late 1977, Saturday Night Fever turned actor John Travolta into a movie God, instantly…
By John H. Foote (****) Growing up, the years eight through twenty I loved hockey. My brothers and I played winter through spring, following our teams. Mine was Boston because of their goalie Gerry Cheevers, who ironically I met later in life. As a goalie, I loved the sensation of pulling on the thick pads…
By Nick Maylor Trey Parker and Matt Stone started their cartoon franchise over twenty years ago and the show is still putting out new episodes. Unlike The Simpsons Movie (2007) which took a long, slow journey to the big screen, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) was green-lit almost immediately after South Park began…
By John H. Foote My daughter Aurora, and her boyfriend Andrew, recently returned from Paris, a whirlwind birthday present her from Andrew, something he had planned, and executed as a complete surprise. When they returned, Andrew handed me a small jar of sand from Juno Beach. While in Paris they made the journey to the…
By John H. Foote The American Bicentennial year brought with it many great films, from both the United States and around the globe. 1976 was the year I REALLY discovered the power and art of cinema. I had my drivers license and could freely drive in my own car to Oshawa, twenty minutes from home…
By John H. Foote (****) If there is a greater American film, I have not seen it. If there is a greater film made in the history of the cinema, I am not aware of it. Francis Ford Coppola’s expansive, brilliant sequel to his Oscar-winning The Godfather (1972) actually bookends the first film, moving into…
By Alan Hurst 1964, 1972 and 1979 were three defining years in my movie going youth that have embedded themselves on my psyche. From a personal standpoint, it was the start of movies helping me grow up, figure out who I was and to begin establishing a point of view on basically everything. At the…
By John H. Foote (****) Of the films Stanley Kubrick directed and wrote or co-wrote, none is more powerful or filled with the genius of A Clockwork Orange. Made in 1971, forty-eight years old, set in a dystopian future, the film still feels fresh, its future stills look like a possibility. It was an extraordinary vision…
By John H. Foote (****) In 1969, Jane Fonda broke through with a searing performance as a bitter, caustic young woman in a dance marathon in They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969). Previously considered a light comedian or sexpot, no one expected this kind of depth from Fonda who had studied at the famous, or infamous, Actors…
By John H. Foote (***) Thirty years have passed since the summer release of Tim Burton’s film Batman, which in many ways kicked off the glut of films based on comic books and superheroes we are being deluged with today. Burton was a surprise choice to helm the film but after success with Beetlejuice (1988),…