By John H. Foote He was forever Sonny, or Santino. The first time I remember seeing James Caan in a film was the 1971 made for television drama Brain’s Song, in which he portrayed Brian Piccolo, a football star who had died years before of cancer. Piccolo and teammate Gale Sayers were the first black-white…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Let’s be clear: Elvis had a danger about him that this film never approaches, a sexual energy that they just did not capture. One of the best-looking men of the last century, impossibly good looking in his prime, Elvis was a macho man in big capital letters. He…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Prime Emma Thompson should be declared a national treasure for Great Britain. She remains, at 63, one of the most fearless actresses working in film. Though it has been three decades since she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and three years later one for Screenplay Adaptation,…
By John H. Foote (****) Streaming on Netflix For his sublime performance in Hustle, a new Netflix film, Adam Sandler might just get the Academy Award nomination for Best Actor he so deserved for his acclaimed performance in Uncut Gems (2019). Nomination? Hell, he deserved to win Best Actor for his magnificent, jittery, wildly brilliant…
By John H. Foote (**) In theatres Remember the awe and majesty we felt seeing that massive dinosaur in the very first Jurassic Park film nearly 30 years ago? Taken to the park on a chopper, the good doctor and his assistant land not knowing what to expect. A short time later, riding in a…
By John H. Foote After the Method swept through New York, film actors began studying the system and the results were apparent on screen. More than ever, acting was at a peak for realism from actors such as Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward, and Paul Newman. James Dean claimed to be hardcore Method but was instead…
By John H. Foote After two years of a virtual film festival, meaning most of we critics saw the films via the internet in the comforts of our offices or homes, TIFF is gearing up for the festival to be as it always has been. The Scotiabank Theatre will again be humming with screenings and…
By John H. Foote (***1/2) Now in Theatres WOW!!! Any fears that Top Gun: Maverick will feel like a very expensive video game can be cast aside. The film is a huge entertainment machine where everyone involved is firing on all cylinders. For two years, this film was delayed due to COVID, but Top Gun:…
By John H. Foote Never say to me John Wayne could not act. Ever. The great film historian John Milius once said, “I think John Wayne in The Searchers is the greatest performance in the history of cinema.” It certainly is one of them. Wayne believed in planting his feet and telling the truth, that…
By John H. Foote Ray Liotta, 67, died in his sleep on Wednesday. The actor was not known to have been ill, and the passing has come as a terrible shock to his family and friends. Liotta shot to stardom in the eighties with a superb performance as the ex-convict Charlie in Jonathan Demme’s Something…