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 Through the years film critics and historians have written about individual years being the greatest in movie history. Those years celebrated yielded the greatest number of bonafide masterpieces, and one cannot deny it makes for an interesting debate. The greatest enemy to film is time, and as time flashes furiously past…
By Nick Maylor (***) As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of The Beatles. My parents were born and raised in Liverpool, UK and growing up in my house was like listening to the Gospels according to John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Danny Boyle’s latest film explores the life of a struggling musician (Himesh…
By Craig Leask As mentioned in my article on Famous Television Cars a vehicle in movies, when properly used and presented, can be iconic and an integral component of the main character’s persona. Often great lengths are taken by a production team to research and identify the perfect car for their film, and when done…
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),…
By Nick Maylor At a time when theatres are packed with sequels, remakes and reboots, one cannot help but wonder if a fourth Toy Story film was really necessary, especially considering how the third installment wrapped things up so perfectly for our beloved friends from Andy’s room. At the end of Toy Story 3 (2010),…
By Alan Hurst Every decade or so – and sometimes more than once in a decade – you get a year where the film output from Hollywood and Europe aligns and we’re treated to an abundance of memorable films. A great year is also something much easier to recognize when you have the advantage of…
By Craig Leask In movies and in television, few techniques have been used to easily define the character of an individual better than the car the lead actor drives. Beginning predominantly in the 1960’s, cars were incorporated into various television series as an identifier of the character(s) uniqueness, social class or conventionality, rather than as…
By John H. Foote (***) Richard Dreyfuss gave the finest performance of his career as Ken, a sculptor left a quadriplegic after a devastating car accident. After fine work in American Graffiti (1973), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Jaws (1975) and his Oscar winning role in The Goodbye Girl (1977), he was the go-to…