By John H. Foote (****) In Theatres and Steaming on Netflix Black comedy has always been the best of the sub-genres of comedy for me. Taking a subject that is in no way funny (murder, nuclear explosions, divorce, a drunken Santa and now a meteor speeding towards earth) has always tickled my funny bone. My…
By John H. Foote Maybe it is the strange familiarity of A Christmas Story that hits home. Each year I watch the film a few times before Christmas Day. I do not know why the film has such a profound impact on me. It takes place in the late 50s, when I was born, so…
THE YEAR’S BEST MOVIES By John H. Foote Movies returned with a thundering triumph this year, exploding back on big screens. As we all slowly, hopefully, leave our basements and adjust our eyes to daylight, movie making and theatres are beginning to make a comeback, inching their way back to where once they ruled. Nothing…
By Alan Hurst Remember the Night starts off as a snappy and fast paced comedy, very typical of the genre in the late thirties and early forties. But then it takes you places you aren’t expecting – first a little risqué (but not really) and then it becomes quite dark, almost threatening. But minutes later…
By John H. Foote Every film critic has them, those beliefs that are just not popular within critics circles. The question is, do these critics have the courage to discuss what might be very unpopular opinions? I do. 1. THE MARX BROTHERS BORE ME — I have never understood the appeal of the Marx Brothers…
By John H. Foote So many fine performances this year, each category for acting at the Academy Awards is jammed packed with potential nominees, with five slots for each. Rather than listing them by category or even by preference, I just wrote them down, lead and supporting together, again in no particular order. These were…
By John H. Foote When composing a Top 10 List of movies, I always like to follow it up with the 10 worst. So, here it is, the worst of the worst I have seen this year. Not much else to say, except no one sets out to make a bad film. But sometimes they…
By Alan Hurst John’s recent look at the Oscar snubs of Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks got me thinking. They’re both winners and multiple nominees, but they also have a resume of performances that somehow Oscar overlooked. Coming from another generation of stars, Shirley MacLaine is another one who can be listed with Kidman and…
By John H. Foote West Side Story, Steven Spielberg’s breathtaking remake of the classic musical is failing to bring in audiences, the film is faltering at the box office. The first weekend was a dismal failure and already harbingers of doom are attacking the film. It failed to make money. So? No a bigger SO…
By Marie-Renee Goulet The season is upon us, and my team suggested we pick our favourite Christmas movie and go through why it was so meaningful to us. Like every other time this situation comes up, I smiled and nodded and stayed silent. How do I tell them? Should I tell them? I don’t have…