By John H. Foote (?) I am told this is a masterful film. I WOULD NOT KNOW BECAUSE ELEVATION REFUSED TO HAVE PRESS AND INDUSTRY SCREENINGS. NOR WOULD THEY PROVIDE ME WITH LINKS OR SCREENERS TO SEE THE FILM. SO A STUDIO IS DICTATING TO THE FESTIVAL THAT THEY CANNOT SHOW THE FILM TO THE…
By John H. Foote (***) Three-time Academy Award nominated actor Viggo Mortensen both acts and directs in this strong film, his directorial debut. The actor is among the greatest of his generation, nominated for Academy Awards as Best Actor for Eastern Promises (2007), Captain Fantastic (2016) and most recently in Green Book (2018). Mortensen was deserving of further nominations…
By John H. Foote Sadly I will not be able to review either Ammonite or The Father, two of the most anticipated titles of TIFF this year. The studio, Elevation Pictures, has chosen NOT to hold press screenings for accredited media, incredibly shocking considering the festival is to celebrate film, and build awareness and buzz. I understand Elevation…
By John H. Foote (****) There is a striking familiarity between this film and Sean Penn’s magnificent Into the Wild (2007), in that both characters drop out of society for a life in the wild. In Penn’s film the character does so because he needs too, he wishes too, and his arrogance tells him he can.…
By John H. Foote (***) I apologize in advance for the use of a single word in this review. I detest the word, but to make my point, needed to use it. Truly, I am sorry for its inclusion. Though it is fact Cassius Clay (before he was Ali), Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim…
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…
By John H. Foote It could indeed. Spike Lee’s fine film about a group of African American Vietnam veterans returning to the site of their greatest tragedies 40 to 50 years later is a powering study of how the war never left those who fought it. The film marks the first time the treatment of…
By John H. Foote Normally I screen 30 or more films at TIFF, depending on how well my poor legs hold out. My record is 52, but that included festival pre-screenings and was well before my legs were shattered, suffice to say those days are gone. TIFF usually screens more than 300 films per festival…
By John H. Foote Why? Why would Francis Ford Coppola return to one of his most maligned films to re-cut, add and take away? There is but one way to fix The Godfather Part III (1990), which is to erase the film from existence. It has never existed in my world since that first dreadful…