By John H. Foote There have been three versions of A Star is Born dating back to 1937, the first with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. The concept is essentially the same, the man is a star on his way down, he discovers a young lady with extraordinary talent and helps her, in the process…
By John H. Foote The Race for the Academy Award for Best Actor has changed yet again, with scenes from a trailer making it clear Christian Bale is going to be a nominee for Best Actor for his alarmingly accurate performance of Dick Cheney. Bale, known to be among the finest actors of his generation,…
By Nick Maylor After reading Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump Whitehouse earlier this year, I wrote an article casting the various members of the 45th US President’s cabinet, family and inner-circle who could be portrayed if a movie or television series were made based on the book. That list includes most…
By John H. Foote After seeing the new film A Private War at TIFF this year, the story of war correspondent Marie Colvin I came home to find a similar film I have long admired from the eighties. Simply said, Under Fire (1983) is among the greatest films ever made about American involvement in a…
By John H. Foote The Godfather Part II (1974) is arguably the greatest of American films, with its astounding artistry and complex themes, followed by The Godfather (1972), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) , On the Waterfront (1954), Raging Bull (1980), Schindlers List (1993), Apocalypse Now (1979)The Wizard of Oz (1939), and The Searchers (1956), each…
By John H. Foote After TIFF ended last year, there was no question Gary Oldman was on the path to the Oscar for Best Actor for his acclaimed performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017). Frankly, I was not impressed with the performance, I could not decide if it was Oldman doing the work…
By Nick Maylor (***) Vox Lux is an exploration of tragedy, both societal and personal. Raffey Cassidy stars as Celeste, a teen who witnesses (and is a surviving victim of) a school mass shooting. Using her time in rehabilitation to learn her way around a keyboard with the help of her sister Eleanor (Stacy Martin),…
By Nick Maylor (***) Joel Edgerton’s sophomoric directorial outing is a quintessential coming-of-age story that while very much steeped in Americana, should have a global appeal due to its intrinsic human themes. Starring alongside Edgerton (in a supporting role) are his fellow-Australians Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman; playing a Baptist pastor and his wife who…
By Nick Maylor (***1/2) Paul Dano shows the patience, confidence and wisdom of an older, more experienced filmmaker for his directorial debut. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Ford first published in 1990 and the script was adapted by Dano himself and Zoe Kazan. When explaining why he chose the book, Dano…
By Nick Maylor I’m trying to focus here on films that have not started production and are still in the early stages. I also am avoiding films that are merely rumoured, as the following entries all appear to be confirmed to be going ahead. There’s cool stuff coming, folks. Here they are (in no particular…