By Alan Hurst The deaths almost two years ago of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds – only one day apart – produced volumes of commentary, career retrospectives and forever enshrined them in a tragic but oddly fitting way. Aside from Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, no other Hollywood mother-daughter were so inextricably linked with each…
By Nick Maylor How can one decide what film truly is the “worst”? Something like The Room (2003) might qualify. Anything made by Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg (or any other hacks) never has the prospect of being good. Maybe something that features quality talent but disappoints and bombs? It’s hard to say. I’ve got…
By John H. Foote Is it possible that a quarter of a century has passed since Schindler’s List (1993) was first seen on the big screen? The film forever altered the career of Steven Spielberg, the academic community’s perception of Spielberg, and the opinion of far to many critics who considered him a director of…
By John H. Foote What exactly, or better yet, how do you define a guilty pleasure? For me it is this. Knowing what you do about film, knowing the movie in question has very few, if any of the qualities that would make it a great film, quite the opposite in fact, but you cannot…
By Alan Hurst Sometimes you hear a name and it just sounds like the perfect movie star name – a little unusual, slightly exotic, and just vaguely unreal. Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn – perfect names that without effort automatically elevate the individual in the eyes of moviegoers and the general public…
By John H. Foote Understand I am not discussing the great biographical FILMS here but rather the greatest PERFORMANCES by an actor portraying a person from history. So, understand the performance is all I care about, it is all I am focusing on, does not matter if the film was great or awful, if the…
By John H. Foote “Rollo Tamasi”. The words of a dying man become his killers undoing, another man’s clue into evil, and the dying man’s last knowing laugh that he has exposed a murderer. At the year end critics awards in 1997, one film swept the Best Picture and Best Director (Curtis Hanson) honours, and…
By Nick Maylor San Diego Comic-Con is currently underway and with Marvel Studios essentially skipping the convention this year, Warner Brothers and the DC film universe hit the ground running with two highly anticipated films releasing trailers today. While technically “teaser” trailers, the footage shown from Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019) offered up plenty of spectacular material. Aquaman stars Jason…
By John H. Foote When discussing the Great Directors of the Seventies, his name is often not in the discussion or on the list, but it most certainly should be. Bob Fosse directed films which explored performance, celebrity and the behind the scenes of that world or the manner those living in that…
By John H. Foote Last week, my colleague (and cousin) Alan Hurst chose Bonnie and Clyde (1967) as the greatest film ever made. Though I disagree, it is an inspired choice, one that reminds me of just how influential the picture was upon release and in the years to follow. The arts were changing in…