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…
By John H. Foote It was the seventies and sequels were becoming the in thing in the film industry. Both a way to continue the story of beloved characters and make more money for the studios, sequels were a true oddity. Odd because they had existed since the beginnings of the sound era, the Universal…
By Alan Hurst Will the Aaron Sorkin scripted bio of Lucille Ball ever hit the big screens? Announced a while back with Cate Blanchett on board to play the famous redhead (and with the participation of both Lucy’s children), it seemed like the last century’s best comedienne was finally going to get the respect she…
By John H. Foote He was broke, he could not get work, his wife was pregnant, he was desperate, and he was scared. The idea came to him watching the Ali vs. Werner fight, when a virtually unknown boxer went fifteen rounds with the champion, Muhammad Ali. In three days he hammered out a screenplay and with…