By John H. Foote 14. UNDER FIRE (1983) There will be no surprise from me if you have not heard of this film. It opened and was out of theatres within a month. Incredibly it earned rave reviews, and I thought after seeing the film for the first time, it would be rewarded with no…
By John H. Foote 15. DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) Spike Lee became the voice of African Americans in the eighties, making films about black people, created by people and for black people, but in a unique way he spoke to all Americans willing to embrace his work. There was a barely concealed anger in…
By John H. Foote 16. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) Indiana Jones. What a name. By the end of the first screening of Steven Spielberg’s new film Raiders of the Lost Ark, produced by George Lucas, the name Indiana Jones was instantly a household name, and iconic. Indiana Jones. It even sounded like the…
By John H. Foote 17. STAND BY MEN (1986) Stephen King, by the mid-eighties, was the undisputed master of horror in literary circles and more and more his books were made into films. Some of them were very good – Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980) and The Dead Zone (1983) – while others, based on…
By John H. Foote 18. THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) Early screenings of Martin Scorsese’s long delayed adaptation of The Last Temptation of Christ virtually forced the studio to cancel the film’s inclusion at The Festival of Festivals in Toronto, before being renamed the Toronto International Film Festival, and release the film ahead of…
By Alan Hurst By the time December 26 rolls around I’m usually sick of Christmas music and can’t wait until radio stations go back to their regular programming. And if I’m walking through a mall or a department store in early November and start hearing an instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” I cringe. When was…
By John H. Foote 19. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986) “I should stop ruining my life searching for the answers I’m never gonna get.” – Mickey, Hannah and Her Sisters From the opening credits there is a bounce in Hannah and Her Sisters, an energy that causes the film to hum. We watch delighted at…
By John H. Foote 20. VICTOR/VICTORIA (1982) Farce – A farce is a comedy in which everything in the situation is absolutely absurd. The narrative usually revolves around a deception or case of mistaken identity using slapstick humour and near discovery of the mistruths. Fast paced physical with well-drawn characters defines the presentation of farce. Farce is…
By John H. Foote 21. PLATOON (1986) By the mid-eighties films about American involvement and the Vietnam war had been reduced to comic book stories, usually depicting the Americans going back to the country to bring back men left there as prisoners of war or to deal with unfinished business. Films such as Rambo –…
By Alan Hurst Oscar oversights are a favourite discussion points of cinephiles and have been for quite a while. I remember as kid constantly going through a dog eared softcover book on the Academy Awards and compiling my own lists of films and performers: who should have been nominated, who should have won, who should…