By John H. Foote (****) On Criterion Blu Ray There is no doubt that Raging Bull is among the greatest films ever made, a visceral and punishing biography of middle weight fighter Jake LaMotta from the forties and through his retirement. I first saw the film opening night in Toronto at the Uptown Theatre with…
By John H. Foote When the film critics assembled to choose the finest films of the 80s, no one was surprised to see Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980), the searing drama about middle-weight boxer Jake La Motta. The film had earned rave reviews, won a slew of critic’s awards, and awards all round for actor…
By John H. Foote National Star Wars Day celebrates the opening day of the 1977 film that started a franchise that to some has become life defining. My friend in college, Kevin Fox, lived, breathed and loved Star Wars (1977) like no one I had ever seen. Over and over, he had seen the films…
By Alan Hurst Last month the musical Funny Girl was revived on Broadway for the first time in 58 years. Fittingly, opening night was on April 24, Barbra Streisand’s 80th birthday. I say fittingly because the legend of Streisand is irrevocably tied to this musical. Any actress who attempts to play Fanny Brice is inevitably…
By John H. Foote (****) William Hurt’s passing this year took me back to the period in the 80s when he towered over most other actors as the finest of his generation. Exploding into American cinema with Altered States (1980) after a solid Broadway career, he and Kathleen Turner burned up movie screens in Body…
By John H. Foote The year 1950 marked the beginning of an age-old war with the small box, television. Television became the greatest enemy of cinema, a war that exists to this day, now led by streaming services. Ironically, COVID made TV necessary for the film industry’s survival when audiences were forced to stay home.…
By Alan Hurst It’s a little surreal realizing that 1972 was 50 years ago because it was the year movies really became a part of my DNA and I can’t really be that old, can I? At the cusp of hitting my teen years in 1972, I was finally allowed to bypass the latest Disney…
By Craig Leask Originating with the stresses surrounding the Post WWII Cold War, which was hitting an apex in the early 1980’s, self-proclaimed activist and gun collector John Milius was inspired to develop a “what if” scenario surrounding the premise of a Russian attack in middle America. That story became the film Red Dawn. In…
By John H. Foote (****) Warren Beatty had wanted to direct as far back as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) but his desire for perfectionism made him hesitate. He did not want to look like a fool. He had a lot to say on Shampoo (1975) but it was Hal Ashby who got the directing credit.…
By John H. Foote Maybe it is the strange familiarity of A Christmas Story that hits home. Each year I watch the film a few times before Christmas Day. I do not know why the film has such a profound impact on me. It takes place in the late 50s, when I was born, so…