By John H. Foote (****) “Everybody’s talking at me, I don’t hear a word they’re sayin’, only in the echoes of my mind.” “Everybody’s Talking” (Harry Nilsson), 1969 It seems inconceivable to me that Midnight Cowboy (1969) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The film is a time capsule film of what New York City…
By John H. Foote (**) Lars Von Trier has earned himself the reputation of being an enfant terrible of the world cinema, distancing festival programmers with comments supporting Hitler, filling his films with shocking images of perversity, sex and violence, always challenging his audiences. His films are dark, no question, sometimes too dark, but each…
By John H. Foote (***) Released late last year as a potential Oscar contender, The Mule received middling reviews and no love from the Academy at all. Considering the adoration they have showered upon Actor-Director Clint Eastwood, I must admit to some surprise. Yes, I was shocked Eastwood was not nominated for Best Actor for his…
By John H. Foote (****) Having seen them all, loving the Judy Garland version, loathing the Streisand version (except the songs) and being indifferent to the first version in 1937, I was at least curious to see this new one at TIFF last September. Sean Penn had hailed it a masterpiece long before critics had…
By John H. Foote (****) When I saw this masterful film for the first time at TIFF, I believed with every fiber of my being it would dominate the Academy Award nominations, ten, eleven, twelve nominations felt right. Rave reviews greeted the film; it seemed to have everything a film needed to be a major…
By Nick Maylor Yesterday, Black Panther became the first superhero movie nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Drama). Disney and Marvel are pushing hard for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the film and their chances have just improved significantly. Black Panther is one of the best films I have seen this…
By John H. Foote In a brilliant marketing move, Warner Brothers has rushed their blockbuster comedy, which is also a major Best Picture contender into the home market for Christmas. Count on this being underneath many a tree of stuffing many a stocking for the holiday season. This will build even greater awareness for the…
By Nick Maylor (****) Becoming the highest-grossing film franchise of all time (in less than a decade), The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an epic crossover that plays out in a continuous anthology of interconnected stories just like the Marvel Comics Universe that the film’s are based on. With Avengers: Infinity War (2018), ten years and…
By John H. Foote Charlize Theron is a daring actress, she likes challenge and great risk in her art. Her performance as the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), won her an Academy Award for Best Actress and stands among the greatest performances in film history. She embodied the character, lost herself in the…
By John H. Foote (****) Released earlier in the year to strong reviews and great worldwide box office, Ready Player One (2018) was an awe-inspiring movie which drew on the last thirty years of pop culture, bringing them to vivid life in a mysterious virtual world called the Oasis. Thus far this year, this might…