By Alan Hurst 1968 was a spectacular year for movies, from art house films like Ingmar Bergman’s Shame, to mainstream hits like The Planet of the Apes, to more challenging fare like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Best Picture nominees that year were Carol Reed’s well received adaption of the Broadway musical Oliver!, William…
By Craig Leask Like a lot of people, Christmas is and has always been a special time of year for me and nothing gets me more into the spirit of the season then settling down in front of some of my favorite Christmas movies. Several my favorites, as you will soon read, were not initially…
By Alan Hurst With the release this year of Mary Poppins Returns (2018) there has been a resurgence of interest around the original Mary Poppins (1964) and Julie Andrews’ performance in that classic film. It’s the film that launched Andrews’ movie career and within a year she had overtaken both Doris Day and Elizabeth Taylor…
By John H. Foote So often through the history of the cinema, and the connection to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, wildly over appreciated films are nominated for and often win the Best Picture award, in addition to many other prizes. If you study closely the nominees and winners of each year right back…
By Alan Hurst The Editorial Team at Foote and Friends on Film have been asked to come up with their top five holiday-themed films before Christmas. As I started to pull my list together (hoping that it wouldn’t overlap too much with some of the other lists), I was challenged in getting my choices down…
By John H. Foote One of the World cinema’s greatest filmmakers, Italian Director Bernardo Bertolucci has died. Bertolucci won the Academy Award for Best Director for his exquisite biography of Pu Yi in The Last Emperor (1987). China’s last Emperor before a communist state overthrew the Imperialist government, the film traces the life of this…
By Craig Leask In movies, haunted houses and castles are traditionally isolated locations: perched on stormy hilltops, swampy bayous, or located on vast, overgrown estates, separated from society (or anyone who can offer help to those in peril). A mountainous resort, closed for the winter, requiring a caretaker, lonely empty mansions being investigated or hosting…
By Alan Hurst A few weeks ago I looked at the Best Actress Oscar races from 1950-59 and now it’s time for the actors. This time I find myself disagreeing with the Academy’s selection’s a little more often. While none of the performances honoured are bad – far from it – I just think there…
By Alan Hurst I have been a fan of Ann-Margret’s since my introduction to her one Saturday afternoon watching Bye Bye Birdie (1963) on television. I remember thinking parts of the movie were quite silly, but Ann-Margret’s singing, dancing and overall volcanic presence as a “typical” American teenager were mesmerizing to a 10-year old. Of…
By John H. Foote Whatever type of human being he might have been, hard taskmaster, Nazi sympathizer, ani-Jew, Walt Disney lived to entertain, to create. His creation, Mickey Mouse is as synonymous with the movies as Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe. The animated shorts he made prior to 1937 were groundbreaking for the art form,…