By Nick Maylor 2003 was a pretty abysmal year for Ben Affleck’s career. He appeared in three films that year, Daredevil, Paycheck, and Gigli (now considered one of the worst movies ever made). The bad press from Gigli was compounded by the overexposure of Ben Affleck’s relationship and subsequent breakup with his co-star, Jennifer Lopez. None of this was…
By Nick Maylor In the world of sword and sandal epics, this 2004 film by Wolfgang Petersen isn’t often mentioned among the best of the genre. It’s a reimagining of the Trojan War as told in Homer’s Illiad. The film tells the tale as narrated by Homer through the lens of a “what if?” scenario where it…
By John H. Foote When I think of Melissa McCarthy, I smile because she is a fearless comedic actress who throws herself into her comedy with a courage that is admirable, remarkable even. A stout, but pretty woman, she is hardly the sort of person we think about when the words movie star come to…
By John H. Foote Beautiful Boy (**) There is much to admire in this powerful, often very moving true story of a father and son, as they journey through the younger man’s addiction to meth. One of the most addictive of street drugs, like heroin the user is forever chasing that first astonishing high, which…
By John H. Foote Hero and patriot are words tossed around easily sometimes. They should mean something very special, something which inspires awe and majesty. The United States has not had much to be proud of these days with a buffoon as their President, so leave it to the movies to give Americans something to…
By John H. Foote THE HATE U GIVE (***) Before I get into the body of this review I must acknowledge and thank Tricia Williams, an old friend from college, where we both studied acting. Trish was good, making a career or it, while I followed my heart to film criticism, always addicted to movies.…
By John H. Foote THE REVENANT (****) For his visceral, stunning performance in The Revenant (2015), Leonardo Di Caprio finally won a long overdue Academy Award for Best Actor, and the truth is, he deserved it in every way. His near silent performance was easily the best performance of the year, a startling work of…
By John H. Foote Has it truly been fifty years since the original Planet of the Apes (1968) stormed into theatres, stunning audiences with its brilliance and that stinger of an ending? Apparently, time really does fly by because it has indeed been fifty years. I was nine the first time I saw the film,…
By John H. Foote In a week that has seen Christian Bale and Clint Eastwood shake up the race for Best Actor, Rami Malek joins the race for his performance as rocker Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of the rock band Queen. One week ago the major contenders for Best Actor were Viggo…
By John H. Foote THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007) (****) Paul Thomas Anderson first came to my attention for his extraordinary roller-coaster ride through the seventies and eighties pornography industry Boogie Nights (1997) in which we saw first hand how porn went from being an underground industry shot on expensive 16mm to a massive business…