Features
Catch up with the idea behind this series here. “The Sting” swept the 1973 awards and it remains one of the breeziest films to win top honors. The combination of Newman and Redford, working at the top of their game and re-teaming with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” director George Roy Hill proved irresistible. […]
LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1973 and 1974
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 9:44 pm · September 8th, 2010
Filed in: Life Without Oscar
THE LISTS: Top 10 Robert Duvall performances
Posted by John Foote · 8:06 am · September 29th, 2009
With “Get Low” bringing actor Robert Duvall back to the spotlight, and Sony’s purchase of the film no doubt landing him in the Oscar race for Best Actor (whether released this year or next), I thought perhaps a look back at the legend’s substantial carer and best performances might be fun. Since his first brilliant […]
Filed in: The Lists
THE LISTS: The top 10 Best Picture winners of all time
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:30 am · September 22nd, 2009
With the Oscar season officially here it seemed only logical to dedicate an installment of The Lists to the little golden guy. And as we push forward past the fests and into the thick of it, I figured the best idea would be a broad assessment of the Academy’s chosen best through the years, a […]
Filed in: The Lists
INTERVIEW: Robert Duvall
Posted by John Foote · 4:27 pm · September 15th, 2009
Toronto Film Festival Sitting down with Robert Duvall is more than a little intimidating. The man does not suffer fools, nor does he have a lot of time for small talk or stupid questions. He likes to talk, but he also likes an informed conversation. As he nears 80, he is still a force of […]
Filed in: Interviews
POLL: The most influential films of all time, round one, part three
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:00 pm · April 29th, 2009
Alright, we’ve moved on and three more films have survived: “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Godfather Part II” and “Metropolis.” Color me confused on the inclusion of Coppola’s film. Chalk it up to popularity, I guess, because it’s a shame to see truly deserving films like “The Jazz Singer,” “sex, lies and videotape” and […]
Filed in: Daily
Get your votes in!
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:11 am · April 28th, 2009
Just a reminder that today is the last day for the second part of round one in our “most influential film of all time” poll series. Get your votes in over in the left sidebar. The new poll will hit tomorrow at 2:00pm PST. I’m still shocked “The Godfather Part II” is surging ahead of […]
Filed in: Daily
Coming in June: Coppola’s ‘Tetro.’ Will it bring him back?
Posted by John Foote · 3:39 pm · March 13th, 2009
No other director in the history of the cinema dominated a 10-year span as Francis Ford Coppola did the 1970s. Beyond directing four of the decade’s greatest films — “The Godfather”, “The Godfather, Part II”, “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now” — his name was on “Patton” and “The Great Gatsby” as screenwriter and “American Graffiti” […]
Filed in: Daily
Best Actor race — shades of ’74 and ’02
Posted by John Foote · 6:26 am · February 10th, 2009
The 1974 Academy Award nominees for Best Actor were Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown,” Al Pacino in “The Godfather, Part II,” Albert Finney in “Murder on the Orient Express,” Art Carney in “Harry and Tonto” and Dustin Hoffman in “Lenny.” There had been some mild surprise that Gene Hackman had been passed over for his work […]
Filed in: Daily
THE LISTS: Top 10 films of the 1970s
Posted by John Foote · 11:42 am · November 18th, 2008
When critics and historians of the cinema sit down to discuss uh, cinema, the conversation almost always turns to the great decades in movie history. And n nearly conversation I’ve been a part of, the 1970s reigns supreme as the single decade of brilliance. It was a time of enormous artistic growth for film, as […]
Filed in: Featured · The Lists
Greatest movie sequels of all time?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:12 pm · August 26th, 2008
Two friends of IC, Rope of Silicon and The Movie Blog, have decided this week to chart the greatest movie sequels of all time. Obviously it’s a subjective endeavor, but I thought I’d crank out my list. Pick it apart, praise it and/or add your choices in the comments below! Before getting to the list, […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Godfather Restoration’ on DVD generates excitement
Posted by John Foote · 4:35 pm · August 3rd, 2008
I wonder if any of us really understands the impact of home entertainment, beginning back in the early 1980s with the advent of the VHS and BETA tapes one could rent to play on new machines known as VCRs. My parents, God bless them, bought one right away, perhaps a way to get their eldest […]
Filed in: Daily
And often, the Academy gets it right…
Posted by John Foote · 10:53 am · July 30th, 2008
As much as I rant about some of the bizarre choices made by the Academy, let’s be fair…there are times when they are right on the money. The AMPAS allowed for an embracing of the New American cinema with their awards for Best Picture and Best Director for “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969, and only they […]
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Robert Duvall: the screen’s greatest, ignored too often
Posted by John Foote · 5:18 pm · July 27th, 2008
“There are two greats in America right now. The first is Brando, whose best work is behind him, and the other is Robert Duvall.” Legendary acting guru Sanford Meisner said those words in the 1960s. He trained Robert Duvall at the Nieghborhood Playhouse in the late 1950s and early 1960s before the actor’s screen debut […]
Filed in: Daily
Where have you gone, Al Pacino?
Posted by John Foote · 3:52 pm · May 24th, 2008
It has been more than 30 years since Al Pacino gave his career-defining performance as cold blooded Michael Corleone in “The Godfather Part II.” He radiated quiet danger the moment he appeared on screen without ever raising his voice or allowing his mouth to wrap its way around words and spit them out like venom. […]
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Will Francis Ford Coppola ever see an Oscar again?
Posted by John Foote · 5:03 pm · May 13th, 2008
The first time I saw “Apocalypse Now” I staggered out of the theater stunned by what I had seen on screen. I remember sitting on Bloor Street with this burning need to tell people what I just witnessed, what I had seen and how profoundly it had galvanized my soul. At that moment I began […]
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Best year in film? 1974, no question…for me.
Posted by John Foote · 5:55 pm · May 11th, 2008
I love it! When I began writing for this site it was my hope to be able to cover current Oscar material and reach back into the past to perhaps gain insight into how the Academy has thought, how that impacts today’s voting, and pay tribute to the films both honored and snubbed. Mr. Rutherford’s […]
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Best actor contenders join an eclectic list of recent winners
Posted by John Foote · 7:16 am · May 6th, 2008
Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Frank Langella seem to be the names bandied about for Oscar consideration this year, which would place them in some impressive company of nominees and winners these last 20 years. Of course, that said, there have also been some bizarre choices for the Best Actor award, which has often […]
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