Foster on Film

Claude Rains is arguably the greatest character actor of all time. He had a few leading roles in his career, but was more often the supporting player that held it all together. He began acting on stage at age 10, and studied and then taught the craft (his students included John Gielgud and Charles Laughton).

The top 3rd feels like two groups. About half would fit comfortably with the last section, while the best of the best here really soar. Maybe I should have split this into 5 or 6 posts. Ten dominates the list, though if Nine had been in more episodes it would be a close call. Eleven

I thought I’d look at the live-action Batmen when Batfleck was new. Now that Ben Affleck is out, I’ve updated this page, and await WB’s newest choice for the role. Oh, there will be another.  While the quality of the character is a major element in the overall quality of his films, it is far

As it was pointed out to me that all of the many “Best of Film Posters” lists for 2014 were rubbish, I am diving in to save the day. Besides, I did so little film-type work this year, I need to start somewhere. This is most definitely not a top 10 film list. My year’s

Lugosi had a presence, a charisma, that shaped scenes and entire films. Was he a good actor? It’s hard to say. He wasn’t really given a chance. With his thick accent and less-than-perfect English, his roles were going to be limited. Add in the tendency to pigeonhole horror actors and his own poor choices, and

Maureen O’Sullivan was the great ingénue. She appeared to be sensual and exciting while simultaneously being innocent and cute. It was a balancing act few have managed to pull off. Unfortunately it put her in mainly supporting roles where she was the goal—of the eight films below, only two have her as the lead. The

No one burst into cinema like Huston. His first film was a masterpiece, his greatest, and the best first film of any director. He arose as the perfect director, and for ten years he defined genius behind the camera. Far more of a rebel than Welles, he squeezed art out of Hollywood against its will.

Howard was a major star of early film, and a gifted actor, playing romantics, egotists, detectives, scholars, and even a swashbuckler, but he is primarily remembered for his gruesome role as the effete Ashley in Gone With the Wind. His legacy deserves better. Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with him. He was

2012 was an excellent year for fantasy, science fiction, and horror films…at the top…but it didn’t have a lot of depth. I’ll ignore mediocrity for now and focus on the winners. #5 Upside Down I’m starting with a cheat. I can’t say that Upside Down is the 5th best genre film of the year, even

Ah, the Bond title sequence. It is as iconic as Bond himself, or at least has been since the playbook was completed with Thunderball: Beautiful female silhouettes undulating about with weapons pointed at them or in their hands against surreal backdrops. Good ones can set the film up. Bad ones pull the audience down. I’m

Once a metaphor for Blacks in America, and now often seen as a commentary of how the LGBT community is treated, the X-Men have always meant a bit more than other comic book characters. The X-Men film franchise has, at times, been more successful with its political statements than the comics, but at other times

The 4th of the Big Three horror icons (of sound films), like Karloff before him, Vincent Price had a liquid-jeweled voice and range. Price’s early work was more often in Film Noirs, comedies, and a few adventure films. Except for brief sojourns, he didn’t switch to horror until 1953’s House of Wax, but once there,