Tag: Jessica Chastain

‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’ changes perceptions

Jeff Mitchell

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” – Mention Tammy Faye Bakker to anyone who lived through the 1980s.  The first image that comes to mind for many such folks is comedienne Jan Hooks playing her during a 1987 “Saturday Night Live” The Church Lady sketch.  Tammy Faye/Jan begins hysterically crying with mascara pouring down her face after she says, “I put my hands up, and I said, ‘Demonic raisins, I rebuke you!’” Raisins?  If you’ve never heard (or seen a clip) of Tammy Faye Bakker, she and her husband, Jim, ran…

‘The Zookeeper’s Wife’ is an insightful war story, told from a female perspective

Jeff Mitchell

“The Zookeeper’s Wife” – “You can never tell who your enemies are or who to trust.  Maybe that’s why I love animals so much.  You look in their eyes, and you know exactly what’s in their hearts. They aren’t like people.”  – Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) Antonina (Chastain) and Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) run a zoo in Warsaw, and life couldn’t be better for them during the summer of 1939.  A place of beauty and wonder, and on any typical morning, one might see Antonina ride her bike through the…

An interview with director John Madden from ‘Miss Sloane’

Jeff Mitchell

Acclaimed director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love” (1998), “The Debt” (2010), “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011)) stopped in Phoenix on Nov. 17 to introduce his new film, “Miss Sloane” starring Jessica Chastain in the title role, for a Phoenix Film Society screening at the Harkins Scottsdale 101.   I had a chance to sit down with him for a few minutes on that day as well, and Madden offered some wonderful insight about the title character, the reasons why Chastain was terrific for the part and more. “Miss Sloane”, a thriller…