Month: May 2017

“Pirates” provides some fun and overwhelms with overdone, bloated special effects

Jeff Mitchell

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” –  Javier Bardem has recently played a pair of truly iconic villains.  As Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men” (2007), this truly unrelenting boogieman sometimes uses a silent captive bolt pistol to murder his prey at close range throughout west Texas.   Bardem also plays Silva in “Skyfall” (2012), and this former MI6 operative returns to haunt and kill his former boss, M (Judy Dench), while James Bond (Daniel Craig) attempts thwart this memorable baddie’s very personal attack. In each…

‘Paris Can Wait’ might cause impatience

Jeff Mitchell

“Paris Can Wait” – Cannes is a dream for anyone who loves movies. Well, this coastal city – located in the south of France and just down the road from Nice – is a dream for anyone, whether he or she enjoys movies or not. (Although, who could possibly fall into the latter category, really?) Of course, Cannes hosts the annual Festival de Cannes – a.k.a. The Cannes Film Festival – and Anne and Michael Lockwood (Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin) are completing their stay at the aforementioned event. They just…

Letts and Winger masterfully play a flawed couple in ‘The Lovers’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Lovers” – “Cheating and lying aren’t struggles.  They’re reasons to break up.” – Patti Callahan Henry Michael (Tracy Letts) and Mary (Debra Winger) have been married for eons.  Perhaps many of their years together have been happy, but not recently.  Residing in Santa Clarita, California, this 50-something couple share a comfortable suburban home and drive to white-collar jobs that one might find near Initech, the infamous company from “Office Space” (1999). Although Michael and Mary have zero passion for their day jobs, their work does not create emotional heartburn, per…