Year: 2017

Tremblay, Roberts and Wilson kindly deliver in ‘Wonder’

Jeff Mitchell

“Wonder” – Be kind. Auggie (Jacob Tremblay) walks with his parents – Isabel (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson) – towards Beecher Prep for his first day of middle school, and he is terrified.  Sure, middle school can be terrifying for just about any kid.  Think back to your years during that preadolescent and adolescent brew of confusion mixed with caste systems of rumors, doubt and Darwinism that distract from the primary tasks at hand: reading, writing and arithmetic. His future schoolwork does not concern him, but the potentially toxic…

Leo and Qualley shine during a dim view of the ‘Novitiate’

Jeff Mitchell

“Novitiate” – Cathleen (Margaret Qualley) is 17 years old and in love.  She is in love with God.  Conversely, her mom, Nora (Julianne Nicholson), never embraced religion and does not quite understand her daughter’s love and faith.  Soon, everything that Nora knows – her own faith in a sense – becomes severely tested.  Cathleen joins a convent, Sisters of Beloved Rose, to become a nun, and Nora believes that she is too young to make this decision. Faith and coming-of-age rise as the two primary themes in writer/director Margaret Betts’s…

Looking back at ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ director Taika Waititi’s movie catalog

Jeff Mitchell

On Friday, Nov. 3, “Thor: Ragnarok” invades theatres, and this latest installment in the Marvel Universe delivers spectacular thrills and oodles and oodles of laughs. (3.5/4 stars)  In fact, one could easily label it as a comedy, instead of an action-adventure, comic book film without an ounce of grief from anyone.   Credit the actors, including Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeff Goldblum.   Tessa Thompson and Cate Blanchett hop on the comedy train as well, and the film’s overall tone matches its director Taika Waititi. Waititi is no stranger…