Year: 2018

Weisz, McAdams and Nivola cope with ‘Disobedience’

Jeff Mitchell

“Disobedience” – After zero contact with her family for years and years, Ronit (Rachel Weisz) returns to England under gloomy, gray skies to attend her father’s funeral.  Almost everyone treats Ronit with strange, icy disdain and distance, except for her old friend Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), as she wanders through his home during shiva, a time of mourning. Esti (Rachel McAdams) greets Ronit as well, but not warmly.  Instead of a hug or embrace, she looks at Ronit and – with a cadence of an overworked Walmart greeter at the end…

Believe the hype, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is Marvel’s crown jewel

Jeff Mitchell

“Avengers: Infinity War” – “What is your name?”  “What is your quest?” –  The Bridgekeeper, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) In this classic comedy from the mid-70s, King Arthur (Graham Chapman) and his Knights of the Round Table set out for a most arduous and seemingly impossible adventure: to find the Holy Grail in arguably the crown jewel of the Monty Python big screen collection. For 10 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been building towards “Avengers: Infinity War”, its 19th picture in the staggeringly successful series.  After…

Surprises prove invaluable in ‘$30 to Antarctica’

Jeff Mitchell

“$30 to Antarctica” – If someone mentions Antarctica, what is the first word that comes to mind?  Cold, perhaps?  These days, it unfortunately could be melting as well. Even though many of us have seen pictures or video of the world’s most southern continent, actually experiencing this mysterious locale in person might conjure different words such as unexpected and inspiring. Writer/director Joey Chu’s documentary short “$30 to Antarctica” – featured at the 2018 Phoenix Film Festival – is also unexpected and inspiring.  As the doc unfolds, we realize that only…