Month: May 2019

‘Ma’: Spencer is a terrific villain, but she’s stuck in a clunky story

Jeff Mitchell

“Ma” – “Get home safe.  That’s all I care about.” – Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer) “Don’t make me drink alone.” – Sue Ann Erica (Juliette Lewis) and her high school-aged daughter Maggie (Diana Silvers) drive towards a small-town destination, and a single-stack nuclear power plant looms over the endless acres of leafless, dormant trees.  Little did they know that their lives would soon blow up, after Erica decided to move back to her hometown and into a modest three-bedroom ranch that sits on a dead end street. They should have…

‘The Sun is Also a Star’ barely flickers

Jeff Mitchell

“The Sun Is Also a Star” – “It’s fate.” – Daniel Bae (Charles Melton) Natasha Kingsley (Yara Shahidi) stands in the middle of Grand Central Station and looks up at its celestial ceiling.  Daniel (Melton) notices Natasha and sees stars too.  For Daniel, it’s love at first sight or at least serious interest at first sight.  Natasha is wearing a blue polyester jacket, one that sports the phrase “Deus Ex Machina”, and divine intervention strikes him.  He decides to follow her to say, “Hello,” in person.  For the sake of…

‘UglyDolls’ offers cute music and positive messages but through a discounted narrative

Jeff Mitchell

“UglyDolls” – “It’s not easy being green.” – Kermit the Frog Moxy (Kelly Clarkson), a rejected doll from a toy factory, proudly sports pink fur and three teeth and lives with her fellow oddities in Uglyville, a coastal community, complete with rugged, steep peaks made from cardboard boxes.  Her friends Uglydog (Pitbull), Babo (Gabriel Iglesias) and Ox (Blake Shelton) love Uglyville, and Moxy appreciates her home too, but she dreams of becoming the best doll-friend to a little girl in The Big World. Ox, the town mayor, wishes that Moxy…