Year: 2020

Say ‘Hello’ to ‘The Farewell’ on Awkwafina’s birthday

Jeff Mitchell

Happy Birthday, Awkwafina!  Actress, comedian, rapper, and all-around cool lady Awkwafina turns 32 on June 2, and there’s no time like the present to celebrate her work by watching director Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” (2019) again or for the first time. Wang’s autobiographical picture depicts her family’s choice to celebrate a wedding in China, but the affair is a ruse.  Billi’s (Awkwafina) grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) only has a few months to live, so her relatives – led by her parents – stage a false marriage ceremony in order…

‘The High Note’ is flat

Jeff Mitchell

“The High Note” – Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) is a superstar!  This 11-time Grammy winner has burned up the charts and live shows for decades.  Director Nisha Ganatra showcases this woman’s voice and showwomanship during the film’s opening minutes.  With Grace’s on-stage entourage in tow, she sings her lungs out in front of sold-out audiences from Detroit, Miami, Dallas, and more. Wow! The production values soar off the charts and pop from our small screens.  Promises of bold musical numbers fill our heads, until they don’t.  It turns out…

‘The Vast of Night’ is an impressive achievement, but not a satisfying one

Jeff Mitchell

“The Vast of Night” –  Fay (Sierra McCormick) and Everett (Jake Horowitz) are a couple of enterprising teens.  They attend Cayuga High School but hold grownup jobs in the evenings.  Fay is a devoted switchboard operator, and Everett is a radio personality at WOTW with a Highway Hits radio show from 7 pm to 11 pm.  If Fay’s work sounds bizarrely dated, that’s because director Andrew Patterson’s “The Vast of Night” is set in the 1950s, and the kids’ hometown of Cayuga, N.M. is a blip on the radar screen…