Year: 2020

Surprise! Oscar-nominated ‘Les Misérables’ is a gritty, non-musical crime drama

Jeff Mitchell

“Les Misérables” – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities” Quoting – or to be more precise, partially-quoting – Dickens to kick off a “Les Misérables” movie review might be brazen, foolish and a bit sacrilegious, but after watching director Ladj Ly’s gutsy, modern take on Victor Hugo’s celebrated novel, it also feels apropos. For Issa (Issa Perica), a young Parisian teen, life is the best of times and also the worst.  France just won the 2018…

Woodard commands the screen with steely and hazy gazes on capital punishment in ‘Clemency’

Jeff Mitchell

“Clemency” – For Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge), his days in prison are lengthy and torturous.  Each drab minute feels exactly like the next, because sitting in a 10-by-10 foot cell day after day, week after week, and month after month does nothing to spur joy or optimism. Time has become his sworn enemy, packaged as a double-edged sword, because the seemingly endless moments are also brutally finite. Anthony is on death row, and he unenviably stands next in line. Warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is enduring troubling days of her…

‘1917’ is a must-see on the big screen

Jeff Mitchell

“1917” – “I wanted you to feel like you were there with the characters, breathing their every breath, walking in their footsteps. The best way to do that is not to cut away and give the audience a way out, as it were.” –  Sam Mendes, Variety, Dec. 5, 2019 One military order. Director Sam Mendes’ “1917” can be summed up as one military order carried out by two British lance corporals through No Man’s Land and beyond at the height of WWI.  On the surface, this seems like a…