Month: June 2021

‘Zola’ runs 90 minutes, which is too long to be stuck in this on-screen weekend

Jeff Mitchell

“Zola” – “You want to hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out?  It’s kind of long, but it’s full of suspense.” – Zola (Taylour Paige) This cinematic tale – “Zola”, directed by Janicza Bravo – is based on a real-life 2015 Twitter post by A’Ziah Zola Wells, but this wasn’t an ordinary mention about her birthday, an adorable pet video, or a delicious meal photo.  This 20-year-old delivered a mindboggling-long social media post that totaled 148 connected Tweets, and it detailed her dubious weekend with a…

Movie of the Week: ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’

Jeff Mitchell

“Blue is the Warmest Color” (2013) – Adèle Exarchopoulos gives one of the very best performances of 2013 as a French high school student discovering her sexuality and graduating into womanhood through a passionate love affair with an early 20-something collegiate co-ed with blue hair (Lea Seydoux). Director/co-writer Abdellatif Kechiche winds through Adèle (Exarchopoulos) and Emma’s (Seydoux) relationship for three hours of runtime, and intricately captures subtle – and not so fine – nuances which show love as extraordinary and also traumatic.  Whether Adèle eats pasta at the table or…

‘Fathom’ communicates clearly, but it doesn’t cinematically speak

Jeff Mitchell

“Fathom” – Other than breathing, communication might be the most natural act in the world.  By definition, it’s “the imparting or exchanging of news; the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings; and social contact.” Sounds simple enough, but according to Google, “6,500 languages are spoken in the world today.”  If you’ve ever been to a foreign country where you don’t speak the native tongue, simple tasks like ordering off the menu, finding a restroom, or translating a subway map’s intricacies can be as bewildering as dumping 1,000 puzzle…