Month: November 2021

‘Beans’: Kiawentiio delivers a grown-up performance about growing up under perilous happenings

Jeff Mitchell

“Beans” (2021) – “Growing up is losing some illusions in order to acquire others.” – Virginia Woolf Beans (Kiawentiio), 12, enjoys a content, supportive existence with her mom (Rainbow Dickerson), dad (Joel Montgrand), and younger sister, Ruby (Violah Beauvais), while living outside of Montreal.  She’s a happy kid, and the year is 1990, a time when parents drew distinct, discernable lines between themselves and their children, and Beans and Ruby respect their mother and father’s firm lead.  At the moment, Lily (Dickerson) and Kania’Tarilo (Montgrand) push Beans to pursue a…

Movie of the Week: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’

Jeff Mitchell

“Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” (2007) – Sidney Lumet orchestrates a jewelry heist gone horribly wrong in his last film.  This is a dark and twisted crime movie – told in a non-linear fashion – in which the immoral and desperate aforementioned infraction can only be matched by the flawed human beings – with years of preceding mistakes – who concocted it. Two brothers, Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke) are at the center of the storm. Andy is a white-collar executive and suffers from a dysfunctional…

‘Spencer’: Larrain and Stewart bestow a royal and unconventional biopic

Jeff Mitchell

“Spencer” (2021) – Diana Frances Spencer was born on July 1, 1961 in Norfolk, England, and – seemingly – every moment in her life was cast in a spotlight – the size of the London Eye – beginning on July 29, 1981.  On that date, she became Diana, Princess of Wales.  Yes, a wealth of her experiences are well-documented, but perhaps, not those moments behind palace walls.   Well, instead of steering into typical cinematic practices, director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Steven Knight take a noticeably unconventional approach with their…