Year: 2022

‘Nope’ is a spectacular Maybe

Jeff Mitchell

“Nope” (2022) – “What is a bad miracle?  They got a word for that?” – Otis ‘OJ’ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) Six months ago, OJ (which stands for Otis Jr.) witnessed a horrible freak accident, one caused by the said bad miracle that killed his father, Otis Sr. (Keith David), and injured one of their horses, Ghost. Ghost survived, but this majestic animal’s spirit is bruised and a bit frayed.  OJ is frazzled too, but he generally swallows his words and feelings.  He lived in the shadow of his ambitious father, the owner…

Movie of the Week: ‘Another Year’

Jeff Mitchell

With Lesley Manville’s new movie, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”, arriving theatres, let’s look back at her heartbreaking performance in Mike Leigh’s “Another Year”. “Another Year” (2010) – This is a brilliant movie-lover’s gem about a joyful British couple (Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen) surrounded by friends (Peter Wight, David Bradley, and Lesley Manville, who delivered the single best female performance in 2010) who aren’t. Writer/director Mike Leigh doesn’t directly spell out the “secret” to happiness, but we, the audience, certainly discover something much more valuable:  the stark and haunting consequences of…

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, but your emotional walls probably will.

Jeff Mitchell

“Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” (2022) – “So many people hurt.  A lot of people died.  Always connected to them.  Grateful to survive.  I’m alive.” – Gabrielle Dee Giffords On Jan. 8, 2011 in front of a Tucson, Ariz. Safeway grocery store, a lone shooter wreaked havoc on a Congress on Your Corner event and killed six people and injured 13 others.  U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Giffords was one of the wounded, shot in the head and then rushed to a hospital.  While watching directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s…