Author: Jeff Mitchell

Celebrate Fred Astaire’s birthday with a double-feature

Jeff Mitchell

(Follow Art House Film Wire on Facebook) Fred Austerlitz was born on May 10, 1899, but the world knows him as Fred Astaire.  The American Film Institute also knows him as one of the all-time greats, as the organization ranked him the number five male performer of classic cinema. To celebrate the 119th year of his birth, here are two films to sit back and enjoy for an Astaire double-feature! “Top Hat” (1935) – Astaire and Ginger Rogers starred in 10 motion pictures together, and this film, their fourth, was…

Theron, Reitman and Cody effectively wave an SOS flag for mothers everywhere in “Tully”

Jeff Mitchell

“Tully” – Parenting is hard. Just ask Marlo (Charlize Theron).  She’s an overworked mom and seemingly eight months and three weeks pregnant, but thankfully, she just left her job for maternity leave. Whew! Her 8-year-old daughter, Emmy (Maddie Dixon-Poirier), is starting to grow a little self-conscious, but the school principal describes her 5-year-old son, Jonah (Asher Miles Fallica), as quirky.  (In this case, quirky means problematic and disruptive.) Soon, Marlo’s and Drew’s (Ron Livingston) third child, Mia, is born, and despite running a household and three kids without a 9…

Red Mountain Academy’s Comedy Night inspires laughs and warm sentiment

Jeff Mitchell

“I played football at ASU,” comedian Bryan Ricci said. He also proudly proclaimed that he stands 5 feet 5 ½ inches and added that people sometimes ask, “Were you the ball?” Yes, there was something funny happening inside the Paradise Valley Country Club’s big, beautiful Camelview Room on Thursday, April 26. Red Mountain Academy’s Comedy Night. This annual event raises money for the Academy, and in addition to a ballroom full of people enjoying cocktails, beautiful views of Camelback Mountain, dinner and many, many laughs, the evening raised awareness for…