Author: Jeff Mitchell

Fasten your seat belts and celebrate Bette Davis’s birthday with ‘All About Eve’

Jeff Mitchell

Ruth Elizabeth Davis (aka Bette) was born on April 5, 1908, and by Art House Film Wire’s calculations, she would be 110 years old this year! Now, the Academy nominated Davis for a Best Actress Oscar 11 times (11 times!!) over her illustrious career, and she took home wins for “Dangerous” (1935) and “Jezebel” (1939). “All About Eve” (1950) features one of her more timeless roles.  She plays Margo, a successful theatre actress who is systematically undermined by her understudy, Eve (Anne Baxter). With a razor sharp script and led…

‘Journey’s End’ delivers an affecting, timeless war story

Jeff Mitchell

“Journey’s End” – “Most war films tend to be about men, and this, I think, is about how men deal with fear.” – Saul Dibb Since “Journey’s End” is a war film, the title implies that the on-screen soldiers’ story will most likely conclude on the battlefield.  They might rise in victory or suffer agony (or worse) in defeat, and judging from the first few minutes of director Saul Dibb’s movie, an ominous silent drumbeat points to the latter. Set in 1918 France, World War I will soon end, although…

Despite a great cast and message, ‘Finding Your Feet’ trips

Jeff Mitchell

“Finding Your Feet” – “You make feel like dancing.  I’m gonna dance the night away.”  – Leo Sayer, October 1976 Sandra (Imelda Staunton) has not felt like dancing in decades.  Thirty-five years to be exact.  Now, she has enjoyed her marriage to Mike (John Sessions) for that said amount of time, but dancing was never a priority for him and therefore, not a priority for her.  Dancing – her childhood passion – just tucked itself away into a distant place in her brain, sitting next to her belief in Santa…