Author: Jeff Mitchell

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ carries visual thrills and missed opportunities

Jeff Mitchell

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” – The marketing department behind the Star Wars franchise must be brilliant.  With billions of dollars in tickets sold over eight films (including “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016)), hired advertising suits certainly know the cinematic beats that will attract their audience.  On the other hand, Star Wars probably does not need a marketing department at all, because after George Lucas’s visionary masterstroke arrived in 1977, fans bought into his wondrous space opera and the films that followed, and rightfully so! Well, as writer/director…

Oldman’s performance brings light to ‘Darkest Hour’

Jeff Mitchell

“Darkest Hour” – “I am unwanted.” – Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) Untested, unappreciated and soon-to-be unwanted within Parliament, Winston Churchill became the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister in May 1940, because Neville Chamberlain resigned during Germany’s rapid advance through Western Europe during World War II.  Inheriting a country teetering between appeasement and conflict, Churchill sided with the latter.  Rather than negotiate peace, his instinct was to fight Hitler and his fearsome military, but with 300,000 British soldiers trapped on the French beaches of Dunkirk, treaties between Germany and/or Italy became much…

Does ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ work? Humbug.

Jeff Mitchell

“The Man Who Invented Christmas” – Ask any American 6-year-old who invented Christmas.  Depending upon the household, Santa or Jesus would probably be the response, but director Bharat Nalluri and screenwriter Susan Coyne offer a third name. Charles Dickens. Dickens?  Well, the man did write A Christmas Carol in 1843, and his transcendent story has warmly struck jolly and merry nerves over the last 174 years.  In the television/film age, many, many producers have jumped on this particular holiday bandwagon.  Just look at the “Adaptations of ‘A Christmas Carol’” Wikipedia…