Author: Jeff Mitchell

‘Mass’ bravely dives into deep, emotional places in one confined space

Jeff Mitchell

“Mass” – Here’s my best advice to approach “Mass”, writer/director Fran Kranz’s first film.  Don’t watch the trailer. This gripping, conversational drama is almost entirely set in one location.  The four main characters confront a painful, deeply personal topic, one that has haunted them for years, but don’t ask a friend, sibling, your local movie critic, or the Internet the key matter that Jay (Jason Isaacs), Gail (Martha Plimpton), Linda (Ann Dowd), and Richard (Reed Birney) debate.  During an Oct. 10 interview with Collider, Kranz says, “Look, it has been…

Movie of the Week: ‘The Thing’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Thing” (1982) – “I don’t know who to trust.” – Dr. Blair (Wilford Brimley) We’ve all heard that phrase before.  Perhaps you attended MBA school, competed in a beauty pageant, or watched “Survivor”, the reality television show in which contestants compete for a million dollars in the remote locales of Borneo, the Pearl Islands, or Cambodia.  Although Richard Hatch, Sandra Diaz-Twine, and Jeremy Collins voted their “Survivor” castmates off the island, no one felt like their lives were in jeopardy. (Now, wear a Michigan Wolverines jersey to an Ohio…

‘Warrior Spirit’: This initially straightforward doc turns into an ominous, cautionary tale

Jeff Mitchell

“Warrior Spirit” – Nicco Montano is a woman of firsts.  At 28 years young, on Dec. 1, 2017, she won the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship.  On that day, she became that division’s premiere female UFC champion and the organization’s first Native titleholder. Wow. In the documentary “Warrior Spirit”, Nicco – an admirable, inspirational role model with Navajo roots – arrives at her alma mater, Chinle High School in Chinle, Ariz., and speaks at the 2018 graduation ceremony.  Students, parents, and teachers give her a rock-star welcome, and she reciprocates. “Thank…