Author: Jeff Mitchell

‘I Carry You with Me’ thoughtfully and uniquely conveys a personal immigrant story

Jeff Mitchell

“I Carry You with Me” – “I had that dream again.  I have it all the time.  It’s so real.  I’m in Mexico, my home.  I’ve returned.” – Ivan For Ivan, traveling back to Mexico can only be a far-out wish that will never – foreseeably – come to fruition.  It’s present-day, and this 40-something is riding the New York City subway, staring out a window, and thinking about his journey that brought him to The Big Apple.  Director/co-writer Heidi Ewing immerses her beautifully crafted and acted “I Carry You…

‘Zola’ runs 90 minutes, which is too long to be stuck in this on-screen weekend

Jeff Mitchell

“Zola” – “You want to hear a story about how me and this bitch fell out?  It’s kind of long, but it’s full of suspense.” – Zola (Taylour Paige) This cinematic tale – “Zola”, directed by Janicza Bravo – is based on a real-life 2015 Twitter post by A’Ziah Zola Wells, but this wasn’t an ordinary mention about her birthday, an adorable pet video, or a delicious meal photo.  This 20-year-old delivered a mindboggling-long social media post that totaled 148 connected Tweets, and it detailed her dubious weekend with a…

Movie of the Week: ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’

Jeff Mitchell

“Blue is the Warmest Color” (2013) – Adèle Exarchopoulos gives one of the very best performances of 2013 as a French high school student discovering her sexuality and graduating into womanhood through a passionate love affair with an early 20-something collegiate co-ed with blue hair (Lea Seydoux). Director/co-writer Abdellatif Kechiche winds through Adèle (Exarchopoulos) and Emma’s (Seydoux) relationship for three hours of runtime, and intricately captures subtle – and not so fine – nuances which show love as extraordinary and also traumatic.  Whether Adèle eats pasta at the table or…