Category: Movie of the Week

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…

Movie of the Week: ‘Let the Right One In’

Jeff Mitchell

“Let the Right One In” (2008) – Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) doesn’t have a friend.  Bullies emotionally and physically push around this 12-year-old loner (who sports a blonde-haired 1960s George Harrison haircut) during the day and his mom leaves him to his own devices afterwards.  She works nights, so he has plenty of free time.  However, his world changes after a brief encounter with Eli (Lina Leandersson).  She just moved in next door, and one evening, she meets him at their apartment complex playground and asks him questions and vice-versa.  Are…

Movie of the Week: ‘Contempt’

Jeff Mitchell

“Contempt” (1963) – Look up the definition of ‘contempt’, and you’ll find “the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn” and “disregard for something that should be taken into account.” Director Jean-Luc Godard’s movie has a movie-business setting.  However, rather than tackling big-budget, big-screen magic, “Contempt” is primarily conversational, and the film’s title certainly becomes a key element to the discourse. Paul (Michel Piccoli), a French playwright-turned-screenwriter, and his wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) are visiting Italy and on-set for a production of “Odyseey”. …