Category: Movie of the Week

Movie of the Week: ‘Leap of Faith’

Jeff Mitchell

Steve Martin celebrates his 77th birthday on Aug. 14, and Happy Birthday, Mr. Legend! To help celebrate his day, let’s look back at his turn as a traveling preacher with a love for his followers’…..money in “Leap of Faith”.  It’s our Movie of the Week! “Leap of Faith” (1992) – “Manipulators are sneaky.  I’m obvious,” Jonas Nightengale (Martin) says to his friend Jane Larson (Debra Winger).  Jane is Jonas’ confidant, but she’s also the Chief Operating Officer of his massive traveling operation.  He’s a faith healer with a sizable staff,…

Movie of the Week: ‘Another Year’

Jeff Mitchell

With Lesley Manville’s new movie, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”, arriving theatres, let’s look back at her heartbreaking performance in Mike Leigh’s “Another Year”. “Another Year” (2010) – This is a brilliant movie-lover’s gem about a joyful British couple (Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen) surrounded by friends (Peter Wight, David Bradley, and Lesley Manville, who delivered the single best female performance in 2010) who aren’t. Writer/director Mike Leigh doesn’t directly spell out the “secret” to happiness, but we, the audience, certainly discover something much more valuable:  the stark and haunting consequences of…

Movie of the Week: ‘I, Tonya’

Jeff Mitchell

“I, Tonya” (2017) – “America.  They want someone to love, but they want someone to hate.” – Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) Twenty-eight years ago, during the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, the most hated person in America was a 23-year-old figure skater.  Tonya Harding.  The American public directed their ire – fueled by a constant media swarm from very reputable and questionable news outlets – at Ms. Harding due to the infamous assault on her main rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) at a Detroit ice rink just one…