Category: Reviews

Shyamalan’s ‘The Watchers’ is an intriguing and eerie watch

Jeff Mitchell

“The Watchers” (2024) – Mina (Dakota Fanning) runs an errand.  She’s a 20-something American living in Ireland’s County Galway, but this glum loner also runs from her past, estranging herself from her family, including her sister, Lucy.  In the present, she’s asked to transport a bird, a parakeet or parrot of sorts, to Belfast, and this talking feathered friend frequently repeats, “Try not to die,” because the night before, Mina unfortunately said to it, “I’m going out.  Try not to die.” Oh, Mina, please be more deliberate with your words. …

‘Carol Doda Topless at the Condor’ is a revealing, insightful documentary

Jeff Mitchell

“Carol Doda Topless at the Condor” (2024) – “No matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you like to do, something exciting and wonderful and different happens in San Francisco.” A television reporter uttered the aforementioned statement, via archival footage, in directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker’s documentary, “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor”, about Carol’s odyssey as a topless dancer and risky trendsetter.  In 1964, Carol, a cocktail waitress at The Condor – located in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco – soon began…

‘Nowhere Special’ is a beautiful, encouraging, but heartbreaking father-and-son story

Jeff Mitchell

“Nowhere Special” (2020) – On the surface, John (James Norton) lives an ordinary life.  John, 34, cleans windows for a living and careens from job to job around Belfast in his modest car, which sports a trusty ladder on its rack.  He generally doesn’t secure gigs at soaring skyscrapers, but he’ll turn to washes at local pubs, retail storefronts, and expensive suburban homes.  John is diligent and deliberate with his work and polite with his individual employers.  He’s tall and attractive with professional model-like looks, but our lead carries a…