Category: Uncategorized

‘Spoiler Alert’: Straight away, this touching romantic drama reveals its ending

Jeff Mitchell

“Spoiler Alert” (2022) – Has a friend, colleague, random stranger, or movie critic uttered a key plot point of a book, television show, or movie BEFORE you read a publication or watched a program or flick?  On a personal note, my worst experience occurred at the Portland International Airport around 2004.  While waiting for the boarding announcement, I held a copy of the “The Di Vinci Code”, and the bookmark visibly stuck above the binding, about 50 pages into the story.  Another passenger pointed at the precious literary cargo and…

‘The Cursed’ conjures up a strange and spooky cinematic hex

Jeff Mitchell

“The Cursed” (2021) – “She was bitten?  Where is she?” – John McBride (Boyd Holbrook) Both brave and fearful folks will ask these two questions when hearing that a woman is hurt due to “something” terrorizing a small village and regularly ripping human flesh like a twisted animal.  McBride resides in the former camp.  Set in rural 19th-century France, writer/director/cinematographer Sean Ellis’ (“Anthropoid” (2016)) horror movie feels like a throwback to tangible, soiled Hammer Films and a rich, atmospheric 21st-century production.  Many outdoor shots trigger unsettling memories of Robert Eggers’…

‘The Power of the Dog’ is the Phoenix Critics Circle’s 2021 Best Picture

Jeff Mitchell

“The Power of the Dog” won five Phoenix Critics Circle (PCC) awards on Fri., Dec. 17, including Best Picture and Best Director for Jane Campion. Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) took the top acting prizes. Jeff Mitchell from – the Phoenix Film Festival and Art House Film Wire – is a proud PCC member, and for more information on the PCC, please visit the website. The complete list of winners and nominees are listed here. BEST PICTURE – THE POWER OF THE DOG Drive…