‘MaXXXine’: This dull and dark Hollywood mystery doesn’t light up the big screen

Jeff Mitchell

“MaXXXine” (2024) – The year is 1985.  The place is Tinseltown, California. Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is reaching for glitz and glam.  This adult film actress and dancer at The Landing Strip, located near an airport (LAX, we presume), wants to land a spot in Hollywood as a legit movie star and transition from a rated X career to a rated R or a PG-13 one.  Maxine drives a white Mercedes convertible and possesses a “The Best or Nothing” air of confidence to make it show business, but she just…

Let’s celebrate Eva Marie Saint’s 100th birthday

Jeff Mitchell

Eva Marie Saint turns 100 years young on July 4, and while celebrating the United States’ Independence Day, let’s also applaud this Oscar-and-Emmy-winning actress by enjoying her work that has lit up the big screen for decades.  Diehard and brand-new Ms. Saint movie fans should first watch her Supporting Actress Oscar performance, opposite Marlon Brando, in “On the Waterfront” (1954) and her tangled turn with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s all-time classic thriller, “North by Northwest” (1959). Eva proudly carries north of 80 film, television, and podcast credits (87 to…

‘Tuesday’ is an eccentric, emotional story that might resonate on any day of the week

Jeff Mitchell

“Tuesday” (2024) – Fifteen-year-old Tuesday (Lola Petticrew) is sick.  Tuesday can no longer walk.  This kind, gentle soul sits in a wheelchair or in bed and sometimes breathes with the daunting assistance of an oxygen tank and its cumbersome plastic tubes.  She is dying. Her mom, Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), has the impossible task of coping with the reality of losing her little girl.  The reality is that director/writer Daina Oniunas-Pusic’s feature film debut is an emotional experience.  It works with big, sweeping ideas that are resourcefully presented by a small…