Tag: Christopher Walken

‘Wild Mountain Thyme’: This beautiful-looking rom-com doesn’t pass the smell test

Jeff Mitchell

“Wild Mountain Thyme” – This tale of two families – the Reillys and the Muldoons – might be the most Irish film released in 2020 or any year in recent memory.  Gorgeous, sweeping shots of Kelly green prairies and rolling hills, crystal blue streams, winding country roads, a wandering sheep herd, and a horse or two grace the screen with proud bravado.  Accompanied by a lovely score – heavily influenced by the nation’s traditional music (the The Chieftains, perhaps?) – this welcoming Emerald Isle setting needs a few random shots…

Maybe ‘The War with Grandpa’ should give peace a chance

Jeff Mitchell

“The War with Grandpa” – Since I’m a child of the 70s and 80s, sometimes 2020 feels like an alien world, not necessarily due to miracles of modern technology, but socially. Back in the day, parents left their Gen X children to their own devices (not cell phones but ideas and related tomfoolery) for hours and hours.  My mom would shoo my brothers and me out of the house on Saturday or Sunday mornings, and say, “Have a great day.  Dinner is at six.” My father’s word was law, including…

31 Scary Movies: ‘The Dead Zone’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Dead Zone” (1983) – Director David Cronenberg and writer Jeffrey Boam bring Stephen King’s 1979 novel “The Dead Zone” to life on the big screen in a gripping supernatural tale that spawned a six-season television series as well.  Here, Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) was enjoying a happy life as a schoolteacher and a relationship with Sarah (Brooke Adams), but gets into a car accident and falls into a coma for five years. Sarah has moved on and Johnny laments the time and relationship that he lost, but he gains…