Tag: movies at home

‘The High Note’ is flat

Jeff Mitchell

“The High Note” – Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) is a superstar!  This 11-time Grammy winner has burned up the charts and live shows for decades.  Director Nisha Ganatra showcases this woman’s voice and showwomanship during the film’s opening minutes.  With Grace’s on-stage entourage in tow, she sings her lungs out in front of sold-out audiences from Detroit, Miami, Dallas, and more. Wow! The production values soar off the charts and pop from our small screens.  Promises of bold musical numbers fill our heads, until they don’t.  It turns out…

Just Because Wednesday, Movies at Home: ‘The Remains of the Day’

Jeff Mitchell

Happy Birthday, Emma Thompson!  Yes, Emma turns 61 on April 15, and to celebrate her day, let’s look back at our favorite Ms. Thompson role in one of our favorite movies…”The Remains of the Day” (1993).  Now, Thompson won a screenplay Oscar for “Sense and Sensibility” (1995) and garnered the Best Actress top prize for “Howard’s End” (1992), but she perfectly plays the sensible but curious and kind housekeeper Miss Kenton in director James Ivory’s masterful work. During the 1930s, Miss Kenton and head butler Mr. Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) run…

Celebrate World Table Tennis Day with ‘Top Spin’ on Amazon Prime

Jeff Mitchell

Many of us (or is it all of us?) are sequestered at home these days, so dreams of sold out sports arenas and stadiums are just distant memories at the moment.  Well, not too distant.  Anyway, April 6 is World Table Tennis Day, and although all the big tournaments are probably postponed, we could play ping pong in the comfort of our homes, right? Well, in celebration of World Table Tennis Day, why not catch the 2014 documentary “Top Spin”!   Directors Sara Newens and Mina T. Son follow three American…