AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #1 ‘Soul’

1.“Soul” –  Joe (Jamie Foxx), a piano player, misses his shot to perform on a big stage, and he – without warning – finds himself in the afterlife.  This passionate jazz musician now exists in The Great Beyond and The Great Before, and he mentors a soul-in-training (Tina Fey) while hoping to return to his first love: music…on Earth!  Directors Pete Docter and Kemp Powers strike hilarious and affecting notes, as their animated film magically offers tangible life lessons that our parents, teachers, and friends have told us a thousand…

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #2 ‘Gunda’

2. “Gunda” –  Have you ever lived on a farm?  Have you ever spent a few hours on one?  Well, director Viktor Kosakovskiy – inspired by his childhood pet piglet – places his camera on a small Norwegian homestead and follows the stories of a mama pig named Gunda, her piglets, nearby cows, and a one-legged chicken in a 93-minute documentary sans dialogue.  Shot in dreamy black and white, Kosakovskiy frames his friendly subjects at exceptionally close range and watches them stroll through their days.  While some carefree moments trigger…

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #3 ‘Palm Springs’

3. “Palm Springs” – Director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara turn this rom-com – about two strangers meeting at a Palm Springs wedding – on its head with a wacky, fanciful premise that gifts more surprises, chuckles, and genuine smiles than a Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration filled with laughing gas.  Due to a pair of bizarre, out-of-this-world of mishaps, Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) are stuck with one another and need a miracle to free themselves.  Sure, Siara’s script borrows an idea (which I won’t…