AHFW Top 20 Films of 2020: #11 ‘Promising Young Woman’

11. “Promising Young Woman” – Carey Mulligan deserves an Oscar nomination as a femme fatale striking fear in the hearts of men.  Cassie (Mulligan) is a vigilante of sorts, but rather than ride NYC subways like Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) in “Death Wish” (1974), she pretends to be inebriated in local watering holes, dance clubs, and Irish bars.  She then terrifies her aggressors when they overstep their bounds.  Director/writer Emerald Fennell’s sobering – but also playful – screenplay takes dark turns and steers into some levity with Bo Burnham’s breezy,…

‘Eighth Grade’ feels difficult, and that’s perfect

“Eighth Grade” – Kids can be kids in elementary school, and teens can be teens in high school, but what about middle school?  Well, unfortunate 11, 12 and 13 years-olds trudge, through that hellish purgatory between preteen innocence and young adulthood, otherwise known as middle school. With social pressures, hormonal changes and anxiety at their peaks, these kids attempt to cope with their current, dire 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. existences that feel similar to a never-ending slog through mud pit, 18 inches deep.  Every step is a struggle, and…