Month: November 2020

Movie of the Week: ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’

Jeff Mitchell

AHFW looks back to high school, and not our teenage days, but Greg, Earl, and Rachel’s experiences in 2015.  It’s worth the trip, because “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” – and off-beat wonder – is one of the most affecting high school movies in years. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” (2015) – A self-doubting teen (Thomas Mann) befriends a fellow student stricken with leukemia (Olivia Cooke), and the particularly well-written script provides an equally hilarious and affecting journey about teenagers coping with untimely circumstances.  Director Alfonso…

‘Freaky’: This switcharoo horror movie lives up to its name…for a while

Jeff Mitchell

“Freaky” – “Ah, freak out!  Le freak, c’est Chic.  Freak out!” – Chic, “Le Freak” (1978) Vince Vaughn stars in director Christopher Landon’s “Freaky”, and a first glance, perhaps the “Swingers” (1996), “Old School” (2003),  “Wedding Crashers” (2005) actor is caught up in a comic, twisted role play with Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Heather Graham. Well, he is involved with a role play, but in an unexpectedly way.  Vaughn channels his inner Barbara Harris and his surprising turn as Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho” (1998) to portray…

‘The Climb’ ascends to hilarious heights

Jeff Mitchell

“The Climb” – “In order to get people to love you, you’ve got to get some people to hate you.”  – Robert Braathe Kyle (Kyle Marvin) and Mike (Michael Angelo Covino) are pals. More than pals, these two 30-somethings are BFFs, and in fact, Mike is Kyle’s best man.  Kyle is marrying Ava (Judith Godreche), who is French, and all three – and presumably, family and other friends – are in France for the wedding. Happy days are here! As the movie opens, Mike, an avid cyclist, invites Kyle on…