‘Promising Young Woman’: Mulligan deserves her second Oscar nomination

“Promising Young Woman” – Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is on tour. No, Cassie doesn’t play in a band and trek across the country, although she could double as a punk rock act’s dismissive lead singer or perhaps, a local symphony’s cellist.  Ms. Thomas is attractive, thin, whip-smart, and she just turned 30.  She also turns most men’s heads, while working as a barista at Make Me Coffee or frequenting the clubs around town. Cassie’s on tour alright, but she’s embarked on a sneaky, seductive side-journey.  On a typical night, she’ll…

‘News of the World’: Hanks and his young co-star deliver a soulful western

“News of the World” – Three years ago, Tom Hanks starred as a newsman, and one of the 20th century’s most prominent, “The Washington Post” Executive Editor Ben Bradlee in “The Post”, a film about the publication’s attempt to publish the Pentagon Papers. In “News of the World”, Hanks plays another character tied to the Fourth Estate, although he’s worlds – and a century – apart from Mr. Bradlee. As the movie opens, Civil War veteran Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) greets an eager Wichita Falls, Texas audience in 1870 by…

Movie of the Week: ‘Wild Tales’

Our AHFW crew hasn’t traveled – like most folks – in months, but we’re happily (and virtually) trekking to Argentina for a modern-day classic….and our Movie of the Week! “Wild Tales” (2014) – Wild is the definitive word when describing this wonderfully sadistic, sarcastic, and hilarious ride into six devilish tales of revenge from the mind of writer/director Damian Szifron.  Each story opens without fanfare or opening titles, jumps right into the daily lives of ordinary people, throws them life-changing curve balls, and lets the chips fall where they may. …