Year: 2020

‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ argues that 1968 and 2020 aren’t so different

Jeff Mitchell

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” – The Left Coast hosted The Summer of Love in 1967, a time when 100,000 young people converged on San Francisco for music, art, and a sense of community. In August 1969, the East Coast hosted Woodstock, the famous conglomeration of all-star musical acts and 400,000 human beings touching down on an Upstate NY farm for three days of peace, love, and rock ‘n’ roll/folk melodies. In between these iconic events, the American Midwest held an altogether different affair, the 1968 Democratic Convention.  Hosted…

‘2 Hearts’ has good intentions, but it flutters with clichés

Jeff Mitchell

“2 Hearts” – “As the world becomes a more digital place, we cannot forget about the human connection.” – Adam Neumann “Two of hearts.  Two hearts that beat as one.  Two of hearts. I need you. I need you.” – Stacey Q, “Two of Hearts” Director Lance Hool’s romantic drama “2 Hearts” does not feature a smartphone, an incoming email, or a Yelp review.   His characters seem to live in the pre-Internet past, but deciphering the exact on-screen year is like attempting to decode David Lynch’s “Mulholland Dr.” (2001) or…

Movie of the Week: ‘It Follows’

Jeff Mitchell

AHFW’s Movie of the Week is another one of our favorite horror films, David Robert Mitchell’s sensational and scary “It Follows”. “It Follows” (2015) – Writer/director David Robert Mitchell creates a horror film masterpiece with a story of a mysterious being who singularly follows an ordinary student through the Detroit suburbs.  Mitchell’s movie offers an obscure late 70s/early 80s vibe with the period’s cars, clothes, and living room decors while accompanying the landscape with a synthesizer-filled soundtrack and hand-wringing sequences reminiscent of 1978’s “Halloween”.  With its unsettling creepiness and a…