Month: January 2021

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #19 ‘The Climb’

Jeff Mitchell

19. “The Climb” – Real-life pals Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin star in a “Sideways” (2004)-like comedy on an indie budget about two loveable losers who wrestle with life in Upstate New York.  Actually, Covino – who directed the picture – had enough cash to film in France as well.  His character – Mike – isn’t very amiable because he regularly sabotages his best buddy Kyle (Marvin), but hey, what are friends for?  “The Climb”, with an awfully witty script and a pitch-perfect supporting cast, proves that friendship is…

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #20 ‘Boys State’

Jeff Mitchell

AHFW is counting down its Top 20 films of 2020, and last year was so taxing in countless ways, but we were also challenged to narrow down our favorite movies.  After much blood, sweat, and some tears too…here’s the beginning of our Top 20 films! 20. “Boys State” – “You have no time to take it all in. (On the) first day, they throw you into that arena, and it’s like a battle royale. It’s crazy,” Steven Garza says.  Steven is a high school student, one of about 1,000 teens…

Movie of the Week: ‘Sweet Country’

Jeff Mitchell

AHFW travels all the way Down Under to find its movie of the week…the searing and unforgettable drama “Sweet Country”. “Sweet Country” – Set in 1929 Australia, director Warwick Thornton delivers a deeply affective western – which won TIFF’s 2017 Platform Prize – as it wraps its story in entrenched divides between whites and aborigines.  When Fred Smith (Sam Neill) leaves his ranch for a business trip, his hired hand Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris) becomes embroiled in a violent incident.  Sam and his wife Lizzie (Natassia Gorey Furber) find themselves…