Author: Jeff Mitchell

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

Jeff Mitchell

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,…

‘News of the World’ Interview with Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, and director Paul Greengrass

Jeff Mitchell

In “News of the World”, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) meets an 11-year-old orphaned girl (Helena Zengel) who lost her German and Native American families.  This Civil War veteran – who is now a newsreader traveling across Texas – decides that he will take Johanna (Zengel) to her aunt and uncle’s home in Castroville in writer/director Paul Greengrass’ affecting, soulful western. “News of the World” is a reunion for Greengrass and Hanks because they made “Captain Phillips” in 2013.  That film’s screenwriter Billy Ray hosted a Zoom call Q&A…

Wilson and Hayek’s manic journey is anything but ‘Bliss’

Jeff Mitchell

“Bliss” – “Ignorance is bliss.” – Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), “The Matrix” (1999) “Most people say, ‘Ignorance is bliss.’” – Isabel Clemens (Salma Hayek), “Bliss” (2021) Greg Whittle (Owen Wilson) daydreams about a different life, and why not?  He works at Technical Difficulties, a call center for customers who have….well, you know, and the office and everyone else are painted in dank, gray hues.  Greg’s workplace may not be as cheerless as Joe’s (Tom Hanks) in “Joe versus the Volcano” (1990), a factory of mindless misery, but passions throughout the cubicles…