Author: Jeff Mitchell

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #14 ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’

Jeff Mitchell

14. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” – Director/writer Eliza Hittman places Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and Skylar (Talia Ryder) on an uneasy journey from rural Pennsylvania to New York City.  For these teenagers, they embark on this impromptu trip with no chaperones, and they attempt to navigate The Big Apple’s urban minefield of subway logistics, heavy foot traffic, and cold concrete so that Autumn can have an abortion.  Hittman explains during a March 2020 interview, “I was just thinking about a way to create an atmosphere of hostility towards these young women…

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #15 ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’

Jeff Mitchell

15. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” – Anyone semi-coerced into meeting their boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s parents will painfully relate to Jessie Buckley’s character in director/writer Charlie Kaufman’s uncomfortable feature.  This 20-something (Buckley) is “thinking of ending things” with her relatively-new beau Jake (Jesse Plemons), but she agrees – for some reason – to have dinner with his mom (Toni Collette) and dad (David Thewlis) after a long, sketchy drive in the driving snow.  Jake and his folks don’t offer much comfort at their homestead, as Kaufman introduces idiosyncrasies, fears, and…

‘The Little Things’ isn’t big enough

Jeff Mitchell

“The Little Things” –  Kern County sits north of greater Los Angeles and east of San Luis Obispo.  Strikingly shaped like Montana, it’s over 8,000 square miles – about twice the size of its little sister, Los Angeles County – and it sports wide-open spaces, agriculture and gasoline production, and Bakersfield, its anchor city.   Although Kern and Los Angeles Counties are related, they couldn’t be more opposite. Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe “Deke” Deacon (Denzel Washington) – a casual, matter-of-fact, going-about-his-business assistant lawman – spent much of his career in…