Tag: Movie

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…

‘Promising Young Woman’ Interview with Carey Mulligan and director Emerald Fennell

Jeff Mitchell

Carey Mulligan deserves an Oscar nomination as a femme fatale striking fear in the hearts of men in “Promising Young Woman”.  Cassie (Mulligan) is a vigilante of sorts, as she frequently 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, accessible arc.  Ryan (Burnham) could be the male outlier to melt Cassie’s heart, as…