The 49th Annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference

It’s time for my favorite event in Atlanta, the Atlanta Film Festival! As one of the largest and longest-running festivals in the country, ATLFF welcomes an audience of over 28,000 annually to discover hundreds of new independent, international, animated, documentary, and short films selected from 8000+ submissions worldwide. As always, there is an emphasis on films celebrating the local area, with films at the festival tied to Georgia filmmakers. Attending the Atlanta Film Festival is a must for film lovers. ATLFF is presenting some of the best upcoming films that Hollywood has to offer, including movies from top studios and films, along with films from around the world.

The 49th annual Atlanta Film Festival and Creative Conference will take place Thursday, April 24 - Sunday, May 4, 2024, at the Plaza Theatre and Tara Theatre in Atlanta, with some of its lineup available virtually.

The long-running festival has always been a distinguished event, recognized as one of the “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine. Atlanta Film Festival has been celebrated as the Best Film Festival by Creative Loafing, Sunday Paper, 10Best, and Atlanta Magazine.

The opening night presentation of Color Book is on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at Plaza Theatre. Directed by David Fortune, the film follows a devoted father who is learning to raise his son with Down Syndrome as a single parent after his wife passes. Director David Fortune, executive producer Naturi Naughton, cast members Will Catlett, Brandee Evans, Jeremiah Alexander Daniels, and producers Kiah Clingman and Kristen Uno will be in attendance.

On Saturday night, April 26, at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University, there will be a special presentation of the documentary The Games in Black & White. Centered on the inspirational friendship of icons Andrew Young and Billy Payne, the most successful Black and White partnership in the American South in the civil rights era. The Games in Black & White presents the first comprehensive look at Atlanta’s Olympics from bid to legacy and the city’s transformation that followed. Ambassador Andrew Young, Billy Payne, and Dallas Austin are expected to attend.

Sunday night, April 27, at the Plaza Theatre, there will be the marquee presentation of Shadow Force. In Shadow Force, Kyrah (Kerry Washington) and Isaac (Omar Sy) were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They break the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they go underground. With a large bounty on their heads and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes an all-out war. Lead Actress and Producer Kerry Washington will be in attendance.

On Friday night, May 2nd, at the Tara Theatre, A Cappella Books presents An Evening with Ed Helms with his book “SNAFU.” Actor, comedian, writer, and host of the hit podcast “SNAFU” Ed Helms comes to the historic Tara Theatre for a hilarious and history-packed evening in celebration of his new book, “SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups.”

The festival is also known for its short film categories and is one of the few festivals in the country that offer Academy Award-qualifying for all three short categories: Narrative, Documentary, and Animated.

The 15th annual Creative Conference, ATLFF’s popular educational programming extension, returns on Thursday, April 24th - Friday, May 3rd. The Creative Conference provides educational programs for aspiring filmmakers, festivalgoers, newcomers, and community members to gain insight from industry experts. The Creative Conference features workshops, panels, talks, and demos that will delve into the world of filmmaking, focusing on topics such as screenwriting, pitching, acting, producing, casting, funding, and distribution and how they all come together to make a film or television episode.

The full schedule of films and events is available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2025 app. Festival passes are on sale now on the site. Tickets for individual events will be available online.

Family Switch

Familyfaire: Family Switch (2023) PG   Family Switch takes place when, after a chance meeting with an astrological reader, the whole family wakes up to discover that they have switched bodies: the kids are now in their parents’ bodies and vice versa. Can they survive school, work, and the baby having switched with the family dog? I hate to say it, but this isn’t even close to being in the same league as Jennifer Garner’s other body switch movie, 13 Going on 30. How a film wasted the talents of Garner, as the overly protective mom, and Ed Helms as the father who wants his kids to have as much fun as he did in high school, is a travesty. The two try hard, but when given the material of having Garner, as now the teen in her mom’s body, belching and farting for jokes and Helms, as the teen in the dad’s body, almost throwing up in his sister’s mouth, they are set to fail. Kids may enjoy the film primarily because the dog and the baby have switched bodies; the baby acts like a dog, and the dog walks like the baby. The ending is just as bad and predictable as the rest of the film, even with the always enjoyable Rita Moreno showing up for a short appearance as the person who causes the switch. So, adults put the movie on and let the kids enjoy the baby barking like a dog while you go into the other room and wrap presents.   My Rating: Cable   Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Godzilla Minus One (2023) PG-13  It’s after World War II, and a monster has been created from the nuclear radiation fallout of the bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan will never be the same. The review of the film will be up Friday night. Finally, we have the Godzilla movie that we have been waiting for. Godzilla Minus One is a reboot of the classic tale of the giant lizard that comes up from the ocean to terrorize Japan. Unlike many Godzilla films that focus on the monster and how much destruction he can deliver, this film concentrates on the people he is attacking and how they respond to the attacks both in the past and in the present. I don’t want to go into too much detail as the storyline is incredibly well done, but I will let you know that WWII and its after-effects play a huge part in the film. And while the film features the people, you still get the mighty Godzilla destroying cities, blasting his heat ray and chomping on both trains and people. Godzilla Minus One is a film meant to be seen in the theatre so that you can experience Godzilla in all his glory, and the ending is pretty cool too. Excuse me now while I put on some Blue Oyster Cult and revel in what I just saw.  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again
  Godzilla Minus One Website    Now playing in theatres. 

My View: Silent Night (2023) R  Silent Night is about a father who is wounded, and his young son is killed when they are caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. The father, Brian (Joel Kinnaman), has lost his voice due to the shooting, and he makes it his life’s mission to avenge his son’s death a year later. At one time in the 90s, John Woo was considered one of the great action directors working with high violence but well-made films like A Better Tomorrow (1986), Hard Boiled (1992), Broken Arrow (1996), and Face/Off (1997). So I was excited to hear that he was directing an action film that would have no dialogue. Unfortunately, he takes a film that uses a gimmick of no dialogue to stand out but becomes dull and, at times, annoying. The film would have worked better if the wife had also been lost in the drive-by because the scenes between Brian and Saya, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno, are just uncomfortable, straining at the seams to keep the ‘no talking’ gimmick going. The scenes feel forced and contribute almost nothing to the storyline. It takes too long to get to what we want, the action sequences, where Brian has trained and retrofitted a car to become a killing machine. I kept wondering how he was paying for all the guns and the car when he was no longer working during his year of recovery and training. The film also suffers from a character who is a one-track train wreck who has trouble showing emotion and seems stuck being a sad sack of a man. Woo depends on us wanting Brian to get his revenge, but that revenge, like the movie itself, seems ill-planned and too quick to take such a long build-up, using another gimmick to get his revenge exactly one year later. Silent Night uses a gimmick that hurts rather than stands out a film from other run-of-the-mill action films.  My Rating: Cable  Silent Night Website  Now playing in theaters. 

My View: American Symphony (2023) PG-13 American Symphony is a documentary that explores a year in the life of musician Jon Batiste. Jon is on top of the world with eleven Grammy nominations, working as the bandleader on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a beautiful life partner in Suleika. Things turn when the couple finds out that her cancer has returned after a decade-long remission. This film has a good shot at making the Academy Award documentary nominations next year because it hits all the right notes (no pun intended). The movie started as a straightforward doc about Jon Batiste and his writing of a symphony that was to debut at Carnegie Hall. Then Batiste set the world on fire with eleven Grammy nominations. Then, on the same day the nominations are announced, it is discovered that his soon-to-be wife, Suleika, cancer has returned, and she will have to go through a harrowing treatment that will put her in a hospital for over a month. The film works best when the couple is in both good and bad private moments. There are some truly moving moments in the movie, and we want Suleika to survive the cancer because they work so well together. The film feels a bit out of place when it goes back to Jon creating the symphony or when he is touring with his band. However, the cancer fight and the relationship between the two bring us some powerful and moving moments that won’t be soon forgotten. American Symphony is about the healing power of love and music, two things we need in our lives.   My Rating: Full Price  American Symphony Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

My View: Eileen (2023) R   Eileen is about a twenty-four-year-old woman named Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) who works at a juvenile detention center while trying to take care of her alcoholic dad (Shea Whigham) at night. Her world improves when a new doctor named Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) starts working at the prison and befriends her. Rebecca is everything Eileen aspires to be: brilliant, beautiful, and sure of who she is. You know what they say: Not everything is what it seems on the surface. Eileen is not your run-of-the-mill feel-good Christmas movie (it's set during Christmas week. In fact, it's more of a cold, dark film noir of a movie that takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns, some more shocking than others. Anne Hathaway is stunning as the new doctor who looks like a movie star but acts like a woman set in a 50s black and white gangster film. Thomasin McKenzie holds her own as a young woman who has gotten stuck in a dead-end job with a father who is drinking his way to his death, and there isn’t anything Eileen can do to stop it. Eileen’s life is summed up by the car she drives, which puts out so much toxic smoke she has to drive with the windows down even though it’s snowing. Eileen is looking for a way out and finds it in Rebecca, who takes an interest in the shy Eileen. We don’t know what will happen, but we know it will probably not be good. Eileen is a dark tale of seduction and lives that are just about lost, grasping at tiny bits of hope in a world that doesn’t provide much and cares even less. While I loved the performances, the film ends with us wanting more, just like Eileen. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Eileen Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Familyfaire: Robot Dreams (2023)   Dog is living alone in an apartment in 1980s New York City when he sees what could be the solution to not having any friends, an ad for a home robot. He orders Robot, and they have a great time together until one fateful day at the beach when a horrible mistake causes them to separate. Will they find each other again? I loved this fun and quirky film about a dog who finds a pal in a robot and then keeps trying to rescue his buddy Robot when an afternoon at the beach goes horribly wrong. What more could you want from an animated film than a robot and a dog roller skating a dance to Earth, Wind and Fire’s September? Robot Dreams is a fun and sometimes touching film about finding someone to connect with, and it can bring happiness and completeness to your life. The animation is bold and colorful, set in NYC in the 80s (the Twin Towers keep showing up), and I loved all the brand name products that are part of the story, especially Cheetos, which Dog has a fondness for and always has trouble opening the bag (don’t we all). The story is a simple one that hits the heartstrings and makes you laugh and cry a bit too. Kids will love the Robot and Dog’s constantly wagging tale, and adults will love the story of friendship and love. Note: While the film is from Spain, there isn't any dialogue spoken throughout the film.   My Rating: Full Price   Robot Dreams Website  Now playing in theaters.

Forgotten Film: Brother Bear (2003) G   When a bear kills a young Inuit hunter’s (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix) brother, Kenai seeks revenge and hunts down the bear. Instead of killing the bear, Kenai is turned into one. Visited by the spirit of his late brother (voiced by D.B. Sweeney), Kenai is told he must go on a journey to the Northern Lights if he wants to return to human form. Added by a fun-loving cub named Koda (voiced by Jeremy Suarez), the two set off on a journey that will change Kenai’s outlook on life, love, and family. Brother Bear is a little-seen Disney film that got lost when Pixar released movies like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Brother Bear is a beautiful film with glorious animation and a soundtrack featuring some Phil Collins songs. The message is inspiring, the action will keep young kids interested, and the storyline will delight their parents.   My Rating: Full Price  Brother Bear Info  Available to rent or buy on Amazon and AppleTV.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Family Switch: Soccer Coordinator

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Wonka (2023) PG The story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet). The cast includes Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key and Rowan Atkinson. Based on the character from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory films, let's see what magic Mr. Wonka has in store for us.  Wonka Website  In theatres nationwide on Friday, December 15th. 

Until Next Time!

Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks

As with past years I am picking who I think will win, not who I want to win.  I will also give you a possible winner if I feel that the category isn’t a lock.  Actual winners highlighted in green.

Best Picture:  Nomadland

Best Achievement in Directing:  Chloé Zhao - Nomadland

Best Actor:  Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom   Could win:  Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Best Actress:  Viola Davis - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom    Could win:  Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor:  Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah    Could win:  Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Supporting Actress:  Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari   Could win:  Olivia Coleman - The Father

Best Original Screenplay:  Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell    Could win:  Aaron Sorkin - The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father - Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

  Could win:  Nomadland - Chloé Zhao 

Best Animated Feature:  Soul    Could win:  Wolfwalkers

Best Production Design:   Mank - Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

Best Cinematography:  Nomadland - Joshua James Richards   Could win:  Mank - Erik Messerschmidt

Best Costume Design:  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom - Ann Roth   Could Win: Mank - Trish Summerville

Best Film Editing:   Sound of Metal - Mikkell E. G. Nielsen

Best Makeup and Hair:  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Jamika Wilson

Best Sound:  Sound of Metal – Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, Phillip Bladh    Could win:  Soul – Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

Best Visual Effects:  Tenet – Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, Santiago Colomo Martinez

Best Original Score:  Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Best Original Song:  Speak Now from One Night in Miami – Leslie Odom Jr., Sam Ashworth  Could win:  Húsavík from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson  (Fight For You - Judas and the Black Messiah)

Best Documentary Feature:  My Octopus Teacher  Could win:  Collective

Best International Feature:  Another Round    Could win:  Quo Vadis, Aida 

Best Live Action Short:  Two Distant Strangers   Could win:  Feeling Through

Best Animated Short:  If Anything Happens I Love You   Could win:  Opera

Best Documentary Short:  A Concerto Is a Conversation   Could win: Colette

Incredibles 2

My View:  Incredibles 2  (2018)  PG  Bob (Mr. Incredible) is playing “Mr. Mom,” taking care of Jack-Jack while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world. While not as good as The Incredibles, the film is still a lot of fun and the ending of the film is as good as any live action adventure film. The film moves at a quick pace and has a few twists and turns to make the film interesting. As with the first film, this is a movie not just for kids but adults as well. The best character in the film is the baby, Jack-Jack, who starts developing super powers that Bob has to deal with while Elastigirl is out saving the world. These are some superheroes that we have missed for thirteen years. The lovely short Bao plays before Incredibles 2 and it's a welcome addition to Pixar short film library.   My Rating:  Full Price   Incredibles 2 website

My View:  Tag  (2018)  R  A group of former classmates get together every year and play the kids game, Tag. One of the members (Jeremy Renner), who has never been tagged, announces he is quitting the game after this year.  I have severe problems with this film. It wants to be a raunchy comedy, but it also wants to be a serious picture about friendship, and it fails on both counts.  The film makes jokes of miscarriages and cancer. I did enjoy the performances of Isla Fisher, who plays the wife of Ed Helms and takes the game too seriously, and Hannibal Buress, who plays one of the gamers who sees a conspiracy theory in everything.   Both actors bring some energy and fun to the film. Unfortunately, both Jon Hamm and Ed Helms bring very little to the picture and take the air out of it in their main scenes. The film never finds its footing and just doesn’t deliver enough laughs to overlook the horrible writing.  My Rating: Cable   Tag Website

In Case You Missed It (A movie just released on DVD/Blu-Ray):  Love, Simon  (2018)  PG-13  Simon (Nick Robinson) is a gay high school student who hasn’t come out, even to his best friends. He is in love with an anonymous classmate whom he has only talked to online.  Now, Simon’s life will change in a big way.  This is one of those rare movies about teenagers where the characters on the screen are real people with real problems, ones we can relate to and feel. Nick Robinson gives an intelligent and moving performance as the teenager who is afraid to come out. Simon just wants to last until he is out of high school before revealing he is gay. He also doesn’t want to rock the boat with his closest friends, especially with his best friend, Leah (Katherine Langford), whom he has known since childhood. Love, Simon is a funny and sweet movie that hits all the right notes. At the screening, when the big scene near the end of the film happened, teenage girls jumped up out of their seats and cheered. Go see this film, and you just might do the same.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Love, Silmon Facebook Page

Forgotten Film:  Atlantis: The Lost Empire  (2001)  PG  Atlantis is a rare Disney animated film that doesn’t have any songs or dances. It’s an adventure story of a team of explorers looking for the lost city of Atlantis. The movie is based on a story idea by Buffy and Angel creator Joss Whedon. The animation looks very different than most Disney movies, with almost a Japanese anime feel to it. The storyline is sharp and it has an ending that delivers. While the film is aimed at kids, adults may also enjoy this movie with its adventure theme.  My Rating: Full Price    Atlantis Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Tag:  Hoagie’s Mom Photo Double

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  A Star is Born  (2018)  R  A musician (Bradley Cooper) who has seen better days, helps a young singer (Lady Gaga) as she becomes a star. His demons get a hold of him as he falls for the young singer, and their relationship suffers. Bradley Cooper also directs this film, and the trailer looks brilliant.    A Star is Born Info

Until Next Time!

Crown Heights

My View:  Crown Heights  (2017) R   When Colin Warner (Lakeith Stanfield) is wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend, Carl King (Nnamdi Asomugha), devotes his life to proving that Colin is innocent. Though slow at times, the performance of the two leads, Stanfield and Asomugha, are riveting and insightful. This is a film that will make you angry, at times, due to the injustice of putting an innocent man behind bars with no chance of being released. Stanfield is instantly likable on the screen and does an exceptional job of showing his character's anguish and torment.  Asomugha is even better as CK, a man who sacrifices everything to get his best friend out of jail. Crown Heights is a powerful film that audiences need to see because it will make you think about the justice system in this country.   My Rating: Full Price

Indiefest:  City of Ghosts  (2017)  R  A documentary about the efforts of ‘Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently’ movement showing a group of activists who banded together to show how their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. The unbelievable story of a group of courageous men and women who hate what has happened to their country and want the world to know about it. The film is as tense as a fictional spy caper because the activists are on the ISIS hit list. The film gets inside why these men are willing to risk their lives for their country and their families. It’s a brilliant and suspenseful film about heroic men.  My Rating:  Full Price

Indiefest:  I Do…Until I Don’t  (2017)  R  Three couples are the subject of a documentary on marriage. The question is, will any of the couples survive the making of the film? I Do…Until I Don’t is an uninspired mess of a film that rarely is funny and mostly dull and tame. Instead of originality, we get a film that seems to use every plot device of a bad TV comedy from the 80s to try and find laughter. The cast is outstanding with Ed Helms, Mary SteenburgenI, Paul Reiser, Amber Heard, Ed Helms, Dolly Wells, and Wyatt Cenac filling out the cast. I just wish the script had lived up to the quality of the cast. I love Lake Bell as an actress and look forward to her next film that she decides to write and direct, but I hope I never have to see this film again.   My Rating:  Cable

Indiefest:  The Fencer  (2015)  Endel (Mart Avandi) is a man with a past that he would like the world to forget. He starts teaching fencing to a group of children, and they want to participate in a national fencing tournament that could endanger Endel. This is a rag-to-riches story about a man who risks everything for his students. He takes children who have never fenced and molds them into a winning fencing team. Avandi is riveting as the world weary Endel, a man who just wants to live his life but is forced to go into hiding in 1950s Soviet Union. Avandi makes the part come alive, and he has great chemistry with the kids whom his character is teaching. I love the fact that the film is based on a true story and that the fencing club he founded is still around. This is a bewitching movie that the whole family can enjoy.   My Rating:  Full Price

Forgotten Film:  Jack & Sarah  (1995) PG   A recent British widower (Richard E. Grant) hires a nanny (Samantha Mathis) for his newborn child. The reason to watch this film is Richard E. Grant, as he makes you root for a very unlikable character. He and Samantha Mathis have great chemistry, and, while predictable, it’s a movie that you can watch over and over again.  My Rating: Full Price

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Crown Heights:  Art Truck Drivers

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: Victoria and Abdul  (2017)  Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named, Abdul (Michael Gambon). I’ll see anything that has Oscar winner Judi Dench.

Until Next Time!