#GAfilm Review: "A Walk in the Woods" (**½)

Robert Redford and Nick Nolte star in "A Walk in the Woods." 

With Academy Award-winner Robert Redford and Academy Award-nominee Nick Nolte set to conquer an adventurous hike together along the Appalachian Trail, I thought I had another "Wild" on my hands. To my dismay, the Georgia film (and 1998 bestselling book adaptation) "A Walk in the Woods" turned out to be about as exciting as the title suggests. The film begins with energy and potential but quickly loses its footing early on, ultimately resulting in a rather bland and uneventful journey with little substance.

Review: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" (****½)

Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke star in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl."

An adaptation of the same-titled novel by Jesse Andrews, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is about a self-aware and 'gopher-faced' (his words, not mine) high school senior named Greg (Thomas Mann) who is forced, per his mother’s request, to hang out with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate who could barely be called an acquaintance, once she’s been diagnosed with cancer. And the result of that first, initial, forced hang-out is… well, it’s magic. And Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s direction is risky and wild and perfectly on point. He creates a world you want to live in and characters you want to believe in.