Is This Thing On? (2025)

Bradley Cooper’s IS THIS THING ON is his best film yet. As I said to several people, now that he has settled into directing and not trying to win a best Actor Oscar he has made an Oscar worthy film.

Based loosely in the life of comedian John Bishop, the film is the story of a man who stumbles into being a comedian when he refuses to pay the cover charge for the bar. Finding he likes it, he begins to find a purpose in it as well as a way back to his wife, from whom he separated.

This is a solid and lived in film. With the exception of Braley Cooper’s comic relief friend, everyone on screen feels real. Everything feels right. We feel as if we are watching real people doing real things on screen.  What makes the film work is that Cooper doesn’t give us your typical Hollywood characters. Ciran Hinds as Will Arnett’s dad is not a person we’ve seen on screen before. He is a man with some odd ticks, but it works. Actually, everyone is atypical.

To tell you how good the film is, I could have gone to the press screening before the World Premiere at the New York Film Festival, but I skipped it because I thought it was just going to be okay.   Now having seen it I regret not going because this film is so good I would have loved to have been there at a special moment.

This is a great film.

Highly recommended.

Cover-Up (2025) opens Friday at the FIlm Forum

 

COVER-UP is a perfectly adequate look at journalist Seymour Hersh.  The film is a look at the man looking back at his life.

Actually, the film covers his early life, coverage of My Lai, Watergate, corporate corruption,  Abu Ghraib and some of his stories from the last two decades of Middle East warfare. It is one man reluctantly telling his story.

A good overview of a man who changed the world for the better COVER UP is an okay film. Barely noticing anything that isn’t one of the big stories, and not doing much with his almost getting caught using forged letters (he didn’t know) concerning Marilyn Monroe and JFK the film leaves us wanting to know more. What about all the other stories he covered? We only see book and story titles with no indication of what is behind them. Is it bad? Far from it but where most other docs will bluff you into thinking you know enough, COVERUP makes damn sure we know there is way too much that we don’t know.  Why wasn’t this at least two parts?

If there is any real flaw is the endless fascination with his notes. Why are the filmmakers so intent on showing his illegible notes? There is no real reason given, other than he takes copious amounts of them with details. More important is why do they want to show them when Herch says that it could get some killed. Laura Poitras should know better than to grandstand, since seeing the pages adds nothing to the story and only creates a false sense of drama.

While Hersh deserves better, this film will do until we get a more detailed film.

Nightcap 12/14/25 Awards, yes and no; rewatching old movies

As this posts I never want to see another award ever again.

Actually, I’d like not to see another film ever again.

This award season I am just movied out. It is understandable I did heavy (but reduced) coverage of DOC NYC, then I went into finishing up my work with the Indie Awards which required heavy documentary viewing. This crossed into the awards season and being a member of NYFCO I had to watch way too many films to be able to vote in a timely manner. While I didn’t get to everything, I did get to most of the “”important films” but I still have a ton of films I’d love to get to but I don’t have the time.

And it’s not that I am tired of movies, I’m tired of having to watch movies at someone else’s pace. Outside of SPINAL TAP 2 (Which is terrible) I haven't seen a movie in about four  days.

Not to worry I have a film a day set to go into mid August… and I am still watching movies so look at my catch up reviews to run into January.

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Not that anyone cares- I don't think there will be any Unseen Film Awards this year. Its not for a lack of desire, but it's more that I don't think I can put it together.   

Originally it was the best film the Unseen Films family saw, but after viewing habits changed and a lot of the family moved from writing it morphed into other things like films that made us happy during lock down or the best unseen film. I tried to make it inclusive, but getting people to respond has been a battle and I'm not up to it right now.

I'm seeing some of the family over the next couple of weeks and I'll see if we can come up with something to keep it going. (If it were to happen it would be another year of the best unseen films)

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Every time we talk Peter Gutierrez and I trade old movies to watch for free on streaming. He’s been visiting old horror movies from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s and I’ve been bouncing in and out of the programmers and B films from the early 60’s backward trying to decompress from the  spate of recent films.

My recent choices have been trying to rewatch some of the German Edgar/Bryan Wallace films (the black and white ones if you please) which are just wonderfully moody films with people like Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee appearing here and there. They are great modern analogs to the old dark house films of the 30’s and 40’s . except instead of old dark house we’ve got moody London by way of some German stand in city.

I’m also rewatching the various Eddie Constantine films (including the Lemmy Caution ones). Constantine may have been the coolest dude in films. He didn’t act much, he didn’t have to because the force of personality was so strong. What kills me is that I know some people who dismiss him because he is the “the same” in every film, never realizing that he made some amazing films such as MAN AND CHILD, POISON IVY,  SOS PACIFIC, and the "how is this not a classic" HAIL MAFIA that are damn fine thrillers/crime dramas. Constantine could kick ass when he was given a solid script and a director/producer who cared

The other thing I’m revisiting is the Jerry Cotton films from the 60’s and 70’s. George Nader is Cotton, a kind of American James Bond. Yea the films are uneven, but they are always entertaining and worth a look.

I’ve reviewed all of the Cotton films as well as a good chunk of the Constantine and Wallace films if you want to see what I liked.

(I’d also recommend the Kommisar X films which are lower budget James Bond riffs that are very un PC)

Most of the Wallace reviews can be found here.

The Jerry Cotton reviews are here

The Eddie Cinstantine reviews are here

The Kommisar X films are here

and some films, particularly Constantine and Wallace, may not include all the titles because I was reviewing them before I created a tag and may have missed them when I went back. Additionally I have more Constantine films coming soon

DAWN OF THE DOGMAN (2025)

 

For those intrigued by Michigan’s legendary Dogman, or really for anyone with an abiding interest in cryptids generally, Seth Breedlove’s new doc is something of a must-see. At a perfectly paced 77 minutes, DAWN OF THE DOGMAN never overstays its welcome and covers its subject with just the right mix of depth and breadth.

Is it the definitive film about this bipedal canine whose legend has grown steadily over the past few decades? Possibly. I’m not enough of an expert to weigh in on that, but it certainly feels like it could be. And that speaks to a key part of what works here: the script nicely balances how it serves audience segments by offering a lot for both Dogman veterans (fans?) and total newbies. For the former, who may already be familiar with some of these sightings, there are many new and compelling eyewitness interviews; for the latter, there’s plenty of thoughtful context, including both historical and geographical looks at Michigan that are interesting in their own right.       

What should unite all camps in their enjoyment, though, is the deep and pervasive sense of mystery that’s present. While all the everyday Michiganders and well-known researchers and journalists speak in tones hushed or awestruck, and while all the b-roll footage of dense and dark woods loops and lopes, a chill descends on the viewer. You’ll find yourself responding to the cumulative weight of all the testimonies, the evocative visuals, and the laidback narration. You’ll be drawn in, and you’ll feel something—perhaps the same feeling that originally drew you to cryptids and the unknown more broadly.  

Could a few creative choices have been reconsidered? Sure. The AI-generated opening, while thoughtfully done for AI, strikes the wrong note in terms of both credibility and aesthetics. And do some of the stunning, comics-style graphics repeat themselves twenty or thirty minutes after their first appearance? Again yes, and I’m guessing that’s a function of the film’s limited, crowdfunded budget. These are minor quibbles, however, in the face of what’s certainly an impressive achievement relative to its modest means. Breedlove has apparently made several docs along these lines, so now you’ll have to excuse me as I busy myself seeking them out...

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DAWN OF THE DOGMAN is currently streaming on Apple TV, Prime Video and Google Play.

THE SMASHING MACHINE (2025)

Dwayne Johnson proves he can do more than be an action star in the true story of MMA fighter Mark Kerr.  The film is based on a documentary profile from 20 years ago about Ker's rise and fall and problem with prescription drugs.

Yes Johnson is great as Kerr, but beyond that the film never answers the important question of "why are you telling me this?"  The film doesn't seem to know since the film is almost an anti sports film with the focus being on the people and the fights simply a means to enhance Kerr's story. The result is this is basically an every person story about a guy who beats people up.

I hate to say this, but I'm not surprised that the film didn't do well at the box office  since the film doesn't have a reason to exist. It's no bad, but when it ends you'll want to watch something that's actually exciting.

Catchup Capsules : ZOOTOPIA 2 and ELIO

ZOOTOPIA 2
Disney mega hit is not up to the first film. The film film follows the fox and rabbit as they are made partners on the police force. You'll forgive the lack of the details regarding the plot but it's a barely sketched in idea. The reality is this is a series of set pieces placed side by side. They are a great deal of fun on their own terms, but without something to bind them together  the film is less than the some of it's parts ... or particularly memorable.

ELIO
This should have been the best Pixar film but they balked and the film has great things in it but I so wish it was better.

The film is about a boy named Elio whose parents have died He is staying with his aunt who is the military. Elio feels an outsider and wishes to be kidnapped by aliens... and then he is.

The character of Elio breaks my heart. He is a kid I relate to. I feel his feeling of being an outsider and wanting to get away and find a place where he belongs in a physical way. He is one of the best drawn character is a Pixar or Disney film. He truly is an outsider. What happens to him is really good and I liked it.

What I wanted to talk about is the fact that apparently Disney and Pixar balked at what the film was. While it wasn't going to be in the forefront, Elio was going to be a queer kid. The film was going to have clues. The execs paniced. The references were cut and modifications were made. What should have been a great film about a queer kid was just about a kid...though if you watch the film knowing that Elio was supposed to be gay, the film becomes kind of crushing, with Elio's isolation making more sense.

To be fair I need to see the film again, because I need to see the film on it's own terms away from any notion of what might have been. 

Worth a look.

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB (2025) opens December 17 at Film Forum

This is the true story of the Red Crescent call center workers who desperately try to rescue a six year old girl trapped in a car in Gaza after it was shot up by Israeli forces. Her uncle, aunt and cousins were all killed, but Hind was left alive and unable to leave. Because of the violent situation in Gaza and the need to try and get safe passage the rescuers who were eight minutes away had to wait hours to attempt a rescue  

When I heard about the film I wasn't certain what I thought since the voice on the calls is actually Hind's. Was it being used for sensationalism or because it needed to be there. Having seen the film, it needed to be there. There is no way that another voice would have worked as well. Does the film do anything "sensational",  not really. Even the video and photos at the end are not too much since, we never leave the call center, it makes clear the insanity of what happened.

Do not go into this film looking for happy since this is as bleak a film as you will see all year. As I said right after I saw the film, politics aside there is no way that you can not be moved by this film.  This is more or less straight reporting of what happened when a call came in.

That the film works as well as it does is because of the cast. These are the best performances you will see all year. I would gladly give Motas Malhees, as the man who gets the inital call,  the award for best actor now but I think the academy will ignore him. Saja Kilanic will also get ignored as his boss for Best Actress despite giving a performance for the ages.

Trust me when I say my words can nowhere near match the power of this film. Forget the politics, this is just a portrait of humanity under fire.

A must see.

Dead Man's Wire (2025)

Gus Van Sant returns to the big screen with a film that feels like it was made back in the 1970’s. The film is the story of Tony Kiritsis who took a bank executive hostage by tying a shotgun to the man’s head with a wire. Kiritsis then turned everything into a media circus in order to get his point across that he was screwed by the bank and that its practices were at best predatory and at worst criminal.

Feeling like a slice of life 50 years ago, the film feels like the world I walked through in 1977 when I was a teenager. Nothing seems off. I say this up front because there have been several films recently (I’m looking at you MASTERMIND) that were set in the 70’s and felt like dress up.  While Van Sant mirrors the actual events, he doesn’t go for exact recreations of the video from the event with the result the film feels alive and not just a tableau. He also keeps the film feeling pitch perfect because he makes sure the film has the innocence of the time. The events happened because we are not as security conscious as we are now. What happened was because of when things happened and we are willing to go with it partly because this is what happened but also because we never get lost in cynicism.

The cast is first rate and to be honest outside of Bill Skarsgård as Kiritsis and Al Pacino as the owner of the bank, I had no idea who anyone was because they disappeared into their roles.

I like how Van Sant managed to keep the tension and yet keep the inherent humor.  This is a dangerous situation but there is a genuine absurdity to it all. We laugh and we wince, and we are forced to think at the insanity of events that transpired to make iritsis have to resort to taking a man hostage to be heard. If this was today, we probably would have had another Luigi Mangione case.

Van Sant also masterfully uses music to accent everything. Using period appropriate needle drops to move us. I never expected to hear several of the songs in a context of a hostage drama, but it works.

What an absolute gem of a film.

I have no idea how this will fare at the box office when it opens but I think this film will have a long life down the road as filmmakers see what Van Sant and his crew have done and as real life bends around more and more making the story of Kiritsis relevant to what is happening in the world today.

Highly recommended.

Radu Jude's DRACULA (2025)

Radu Jude's all over the place take on Dracula has some amazing things in it but  wraps the good things with bad  and is wildly too long and rambling to hold together.

The film feels like Jude had all these ideas about Dracula and Vlad Tepes, the inspiration for Stoker's character but he didn't know what to do with them so he through them all together. At the same time he had all these ideas on other things like AI so he put them them in there too. Thoughts appear and then disappear. We remember the things that punch through and shine and forget the rest. My over riding feeling coming out on the far end is that the film has moments but nothing hangs together.

Full disclosure, I am not a Jude fan. I find his film's tough slogs, his BAD LUCK BANGING and DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD were in desperate need of an editor, much like his DRACULA. He seems to think more is more even when it's garbage. Quite honestly I am convinced that he is scamming the cineastes who adore him by bullshitting them into thinking his works mean something. This is the result of dealing with way too many artists who scammed their patrons for big bucks.

That said, for all the messiness and crap it contains DRACULA is probably Jude's most interesting film, though I never need to see it agin.

Catch up Capsules : JAY KELLY and IT'S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY

JAY KELLY
I'm certain it's intentional but Noah Baumbach's look at celebrity with George Clooney and Adam Sandler feels like the wrong sort of fake. Filled with slick scenes and dialog that never feels real this feels more like an inflated theater piece where the arch dialog would work. For me it's fake people wandering around wondering why they live in a fake world. I am not a Baumbach fan but I can't believe that even he turned out something this superficial.

IT'S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY
This portrait of the late singer songwriter did something I didn't think possible, it made me like him less. Stylistically told its more form over content. I was watching what it was doing more than what it was saying. I have Buckley albums, but to me too much of the music choices feel of a type and not quite as expansive as I would have liked. Any film that made me dislike Hallelujah is not to be trusted

Catch-up Capsules: EDDINGTON and WEAPONS

EDDINGTON
A battle between a sheriff and a mayor destroys the town of Eddington during covid.
Early front runner in the Oscar race is a complete head scratcher. Ari Aster maybe an interesting guy to hear speak (I've seen him talk about other people's films) but he makes films that leave me wondering how he got funding.  Yea this film is an effort to confront the issues faciung the world today but it's so obvious and messy thqat I can't believe anyone takes it serious.
Best of the Year? Oh hell no.

WEAPONS
This  fragmented tale about the disappearance of kids late one night, supernatural powers and evil was billed as one of scariest films of the year.  I giggled a lot. The performances by the kids are wildly uneven so by the time the film riffs a classic death from DAY OF THE DEAD with kids I was well past thinking of it as anything other than a comedy.

Brief thoughts on WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED (2024)

Mexico's entry for the Oscars has an older attorney who has been attempting to find out what happened to her brother in the protests of 1968 receiving some information that sends he down a rabbit hole. 

Dry black comedy/drama is a mannered affair. Shot in a moody black and white it has the feel of a film that is trying to be something more than a comedy. I was amused for the most part and I interested enough that I wanted to see where it was going. At the same time there was something about the presentation that didn't connect to me and I felt outside of the action.

At the same time there is enough here to recommend it because I think if nothing else, you'll be like me and like the film.

Three opening this week: ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU, SERIOUS PEOPLE and OUR HAPPY PLACE

ALL THATS LEFT OF YOU
The Oscar entry from Jordan is the story of a Palestinian family over the course of 70 years. Its a heartbreaking tale of the pains suffered the people of Palestine. 

I was moved.

As good as the film is on it's own terms I wish this film was being released earlier in the year or some time down the road since I beleieve this is the fourth film using the history of Palestine to tell the story of the current situation. 

SERIOUS PEOPLE
A video director hires a man to direct families in his stead so he can spend time with his family. Unfortunately, things go sideways.

Mannered inde comedy is one you are either going to love or hate depending upon how you connect to it. Long takes and a desire to be more than just a comedy make this film something atypical. For example, the whole opening sequence of what seems like an actual casting session gives the film a sense of documentary, that drifts in and out of the film that made it feel a bit odd.  I never clicked with the vibe and not all of the humor worked for me. At the same time, I know people who saw this on the festival circuit who loved it.

Worth a try for the adventurous.

OUR HAPPY PLACE
A woman caring for her husband keeps waking up in the woods with no memory of how she got there and vague sense of disturbing visions.

Released on VOD, Ive revisited this film because I didn't think I had seen it and I was in the mood for a good thriller.  Almost instantly I realized I had seen it before (though never wrote it up) but decided to stay with it because I needed a palate cleanse from all the awards films I'm watching.

This is a small little thriller that doesn't reinvent the wheel but simply entertains. While that may not sound like much, consider that I chose to stay with it a second time despite having some of the biggest films of the year waiting in a pile demanding my attention to be seen.

Recommended

Belen (2025)

Belen is the true story of a woman who was charged and sent to prison because authorities said she had tried to self abort a child. She said she didn’t know she was pregnant, the police didn’t believe her (and the result is  one of the most jaw dropping sequences in any film this year)

Argentina’s Oscar entry is a stunner. Even if it wasn’t true this film would kick you to the curb. It’s a beautifully acted film that gets under your skin and forces you to react. I was moved.

And the film is very much a film for our time. With the far right trying to control the lives of everyone and everything what happened in Argentina may soon happen here.

This is great filmmaking.

Highly recommended

THE MOTHER, THE MENACER, AND ME | Available Digitally Starting 12/11

This is the story about a no budget filmmaker trying to make a film about the killer called the MENACER, while dealing with his wife, and his mother and law.

This is an amusing little film about the pain and suffering involved in trying to be an artist. Can a filmmaker actually do what they were born to do? It's not always clear. I laughed. 

Worth a look

MOB WAR: PHILADELPHIA VS THE MAFIA

Mob War is a super little series looking at the mob in Philadelphia, sprcifically the battle .between John Stanfa and Joey Merlino in the '90s  The series is a refreshing break from the organized crime films that primarily focus on the mob in New York.  Blame that on John Gotti who made the New York mob fashionable even as it effectively destroyed it.

Focusing on the period when federal and local authorities decided to try and run the bad guys out of town, the film paints a portrait of a city that seemed to be under the control of the mob. The series follows how the up-and-coming mobsters tried to push out the old crowd as the cops came calling.

I had a great time with this. Living in New York it was so nice to hear a true-life gangster story that wasn’t one I had heard a thousand time before. It was also nice not to hear about Whitey Bulger yet again.

Running a brief 3 episodes the truth is this is kind of too short. There is more history here and it would have been great to hear more stories about the Phillie mob.

Recommended.

PIG HILL (2025)

 

A young woman begins to look into a series od strange disappearances in her town with the help of her brother and a friend. The disappearances appear to have something to do with “the pig people” a legendary bunch of people who do terrible things.

This is a nifty little thriller. I’m not going to say it breaks any new ground, but I will happily say that the film instead takes something similar to tales we’ve heard before and dresses it up so well that we fall in love it. There is a reason that some frequently told tales are more loved than others and it is in the hands of the storyteller. In this case it’s director Kevin Lewis who shows after the very fun WILLIE’S WONDERLAND that he is one of the best directors working today.  Lewis has made two great popcorn films and his work will make you want to see what he is doing next.

I had a blast watching this and I wish I had seen it at a packed festival screening where the energy of a similarly focused group of people makes it something greater. I will be seeing this again.

This film is a blast

Recommended.

How To Become a Mob Boss

Peter Dinklage narrates a how-to tale of what to do and what not to do if you want to be a mob boss. Focusing on the careers of various people (Whitey Bulger, Capone, Gotti, Carlos Escobar) the film charts what makes a successful boss.

This is a good look at the lives of various mob bosses and their various levels of success. It’s an informative way of doing things since it allows for the filmmakers to connect things up in unexpected ways. I was intrigued by how they did it.  I was also intrigued by the fact that their definition is kind of relative since none of the people profiled remained free, or alive.  Watching the episode on John Gotti I was struck by how he would have felt since he is repeatedly listed as the guy you didn’t want to emulate.

I originally put the series on because I wanted something “easy” to watch. I figured that it would be a bunch of stories I had heard. However the series surprised me by telling me a few tales of the early days of the mob I hadn’t heard before. I was hooked and what was supposed to be a leisurely walk through the series became a gallop.

I had a good time, though I dislike that the length of the episodes get shorter as the series goes on., with the final three running around 30 minutes.

Shortness of episodes or no this is a series that’s worth your time.

International Oscar Hopefuls: TARIKA and PALESTINE 36

TARIKA (The Herd)
This soul crushing magical realistic tale is the Bulgarian Oscar entry.  The film is the story of a father and daughter living in the country side. They are outsiders and not really trusted. Traika, has developed butterfly wings disease, a condition that makes her bones brittle. Complicating matters is the fact that the village thinks the girl is cursed and the source of the bad luck that seems to have befallen the town.

Told largely through action not words, TARIKA is a tale of what it means to be a paret and how the the herd mentality can over take reason. Its a deliberately told tale that you have to go with and pay attention to because what it important is told in actions and not words. There are long silences. If you can go with its rhythms will leave you broken at then end

Recommended

PALESTINE 36
Palestine's entry to the Oscars is the story of a young man caught up in the politics and tensions of 1930's Palestine, where the influx of European Jews is turning the status quo upside down.

This is a solid historical drama that takes the current vogue of Palestine before the Second World War tales and tries to tell a large story than that of a family caught in the march of history. I mention this because PALESTINE 36 is one of a half dozen or more films that have come out this year set in the same period, and one of at least three that is in the Oscar mix.

Of many films of a similar subject this is probably the most conventionally told, but it is also the one trying to tell a larger scale story. We are introduced to a swath of people from various groups and we are given a wider look at the politics of what is going on.

While just as good as the other films on the subject, it stands out for not taking a similar path. At the same time it is hurt by being clumped together with films that are less conventional. Don't get me wrong, I like the film, but at the same time seeing it at the end of the year in the midst of Oscar talk, I found it hard to take on it's own terms. That said I will revisit down the road.

My peronal quibbles aside PALESTNE 36 is worth a look.

100 LITERS OF GOLD (2024)

From Teemu Nikki whose previous THE BLIND MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO SEE TITANIC comes the Finnish entry for the Oscars. It's the tale of two sisters who are known for brewing the best sahti ale. Asked to make some ale for a wedding they end up drinking it all themselves and have to scramble to find more.

Nominally a comedy this is a film that is more real then a comedy: Characters are broken, many are alcoholic in a very real way, life is messy.  Laughs come out of reality, as do the gut punches. It a film that moves you in all sorts of unexpected ways. 

To be completely honest I'm at a loss to know what its oscar chances are. It is most certainly a great film but it's not a film that behaves like a typical film.  its gloriously messy like life. Even saying its a black comedy doesn't prepare you for the real life edge to it.

The reality is this is one of the great finds of the year. Its a film unlike anything else you'll see all year.  It's proof that Teemu Nikki is one of the best directors working today. Like BLIND MAN, 100 LITERS forces us to see the world in an entirely new way.

Highly recommended.