Good Boy (2024)

GOOD BOY is a nice little film. It’s the story of a young man who is about to commit a robbery only to have someone from his past appear. As the day goes on things go more and more sideways as still more people appear. 

Oscar short listed film is a tour de force for Ben Whishaw who just breaks apart as life shows that some times the best laid plans will never happen. The film survives because of his performance. He sells the insanity and makes us believe in what is happening. 

Currently n Disney + GOOD BOY is worth 15 minutes of your time.

Hood Witch (2024)

Mother and son who smuggle exotic animals end up in deep trouble and on the run.

This a tense little thriller that score points by not being like most other films out there. Set in a world most films never show us this is a place where everyone is connected by technology and where old beliefs still hold sway. Personal feelings and petty jealousy trump rational thought, and the result is a film where the mood is off. We aren't in Hollywood or even in the world of many European filmmakers but something made from a different point of view. The result is a film that grabs us and pulls us into a vice grip hold.

I loved this film. I loved that it didn't behave like anything that I've seen recently. Its a film that breaths and is alive and isn't a carbon copy of everything else.

I know this isn't a deep and detailed review, and I'm sorry about that, but the truth is that HOOD WITCH deserves to be seen on t's own terms and taken for what it is. I did not have any real idea of what the film was about and I think that helped the film feeling special. From the opening moments when the mother and son went through customs I realized I had no idea where this was going to go and it was a feeling that made me love the film more. It's something I want tou to feel so all I'm going to say is - if you hate the typical mainstream movies- see HOOD WITCH to have atrip to somewhere else.

A CURSED MAN (2024) Premiering in LA Saturday, March 22nd and VOD on Tueday the 25th

Filmmaker Liam Le Guillou investigates whether or not there is anything to spirituality and the supernatural by having a cursed placed on himself…and then he tries to have it removed.

This is an intriguing documentary that actually shows the various ceremonies that Le Guillou is part of. It’s so atypical that the film begins with a warning saying that the filmmakers are not responsible if anything bad or strange happens to the viewer after watching the film.

For me the most interesting part of the film is not the ceremonies  but the discussions that happen around them. The confused nature of the various shaman, priests and practitioners is gripping. Their confusion that anyone would want to put themselves into any sort of danger intentionally or not is very real, if one wants proof of something why put yourself in danger to do so?

I liked A CURSED MAN. I liked that it didn’t cut away from the various ceremonies. I liked that there was serious discussions about the mature of the “supernatural”. In the age of flashy cable TV shows that amp up and over sell every moment, I like that the film was tethered to reality.

Worth a look.

ANY DAY NOW (2025)

Off beat comedy crime drama that is nominally about the Boston art robbery from ---- that still remains unsolved. The reality is it is a look at a bunch of guys who are on the fringes who are just trying to get out of their own way.

The plot of the film has a hood (Paul Guilfoyle) making the acquaintance of a security guard in an art museum (Taylor Gray). He’s deeply in debt and  Guilfoyle has an offer for him that could solve his problem.

This is a small gem of a film that isn’t what you expect. I don’t think the trailer or the official write ups do this justice. The reality is this film that is its own thing. It doesn’t really follow the typical plot lines and instead give us a collection of atypical characters who don’t do the typical gangster sort of things.  Actually this plays closer to life than the movies with everyone being people rather than characters.

Honestly I had a blast with this. I loved the characters and I loved that we weren’t going down the same crime riddled road that most other American gangster film gives us.  We aren’t watching a film full of cliched characters.

Is this the greatest thing since sliced bread? No, but god damn is it entertaining.

I should give one word of warning, that while the film is billed as a comedy it’s not fall down funny. There are some off kilter laughs, but it’s not a straight comedy. Its also not a straight on thriller either, as I said it is its own thing.

Recommended

FAIRY CREEK (2025)

This is a look at the Fairy Creek Protests in Canada which resulted in 1200 arrests when the protesters attempted to stop the logging of old growth forest.

This is an absolutely beautiful film  about the right/need to maintain nature and it’s beauty. It’s a film that goes deep into the protests showing us the protesters and the members of the First Nation fighting to maintain the forest.  It’s a film that demands to be seen on a big screen where the images can truly give you a sense of what is being fought over.

While the arc of the film is largely what you expect, the film still holds our attention because of the urgency of the telling.

I really liked the film.

Recommended- more so if you can see this on a truly BIG screen.

Secret Mall Aprtment (2024) opens Friday

 

Jeremy Workman's latest film is a great deal of fun. It is the story of how a group artists built a secret apartment in the Providence Place Mall in 2023 and managed to remain there undetected for four years.

The press notes tell the story of how Workman had become friends with Michael Townsend in Greece. They were talking and Michael began to tell the story of how he and his friends had built this apartment in a mall that no one knew about and lived there for four years. Workman was entranced by the tale. However when Michael dropped the bomb that they and filmed the whole thing he knew he had to do something with the story. 

Continuing the wonderful run of films about people and stories you may or may not have heard about but should have, director Jeremy Workman brings us another delight. This is a film that is going to change how you look at public spaces. You will end up asking yourself could someone be hiding just outside of view. 

Explaining how it happened and why it might never happen again (circumstances collided correctly)  the film introduces us to some really fun people and lets us hang out with them as they relive this crazy thing they did. It's a film that will make you talk out loud as you lean in to see what is going to happen next.

I had an absolute blast watching this.

You'll forgive me for not saying too much about what happens, but so much of the delight of the film is seeing the things that happen along the way.

Easily one of the best films at this year's SXSW, it is highly recommended.

FISHBOWL (2023) is released Friday

 

Isel Rodriguez gives a staggering performance In THE FISHBOWL a film about a young woman trying to decide how to deal with the cancer that has reoccurred.

The plot of the film had Noelia (Rodriguez) running out on her partner and back home to her mother when it's clear her cancer is no longer in remission. There she reconnects with friends and family and ponders the damage done to the small island by the American military which left the landscape littered with unexploded bombs and poison.

While the script juggles way too many plot threads for a 90 minute film, we continue to watch and stay focused on what's happening because we fall in love with Rodriguez's performance. She lets it all hang out and we feel her pain, both physical and emotional. She brings us in and holds us close and as a result we are there for the duration. As a character study this film can't be beat.

This is one of my favorite films from  Sundance 2023

Recommended

AUM: THE CULT AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2023) opens Wednesday

This is the best film that I've seen on the Aum cult. I don't say that lightly having seen a good number of films both from the US and from Japan.

For those who don't know, the Aum cult gained infamy when the the cult released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway.  It was a move that put the group into spotlight that revealed all their dirty laundry. 

This film will tell you everything you want to know about the cult and then some. More importantly the film does what most other films doesn't do and that is put the cult into the context of Japan and the world.  The film also tells is clearly and susinctly what happened and why.  This is important because there have been several other docs that got lost in the teachings or lost talking to cult members

I loved this movie. This was the first time that I saw something on the cult where I didn't come away feeling they left something out.

If you love true crime this film is a must.

Devil's Stay (2025)

After a "succesful" exorcism results in the death of a young girl, weird thngs begin to happen at the funeral and it soon transpires that the demon that inhabited her never left.

I need to say at the out set that my having recently seen the similar Korean exorcism film DARK NUNS affected how I feel about this film. While the plots are not really similar there are enough simularities, owing to the subgenre of horror, that I found myself comparing them. That's not really fair but it happened.

The reason it happened is that this film has very deliberate structure. The film starts with a truly frightening sequence where the sounds of an exorcism fills a families house. Its one of the most chilling sequences of the last few years and it sets the stage for what is to come. After the explosive first sequence the film switches modes to a slow burn tale that slowly builds to the conclusion. While the slow build is fine unto itself it suffers from having come after a gangbusters sequence. My interest waivered.

This isn't to suggest that the film is bad or doesn't work, more that you need patience until the film clicks again. Once it does its creepy again.

My own reservations aside I had a good time and I look forward to hunkering down with the film again on some dark and rainy night.

Recommended.

Misericordia (2024) opens Friday

Alain Guiraudie's MISERICORDIA starts off as if wants to be a Hitchcockian thriller,  but it not so quickly descends into bedroom farce where it should have been from the start.

The film begins when a former employee man comes to the home of his former employer for his funeral and he ends up committing murder. Things become complicated as he tries to not let anyone know what happened.

Never getting the tone right MISERICORDIA flounders for much of it's running time. Not much happens. And up to a certain point you will be asking if it is this a comedy or a thriller? It isn't clear until almost the very end. 

Complicating everything is the fact that Guiraudie doesn't tell us anything about any of the characters. Lots of details are not in the film, such as the lead character being a former employee. Everyone has a back story they clearly know but at the same time we are not let in to any of it. What exactly is everyone's relationship? I have no clue because it isn't in the film (it is all revealed the press notes). The characters aren't cipher's they are voids.

It isn't until the murder happens that the questions as toi what is happening stop because we get a sort of narrative thrust. And it isn't until the film falls fully into farce that the film finds it's tone. But by that time the film is a complete mess even if we are laughing at it. (And don't bring the kids since erections are used as punchlines twice)

Yea I kind of liked it but this really should have been better.

Worth a shot

Remaining Native (2025) SWSW 2025

This is is a portrait of Ku Stevens, a 17 year old young man  living on the Yerington Paiute reservation in Nevada. He is a long distance runner who dreams of going to the University of Oregon. As Stevens trains and tries to get noticed by college recruiters he ponders his great grandfather  who fled one of infamous religious schools designed to make Native American children into good little Christian kids.  His grandfather ran 50 miles into the desert to find his freedom, its a story that haunts him.

This winner at SXSW is a good portrait of a young man trying to come to terms with the present while reclaiming his family's history. It's a good portrait of a good young man trying to make a difference. It's also a film that makes the story of the children much more real than many other documentaries that deal with the stolen childen that keep things at arms length. 

If you are interesteted in the tragedy of Native American children and a want to see a great bio, then this film is for you.

A Pause

 I mentioned a week or so ago I was running behind in my posting. The good news is I've kind of caught up.

The bad news is that getting there, coupled with couple of slates full ofilms that left me wondering "why am I still watching this crap" and watching the souless corporate disaster ELECTRIC STATE have made me need to step back. I need to step away from the steady diet of PR prepared cinematic choices. I need to watch more movies for me for a while.

Yes I will review the New Directors Titles I have and I will finish the other titles I requested (many of which I genuinely am interested in) but I taking a break and mostly doing me movies

What this means is after this week and into early April look for the quantity of pieces to fall. Hopefully the quality will go back up because there are a couple of up coming pieces that I cobbled together from hope and bullshit. The feeling positive or negative is genuine, but the pieces should have been just two sentences long not several paragraphs.

Now to begin to do fun stuff and look at Matt's list of titles so we can try this podcast thing again

Liz Whittemore on American Dreamer (2022) which is getting a Digital Download from 17th March in the UK

 With AMERICAN DREAMER getting a digital download in the UK, here is Liz Whittemore's review from 2022's Tribeca

There’s something about Peter Dinklage that makes him a brilliant leading man. Tribeca 2022 film American Dreamer is another example of his ability to captivate on screen. In Paul Dektor‘s feature directorial debut, Dinklage plays adjunct social economics professor and lecturer Dr. Phil Loder. As he speaks eloquently to his students, we witness a sly Indian Jones hommage from the front row. Perusing real estate porn, as so many of us do regularly, Phil is serious about finding his slice of heaven and stability in his career. Chasing tenure and respect, he stumbles across a deal in the classifieds that seems too good to be true. With the assistance of his smarmy real estate agent, played to perfection by Matt Dillon, Phil purchases an enormous estate. But there is a catch. His contract contains a “live-in” clause for the previous owner. 

Phil has sold his soul to a woman named Astrid. Thought to be on her deathbed, unpredictable circumstances lead Phil to hire a private detective (Danny Glover) while navigating a complicated relationship with Astrid and her skeptical daughter Maggie. The script dives into the mythic “American Dream” and what the concept means to each of us. Screenwriter Theodore Melfi allows MacLaine and Dinklage to do their proverbial thing. I was hypnotized by the ease of their scenes together. 

Shirley MacLaine brings her truest form with sass and spitfire. Her ability to make you smirk and piss you off is a gift. She’s a legend, and Dinklage keeps pace at every turn. Peter Dinklage has mastered the art of charming his costars and the audience. After watching him in Cyrano, his sex symbol status became solidified. In American Dream, Melfi and Dektor allow him to woo in only the way Peter can woo. Picturing him as a man that constantly has women in the palm of his hand is sheer perfection. His comic timing is unmatched. The magic permeates throughout his fully fleshed-out portrayal of a flawed man.

American Dreamer wins with a great score and soundtrack, stunning locations, funny fantasy sequences, and some clever transitions in the form of novel chapters. I had no idea where this plot was going, and damnit, that’s rare. It is easy to say that it is one of my Top 3 films from the festival this year. I cannot wait for larger audiences to experience this beguiling comedy when it inevitably gets distribution. You’re gonna love it.

Nora (2025) Cinequest 2025

A woman who gave up her singing career for a family, begins to rethink the choice when her husband goes on tour and leaves her to be a single mom.

Anna Campbell is a one woman band writing,diecting, starring and compsing NORA and should celebrated for doing so. There is some really good moments here and I want to see what comes next.

At the same time the film has one problems that hurts it.  The problem wth the film is the intergration of the music into the tale. While the performance sequences are fine, there are other sequences that are music videos. These sequences don't really feel as part of the film. They feel like the sequences were  created by someone not connected to the rest of the film. It feels like Campbells script was written with spaces left for the insertion of a musical sequence. Its not fatal but it hurts the film.

Uneven insertion of music aside NORA is worth a look.

Voices Carry (2025) Cinequest 2025

 

A Sam and Jack retreat to Sam’s ancestral home. There she becomes reacquainted with her childhood neighbor and she finds an old diary- which triggers weird feelings and strange experiences.

This is a well-made, if very low key thriller about the unwinding of a young woman.  The cast is excellent with Jeremy Holm shining as the eccentric neighbor. It’s a cozy film that pulls us in and drags us along.

As good as the film is the film’s low key nature works against it. The plot is similar to other supernatural thrillers so with out a heavy dose of suspense the film, while good, is less compelling than it should be.  The truth of the matter is that the film isn’t just a thriller, it is rooting around and examining Sam’s life and mental state. The film doesn’t just want to scare but also wants us to think. That sets the film nicely apart from the rest of the pack, but it will disappoint anyone who wants a nail biting thriller.

I liked the film and if you want something that isn’t your typical thriller, it is recommended.

Deeper (2025) SXSW 2025

This is a portrait of Dr Richard Harris, best known as one of the divers who rescued the Thai soccer team who got trapped in the  flood cave with no way out. The film charts his life and accomplishments as he prepares to go deeper into the Pearse Resurgence, a flooded cave in New Zealand. 

This is a good, if routinely told tale, made interesting by the gorgeous photography. You are going to want to see this film on a big screen  because the cave diving images will take your breath away.  

I really liked this film a great deal. Sure it covers a bunch of the material that previous cave rescue films covered but it expands them and fills out Harris's story with the dive into the Resurgence.

Recommended, more so if you want to see some truly spectacular dive sequences.

The truly great anti-war film/ horror movie Operation Undead (2024) hits home video Tuesday

The programmers of NYAFF have buried one of their best films in the late night slot which is a shame because people other than night owls deserve to see this glorious rethink of the zombie genre.

Set during the Second World War the film has the Thai government surrendering to the Japanese after they see the effect of a new chemical weapon that turns people into zombie like beings. The turned men are faster, largely unkillable and cannibalistic. The idea is that there will be a brief show of resistance and the surrender-but the the brief skirmish releases one of the test subjects who quickly begins to turn the Thai soldiers and civilians.

What starts off as an amusing film turns by degrees darker as it becomes a bloodbath and then into a brutally sad film as some of those turned have animalistic cravings but also their morals and memories. They continue to do terrible things but can't stop themselves. It's crushing.

Brilliantly made, it is wonderful rethink of the the zombie genre that gives us much to think about even as the blood and guts are flying. It is a very serious very well thought out pondering about the cost of war and violence on ourselves and out psyches. (It's a blood relative to Ted Geoghegan's BROOKLYN 45 because of the similar themes)

While I am certain that some people are not going to like some of the more serious turns, the film stands tall because of it's refusal to play by anyone's , even the genres rules. If you can accept that you are going to end up having found one of the great anti-war films of the last few years, not to mention one hell of a horror film

Highly recommended

BEING MARIA (2024) Rendezvous with French Cinema 2025

This is a look at actress Maria Schneider before, during and after the making of THE LAST TANGO IN PARIS.

I'm not certain what I'm supposed to think about this film. The film is focused on the troubled life of Schneider during an infamous period in her life, and it seems to wallow in the unahappiness of her life. I know the shooting of the film was unpleasant, but this film seems skewed to make sure we feel that. The film doesn't feel like it's being a fair apprasial of her life. Things seem to be too cut and dried, the complexity of her life is reduced to bullet points. 

The film might have worked better had the filmmaking been better. Looking and feeling like the wrong sort of low budget film the film never feels real. Yes, the cast is fine, including Matt Dillion who frequently nails being Marlon Brando, the script works against them (see the bullet point reference above)

I don't know if I can recommend it this film, it's just not what it should have been.

Zodiac Killer Project (2024) First Look 2024

When Charlie Shakleton's plans for a documentary about the Zodiac killings centered around a certain book on the crime are squashed when the rights are withheld, he instead regroups and gives us an explanation of what the film would have been.

This is kind of like an illustrated lecture or illustrated podcast as Shackleton's voice over explains the things we are seeing (I would have used ia shot like this to begin the film). The film is weirdly hypnotic as we fall into his tale trying to make the film and his view of the Zodiac killings.  The result is a film that echoes the work of Patrick Kiellor's Robinson films or the early work of Peter Greenaway, except that this is more or less a straight on documentary.

I was locked into the film during it's run time. Being a  true crime nerd with an interest in the Zodiac case I was intrigued by how Shackleton put it all together. Additionally somewhere in the middle of the film that had this been a conventional film it would have said a great deal less with a great deal more effort.

Definitely worth your time, more so if you are a true crime nut, the ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT is one of the must sees of the First Look Fest.

SONGS OF SLOW BURNING EARTH (2024) First Look 2025

This is an observational look at the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We watch the people try to sort out what was happening, their flight to safety and the damage that resulted.

This is a low key film of just observation. It's a beautifully told film that just shows us what the early days of the war was like.

The trouble is that I can't really review this film. My feelings are much too wrapped up in the fact that I have seen too many other films on the Ukraine war. The film is similar to other films (INTERCEPTED, FREEDOM ON FIRE, RULE OF TWO WALLS, IN THE REARVIEW among others) in looking at the early days of the war. While the film is very good on its own terms, I've seen a few too many films on the early days of the war. 

That said, this is probably the film people should see first.

This is very good and recommended for anyone who is interested in what is happening in Ukraine.