The Hotline (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a portrait of the people who man a hotline for drug addicts. The idea is that if they are using alone they can call the hotline  and have the people on the otherside listen while they begin using so if there are signs of overdose they can call for help.

This is a tough film. This is a film that puts us in the room with people on the hot line as calls come in. It's a film that doesn't look away as bad things happen.  We also get to know the people on both sides of the call and the stories are heart breaking. 

Your soul will ache.

Highly recommended for those willing to go there.

WHO MOVES AMERICA (2026) DOC NYC

This is a look at the contract negotiations between UPS and the workers union in 2022 and 2023 as well as a look back to 1997 when the driver went on strike for better wages and hours.

This is a bracing look at the state of big business today. As the big companies try to screw their worker and to make increased profits by cutting wages and benfits the little man is getting screwed and forced to make hard choices. This film is a look at those making those choices.

This is good little film that will oprn your eyes to what is happening in the world around us. Its a wake up call and warning about the things we all may face in the future.

Worth a look.

Ebenezer (2026)

The story of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol returns to theaters in a film that is largely a frightening film with humor. It is a film where Scrooge is scared straight. It is also a version of the tale filled with an abundance of humanity.

When I told people that EBENEZER looks and feels like a Hammer Horror film from the 1960’s I got one of two reactions, the first was from people who only know the story from the movies and that is shock, because to them the ghosts are only scary in the future portion of the story. Here the other ghosts are scary as well. The other reaction I got were smiles from those who know the novel because they know that the ghosts are supposed to be scary. If you read the book, you know the ghosts had to be frightening so that Scrooge truly changes. I am mentioning this up front because this film is going to scare the snot out of some people, particularly little kids. This is very much a horror film and parents should probably see this first before showing it to their kids.

Past the horror angle, which I love, I am all over the place concerning this film.  While the film contains some of the best moments in any version of A Christmas Carol, the film also has some turns that make scratch my head.

The first problem is the humor in the film. Mostly centered in the first part of the film there is not only a flatfooted nature to the jokes, but also a meanness and an unearned cruelty There is no reason for it. Yes, making Marley a bastard like Scrooge makes his dire warning more meaningful (he is truly frightened for his friend) but the jokes that are supposed to show the love between them land wrong with their meanness making you want them not to be saved but to burn in perdition. A bigger problem is many of the jokes are also there just to give Depp a moment to be funny. However, since the early jokes are cruel the edge comes off of the humor. 

At the same time, I need to be very clear about this that the humorous sequences aside this maybe Depp’s best role ever. There is a real character here, who truly arcs, and he breaks your heart in the best way. The humor diminishes that.

The second problem is that the film blows past moments we need to set things up. Yes, most of the abbreviated scenes are the stock scenes we all know. I don't know whose idea was to chop them down, it could have been studio mandated time thing, but the loss of the "full" scenes hurts the development of the characters. I say that because these are NOT the stock Christmas Carol characters, but mostly well-done rethinks and the early cutting hobbles them later in the film. Later scenes take time to click instead of letting the story flow.  For example, in the early scene before the ghosts when, everyone goes into Scrooge’s office the films blow through everyone coming and going. The film has the attitude that we know these things and that we can just jump past them.  Scrooge’s nephew is short changed. Bob Cratchit is short changed. We don’t get to full embrace the characters and the film is lessened by it. I say that because the later scenes that are not trimmed, where we hear the words and see the actions from the novel the film has a great deal of weight. I’m not certain if the issue stems from an uneven script or because of the editing process. (is there a director's cut?)

Another problem is that the film adds things, some of which we don’t need. I know the death of Marley scene was added because you have Ian McKellen and you want to really give him something to do, but the scene is flat. The other thing that is a mixed bag is Scrooge being chased by the ghosts of the unsaved. The idea is wonderful, but the execution is not. They don’t look good, so it comes off as something riffing on the Disney Haunted Mansion. I do think the back story of Scrooge's lost love pays off big time.

Another thing the film does with mixed effect is it riff or steals moments from other versions of the story and other films. Some of them work, and some of them don’t and some of them kind of work but probably didn’t need to be there, for example Scrooge being sucked into his bed which echoes his death in A NIGHTMARE ON ELMS STREET.

To be honest the problems early on had me wanting to walk out on the film because I didn’t like the editing nor did I like the jokes. However, once the film gets going with the Ghost of Christmas Past(an unrecognizable and heart breaking Andrea Riseborough), who is as chilling a specter as you will ever see in film, not because she is scary but because she gets under your skin, I was happy to stay (even if some bits in Christmas Future and the pot through the window made me want to scream at the swerve into silliness)

Issues aside I have to state quite forcefully that for me a good chunk of the film is the best version of the tale I have ever seen.

I adore the horror angle. I love that the ghosts are all pained by their fates. There is a desperate need to get Scrooge to do the right thing so that their pain is eased. I like that the film doesn’t shy away from the idea that there is terrible pain in the afterlife since the arc of Scrooge has genuine added weight. I love that for the first time we see the change over time Christmas Present endures. It's referenced in the novel, but we've never seen it until now, so we get a big kick about the fleeting nature of life.

When he stops clowning Depp is magnificent. We have a full-fledged Scrooge. We see how he became who he is and we see the flicker of humanity that allows him to change. Depp’s Scrooge is the most human, with the scenes of him remembering his sister and lost love ripping out our hearts.

However, the thing that makes the film truly shine is the humanity we see in the film and in particular in Scrooge. It is the genuine love of mankind still burning inside him that lifts this film up. While there was talk the studio head wanted the film to paint greed as good, the truth is this film is a call for humanity and a call against greed. The small moment of Scrooge offering his coat to the dying Ghost, or Scrooge connecting to his nephew, or the final moment of asking the beggar to come in for tea says more than the huge moments we all know. Some of the final words of the dying Christmas Present about what is right and important plant a flag in the soul of the audience.

And let me step out and say that Tramell Tillman as Christmas Present gives of the best performances I've seen this year. He will not get awards, but god damn he deserves everyone possible. It is one of the most complex performances of any actor in any film this year and it breaks us.

I loved much of this film - as I said when this film is on it hits as the best version of the story out there.

Very recommended

LISTEN (2026) DOC NYC 2026

A sound specialist records the wilds of Alaska to play for his mother who is suffering from dementia.

This film will hit you in the face. 

A slowly builfing film, this film at first had me puzzled. I had heard a lot of good things about the film and at first the  images of  dound being recorded didn't seem to live up to what I had been told. Sure the image and sound (see this with great sound) were wonderful, but I didn't see the magic...

...that was my bad because there is a point where everything quietly came together and I found myself falling into the film and getting misty. The second half of the film with it marriage of sound and image and wisdom rocked me. I completely understood why this film was high on so many people's listed.

You need to see and hear this film

Recommended.

Boomerang Atomic (2026) DOC NYC 2026

A look at the French atom bomb tests in the Algerian desert largely via a collection  of archival footage.

An interesting trip back in time to when atomic weapons were viewed differently and France was looking for entry into the atomic bomb club. The film clearly shows that the French didn't quite respect its colonies since it didn't take the best precautions.

While the film is informative, I wish that there are been some form of context for what we are seeing. There is an assumption that we know about what we are seeing, I wanted to know more, particularly about the underground test that went wrong and breached the side of the mountain.

The need for more information aside this is a good film and worth seeing.

The Ascent (2026) DOC NYC

Portrait of amputee athlete Mandy Horvath, who decides to attempt climbing Mount Kilamanjaro despite having no legs.  

This film is so perfectly put together that there really isn't anything fo me to talk about. The film expertly tells Harvath's story as it should be told and and in such a way that you will have no notes. Covering her attempt to get to the summit as well as her attempting to fully figure out what happened to her that she lost her legs. Its a moving story expertly told.

Destined for a long life and many awards THE ASCENT is highly recommended.

NAZA (2026) DOC NYC

The people responsible for  sending out the drones and missles to level Gaza, as well as soldiers who were tasked with burning down the homes of the people who fled the bombing so they would have nothing to come back to, speak to the filmmakers and calmly tell the stories of many (but not all) of the terrible things they did. 

Naza is the term used by the Israeli military for collateral damage instead of Palestians, refugees or human beings (Men, women, children or babies) so that the deaths they caused were not seen as real people in the eyes of the soldiers.

Before the New York Festival screening of NAZA there were some quiet protests. Box trucks with LED screens drove around the festival site saying that the stories of NAZA were false and hand not confirmed. There were also four protesters holding signs outside Alice Tully. They had not seen the film.

The audience inside Alice Tully was openly sobbing during the screening. Several people around me took out their rosaries and were praying. The film laid the the audience out. Finally the weight of what was happening was sinking into the public. The war crimes are at last being noticed.

The point of the film, as stated by the directors during the Q&A, is not to dispute the right of Israel to defend itself or to get justice for the 1200 people killed on October 7 but to question the right of a government to kill well over 75,000 people, wound almost 200,000 more, and destroy the homes of even more in attacks that are exponetially greater. The want to know why all this death and destruction against people who have almost no connection to the bad guys, and simply living in the same building as them. Why is it necessary to wipe out the homes of people who simply share their national background and did nothing wrong on October 7, and drive them into the desert without food or water or shelter? The point is to make an accounting of the crimes being committed not against the people responsible but everyone around them. As one person said it was sometimes okay to take out 500 innocent people to get one suspected bad guy. What sort of madness makes that okay?

The mind boggles even more when you consider that the choice of targets is often picked by an AI program that is frequently wrong. Yes- the Israeli military is using an AI program to choose its targets but it often picks the wrong people.

Is it any wonder people are upset? Not only are war crimes being revealed but so is gross incompetence.

While the audience around me was left broken, the film was a bit less moving me. It was not because of the lack of weight of the film and it's revelations but because, as a good friend pointed out, I have been aware of this bullshit for years. Within my circle and social media follows I have been hearing about all of the charges leveled here since they started. I have read the articles upon which this film is based when they first appeared. This is a one stop shop for those who haven't been paying attention. For those who have been paying attention is this a somber summing up that rocks the soul.

As a film I can't really review it. This is not a film so much as pained cry from caring humans who want to pain and suffering to stop. Its a film made by Israelis who want to their country to come to their senses and stop killing people. Its the culmination of two years of work that puts it all together so that people can bare witness (and who, as made clear in the film, are remaining in the shadows because the evil that is directing the attacks on innocent people would turn and attack them). This is a scream not a piece of cinema.

NAZA is a vital and a live film. It is a call for peace and sanity. It is a film looking to find the better part of humanity by revealing its dakest heart. You must see this film.

Because of the need to get the film out so that people can see it, the film will be released to theaters and on line in the next couple of days. The hope is that with the release changes will come. And perhaps many of the voices who are claiming it is all not true will see that it is true- that it all is horribly and terribly true.

Bitter Christmas (2026) opens Friday

Cult film director who works in advertising has a panic attack and decides to go away…

...however...

...she is a character created by  a film director writing a new screenplay for his first film in five years that is based on the people around him

Pedro Aldomavar returns with a good, but lesser by his standards, film that seems less a finished film then an effort to keep his regular trip to the festivals going (a point mentioned in the film). Honestly if it wasn’t Pedro this film would never have gotten into many festivals. (And I am pointing this out in a year I published a piece taking the NYFF to task about all the Hong Sang-soo films- because it clearly isn't just Sang-soo getting special treatment)

That should not be read as it being bad, it is not, more that the film is full of ideas, and scenes, but there is very little to tie them together. Even if the film with in a film doesn't all tie together, its being written as we watch, the real world should all hang together. It might have worked if there was an ending but there really isn’t one, just a place where it stops.

Part of the problem is that the “real world” characters feel less constructed. What we get from them is really from the film with in the film counterparts and that isn’t always accurate. I have no real sense of them other than as mouthpieces for Pedro’s words.

At the same time the ideas about grief, reality, creation are stunning. Pedro has a great deal to say about a lot of things; he just doesn’t have a narrative to hang them on.

I like the film, but as I said above this is a lesser film from a great director and exists just to get him into a festival.

Still if you are a fan it’s a must.

Space Cadet (2026) opens Friday in select theaters

There are spoilers ahead....

This is the story of a young woman who graduates from the space academy and heads off into the stars, while the robot parent who raised her after her mother passed away on a similar mission waits on earth for her return.

This film crushed the life out of me.

This film is not for kids. Kids will not get it.  Adults will get it but may find its tale of fading memory in ourselves and loved ones heartbreaking on a level they may not want to deal with. This is an allegory about growing old, getting ill and the death of parents.  Told largely as a memory play,  most of the film follows the robot as it goes through its day remembering her human child. Memory is everything in this film and when that fades, even for a robot, what is left?  

The film came into my life at not the best time as several friends and family have begun the slow slide into forgetfulness. The climax of the story where the robot essentially gives its happiest memories to her daughter in the only way she was capable before expiring broke me in ways that few pieces of art ever had. I desperately needed not to be in a theater full of children at a film festival right before going to lunch with a friend. I needed to be in a room alone with a box of tissues where I could scream out the pain.(Writing this damn near broke me again).

At the same time, I need to say that the tale of the young girl is not up to the robot. Yes, it reveals how we go off and live our live and not fully engage with our parents while trying to cover the same ground, but the story of her stranding on a far-off world is just okay. Its not quite as well thought out as the stuff at home. But then again it isn’t what you are going to remember.

This is a film about ourselves and our parents and our memories. As a representation of life this film is as fine a film as has ever been made… it just may break your heart.

(You may have to search this one out- in the New York Metro area it is in two theaters one in Pallisades New Jersey and the other is the AMC 25-where it is getting one show a day-at 8pm)

HOME OF THE BRAVE, LA TIERRA DEL VALOR (2026) doc nyc

In 2025, as the Trump Administration tries to remove anyone who isn't what they deem as being an American recording artist Nezza takes the stage and sings the Nation Anthem at a Dodgers home game.

This is an okay look at the state of America today and how some people are standing up to the bullying by the current American government. The film gives us a nice sense of what it means to be on ICE's hit list.  The problem with the film is that the film also wants to be a biography of Nezza. There isn't anything wrong with that, rather it's simply that the film is much to short to do everything the film wants to do. This should have been longer than 20 minutes.

My feelings aside the film is still worth a look.

THE TUNERS (2026) DOC NYC 2026

Portait of the piano tuners working at the Chopin competition in Poland.

This is a solid doc about the people who make sure the world's best piano players can do their thing.  The film reveals the fact that what the tuners do is an art and not a science. How each one tunes a piano is different than what another does. Its a film that essentially reveals the magic behind the tricks the magician performs.

A gem of a film and worth looking for.

 website: thetunersdoc.com IG: @thetunersdoc

Don Hertzfeld's Paper Trail is now available to watch for free

THE BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL (2026) DOC NYC

Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter Clarence E. Jones talks about his relationship with his boss.

This film is an early entry on my Best of 2026 list. This is film about a man who wanted nothing to do with Martin Luther King and ended up getting talked into not only picking up the fight when king was killed.

This is a perfect example of less is more. Basically the film is just Jones telling his story while we see some photos and some animated recreations. It is nothing fancy or flashy, but it is exactly what the telling needed.

I absolutely loved this film. It's hell of a story perfectly told. It is also a story filled with hope which is exactly what we need these days 

I can not recommend this film any higher than this. You must see this film.

Three DOC NYC Shorts: THEY'RE HERE, THE BOYS AND THE BEES and ONE LAST ORDER

With DOC NYC starting this week- here is a repost of three short films I reviewed for the recently concluded NYFF and Woodstock Film Festival 

THEY'RE HERE
Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller's THEY'RE HERE is certain to be an Oscar nominee. A damning portrait of ICE and a glowing portrait of the people of Minneapolis who fought them as best they could. The film is a chilling look at the abuses that ICE has commited from following the watchers to pulling people out of cars just to arrest them. Its clear that the agents are thugs dressed up a government officers. This is a chilling film and one of absolute best films at this year's New York Film Festival.

THE BOYS AND THE BEES
This is a portrait of the Ray family, a Black family earning a living on a small farm in Georgia. Over the course of the film we see the life they live and watch as their sons learn to tend the bees in their hives.

This is a small lyric little film that reveals the beauty of family and the way we grow over the course of our life.  It is a small jewel of film that reached out and touches your heart in the best sort of way.

Highly recommended

ONE LAST ORDER

Portrait of a woman Sighle, on her last day working at Florida drive thru restaurant. She had worked there for 37 years and over all those years she knew the names and orders of everyone who came to eat... and everyone of them decides to show up and say good bye.

This is a lovely film. Its beautiful portrait of a woman who touched the lives of all of everyone she met for the better. Its a film made with the love that Sighle created - which apparently is infinite.

I loved this film. When It was done I was emailing my friends who are willing to cover shorts and told them to see it.

What a joy.

Highly recommended.

Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026) DOCNYC

This is the story of what happened when the Home Office in Glasgow had a raid on Kenure Street on Eid in the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Its the story of a neighborhood coming together in order to protect members of the community.

This is a film that shows people standing up can make a difference. This is a film about the basic goodness of humanity since it shows that somewhere in the world civility isn't dead. I say this having seen mere days after ICE in America shot and killed a woman in a car because basically she didn't like what they were doing.  I will not get into how what happened on Kenmure Street can no longer happen in most of the US, rather I will say you need to see this film because it will make you feel good and feel hope.

We need that.

Of course it helps that the people of Kenure Street come from a long line of protesters. For generations they have watched each other's back and fought the power when it needed to be fought. One of the great things about the film is that it shows a community that genuinely cares for each other regardless of where they came from. 

This film is glorious.

Forgive me for not saying more than that, but I can't say more because I will get off on a rant.

See this film - feel hope in a world where that is in short supply

Ariela Rubin on NUISANCE BEAR (2026) in theaters in LA now, DOC NYC Friday and every where soon

 

Nuisance Bear is a documentary set in Churchill, Manitoba—known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.

The film explores the destruction of the natural environment, how polar bears impact the town, as well as the ways Indigenous lives are forced to change as the town becomes gentrified. 

As climate change delays the freezing of the ice, polar bears are left without access to food, and so they venture into town in search of food, which brings them into constant conflict with humans.

The documentary is narrated by Mike, an Inuit, who speaks about how the presence of polar bears has disrupted daily life. He also expresses frustration over hunting restrictions, explaining that polar bears can now only be hunted a limited number of times per year. (I was surprised and upset to learn that polar bear hunting is still legal.)

The film follows the polar bear patrol, showing the measures they take to keep bears out of town: setting off fireworks, using traps, and, in one case, tranquilizing a bear, putting a tracker in him, putting dye on his fur, and relocating him via helicopter farther away. These scenes show how tense the coexistence between humans and bears has become.

What I found interesting was the audience reaction. At my screening, people seemed to be rooting for the polar bears. (People cheered at one point when a polar bear outsmarted humans) Yet the film itself felt more focused on the Inuit perspective, and how the bears are “nuisances”. In fact while the world says the polar bear population is decreasing, Mike says that isn’t the case. I’m not sure which direction the director was hoping people to go in, or if they were simply showing both sides without judgement.(Although the movie is called “Nuisance Bear” after all)

Visually, the documentary is stunning. The close up shots of the polar bears, as well as the videos taken from above (perhaps via drone) are beautiful. They really showed the beauty of the animals. However, it was hard for me to really love a documentary that seemed to showcase the burden polar bears are causing.

THE OTHER ROE (2026) DOC NYC

This is a portrait of lawyer Margie Pitts Hames who argued the case of Doe vs Bolton, which was decided at the same time as Roe vs Wade. Doe was a class action case about not having access to abortion, that was argued at the same time.

This film needs to be a feature. There is too much information for a 17 minute film.  Things feel slightly unfocused and we are left wanting to know more. 

Despite this there is an interesting look at an unheralded but important story 

 

A pointer toward threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE (2026) which starts at the Film Forum on November 13th

This is a look at the avant-garde New York fashion collective threeASFOUR which is made up of Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil.

I really can't review this film. As portrait of the designers and artists its a very good look at their lives and work.  Shot with with a wonderful style by Sean Ono Lennon and Brian C. Gonzalez, the film is a visual delight. The film is very much, like the clothing the collective makes, is work of art.

The problem for me is I never really cared. The collective seemed distant and far away from this mere mortal. Sure they connect with their clients, such as Bjork, but for me the fact that their work will never have any connection to me other than as a stage prop or as something a fabulously wealthy person wears kept me outside. Sure it looks great but who are they making these weird things for?

While I have a mixed relationship with fadhion docs, I tend to connect because the design of the clothes remains something anyone could wear, here it's something else.

three ASFOUR was not for me, but it might be for you, so if you feel you might connect give it a try.

STEAL THIS STORY PLEASE (2025) DOC NYC

Portrait of independent journalist Amy Goodman and her battle to get the real story out in an age of corporate crafted news, where every story comes with an agenda.

This is an excellent tale of what it's like to be in the media circus today. Its a take that is heartbreaking in many ways since it's clear that many of the people around Goodman are more interested in a buck and fame and not the truth. It's a tale that will open your mind as to just how skewed things are, and I say this as someone who tries to follow the news and who has seen more docs like this then is healthy.

While the film covers similar ground to some other journalists fighting the good fight across the globe, this one hit home simply because it is here at home. Watching the film, we realize we are not that far off then places like Russia and China in media control.

Highly recommended, STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! is an important one to hear if we want to remain in a genuine democracy.

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a lyrical portrait of indigenous artist Sara Flores, her art and her work to help and protect her local community.

This is a stunningly beautiful film. It’s a film that creates a unique head space. Watching the film we drift off into Flores‘ world. To be certain it’s probably a bit more majestic in the film than in real life, but at the same time that is probably how she sees the world. And do yourself a favor and try and see this with a good sound system I say that because the first time I saw a work in progress version with a less aggressive soundtrack and the film didn’t click. However, seeing it again, where I could hear Flores‘ world as well as seeing it made it something magical.

I loved this film.

Recommended. See it on the big screen