Glendora (2026) Dances With Films New York 2026

This is a super film.  It is a quietly powerful film about a community that speaks volumes about the basic good nature of humanity.

Shot over several years by a filmmaker who embedded themselves with in the community, GLENDORA is a portrait of  Glendora Mississippia and could have only been told by someone who did the work and lived in the town.

The film is a series of sequences where we watch the people of Glendora tell us about their lives and their town. They lay out their existence and essentially reach out and bring us in and make us one of them. We get to know these wonderful people and their hard scrabble life.

I was moved.

I really liked this slice of life. There is a simplicity to it all that is allows the life of the people on screen to bleed out and go into the seats. That filmmaker Isabelle Armand manages to do this speaks volumes about their skill in showing life as lived. This is (low key) cinematic magic that will put this film, and the people we meet in it, deep into your heart

Highly recommended.

Dances With Films New York 2026 Shorts CRACKED and IN EXCHANGE FOR FLESH

 

CRACKED
This is a deeply disturbing animated film about a woman making breakfast and...well...

This film is a great explanation of why some films should be animated. Telling a viscerally disturbing tale in a way that would ever have worked in live action, CRACKED is a dystopian masterpiece. I have no words because the film tells a tale that only makes sense when you see it. More importantly it only works when you can feel it.

A spectacular early film for 2026.

IN EXCHAGE FOR FLESH
A look at sexual abuse in prison, particulary via the strip searchs in prison.
This is deeply disturbing look at how prison guards treat prisoners- and how the treatment of prisoners outside of prisoners would result in arrest of a regular person.

This is an excellent film that is graphic- so beware.

Chet Bond: License to Chill (2025) Dances With Films New York 2026

Chet Bond is James Bond son. Set up with a job y his dad, he is followed around by documentary crew. He doesn't know that the crew is actually minders who are supposed to keep an eye on him.

This is  an amusing mockumentary that manages to hit most of the right notes. Set up your typical mocumentary show it spins the spy genre on it's head.

While the film is playing as part of the Pilots section of Dances With Films New York, I don't know if this would last as series.  I don't know how long they could run with the conceit. That said I think they could probably run this to feature length. 

Definitely worth a look.

(And before you ask- this is not a sanctioned Bond product)

Sound of Falling (2025) opens today

This is a time jumping tale of the women of one family over the course of a century during which they come of age and are abused by the people, especially the men, around them.

I honestly don't know what to say about this film. The telling is so jumbled I'm not certain what the point was. A woman's life is pain? Men are bad? Something else? I'm not sure. 

The problem is that the film never makes anything clear. Set in and around the same house in Germany the periods blur together. There is no  effort to let us know who anyone is, when we are or anything else. We know that the characters are the the same people late in the game with a reference by one character to events in another section.  We don't know that the location is East Germany until a stray reference to a character going to West Germany.  We never know that one section is set during the second world war until there is a reference to some of the women drowning themselves in the river before the Allies arrive.  Honestly we don't even know who most of the characters are because the movie doesn't make clear who they are.  We hear names but the film doesn't make clear who they are. We are adrift and the film never makes any effort to tie it all together. (I'm sure the press notes explain it all but films have to stand on their own, we should not have to read what a filmmaker wants us to get out of a film, it should be clear in the film itself.)

It doesn't help that sections of the film are cartoony and over done. For example the pervy uncle is so overt in his chasing his niece that I laughed.  I couldn't believe that the behavior between two didn't have his family talking to them? At the same time almost all of the men in the film are portrayed in a bad light, from pervy, to ineffectual, to mean. Outside of one bit of narration that one of the women left, we never hear a good word from a man.

Things become complicated as the film begins to add in a sense of magical realism. There are references to the characters flying off- something we see literally at the end in a WTF moment that comes from no where.

I have about 15 pages of notes on the film which are more or less questions about what was happening. I repeatedly wrote "I hope they pull this together"

They never did.

While I liked bits of this film, the film did nothing for me. It's so jumbled I can't even guess as to what the point of it all is. My inclination is to say that the filmmakers did what several filmmakers I knew in school would do which was take a film that wasn't working the way they intended and re ordered it randomly selling it to the teachers as an art project, which they accepted because they couldn't see that they are being snowed.

Don't get snowed, skip this mess.

With Private Life (2025) opening tomorrow in its regular run, here is Peter Gutierrez's NYFF review

“I’m not crying, it’s my eyes.”

***

While it may be a slight stretch to claim that A PRIVATE LIFE is the kind of film that Truffaut would’ve loved to have made, it’s not unreasonable in the least to speculate that he would’ve loved watching it. After all, Rebecca Zlotowski’s engaging quasi-noir has all the hallmarks of a classic French thriller—it’s super smart, full of mystery and humor, and everything is executed with a light yet highly skilled touch. The fact that A PRIVATE LIFE is somewhat “Hitchockian” would, of course, have been an extra bonus for Truffaut. The obvious touchstone in this respect is REAR WINDOW: while Jimmy Stewart’s photojournalist character suspects murder as a result of casual voyeurism, Jodie Foster’s psychoanalyst character suspects murder because her profession relies on, as she puts it, “knowing the secrets and lies” of her clients. As in REAR WINDOW, the protagonist must enlist the efforts of a love interest—in this case, a somewhat unlikely one—to investigate a crime that no one else is sure has even taken place. Come to think of it, given its psychoanalytic bent and dialogue that interprets some creative mindscreen sequences, this is a film that the director of SPELLBOUND himself would have enjoyed.

That is, with the possible exception of the characters’ unrepressed sexuality and the film’s ultimate critique of reason alone—remember, Hitchcock never made supernatural or paranormal genre fare. In these aspects, Zlotowski’s script, co-written with Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé, is at its Frenchiest. On the other hand, the presence/aura of Foster, who’s playing a longtime expat, and the way that the story wraps up in an upbeat fashion (which is one reason A PRIVATE LIFE isn’t a true noir) point to an American side of the film’s lineage. Indeed, for some the way that Foster’s arc cleanly dovetails with the solution to the central mystery, the transformation of her own fiercely held epistemologies, and the resolution to her sidebar family conflicts will be a bit too much—it’s too pat and too Hollywood, achieved with little ambiguity and earned at little cost. 

There’s some validity to such an argument, but I’m choosing mostly to ignore it. Granted, A PRIVATE LIFE may be too ambitious for its own good, attempting to say too much about too many things, but in a way that’s part of its charm. It’s like one of the wine-filled evenings it depicts—too much may be said, and some of it not even clearly recalled later, but no one can say that the time spent in its company isn’t full of life and truth. Once upon a time critics called such a film a “confection,” but A PRIVATE LIFE is a little too dark and too serious under its veils of wit and style to be dismissed as something sweet. 

Vindicta (2026) opens Dances With Films New York 2026

At the insistancce of her parents, a young Jewish woman pretends to be her family's maid in order to survive the Nazi invasion and destruction of her family. Fleeing into the night she hides with a family friend and seeks to get vengeance.

Atypical revenge tale has a lot of different threads running through it and as such isn't run of the mill. There is a complexity of  character and situation here that you don't normally see in films like this. While there is the inevitable march to revenge there are some complications and characters that aren't your typical WW2 good guys and bad guys.

Well acted and beautifully shot, there is something special here and I understand why this was chosen to open this year's Dances with Films New York.

Recommended.

HONDO (1953)

Hondo is the name of a scout played by John Wayne. He ends up coming into the life of a woman and her young son who are living in Apache territory. The woman’s husband, another army scout, has abandoned them to their fate. As the Apache’s revolt against the constraints on them, the family, the scout and the army collide.

Independently produced western from John Wayne is one of his better ones. Shot in 3D, but more to emphasize the expanse of the open plains as opposed to the having things land in your lap, this is a glorious looking film that truly makes you feel as though there is fast nothingness around our characters. This is one of the few westerns you’ll ever see that puts in in the place where the events take place without the sense of there being a huge crowd just out of the shot.

The casting is perfect. Even though Wayne stepped in when Glenn Ford dropped out, he still manages to add color to his patented stoic hero with a heart of gold. There is enough here that you know he wasn’t walking through the shoot. Geraldine Page is excellent in one of her first big screen roles. She gives her homesteader tons of shading and you buy the emotional twists she goes through.

I really like this film a great deal. I love the complexity of the characters across the board. No one is one note anywhere along the line. I love that you have real turns of things like the Apache’s wanting the homesteaders out but at the same time finding that the small boy wins them over and thus get a pass, and other characters have shifting and opposing views of Wayne and each other.

The one problem with the film is the similarity to Shane. While it is similar but in no way a remake or even a riff (both films are based on novels from different authors), you can’t help but think of Alan Ladd film which came out shortly before. I think this a problem in that Hondo was very difficult to see for a long time, with it not playing on TV or in repertory as much as the Ladd film. Regardless of the similarity Hondo stands on its own two feet, and in my personal opinion I think this is the better film since its has less iconic moments but more real characters.

Highly recommended

Standout: The Ben Kajar (2025) opens Friday

Cutting to the chase this was one of the early great films of 2025 and was on  my end of the year list as a Best of 2025.

This is the story of Ben Kjar. He was born with Crouzon Syndrome which made his face and head grow irregularly. It also made him smaller than most people his age growing up. Kjar found joy in sports and his passion in wrestling. Through pigheadedness and endless drive he managed to become the best in the country.

I loved this film. It is a glorious portrait of a young man who didn’t let the world or his medical issue stop him. The result is a tale that earns every tear it produces.

While  the film is mostly structured like a typical documentary, director Tanner Christensen knows it doesn’t matter since the arc of the film is so spectacular and that Ben and his family are so compelling that you don’t need to spruce things up. He just tells the story and let the emotion and connection bleed off the screen.

I can not tell you how moving this film is. If you ever wanted to know why you should never ever give up this story explain why and it  will give you hope. Ben was a tiny guy who never could win, but he had the drive and the will to keep going. As a result of his constant driving forward he gained traction and ended up changing the world of everyone around him.

It is also an very important film about why you should never ever judge a person by how they look because the person you make fun of just may change the world.

This is one of the best films of 2025. I cannot recommend it enough.

And bring tissues.

MALDOROR (2024) hits VOD Friday

This 1990’s set thriller based in part of actual events when the police organizations in Belgium were all competing with each other and trying to catch a psycho who was kidnapping young women. The film focuses on a young cop assigned to a task force who ends up taking things into his own hands because his superiors let things get away from them.

MALDOROR is a frequently tense little thriller. A tale of frustration as the cops desperately try to get their man, the film is going to have you sitting on the edge of your seat during several sequence…including the opening credits which is highly surprising.

Unfortunately the film is going to frustrate you. It’s not that the film takes any bad turns, more that the film is trying to cover a lot of ground. We aren’t just following the cop, but his wife, her family, and other people as well. The result is a film that appears to be juggling a lot of balls and isn’t always focused. Instead of a laser focused film the film feels rambling as there is an effort to give the film a broader  background.

There is so much to love in this film that I wish the film cut tighter and more focused because by the time you get to the end of two and a half hours you feel the wrong sort of beaten up.

My reservations aside, there is enough here both narratively and thematically that the film is worth a look.

Nightcap 1/11/26 - Dances With Films New York starts Thursday, New York Jewish starts Wednesday, two things I'm tired of and I don't like the Carton Show

The fourth New York edition of Dances with Films hits Union Square starting Thursday and runs through the weekend. This is the East Coast version of one the great inde festivals in the world.  The festival focuses on a wide variety of independent films from across the globe. I always find some of the best films of the year at the festival be it Los Angeles or New York.

This year I'm wading into the festival in dribs and drabs because life outside of film is eating my time. I've got a bunch of reviews set to go and I am working on getting to see a few more- possibly in person. I've liked everything I've seen so far so my advice is if you see something that interests you playing - buy a ticket and go.

Details on tickets and the slate can be found here.

---

The New York Jewish Film Festival starts Wednesday.

As I have said, because of the festival not allowing  full reviews (when last I checked back in December I was told many films could only be covered via capsule reviews) I have decided to spend my time covering some of the other festivals.

If you are interested, information on the slate and tickets can be found here.

---

I am growing weary of shorts that exist for a reason other than to tell a story.

I am tired of proof-of-concept films that exist just to get a feature made. I’ve run into a bunch of these lately and it seems that some filmmakers are shifting from telling a solid part of the “feature” story as a short and are instead running through the whole plot in 15 or 20 minutes. I wouldn’t care if I am handed the film and being told that is the case, but I saw a few recently where the films were condensed versions. Some of them played so badly I declined to review them. (I asked if it was a proof of concept. I was told yes, and that they were trying to give an overview of the whole feature. I said that was fine, but I had to decline reviewing because it doesn’t work as a stand-alone film. I did ask them to send me the feature) I want a short that tells a story not is simply there to sell something maybe down the road—though again if you tell me it’s a proof of concept I will cut you slack and review the film.)

I am also tired of short films with stings in the tail. I recently saw a couple of shorts where the films told a beautiful story and perfectly set a mood only to have a sting in the tail of the film that threw the preceding 20 minutes out the window. Horror films became comedies and comedies became the wrong ugly and mean. It’s clear the filmmakers wanted to get noticed  with a last minute twist- which is fine- but the twists of late didn’t belong and speak more of not knowing how to end a film not provide a satisfying conclusion.

---

I have been spending the car rides home this week listening to WFAN's THE CARTON SHOW WITH CRAIG CARTON AND CHRIS MCMONIGLE. I don't know how much I will listen past this week.

First I need to say a couple things. 

Let me begin by saying McMonigle is one of the best personalities on the station. He knows his stuff and he expresses his opinion perfectly. I delighted when I could drive around on weekends and listen to him while doing errands.

Next let me say that when Carton is doing a real interview or trying to be a real journalist or having a real discussion that isn't trying to be "entertaining" he is one of the best there is. When he is actually seriously discussing something he is great. I could listen to him do real reporting and talk all day. The problem is he doesn't do that much any more.

Because Carton is playing the personality and not a sports radio host the show does not work for me. Carton is too busy being a name dropping celebrity and personality to have real discussions.  Its all a game for him and he's playing the part. His discussions tended to turn toward him. Everything folds back to him and how it relates to him. As a result Chris McMonigle was left to do the serious talk and keep things on track and family friendly.  McMonigle seems to be doing the heavy lifting - which I expected but not to this degree.

It's like in the cartoons where the self centered and concieted rich guy waltzes through a room while his aid spins around him and makes eveything okay.  Carton is the conceited guy and McMonigle is the guy keeping the show from going into the abyss.

I know why the Carton TV show on Fox Sports died.

It doesn't help that all the other people on the station have a real gravitas that Carton seems to have lost.  I may despise Gio (on the Boomer and Gio morning show) but he has a stronger personality and when he isn't acting as an ass, he is a solid host (which is most of the time). Carton compared to him and everyone else on the station has no weight. Yea, he can be a buddy and a pal, but he seems more interested in being showy and rude.  I don't want that on my sports radio, I want serious discussions , even about the lives of the hosts.

I can't listen to the show any more- especially when I can get better and meatier sports discussion on ESPN NY from Don Han and Rosenberg.

Brief first thoughts on The President's Cake (2025)

Set during the reign of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, this is the story of Lamia, a young girl from a poor family, who is told by her teacher that she must make a cake for the President's birthday or there will be dire consequences. She then is forced to go out to get the ingredients she needs.

This film is on the Oscar Short List this year for Best International Feature. It is a film that has been recommended to me by several friends... and now having seen it it is a film I will need to see again away from the Oscars and the word of mouth. I want to revisit because I need to get the distance from the hype and discussion that made me jump into the film too quickly.

I should say straight up that this is a very good film. I like it, hence the desire to revisit, but I didn't find the greatness that some did, and as a result I am dealing with the collision between the words of people I respect and the the film I saw on the screen.

My issues with the film come from two places:

The first is that while the film is very much about the trials of the young girl at the center, the film isn't about Lamia, the girl at the at the center. What I mean by this is that the quest to get the things to make the cake is simply the reason for writer director Hasan Hadi to explore society, particularly the one that existed under Saddam. The trip is designed to bring the girl into places where things can happen that will be reflected in the story. Why do the things happen? Because the director is trying to tell a larger tale.

While this is an issue it could have been solved had there not been a second problem. The second problem is that the Lamia, played by Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, is little more than just a place holder for the audience.  Yes, Nayyef is good, but the script doesn't give her enough to work with to stand out. Yes she is often the focus of events and is at the center of the screen, but there isn't enough to the character for her to be a fully formed person. I apologize for making this point but right around the time I was making my best of 2025 lists I had a couple of conversations about the difficulty of having a central character who is the "main" one but who isn't. What I mean by that is the central character who exists just to move the story or audience to a place where the events can transpire that the director wants to highlight. You have to create a character that stands out from the rest or alternately have an actor who can hold the center.  I don't think there is enough of a character here for that to happen.

While I don't hate THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE I definitely will need to revist.

A POET (2025)

Oscar, is unemployed and cranky. The world has not gone his way. He considers himself a poet and he sees that as an excuse for the way he is. He is not particularly well liked. He meets a girl with a great talent and he begins to mentor her, which may bring about a change in his life.

Ubeimar Rios plays Oscar with a low key energy and largely one pained facial expression. How you relate to this tragi-comedy will depend on how you relate to the doomed Oscar. I did not connect to Oscar  at all. While I understood why he felt as he did, and why he did the things he did, at the same time I wanted to shake him and make him realze he had to grow up at some point.

I also wasn't certain why this story was being told. What are we supposed to get out of it? On some level I felt that the film didn't particularly like Oscar since it seems to angle toward the ending from the start. This is very much the sort of tale I dislike which is one where the film has to have a tragedy in order to be meaningful, not because the tragedy is organic to the story.

While the film didn't work for me, it may work for you.

My Neighbor Adolf (2022)

In Argentina, a cranky Holocaust survivor thinks that Adolf Hitler has moved in next door to him.

One of the final films from Udo Keir to hit the US (it was actually on the festival circuit in 2022 and released around the world in 2023), this is a frequently funny, if uneven comedy. 

How you react to the film will be determined by how you react to David Hayman as Mr Polsky, the cranky man who finds his life turned upside down. Polsky is the sort of man you both laugh at and want to hit for being so unpleasant. It would have been better if the film found the balance that allowed him to be both funny or annoying, as it plays now he is one or the other.

Keir is, as always, wonderful.

Uneven or no, I liked this film. I laughed and had a good time, especially since this didn't really go as I expected.

Worth a look.

holding liat (2024) opens tomorrow

This is the story of the family of Liat Atzili, an Israeli/American kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. We are focused on Liat's parents who try to push for her release through channels in the US and Israel.

I have been wrestling with this film since I saw it. While I absolutely love the way that this film shows the complicated path that families have to walk to get their loved one's back, and I love how the film doesn't  shy away from showing feelings critical of Israel and the countries handling of the hostage situation, I am not certain that the pacing works as well as it could.  There is a long section where very little happens. While I intellectually like the slow pacing because it mirrors the waiting of the families, it makes it kind of hard to stay fully engaged. My dislike of the pacing/construction is due largely because I know it's going to be make or break for people who are seeing the film. Some people are going to walk away, which is a sad thing.

The truth of the matter this film is infinitely better than any coverage of the hostage situation in the media. Not having to rely on clicks or soundbytes or a definite political position, the film gives us a deeper and more resonate look at the situation in Israel and Gaza.  Things are not black and white but gray. Members of Liat's family question the Israeli hard lining.

Sitting down to write this piece a week after seeing the film, and dozens of others, I find I am still wrestling with how I feel about the film. As I said I love that this film does not dumb anything down.  I love that we get a fuller version of the truth. I love it so much that I have taken almost a week and a half to try and work out what to say. I'm still not certain I'm expressing myself correctly.

Ultimately, this is an important film. Its a film that has makes the situation in Israel much more real and relatable. If you want increased insight, see this film.

Recommended.

The Flamingo (2024)

This is a very good, very deliberate portrait of Mary Phillips a 60 something woman who after divorce and years of celibacy decided to change and become intimate with people. Long takes and shots that don't reveal everything paints a portrait of a woman who is living life on her terms. 

This is going to be a film you either click with or don't. You either like the way this is done or you don't. Some people are going to fall madly in love with this and others are going to like this but not love it. (I did some reading after watching and saw people were split).

Realistically this is a really good, off beat portrait of a nice woman, but I don't think this has the legs to advance much farther into the award process. It's not for lack of quality (hell if I saw this ona different day I might rate it higher) however I think the presentation is probably going to hobble it's chances.

The Woman of Stars and Mountains/ MUKÍ SOPALÍRILI ALIGUÉ GAWICHÍ NIRÚGAME (2023)

This begins as a look an a woman named Rita who ended up confined in a mental hospital for years because no one could understand what she was saying (she speaks a rare dialect). The film then changes along the way as things are not what they seem. 

This is more a ride then a desitination. 

Think of it as a film as a journey where we are told a story and slowly come to see the life and the circumstances that people live under. We see notions of racism and how our not knowing things, say an Indgenious dialect, cause problems for people. Rita wasn't really crazy she just couldn't commincate and lashed out. 

There is a lot to take in here. It is a bracing film that forces us to reconsider how we view each other and the things around us. It's an incredible film that I can't believe hasn't been on anyone's radar. This literally just missed beingon my best of 2025 list but the pacing of the film -which mirrors Rita's life- was a bit too slow for the mood I was in in when I watched the film.

Homegrown (2024)

A look at three right wing supporters of Donald Trump in the months up to the January 6 insurrection. 

We get a chance to see them as regular people as they look to the future, explain why they feel what they do and then take part in the events in Washington. It's a bracing look at the right that we don't get in any mainstream media. 

The problem with the film as it is is that recent recent events and the re-election of Donald Trump colors the film and makes you wonder what is coming next.

Obex (2025) opens Friday

This is a black and white nightmare via a retro game. It is a tactile film that has a physical feel, especially if you ever played text computer games. It's a film that I can tell you what it's about, but I can't tell you what it really is.

This is nominally the story of a man who plays a video game and gets inside it and has to kill a demon lord in order to escape. What it actually is something else entirely. Its a character study via horror via a kind of misdirection via an exterimental approach. It's a film you have to experience rather than read about because the film is a trip and it chages over time.

I liked this film. Granted it took me a bit to click with it, but once I did I was willig to go anywhere it was going. This is ot like anything you've seen before, even other off kilter inde scifi films that are just plain weird. Yes this is that occasioally, but more often then not its something else.

If you want something that is very off Hollywood. OBEX is for you.

Nightcap 1/4/26: No, some random questions & comments

Peter will be happy, I've been saying no more.

I've been declining writing up some films because I just don't want to spill the vitriol, others because I can't find the words to make the film not sound awful because it wasn't bad but discussing its good and bad points will make it sound bad.

And I've turned down some festivals because the effort to cover them isn't worth it. For example I am not covering New York Jewish because the last few years they have insisted that reviews only be capsules. I can't honestly spent hours to watch a film to not fully discuss it...when down the road the PR people for the regular release will ask me expand the review, often six or eight months later. I'll just wait for the regular release.

The plan this year is to (mostly) cover what want  rather than what I feel obligated to cover. As a result I will be saying no more. Its something I really started to do in the last six months as my burn out made covering things less a possibility.

Related to that I am also doing it because the slow down in the last few weeks has resulted in some pieces I've been really happy with. The pieces I've been writing better. I want to continue to do that.

I'm still planning on a piece a day, but I don't know how crazy things will be.

---

The next few weeks are going to be some films I saw here and there before I get to Dances with Films and then roll into Sundance (I've seen one short so far), Berlin and Rotterdam in whatever order they happen.

---

A quick question - at what point did smoking become a character trait?  I ask this because over the last few years a lot of directors  have pushed the fact that a character smokes to the fore front. Its not so much mentioned but flaunted  front and center and not woven into the story. This is especially true of historic film where how smoking was in decades past is presented unnnaturally.

---

Is it me or are more and more people on social media following Quentin Tarantino's narrow minded view of cinema and basing it entirely on their film collection? Too many people are not looking backward at films that are in black and white and too many don't realize that others are remakes. 

Seriously too many movie influencers and social media darlings have no idea what they are seeing or how it connects back. to older films or even culture in general.

---

Sparked by a conversation with Peter I want to say I am tired of critics and writers doing things that will just get them noticed or things from the studios.  

For many writers it is no longer about the films but the trips and the junkets and what the studio will slip their way. 

This isn't jealousy, but just frustration as writers I like become more and more vapid as they adjust to what the studios want. I don't care about the studios, I care about the good films getting pushed out and the great filmmakers mortgaging their homes to make a short because they have to and no one will pay them to do so. I can't be jealous of bullshit that kills my soul.

Besides I am too entrenched in small films to be anyone that the bigger studios and PR firms care about (Look at my year end lists). I want to just push great films not meet stars (I've turned down numerous interviews with people I'm a fan of because I dislike the film they are in) or get things. I am incapable of doing something just to get noticed- if I get noticed its an accident because I truly said something I feel and it resonated. I genuinely love the small filmmakers and the small films and the thought of selling my soul to push many of the limited taleneted hacks loved by the studios make me ill.

---

Going to have to try 28 YEARS LATER, it didn't work for me after 20 minutes,c so I turned it off. The opening bit seemed wrong and once we got to 28 years later it felt odd like it had to explain everything  instead of telling a story and letting us find out.

I will revist

With Arms Raised (2025)

Jon Cvack​'s short film is about a ride share that goes sideways. It follows the awkward conversation between a man in the backseat and the driver.

This is a deeply disturbing film. Even though we can suspect where this is going to go, we can neither look away nor fail to be horrified.

The reason the film works so well is the conversation. The broken, odd occasionally off the rails discussion is exactly the sort of conversation we all have engaged in at some time or another with someone who maybe clear in their mind but who can't make that point clear to other people. It embarrassing and awkward and funny... until it isn't. When it isn't it makes you sit bolt upright and look on in horror.

I was rocked by the film. It is a film you need to experience.

Its a hell of a way to begin the new year.

Highly recommended.