THREE PROMISES (2023) opens tomorrow

Yousef Srouji takes a collection of old VHS tapes and creates a look at his family and life in the Palestinian West Bank in the early 2000’s.

This moving portrait of life in a war zone is even more so owing to events happening in Israel. While the film would have been good before the insanity, the film now takes on a deeper resonance as a reminder that there are good people lost in the madness. (The final piece of text made me gasp-something it was never intended to have happen)

You will forgive me if I don’t say much more, but world events are coloring ny thoughts on the film so anything I have to say doesn’t feel truly right.

Do yourself a favor and just see this.

Stay with us (2023)

Comedian Gad Elmaleh returns home to France after several years in America so that he can convert to Catholicism. This does not sit well with his very Jewish parents.

Absolutely lovely, not to mention charming and funny exploration of the road to who we are and our path to "god". Based on the director and stars own journey the film probably not what you expect. Neither overly serious nor overly light in tome Elmaleh instead opts for a middle ground where real revelations are found. As some one  who is in a constant battle with my thoughts about god and the universe I found the path revealed here to be absolutely enlightening.

More importantly I was entertained. I laughed and I smiled and I connected to everyone on screen. Watching the film I found myself wanting to to call friends and family to tell them they really needed to see this. This is a film that will stay in my heart not because of the themes it explores but because of the cinematic friends on the screen. I love the people before me and I want to revisit them.

Highly recommended.

Bugsy Malone (1976)

I had a terrible crush on Foster before I saw Bugsy Malone (I remember seeing her in so many earlier films), but Bugsy Malone was one of four films in 1976 where Hollywood took notice of the legendary actress. In addition to this she had FREAKY FRIDAY, THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVED DOWN THE LANE and something called TAXI DRIVER which got her on Oscar’s radar. At the age of 13 she was so aware of the process of filmmaking that Alan Parker joked that if he got sick Foster could step in.  If nothing else 1976 showed Foster’s incredible range.

BUGSY MALONE is a very off beat musical set in a place that is kind of like Chicago during Prohibition. It's a world of gangsters and good guys populated with kids who sing with adult's voices while driving pedal cars and shooting guns that shoot cream pies.  

Unlike any other film ever made it is scarily familiar since it uses all the tropes of films we’ve seen before while creating something new.

It’s a blast and a half. I’ve been watching it since it came out where it warped my mind and filled me with a wonderful sense of fun.

The cast is solid, though I really don’t remember seeing anyone after this other than Foster and Scott Baio.

The most memorable thing about the film are the songs from Paul Williams. They are some his best film work and explains why he is one of the greatest composers ever. I had an 8-track of the soundtrack which explains why all the lyrics are burned into my brain.

This is just a great film, and you need to see it.

Time of the Heathen (1961)

A drifter wanders the country side with his bible. When he sees the rape and murder of a black woman he flees with woman's son. Framed for the murder the pair has to run to stay alive.

Restored 1961 drama is a kick in the pants. Set in the years following the end of World War II the film has a lot to say about guilt, humanity and small town life. It's a film with a lot going on with in a simple narrative. 

What struck me about the film is that it feels very much like the work of George Romero. How the film is shot is very close to the way NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE AMUSEMENT PARK or the films made in between were shot. There is an unease in the framing of images and shot choice that make me wonder if Romero saw this film and learned from it.

While there is a formalness to some of the proceedings, the dialog feels less than natural, the film never stops feeling real. Indeed, in someways the film more real than real films since it touches some part of the place where we remember things.

I was moved. Honestly I agreed to  cover the film it was more with the hope of just using it for a filler. Instead I found a haunting film whose discovery is one of the great cinematic surprises of the year.

This is a film that any lover of cinema should track down.

Recommended.

Wendy Feinberg on THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS (2024) SXSW

As a music lover, since I watched Scott Rosenbaum’s BANG! THE BERT BERNS STORY, about a prolific songwriter in the early60’s who died prematurely at age 38, I have not been so in awe of a person I never heard of until I saw director Alexis Spraic’s THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS which premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival. The first question I asked myself before I watched the film is, “Who in the world is Allee Willis?” And the 2nd question I asked, as I was watching was, “Why in the world have I never heard of her?”

Born in 1947 to a Jewish family in Detroit, she lost her mom at the age of 15 and turned to music as she struggled with family and personal problems. She gravitated to Motown/black music after listening to Barrett Strong’s “Money” and began writing music in the 70’s. Her mentor was Mary Wells, one of the very few female songwriters of the time. Thank goodness she didn’t listen to her dad, who warned her, “Stay away from black culture!”

I don’t want to give away too much of her accomplishments, as I think it will take away from watching the film and discovering, as I did, all that Allee achieved in her 72 years, but I will mention that she wrote Earth Wind and Fire’s iconic “September” and their “Boogie Woogie Wonderland”. She sold over 50 million records and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. Allee also was a successful multi-media artist, selling her works to the likes of actress Leslie Ann Warren and was among the earliest people to explore using the internet to promote herself, creating an internet show “Willisville” that was funded by businessman, Mark Cuban.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS is a wonderfully well-crafted film containing much archival footage, videoed by Willis herself, who began filming her life as a kid in the 1950’s. There are also interviews with many well-known personalities such as Cindy Lauper, Mark Cuban, Patti LaBelle, Paul Reubens and many more whose lives were touched by her. 

Just a few quick thoughts on Godzilla X Kong : The New Empire (2024)

Follow up to 2021's Throw down between the two titans has the pair teaming up when Kong discovers that he isn't the only giant ape left and that the leader of the apes is evil and want's to take over the surface world.

This is more a King Kong film than a Godzilla film. Almost the whole film is focused on Kong's reconnecting with his lost family. Godzilla only shows up now and again to beat up other monsters. While Big G doesn't have a lot of screen time in the earlier films, this is the first one in the current series where it's nominally his film, but he isn't the focus. This is all Kong. It's not a bad thing, but the title promises more than we get.

This is the point at which the Monsterverse jumps the shark. While the film is absolutely entertaining from start to finish, the series is now just Hollywood silliness The serious edge of the earlier films in the series is completely gone. This is just mindless action just because watching giant monsters destroy things is a fun. There is no effort to make them really work in the real world (or consideration of the damage they are causing). That may not sound like much, but having seen GODZILLA MINUS ONE a few months ago, I found that I prefer the more serious discussions that the Godzilla films kick up.  Yes I love the battles but I want something more as well.

My bitching aside this is a fun film. It's mindless action of the best sort. It's giant clashes and good human characters. I had a blast seeing this on a recent afternoon when I was just killing time in Pittsburgh.

Recommended.

Nightcap 5/5/24 Should we engage with people on social media?

Better off alone?

After some fireworks last weekend on social media I’m left pondering at what point we should engage with people on social media.

The short version of reason is that that after someone said they loved a particularly nasty film where bad things happen graphically because of said graphic effects, A friend said he hoped that people considered films their favorites for reasons beyond just the effects.  This sparked anger in some one else who took a general statement as an attack on their favorite film. It wasn’t an attack just a passing comment.  And despite efforts from several people, myself included, to calm things down, it blew up.

The exchange left everyone a bit singed.

I was left to ponder at what point we need to engage with people on social media. In theory it’s supposed to be a free exchange of ideas but more often it becomes an echo chamber as people look for re-enforcement of how they feel. If you are not on their “side” it’s often open warfare. Why? Because this is what we are being taught, and because since we don’t know people on line they aren’t real and they can be attacked with impunity. The attack mentality results in a bitterness and anger and hurt feelings because people can’t understand why the nameless person or famous person they have built up in their minds is "attacking" them by not agreeing with them.

Tempers flare.

It happens all the time on Twitter and if you aren’t use to it seems rather brutal. Actually even if you are used to it it’s brutal.

I tend to stand clear of fights or heated discussions because getting into a shouting match with people I don’t know or follow isn’t worth it. It feels to much like forcing myself into conversations I’m no part of just to say something no one is ever going to actually hear.

I prefer to pick my fights hence what I say tends to be measured on social media…and even here. I weigh what any engagement is worth.

My hesitation is in part due to the fact that in the early days of Unseen Films I was getting flooded with rude comments. A couple of people actively liked to say rude things in the comments so I was constantly removing them. I also had two well-known filmmakers send their fans after me after I panned one of their films. It was so bad I now screen all comments before they are posted.

What I discovered by screening is that by cutting off the fire results in fewer attacks. If people know I won’t play their game, they won’t try to engage me.

I take that  stance when engaging with anyone on social media. With rare exception I don’t seek to provoke. I try to calmly state my feelings and move on.

Of course it doesn’t always work, but it reduces the aggravation.

I will say some bad things about films on twitter, but generally not provocative, and only in connection with a review where you can see my feelings beyond 230 characters. I tend to say rude things as blind posts because it reduces hurt feelings.

The problem is everyone wants to be liked and have their world view approved of. Everyone just wants shiny happy funny farts thrown their way and get upset when that doesn’t happen. 

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A random note- if you are discussing your favorite film and you are discussing that what you like about the film is parts where women are brutalized in graphic detail – you need to be ready for people to look at you funny and hide their children. It’s not that you like the film- it’s that you point out the misogyny and dehumanization of people as the best part that causes people to step away.

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For the few of you curious as to how Unseen is going to go for the next few weeks....

Some new releases this week, folding into Cabane à Sang and Cannes. followed by more new releases until Tribeca  hits

Drive -in Monster-rama April Ghouls 2024 KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

 

KILLER CLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
Classic horror  comedy was the focus of the raffle basket at the Drive-In Monster rama this April. It was a stunner that everyone wanted to win.

The film itself follows a small town where the title clowns arrive and begin  carting off the population. It’s up to a group pf friends to try and start them.

Making only the barest bit of sense, this is really just a bunch of loosely connected set pieces that entertain with their off kilter sense of reality. It’s also a film that has endlessly quotable dialog that I have been subjected to for nearly 4 decades by my brother who seems to have the film memorized.

While I have seen the film numerous times over the years it was delight to see it on a big screen for the first time, more so when an actual killer clown was wandering through the drive in.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
I first saw John Carpenter’s classic film on the night it premiered in a packed house. I’ve seen it any number of times since then. Recently I’ve tended to catch it in the middle when it runs on one of the various cable stations.

The plot has Kurt Russell’s Snake Pliskin  going into a walled off NYC to rescue the President. It goes sideways from the start and Snake has to fight his way out.

Seeing the film from start to finish for the first time in a decade or more I was truly impressed by how well it is constructed. It’s a finely crafted machine that grabs you and holds you attention from start to finish. Other than a kind of rushed ending the film just moves at a perfect pace.  Its so good one has to wonder why Carpenter isn’t considered a greater director by film lovers.

This is truly a great film.

SPACE THE LONGEST GOODBYE (2024) hits PBS Monday

This is an examination of the effort to find people who can stand the isolation that long trips into space, say to Mars, will require. We watch as the officials at NASA try to sort out potential astronauts who will be able to survive the strain. We also see the candidates who are finally faced with the gulf between their dreams and the realities.

As a space kid who grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and who read everything I could gget my hands on space travel, I found that THE LONGEST GOODBYE opened my eyes. Much like many of the Candidates I found that there was a lot to long travels in space I never considered. As amazed as I am by anyone who gets to leave earth, this film made me consider their achievements to be even more awe inspiring. As much as I would love to go I was forced to consider that maybe I don’t have the right stuff.

This is a killer doc. Not only does it say a great deal about our exploration of space, but it also speaks volumes about the things we hold important. As one astronaut is heard at the start – going into space for an extended period means missing out on things like rain. What will you give up or what are you willing to reduce down to only be available via a screen? I had a lot to ponder.

This is a super film and recommended.

Debuts on PBS's Independent Lens on Monday, May 6th at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings). After, the film be available to stream on the PBS App and also accessible via PBS’s flagship YouTube channel.

APRIL GHOULS 2024 DRIVE IN MONSTER -RAMA: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and DEATHDREAM

 

Last weekend was the April Ghouls version of George and Gene’s Drive-In Monster-rama. This year there wasn’t binding theme for the weekend it was just balls to the wall horror for the first night and Scifi the second. As my brother Joe and I have done since 2020 we have been in the rows enjoying the selections.

As we do every time we go we get there early and spend time talking to the friends we made there, which is pretty much everyone. More and more the weekends are becoming old home week as we see the same faces over and over again.  It’s a semi annual family reunion.

As is typical for us, Joe and I only made through the first two films.  Despite wanting to see MESSIAH OF EVIL and THE CHILDREN, the fact that we stay 25 minutes from the Riverside makes it tough to stay  for three or for films without losing the next day to sleeping in. I could complain that they could shorten the pre-fest screening or in between material but seeing those goodies are just as fun as the features.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD assumes that NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was based on a true incident and that the zombies were created by chemicals and that they were locked up in containers which ended up shipped to a medical supply warehouse. One container is breached and the gas and a zombie escape bringing the dead back to life.

Dan O'Bannon who wrote ALIEN and DARK STAR turns the Romero zombies on their ear with a brilliant horror comedy. Allowing that the logic of some of what happens makes no real sense even on its own terms, RETURN just takes things into the realm of well done horror comedy.  It's  a film that works because O'Bannon gives us characters we like.  For example James Karen and Thom Matthews were so good they brought the actors back in the films that followed.

Seeing the film on the drive-in screen was a blast- in part because the first time I saw the film on opening night, the projectionist spliced the first reel into the print the wrong way so it played upside down and backwards. I always wanted to see the film projected the right way. Also  I enjoyed it because the film is just so much fun.

DEATHDREAM is a film I've seen dozens of times over the years. The story of a grieving mother who wills her dead son back to life, it's a creepy film that leaves the viewer deeply bothered. Moving like the wind its the story of a situation that goes from bad to worse and destroys a family because one member won't accept the truth that one member is gone.

My mother hated the film and how it made her feel...and despite that she still would watch it again and again because it's just that good.

I should say that the restoration by Blue Underground is fantastic and the film has never looked this good before

A Brief pointer toward Who is Stan Smith?(2022)

I'm not doing a full review of this film. It's not that it's a bad film, it's actually really good. Rather it's because I don't care about the shoes.

This is a portrait of Stan Smith, tennis legend, shoe icon and humanitarian.  It's told by his friends and admirers.

WHO IS STAN SMITH? is a very good film. It's a wonderful exploration of the man and his achievements. It's a film that is going to surprise a lot of people who don't know about Smith and the things he did.

As good as the film is I never full clicked with the film. Blame it entirely on the shoes. I really don't care about the shoes, so every time they were mentioned I tuned out. Because the film is really good, despite my not fully clicking with it, I'm saying go see it when it opens in NYC today or LA next week, or where ever it plays.

Slow (2023) opens today

The course of a relationship between a man and a woman that ends up complicated by his asexuality.

Beautifully acted and sensuous film about a relationship that is not quite like the normal. Its a film is carried by leads Greta Grinevičiūtė and Kęstutis Cicėnas who make us fall in love with them and make us want for them to succeed. Its a wonderful romance where the course of love doesn't go as expected.

The selling point for this film is going to be the asexuality angle. Dovydas clearly loves Elena however he is not interested in sex and intimacy. Its a situation that Elena has difficulty with since she is a dancer and loves touch. This is not something that we've seen in the movies before and it is going to resonate with many people.

I liked SLOW. I liked it not for the asexuality angle, but because I liked the people. Frankly if the write ups of the film didn't mention it I wouldn't have noted it because to me it's ultimately not important since this is not about one thing but about how we interact.

Worth a look.

Brief thoughts on Ryusuke Hamaguchi's GIFTwith live performance by Eiko Ishibachi

I went with Ed Douglas tonight to see  GIFT  at Lincoln Center. 

The film is silent  recut version of Hamaguchi's EVIL DOES NOT EXIST. It runs about 75 minutes and contains a lot of alternate or extended takes. The film is designed so that Eiko Ishibashi can play a live score to it (her set up is in the lower right of the picture above).

While the film essentially tells the same story, things play out differently. In this film titles spell out a bit more of the plot at times. At other times we are left to figure things out for ourselves. The film is not really designed as a narrative but as something Ishibashi's score can play off of.

As a concert it's very good.  Several passages were hypnotic with the music. It was so good that I really wish that all notion of a narrative was thrown out and we could have just had random sequences with the score.

If you are looking for a narrative or new great film from Hamaguchi you are going to be disappointed. Too much is missing. Having seen EVIL... at last year's New York Film Festival  I think GIFT is a pale imitation...but then again it was never supposed to be a "film" like EVIL

I enjoyed myself and consider the screening more a concert. It is not anything I would watch again- though I would listen to the score. If you can see it live do so.

On the other hand if you want a solid narrative see EVIL DOES NOT EXIST.

Lost Soulz (2023) opens tomorrow

A winner of an audience award at Tribeca LOST SOULZ was a film that many of Tribeca staff and several writers insisted that I see.  The mix of characters and music had clicked with everyone who saw the film. Based on Word of mouth this looked to be one of the best films of festival. 

This is the story of a young rapper named Sol who lives with his best friend Wesley and his family.  After Wesley overdoses, Sol hits the road, traveling across Texas with a group of artists he met that night. As the group travels and performs Sol discovers who he is and what it means to be responsible and have a family.

This film is wonderful. Full of great characters and greater music LOST SOULZ is  one of the best films of Tribeca.

The look of this film is magical. The stunning visuals mix perfectly framed images with pumped up colors to create a world that is like our own and frequently like our dreams. 

The Music is note perfect. So many times in films about fictional performers the music isn't what it should be, you can't understand why people are falling over the music we hear. You get one, maybe two good songs that stand out but no more, but that isn't the case here. The music is so good that you want to lean in and follow Sol's journey. There is the added bonus that the songs and the score blend together to create a seamless whole.

The cast is great. Sure it helps that I haven't seen most of the cast before so they are real people, but even so none of performers seem to be acting. Everyone seems to be inhabiting their characters. This makes everyone feels real and inviting.

I love the narrative of the film. I love that the film doesn't do what you expected. LOST SOULZ doesn't take any of the regular paths in similar music films. Things aren't pumped up dramatically, life flows. It's a joy not to have confrontations that are coming from the mind of the writer instead of the life of the characters.

This is a great little film. 

What an absolute joy. This is why I love going to festivals and dwelling among the inde films, it's because I get to discover wonderful films like this.

Highly recommended.

Catching Fire The Story of Anita Pallenberg (2023)

Portrait of model, actress and muse Anita Pallenberg. She came from Italy to New York and quickly fell into the in crowd. She became the girlfriend of Rolling Stone Brian Jones before leaving him and becoming the long time paramour of Keith Richards with whom she had several children.

Largely made up of publicly unseen film footage and using Pallenberg's unpublished autobiography as the source of the narration, this is as close to hearing the story of her own life in her own words. It's a trip into the life of a woman that most of us only know as either through the lens of the paparazzi or as the woman who was a girlfriend of one of the Rolling Stones. It's a film that opens up our eyes as to who she was and what was going on around here.

I never really cared that much about Anita Pallenberg. She was always in the news because she was there. I also knew her because she was in BARBARELLA and PERFORMANCE.  As time went on I learned more about her because she was crossing through the lives of other people I was interested in. Recently, thanks to a recent documentary of Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. 

I really liked CATCHING FIRE. I love that the film finally allows Pallenberg to step out of the shadow of the Rolling Stones and take center stage. Yes, a large part of the film does deal with the Stones, because after all that's what people will want to hear about, but at the same time the film shows us a woman who was a force to be reckoned in her own right. It's a film that changes what we thought we knew about not only Pallenberg but also the Rolling Stones.

This is a super little film. It's must see for any Stones fan, however more importantly it's a must for anyone who wants to see a great film about a intriguing woman.

ROUND UP: PUNISHMENT (2024)

Detective Ma Seok-do (Don Lee) returns for the fourth time  in a bruising action film that takes us back to the darker edge of the first two films. It's an awesome film that will have you reacting to the  film out loud.

This time out Seok-do and his team end up chasing after the mad man behind a gambling syndicate. An expert with a knife  he cuts up anyone who stands in the way of  his making a buck. While the deep dive into the world of computers is not Seok-do's strong point, he manages to assemble a team to break heads and get him close to his target.

This film is an absolute blast. It's a film that has some of the best action sequences in the series. The final fight had me wincing. Full of the expected witty lines and great characters the film just delights us from start to finish. What raises it up from ROUND UP: NO WAY OUT is that there is a weight to the proceedings. Seok-do's promise to a mother to avenge the death of her son gives the film a weight the last film doesn't have. Additionally the bad guy here is so brutal in his attacks that he over comes the cartoony final boss  video game nature of his creation.

I know I could say more, but the truth is this film does what it is suppose so well that it doesn't need me to say anything other than "Go See This."

Mars Express (2023)

In 2200 private detectives Aline and Carlos are hired to find and bring home a notorious hacker. The case puts them into the middle of something bigger involving the robots on Mars and Earth.

This is a scifi hard boiled detective noir. Its classic 1940's film noir mashed with modern day science fiction and the look at artificial intelligence. It has the classic rhythms mixed with eye popping visuals and some kick ass action sequences. It's a blast and a half and I loved it.

I know that some of you are going to be scared off because this is animation. Yes I know anime has made it more accepted, but some people still don't want to watch animation, Never mind that if this was live action they would be first on line to see it. Understand that because of what the film is about and because of where its set and who the characters are the film had to be animated. Even if was live action other than a few characters the vast majority of the rest would have been CGI, or more simply photo-realistically animated.

Watching this film I ended up reacting verbally.  Twists and turns had me talking out loud. The same can be said about the action sequences. 

And then there are the themes and ideas running around in the film. The notions of what it means to be alive, about free will and basic human stupidity have haunted me for days after seeing the film. What I love is that the film's ending has improved the more I think about it. I first thought it was unremarkable and a bit been there... and then all of the things that it implied hit me hard. The profound sense of sadness contained in it filled my heart.

I love this movie. I love it to the point that I regret that I missed going to the work in progress screening that Animation First had a couple of years back.

I really do need to make one  note concerning this film and that when you see this you need to realize that this is a detective film and not an action film. There is action and suspense but there are also slow sequences of detecting. In other words there are some slow sequences, or slow at least compared to some of the bat shit crazy fights.

Once more with feeling- I love this film. You need to see it. If possible when it plays at Animation First Tuesday, or down the road when G-Kids releases it.

How good is it? I don't think it's going  of to move off my Best of the Best of 2024.

FRAGMENTS OF A LIFE LOVED (2023) Hot Docs 2024

Director Chloé Barreau creates an autobiography of herself by taking all the footage she shot over the years with all the men and women she loved and intercutting it with interviews done by a third party, allowing her lovers to freely say how they saw her.

This is a film that the vast majority of us would never want to make. How many of us would ever want our exes to tell us what they really feel about us. Do we really want to know what happened from the other side? It's a scary thought but here it works.

Actually what works here is the that Barreau has created a film that while being very specifically about her and her relationships, it is also about all of us. Watching the discussions in the interviews I found that I felt to connected to everyone. Everything that was being said connected back to my life and loves in one way or another. In making a portrait of herself through the eyes and hearts of other people she has made a film about everyone watching.

If you ever pondered how you might be viewed by your exes or how you may have touched the lives of those who have traveled with you for some of your life, this film may provide some answers, and if nothing else it may raise some questions.

I was moved and intrigued. More importantly when it was done I wanted to go again because I had such a good time and  wanted to spend more time with these people. 

What an absolutely great film.

Recommended.

Marching In The Dark (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Sanjivani, is a widow struggling to raise her family and run her family farm. Not long before her husband committed suicide because of the crushing debt and the inability to make a go of the farm. Turning to the numerous women in the same situation as herself she begins to organize and create a community that can begin to allow the women to make a living and get ahead.

The plight of the countless farmers in India is terrible. They are being crushed by a system stacked against them, the buyers of the goods find any and every excuse to pay the famers as little as possible, and every other part of their lives is set up to take their money and keep them in poverty. It is a life I would wish on no one. The fact that there is an epidemic of suicides is not surprising. That the wives of the men are left behind to raise their children and try and turn it around financially is sad.

This is a bittersweet film. While we watch, and are happy  Sanjivani as she begins to move toward a better life and forms a community, we are still left hurt knowing that there is still along way to go.

Not to put too fine a point on this film kicked my ass. I was left broken by it. The final image of the film has haunted me for the last three weeks since I saw the film. The haunting image of sad resolve has appeared before my eyes numerous times each and every day, despite seeing numerous other films.

I honestly don’t know what to say except that Kinshu Surjan has made a truly great film. Not only is it a great portrait of a woman doing what she has to survive, but it sheds light on a terrible situation I’m certain 99% of the world knows nothing about. If we are lucky this film will get tractions and find the eyes and hearts of the people who can change this terrible situation.

Highly recommended, MARCHING IN THE DARK is a must see.

DEATH OF A SAINT (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Patricia Bbaale Bandak returns home Uganda to look into her past, and in particular the death of her mother when she was an infant. However  she is hampered by her father who really doesn’t want to revisit it and a cultural refusal to speak badly of the dead.

Extremely personal journey into the director’s life is something that is going to require a few minutes of readjustment. Looking and feeling at times like an odd home movie, the film has it’s own rhythms and pacing. I mention this as a warning to anyone who wants a film to go from first frame to the last. This is something else instead. It is a film with the rhythm and pacing of life. Things play out as they do in life not with in the confines of a director’s reconstruction of life.

Bandak wants us to understand her life and she creates the optimal forum for that by bring us truly into her world. In a way it’s a gamble, viewers who want bullet points and a fast pace are going to be disappointed. On the other hand those viewers who want to understand the film’s subject will  go into it and submerge themselves into the place that DEATH OF A SAINT TAKES US.

I’m not going to lie, I was antsy at the start. I wasn’t certain what Bandak was doing, but being a fan of documentaries that really get their point of view across, I belt in and was richly rewarded. The result was a trip to a place and into a life I never imagined.

This is a gem of a film and recommended.

Wendy Feinberg on THE CONTESTANT (2023) which hits Hulu May 2

 Wendy went to the opening night of THE CONTESTANT at  DOC NYC in November and filed this report:

The Contestant tells a wild and crazy true story of a Japanese young man nicknamed Nasubi, meaning eggplant in Japanese, because of his extremely long face. Bullied as a child, he becomes a comedian and in 1998 auditions for a reality show, “A Life in Prizes” in Tokyo. He is randomly selected and given the challenge of living totally isolated and naked in a room, surviving only on prizes he wins off of magazine sweepstakes. Unbeknownst to him, the show is being aired to millions of people on TV. I immediately thought of the movie The Truman Show with Jim Carey, actually filmed in the same year, but is a fictionalized story vs. a real live reality show. 

I would divide the film into two parts. The first consists of watching the bizarre challenge unfold, which in the film is mostly archival footage and commentary  25 years later by Nasubi, his family and the sadistic producer of the show, Toshio Tsuchiya. We hear an audience roaring with laughter as he attempts to survive naked in this small room, but in the theater you don’t hear much laughter from the audience. In fact, I found myself very uncomfortable watching Nasubi’s struggles to survive, actually contemplating suicide, at one point. 

The second part shows the aftermath of surviving 15 months alone and naked in this room. We watch Nasubi’s reaction at finding out that he was watched by millions of people. He struggles to find normalcy again and ultimately ends up helping in a cleanup after a tsunami in his hometown of Fukashima, helping in a cleanup after a major earthquake in Nepal and climbing to the top of Mt. Everest. 

If there is anything we can learn from this film, to paraphase Nasubi, it is that it's possible to take our weaknesses and turn them into strengths. I would recommend watching this film, only because it is so unbelievable that a show like this was aired on TV in Japan and found such great success in 1998. Yet, in The Contestant, we see this “naked truth” with our own eyes! By the way, although he is naked on the show, in true comic fashion, they used an eggplant to cover his private parts. 

Seguridad (2024) Hot Docs

Tamara Segura tries to un ravel her complicated relationship with her abusive father and the country she left behind, Cuba.

This is one of those films that seems to be one thing and then opens up into something larger. Segura’s tale about trying to connect to her father becomes a journey through her family’s history, what made her father become abusive, an exploration of the Cuban revolution, what it means to leave your home country and a few other things. It’s a film that wonderfully is opening doors every couple of minutes, with the result the film makes our eyes go wide as we are brought into a seeming never ending tale.

This is a great film.  It’s wonderfully curated ride through a the life of not only the director but her family and the country of her birth. It is a film that also transcends being just one person’s story, but one that we all can see ourselves in. Something somewhere in this tale is almost certain to click with you.

One of the best films at Hot Docs, it’s also one of the great finds of 2024.

Highly recommended.

Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen? (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Eisha Marjara makes a very personal essay about her battle with eating disorders. The disorder was the result of her and a sister’s decision to go on a diet and it's slide into a many year long battle with food and body image.

Even if you’ve seen other films on eating disorders this film is going to rock your world. Less a conventional film than the cinematic equivalent of sitting with a good friend who tells you about their life. There is no distance between you and the story. Even as Marjara uses footage from elsewhere it still feels firmly part of her story. Actually the use of other images expands the story into the larger tale of society and how it views people’s size.

I wasn’t certain going in what I was going to think. As I said at the top I was rocked because you not only intellectually understand the mind set, you physically and emotionally understand it because the mix of words and image paint a picture that bleeds off the screen.

AM I THE SKINNIEST… is a great film and further proof that the best films in any year are very likely to come in short form packages.

So This is Christmas (2024) Hot Docs

Documentary narrative hybrid tells the story of a small Irish town around Christmas.

This is the sort of off kilter film that develops a cult following and lives for ever in the hearts and minds who love off beat films. Most definitely set at Christmas time and containing talk about the holiday, the film looks and feels like something else. The lazy cheat explanation would be to compare it to the work of Wes Anderson, but the truth is that is only superficial, since director Ken Wardrop  gives the film a most decidedly bend that you can only get from having a deep love and passion for things Irish.

Made up of tableaus, voice overs and images of life this film is something one of a kind and delightfully unique.  Its so unique that it took me about a third of the film before I clicked with it. It’s not that there was anything wrong with it, more that Wardrop is doing things his own way and if you fight that the film can’t work it’s magic.

And magic it is. This lovely film is a rye look at the holiday and life in a small town. It’s a film full of the rhythms of an idyllic setting but viewed threw a slightly off window- one that gives everything a glow.

You will forgive me, but there is something special about this film that you need to experience and not read about. My words have failed me.

Do yourself a fovour, just see this little gem of a film

Evil Does Not Exist (2023) opens Friday

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi returns with a small story of a town that is about to change thanks to a corporation wanting to build a fancy camping site in their hamlet. The towns folk are just fine, but the corporation wants to do it, despite the fact their half-assed plans are going to result in pollution and destruction of their way of life.

Structured like a short story EVIL DOES NOT EXIST moves at it's own pace and goes through it's own turns. Running almost two hours it solidly fills the hours but it tells a narrative so light and fragile that you would think it would almost be a short - except that it needs the full run time to fully breath and set up it's story.

Certain to not click with some audiences, this is still going to thrill many. Hamaguchi knows this isn't a crowd pleaser and said so in his Q&A at NYFF, but he's okay with that. The reason, I think, that people won't warm to it is the short story like structure. What happens is something that you see in short stories or films but not in features. The ending is atypical for a feature (or novel).  If you can accept that you are good.

I really like Hamaguchi's films. While dealing with similar themes through out his films, more times than not are always different. Running whatever time they need and moving differently each time he is one of the few filmmakers today making films that reflect the story and not his personal style.

This is a small gentle gem of a film and while not as meaty as his other films it is still highly recommended.

Sharp Edge of Peace (2024) Hot Docs 2024

This is the story of the four women who were part of the four women who were part of the Afghani government's team that worked with the Taliban in order to maintain women's rights in 2021. We watch as they show struggle to maintain women's rights, and deal with a group who wants to crush them.

While the film was shot as events happening and no one could know how things were going to play out (though they could suspect). Knowing how it all played out makes this a bittersweet film. While we see the strength of the women and admire their tenacity, we are also kind of crushed because we know the Taliban lied and took away every right as soon as it was safe for them to do so.

This is a super film. It's a look behind the headlines and it fills us in on what happened when mainstream media stopped watching what the Taliban was doing. As such it is a warning about where the world maybe going as well as a ray of hope by revealing that there are good people out there who will fight the good fight and bring light into darkness. 

Recommended.

Lower East Side May 2-6

This just a quick pointer toward the Lower Eastside Film Festival that runs starting this week in New York.

This small festival may not program a vast selection of films, but what they program is choice. I’ve covered their selections many times over the last few years because they are always bringing special little films to New York.

This year I’ve actually seen all the films playing except the opening and closing films, which I going to review soon.

The new films I’ve seen before are: 

DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO
NATHAN-ISM
LOVE AND WORK

In addition to the new films they are also celebrating a few films on their 25th anniversary. All three changed cinema in their wake

CRUEL INTENTIONS is a teenage version of the oft filmed Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos which tells the story of a love hate relationship that destroys themselves and the people they are seeking to manipulate

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER is about a cheerleader who is sent to a conversion camp by her parents who think she is gay and she ends up being converted.

AMERICAN MOVIE is the classic look at one man's attempt to make a film and having it go badly

If you can I suggest you check the website for a schedule and but tickets and go.

HELEN AND THE BEAR (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Helen Hooper met US Congressman Pete McCloskey in the 1970’s. He was 26 years older than her. They orbited each other and the fell together. They bonded over their unconventionality and their love of the wilderness. She had a several year relationship with another woman but always remained steadfastly in love with Bear. As he heads towards the end of his life Helen takes stock and looks back at her own life.

This is one of the great romances I’ve run across. It’s the story of two people madly in love with each other after roughly fifty years together. There is oneness in their togetherness that only comes from deep affection and happiness in the company of another person. You can see it in every look, motion, touch and word. It’s the sort of a relationship that we all want to aspire to but few of us ever achieve.

I love this film. I love that I went in and was certain it was going to be just a typical bio, and was beyond delighted when the mix of interviews and journal entries turned it into something truly special. This film is glorious. It is one of the great romantic films of the last couple of decades. Documentary or narrative it doesn’t matter, as depiction of love this film is among the best. It is what it should be a deep entwinement of two souls despite everything, one where smooching isn’t required, but just being with a person, where a word or a touch moves our heart.

By the time the film ended I was misty.

God, it’s wonderful

Highly recommended.

THE STRIKE (2024) Hot Docs 2024

This is the story of the hunger strike at Pelican Bay SHU, and across California in 2011 that brought an end to the wholesale warehousing of inmates. It is told by the men who were at Pelican Bay and participated in the strike.

This is a super film. Focusing not just on the strike, but also on how and why the  prison was built, how it affected the men who stayed there and their loved ones, this is film that really makes you understand how there is a problem with how we deal with the people who commit crimes. It’s a film that doesn’t lecture, but instead is like sitting in a bar with a friend and having them tell you their story. Its put together in  a way that doesn’t just throw facts and figures at you but makes you think and change your mind. Where other film tell you things but still leave you disconnected, this is a film that connects you and brings you waves of emotion as we see what happened and how these men changed the world.

This is such a good film.

No matter where you stand on criminal justice you need to see this film because it makes the discussion one you can relate to on a personal level.

Highly recommended.

BEETHOVEN’S NINE: ODE TO HUMANITY (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Even allowing that I am a sucker for Ludwig Van’s 9th, Larry Weinstein’s film about it and humanity still left me misty.

Using Beethoven’s 9th Symphony as a backbone, Weinstein decides to tell us about the lives of nine people who embody what he feels are the qualities that the composer was trying to celebrate in setting the poem that makes up the fourth movement to music. It is a journey that goes into all sorts of unexpected places.  Indeed at the start of the film Weinstein warns us that the film we are seeing is not the one he was intending to make. Once we make the journey to the end we completely understand what that is.

I truly love this film. The marriage of sound and image and subject made my heart soar. While anyone would have lifted me up on their own, Weinstein’s expert marriage of the three makes this a film that will make your heart soar.

It is an Ode To Joy In the best sort of a way.

You will forgive me for not going into great detail but quite frankly the best sort of joy is the sort you find yourself.  I love this film and I want you to experience it as close to the way I did as you can.

One of my favorite films of the year.

Mabel (2024) SAN FRANCISCO FILM FESTIVAL

MABEL is a sweet little film. 

It tells the story of Cassie, a young girl who love plants. She is not that good with people. He life is thrown into turmoil when her family moves from Virginia to upstate New York. Raising her cranky level, Cassie starts to warm to people when one of her teachers starts a botany club.

MABEL is  90 minutes with good people. Yes the film covers some territory we’ve seen before, but the cast is so good and they make their characters so likable that you can’t help but fall in love with them. You genuinely want to spend time with them which is rare these days. Too many filmmakers make films about annoying people or people that they don’t like, but that’s not the case here. Nicholas Ma likes the people on the screen so we do to.

While this isn’t going to rock the pillars of heaven, it is going to make you smile, which is something we can all use these days.

Recommended.

PRATFALL is playing in LA and on VOD and is worth seeing

PRATFALL stars Chloé Groussard and Joshua Burge  as Joelle and Eli. Eli is reeling from the loss of his mother and his girlfriend in short order. Unable to fully cope he has become an insomniac. He collides with Joelle a French tourist who is lost in Central Park and wants to see the city.

I'm kind of stuck on how to review this film. It's not that the film is bad, it is far from that, rather there are couple of things in this film that if I discuss them may make it seem I hate the film, which is far from the case. The reality is this is a really good film that is going to delight anyone who wants to see a film that could never get made in the studio system.

What makes the film so difficult to review is that Joshua Burge as Eli is a tough fellow to be around. A guy who has been through the ringer and then some , Eli has a perpetual thousand yard stare and is clearly a broken individual. You pity him, and you kind of like him, but he can be rather off putting in the extreme. I knew several guys like Eli and it made me sit up.

Frankly it's one of the best performances I've seen this year. If Burge and the film were a bit bigger and could get a campaign up and running I could see the performance getting some year end love. On the other hand it's possible that this masterful turn might keep voters away. Which is a bitch since by the time the film ends Burge has broken our hearts in the best sort of way. Burge's performance is the reason I love small inde films, it's the performances that are closer to real than we normally get.

The other thing that makes it hard to review PRATFALL is how it is shot. Because this is almost not a narrative but a character study director Alex Andre has shot pretty much the entire film as a series of close ups. We are firmly in the faces of Joelle and (especially) Eli the entire film. There are few if any wide shots, instead we are always up close and personal with the two main characters. A face or two faces fill the screen. It's claustrophobic. I know why it was done, however at the same time it can make the film tough to watch as we want to disengage with what is happening and take stock, that isn't possible.  This film is literally in your face and it can be tough to watch.

That said if you are adventurous and if you can go with the film on it's own terms PRATFALL is worth a look, especially for Joshua Burge's performance.

CHASING TIME (2024) Hot Docs 2024

You need to see this on a screen as big as possible. I don’t say that lightly, I say that because the images here will knock your socks off.

This film is a portrait of  Extreme Ice Survey project, photographer James Balog and a kind of follow up to the 2012 film CHASING ICE about the diminishing glaciers across the globe. -Balog and his crew have been creating a visual record of the loss of ice and doing so in spectacular style. 

Most importantly the film is  visceral warning about the dangers of global warning. Only idiots can argue with the evidence that Balog presents before us.

This film is stunning and a must see.

XIXI (2024) Hot Docs 2024

After graduating from film school in Europe director Fan Wu decided to travel across Europe instead of taking the good girl track. While at a dance festival in Berlin she discovered Xixi a Chinese improvisational dancer. They became friends and after several years Wu turned her correspondence and footage into a portrait of the dancer.

This is as close to a subject as you are going to ever get in a film. From the opening moments we are “in the face” of Xixi. At the start it is literal as we go with her to pick up her daughter and later we are tied to the hip as we go through her days.  The result is a enlightening film  that truly lets us walk in the shoes of another.

I really liked this film a great deal. While the seeming lack of boundaries can be a bit jarring, I love that the film doesn’t shy away. We really get to know Xixi and everything about her life.

And we also get to know about Fan Wu as well. Its clear that the two women are sisters and have a connection to each other. Listening to them speak to each other this is not a relationship of biographer and subject but just two friends hanging out. It is this closeness that allows us to get so close to Xixi and what makes this film something special.

Worth a look.

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (2024) Hot Docs 2024

ANY OTHER WAY: THE JACKIE SHANE STORY is not a film you should go into expecting a warm and fuzzy feeling. While the film does give us a portrait of a great singer you probably haven’t heard of before, it is also a portrait of a woman who while on the verge of having it all slid completely off the radar. It is a very bittersweet tale.

Jackie Shane  was a rocking blues performer. Her star was rising and then she disappeared. Where she went and why is explored in the film.  Part of the reason is due to the complications to her being trans. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s that was something that many people did not want to deal with.

I was moved.

In a lot of ways this is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in years. Telling me a story that I hadn’t heard before, it tells it like it is and doesn’t really sugarcoat it or turn it into something that it isn’t. It’s a film that stays true to its subject and her story. The result is a film that moves us as it’s making us think and leaving us troubled - Shane should have been huge.

However if you don’t want to be troubled and just want to hear some great blues see this film.

A Mother Apart (2024) Hot Docs 2024

Portrait of Jamaican-American artist, performer  poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin,who has been struggling with the notion of how to be a good mother. It’s a struggle that she has been wrestling with she was abandoned by her own mother decades before.

While I know that this is a great and moving film, I am also very aware that I am the wrong person to be writing up this film. This is a film about mothers and daughters and how they view each other and while I can get some of that being a person with parents, the fact that I am not a woman diminished some of the resonances that I should have felt.

That said, A MOTHER APART  is kick ass film. It’s a film that in exploring the relationship between mothers and daughters the film also forces us to consider how we connect to our parents and children. It’s a film that asks a lot of difficult questions but also raises a great deal of hope.  It’s clear that even though Chin‘s mom wasn’t there she still found a way to grow and thrive. As the film says some times the bumps are a way of parenting.

I loved this film. When it was done I was emailing the ladies on my email list to tell them to put this on their must see list.

Recommended.

Listen Carefully (2024) Fantaspoa 2024

 

A man discover his new born is missing and the people who took her tell him, over his baby monitor, that the only way to get her back is to follow what they say. He is then sent on a wild chase across the city.

This is the second film at Fantaspoa  where the main character has to follow directions being given them by an unknown source. Like that other film this one suffers from the fact that we've been here before. This isn't to say that the film i bad, more that it isn't anything special.

Give the film points for having a good cast and being well made, but it's not quite flashy enough to remain memorable.

Worth a look on a slow night but nothing to chase after.

Disinvited (2024) Fantaspoa 2024

Carl, an annoying man decides to crash an event in the desert where he wasn't invited. When he realizes that the people at the event are in danger he has to decide whether to save himself of the people who don't like him.

Uneasy mix of comedy and thriller never really finds its footing. What exactly is this? I'm not sure and I'm not sure it knows either. Complicating matters is the fact that most of the people are not really likable. It's hard to feel suspense when you really don't care about the people on screen.

At the same time the sequences the filmmakers have created work well on their own. I just wish the film could have sewn them onto a narrative thread that didn't feel like it it was grinding gears.

RACING MISTER FAHRENHEIT (2024) Dallas Film Festival

Portrait of billionaire and motorcycle enthusiast Bobby Haas who decided to build Mister Fahrenheit, a side car motorcycle that was designed to break speed records. However as they were preparing to race the bike, life intervened and tragedy struck.  Uncertain what to do, the team digs in and decides to move forward.

What you get out of RACING MISTER FAHRENHEIT will depend on what you are going into the film for. If you are looking for a film that is a celebration of the life and achievements of Haas then this film is for you. The film is a wonderful celebration of the man and his achievements. On the other hand, if you are looking for a film that is going to go into detail about the bike and the effort to break a speed record you are going to be disappointed, because while that is here, it’s pushed aside by Haas’ story. Considering what happens it's understandable.

Understandable but less compelling.  This doesn’t make the film bad, it’s just okay instead of great.

I AM GITMO (2023)

Award winning film is a look at the prison at Guantanamo Bay through the eyes of an innocent man who was sent there because one of his neighbors sold him out for money in Afghanistan.

While the film is set up to tell us what the experience of being at Gitmo is like it doesn’t really work because the film is set up from the first frame to be a polemic against the prison. I am not for the prison and I should think it should be shut down, however this film plays it almost like an exploitation film and as a steady stream of poor behavior. We get to see every form of torture and interrogation techniques that we know American officials are using in a greatest hits sort of a way and is less then affecting because it’s too much.

Not helping things is the fact that the performances are very weak. I don’t know if it’s because the script is so intent on spreading it’s message and the actors have nothing to work with (there are no characters as such), but everyone feels like they are reading their lines with no emotion. It’s awful. It’s not like the actors are phoning it in, but more there is nothing for them to do but spout pat lines. By the time one of the characters throws a coffee cup in frustration the film has long expired.

While I know this is a story that needs to be told, this is not the one that should be telling it.

BASTARDS OF SOUL (2024) Dallas International Film Festval

The group the Bastard of Soul was on the cusp of exploding across the pop world. They were so set to be HUGE that director Paul Levatino filmed the recording of their last album and several shows. It was going  to be what everyone dreamed of… And then the unthinkable happened, front man Chadwick Murray died, sending everything crashing down.

This is a great, but very bittersweet film. Joy and wonder of the band before the tragedy fills our hearts early on. While we know early that there is going to be a turn, there are moments when we forget and if we don’t forget then we hope it won’t happen. Sadly it does and the film shifts into one about trying to pick up the pieces and go on.

I was moved.

Watching Murray’s wife trying to explain coming to terms with the loss just as their baby was being born broke my heart. There is also a lot of sadness  generated by the band who’s shot at stardom got short circuited.

This is a truly great music doc. In a year that has already had some great music docs, this is one of the best.

Honestly this film is so good that it had me frantically emailing friends telling them to cover it, as well as sent me looking for the music.

If you love great films, especially ones about great music BASTARDS OF SOUL is a must see.