Stationed At Home (2025) Brooklyn 2025

 

On a cold Christmas Eve 1998, a cab driver just wants to get through his shift so he can watch the International Space Station pass over head and hang out with his cat.

This is a charming film, that despite an occasional sense of being similar to some other films (think some of the work of Jim Jarmusch), STATIONED AT HOME turns the tables on our early expectations and instead becomes a lovely look at humanity over the course of an evening. By the time you get to the end this isn't like something else but something that stands on it's own.

A perfect ensemble cast sell all the stories. We believe them, and their unexpected interconnections. They make us fall in love with the whole lot. They make this film something special. Its a film you'll want to revisit again, perhaps every Christmas from this point on.

I loved this film and when it was done I was emailing friends to tell them to track down the film and see it.

This is one of the great finds of the year. 

Highly recommended.

Luce (2024) Open Roads 2025

Portrait of a young woman who works in a leather manufacturing plant and her head space.

This is going to be a love it loath it film. Told almost entirely in close ups, this is a film where we are literally in everyone's face. For the most part what we see is limited. Everything is we learn is from the face of Marianna Fontana, who is in almost every shot. While I think she gives a good performance, I don't think there is enough to her character to make this film compelling. I kept wanting to see what was off the edge of the screen or see Fontana differently.

On the other hand this may work for you.

Vittoria (2024) Open Roads 2025

Marilena Amato plays a version of herself, an older mother with three sons who is having reoccurring dreams where she hugs a young girl. This sets her off on a quest to find the girl in her dream and adopt her.

One part narrative and one part documenatary recreation VITTORIA is a good little film.  This is Amato's story and we are firmly focused on her, the result is an interesting character study of a woman searching for more.

That said the film may not play well with you if you can't connect to Amato and her quest. There were times when the film didn't connect to me. Yes, the ending go me emotional, but there were times when I wasn't sure I wanted to stay to the end.

Worth a look for those interested.

I F*cking Hate You! (2025) LALIFF 2025

A brother and his sister are taking a short cut to her wedding get a flat tire and then it goes wrong.

This is a wicked family comedy centered on hidden anger. Its the first film I've ever seen that shows both the familial anger that is cruel and funny and sad and of a volume that could get people killed, while at the same time showing the absolute love between siblings.  Watching this I could feel some of the batt;es I've had with my brothers.

This is a sweet little film.  Sure it's got a dark edge to it, but it also has a great deal of love.

Its a note perfect film that leaves me wanting not to give notes but rather simply watch it again and share it with friends and family.

Highly recommended.

Canone effimero (2024) Open Roads 2025

This is an 11 part film looking  at music ethnology and oral tradition in Italy via portraits of portraits of choir members, scholars of medieval musical theories, and specialists in historival instruments.

This film was painful for me. The film is like a series of the dullest  documentaries  from high school made by someone one who was trying to show off and be  be deep and meaningful. Yes, some of what is being said is interesting and informative but the formal presentation is less than interesting.

I can't recommend it.

Familia (2024) Open Roads 2025

This is a heavy look at a family broken by an abusive patriarch and how the sins of the father infect his son and future generations.

I’m not going to say a great deal about FAMILIA because I don’t want to be in the headspace it creates. I have a day job in the legal field and I see this sort of tale play out on a daily basis. While I can keep a wall up in order to do the job that pay the bills, FAMILIA kicks the walls down and makes us feel just as abused as the people on the screen.

The story starts as a matriarch attempts to cut the connections to her abusive husband who is getting out of prison after  a long stint. He abused her and everyone else and she wants nothing to so with him. Unfortunately he gets back with the family. Over time her son gets in with a bunch of skinheads who want him to be part of their criminal plans.

This is hands down one of the best films I’ve seen at Venice. It’s a raw and real film that leaves welts on our psyche. Watching the film I was shocked that it hadn’t been picked up by some of the other big fall festivals because it is a film that not only is a down and dirty  emotional one, but is also a film that forces us to think about a lot of different subjects.

One of the great films of the year, you need to see this ASAP.

LOVE CHAOS KIN (2025) Brooklyn 2025

This is the story of two white girls who were adopted by parents from South Asia. We follow the girls over the course twelve years as they navigate their lives and try to connect with their birth mother and her family.

The easiest thing people are going to point out is that this the reverse of every story we see where white parents adopt children of another ethnicity. Yes that is a point to get people to see the film. However the more important thing to notice is that the film makes clear that kids don’t need any sort of parents except loving ones.  Both Anjali and Cecilia are good kids who are loved and that’s what we need to see.

The truth of the matter is that is a super little film. Period full stop. If you must classify it down, it’s a great film on adoption  first because it forces us to see adoption stories in another way. Secondly it shows us that ultimately there is no difference between families. People are people regardless. That may sound like a "no duh", but it's something that many people have forgotten in today's political climate.

I loved this film. 

Highly recommended. 

Polar Passage (2025) hits You Tube today

See this as big as possible with as big sound as possible. This is one of the most arresting things you will see. Put it on your big screen at home.

This is a record of an expedition to travel through the Northwest Passage. Its a film that covers the expedition, the age of exploartion and the changing climate. 

Its staggering tale that should have been a feature film. There is so much here and such a great story that 24 minutes is not enough. Yes what here will delight, but you'll be like me and want more ( a chunk of this is just about getting trapped in the ice)

This is one of the great unexpected finds of the year.

See this film.

I Love You Allways (2025) Brooklyn 2025

Let me cut to the chase- just buy a ticket and go. I LOVE YOU, ALLWAYS is an absolute blast and you need to see it.

The film is a a portrait the Allways Lounge in New Orleans Seventh Ward. Run by an ex-dance the place has drag & burlesque performances and a grand cast of characters who help the place survive changing laws, rising rent and natural disasters.

If this film was a person I would a hug it. This film is a glorious celebration of a bunch of people who are doing what they do because they have to.  I love everyone on screen.

The film charts the lounge's life over time. We watch as covid closes them, storms do damage and the landlord wants more money. Its a battle that rocks them but which they ride because they have such good company. 

This film will delight you. Go see it when it plays at the Brooklyn Film Festival

Basileia (2024) Open Roads 2025

This ia a beautiful horror film that has echoes of the Euro horror films of the 1970's and 80's. I just wish it was as compelling as the earlier films.

A man named The Irishman goes into a small village to look for a hidden treasure.He and some men dig something up in the middle of the night and end up releasing three nymphs who has terrible plans for the town.

This is a very mannered film that wants be be about something big and meaningful. The trouble is it loses sight of the plot and as a result the film never generates any scares. Yes, the score and the images, particularly of the released women generate some chills, but they are only fleeting, the camera cuts away and the mood is lost.

I became bored rather quickly because there was nothing really compelling going on with characters and my connection  was lost to a film more concerned with form over content.

I was disappointed.

Sicilian Letters (2024) Open Roads 2025

A former school teacher/politician who is released from prison is used by the police to track down a wanted mob boss, who is the son of a friend and with whom he was exchanging letters.

Bittersweet humorous crime tale about the evil men, and women, do and how the effects never seem to go away. It is a film that has a dark view of humanity where no one is really good and anyone who is is going to end up with a rude wake up call.

This is a great looking, beautifully acted film that made me chuckle, wince and left me feeling incredibly meloncholy. I liked pretty much everyone on screen and I didn't want anythng bad happen to any of them and was heart broken when it did. Almost always its trouble of their own making but you still can't help but feel sorry for them. It's. a film where even if you know it's not going to go well you still can't look away.

I really loved this film. It's one of the best at this year's Open Roads at Lincoln Center.

RON DELSENER PRESENTS (2023) will make you disappointed in the man at its center

With RONDELSNER PRESENTS opening Friday here is a repost of my Tribeca review.

Watching this film was like reliving the last 50 years of my life because Delsener was the guys who brought everyone to the New York area. A good look at the man and his achievements, it was a walk down memory lane for me.  

I'm not sure how this will play in Peoria because they don't know the man, but I suspect the last part of the film when we find out he helped engineer the the mega-mergers of concert promoters and ticketing services are going to piss them off.  While there is no denying he was always in it for a buck, the fact that the guy everyone said was great because it made concerts personal and human, is responsible for the cold faceless entities who control music now is crushing. More so since despite retiring he is still trying to do it his way. 

A lot of people who saw the film at Tribeca came out after seeing the end saying "you know I used to like him". It's almost as if he killed his own kids.

Ghost Trail (2024) Opens Friday

Amir is a former literature professor from Syria. His wife and dauhter were killed in the bombing and he was thrown into prison and tortured. He was tossed into the desert and left for dead. He survived and drifted to France. While he is openly living as a refugee, he is actually part of a secret network attempting to find the torturer who scarred him physically and emotionally.

This film is a mix of a political thriller and a look at the damage done by torture. Its a film that quietly grabs you by the throat and drags you kickin and screaming. There is nothing certain in the quest, we only know that whatever happens it will be painful.

This is a film with a great deal to say. It's a film that drops us into the evil that men do to each other and shows us what that does to the victims and the society that results from it. It's a world of pain and sorrow. Its a film where we can no loner be who we once were.

I was moved. Perhaps it wasn't to tears but the film's insistance on being more than a thriller lifted it up and made it something special.

Recommended

A few thoughts on Sinners (2025) There will be spoilers

I'm going to talk for a bit on Ryan Coogler's SINNERS. I am going to mention a couple of things that people may consider spoilers so if you don't want to know, don't read on. Just know that the film is very good.

The film is the story of two brothers known as Smoke and Stack return from Chicago in order to set up a juke joint in their old home town. The problem is that there is something out there looking for their cousin who has the power to do wondrous things with music.

I really like the film but I have some issues with the film.

No, wait correction, I think the first act of the film is perhaps one of the greatest first acts in cinema  history. The set up of the story has so much going on, in a good way, that it transcends just being a horror film. This is a film that speaks volumes about society and humanity. Its a glorious filmmaking and scripting. I was absolutely certain that this film was going to be at the top of my best film of the year list.

The problem is that at the start of the second act a character is introduced in a way that makes no sense in connection within the context of the film's story's rules. 

AND IF YOU HADN'T LOOKED AWAY, IT IS AT THIS POINT I WILL GOING SPOILERY.

Now I managed to largely not find anything out about the film, before I saw it, but someone did let slip that the film had something to do with vampires. I didn't know what that meant, but I knew they were in the plot. Because of it when Remmick, a Celtic vampire, shows up, I kind of broke with the film. While Remmick is on okay character (he the least well drawn and is not so much a person as representation of an idea), and he has the problem that he shows up in the daylight...at a house in the middle of nowhere, where there was no way he could have not hidden from the light. While I was willing to go with it, the fact that he was being persued by a crew of Choctaw vampire hunters made me look sideways at the film. While I was intially willing to go with it (Coogler could have been reseting the cinematic legend, or actually going with some real legends where vampire do walk in the daylight), it quickly became clear it doesn't make internal sense because in this film daylight kills the vampires. 

After the arrival of Remmick the film shifts back to what is happening at the juke joint, and it's good, but it isn't quite as good as the first act. I was okay with that because I suspected that the film was just setting the table for the final act. We were getting to know the various characters and we are getting more details about their connections. I was fine to go with it because it gave us some great musical sequences.

And then the film shifts again as it goes into the third act. It's here that the film finds it's footing again, but not as the film promised meditation on society and morality from the first act, but instead as a seige film, with the living surrounded by the undead outside. In the third act, outside of some speachifying the film has largely abandoned the promise of the first act.  Yes this is really good, but it's disappointing compared to the promise of the first act. 

The third act is a largely solid B horror film, with some exciting turns. You can't really think about the plotting of things like how could so few vampires turn so many people so fast, especially since we see there is a lag time. (I will not get into other problems with the vampires as seen in the film, largely because I will be accused of over thinking).

It's almost like Coogler had two scripts and he just connected them up.

Actually the first act is incredibly tightly ploted and  the rest isn't. It feels as though Coogler had the first act worked out and the ending and he didn't have time to fully chart the path between them. As I said film stops showing us and instead has people preach to us  in the later portions. The fully drawn characters and situations becomes a sketch at the end as well drawn human beings fall away into being movie characters. Things don't feel fleshed out or thought out as if it just sort seemed like a "good" idea and because it was a horror film no one would notice. At times it feels like the they weren't paying attention to all the plot points where they bring in things like the hive mind which doesn't seem to work (I am okay with the idea of shared knowledge from the blood).  I wonder if they went into production without it all worked out.

As tempting as it would be to pull the plotting apart, I won't. I like the film too much. 

I know you're wondering if I like it so much why am I complaining? Because that first act is nigh on perfect and what follows isn't. I'm disappointed. I wanted a film that makes sense internally from start to finish. I wanted film that both scared me and made me think. I wanted a film that had the grand complexity of the first act, with all the themes, characters and tension all the way to the final post credits fade out. (And I'm not sure if that works since it makes us view Sammie differently and has me questioning the hive mind even more since wasn't Remmick the alpha and in theory in control?)

Is SINNERS worth seeing? Oh yes, absolutely. It's a very good film. But with all of the over the top talk, I would just dial expectations back.

Television Event (2020) Opens Friday at the Film Forum

 

A look at the battle to make and air The Day After one of the most watched TV programs ever. The film was the story of what happened to Lawrence Kansas when a nuclear war happened and the population was left to its own devices in the days after the missiles struck. It was not a film that many people wanted to see air and indeed they had trouble finding sponsors.

Very good time capsule of a time almost 40 years ago when network TV could be bold and daring. The film reveals what it took to get made and how the battles between the people behind the scenes made for a classic of television. As several people point out nothing like this had ever been done before on American TV (Peter Watkins had made THE WAR GAME for the BBC 15 years earlier and ran into all sorts of trouble – despite it winning an Oscar). To be honest the only reason I’m not absolutely raving about Television Event is its single flaw- which is it can’t fully explain what it is like to watch The Day After unless you watch the film- nor can you really understand emotionally what that film meant coming in the middle of the Cold War.

That said the film is recommended for numerous reasons because for better or worse it helped nudge us away from the edge of nuclear destruction ever so slightly

Nightcap 5/25/25 - Open Roads at Lincoln Center Starts Thursday and The Brooklyn Film Festival starts Friday and a few other notes

The annual Brooklyn Film Festival starts Friday and if you can you need to go.

The truth is Brooklyn is one of the hidden gems of the New York film year. Its a festival that programs some of the best films you'll see all year and every year I have always found a new film to add to my favorites list.

The problem with the festival is that despite being wonderful, it ends up crashing into other festivals.  I never end up seeing as many films as I would like. That said, don't be like me go buy tickets and go see something

As this posts I'm still working on films from the festival. However if I were to do a short  recommended list it would include

WE CAN BE HEROES  is a must. This tale of a camp where kids can live action role play moved my soul. It's was one of the best films of 2024. You need to see this film.

I LOVE YOU,ALLWAYS is a glorious look at the Allways Lounge in New Orleans. It's a glorious look at some great people. Destined to be one of my favorite films of 2025

Go buy tickets and go. 

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Lincoln Center's Open Roads Opens Thursday. This annual look at the best of Italian cinema is one of my favorite fests of the year.  Every year I find a whole bunch of gems that were completely off my radar but end up living in my heart.

This year I will be covering about half the films screening. I wish I could do more, but my schedule won't allow it.

If you need some recommendations might I suggest:

You must see FAMILIA. This look at how a a young man with a crook for a father drifts into a right wing political group. It was one of my best of 2024.

SICILIAN LETTERS is an interesting look at corruption in Italy via a disgraced politician helping the police to catch the mob boss who is his pen pal. Its a crime film unlike anything you've seen before.

VITTORIA is the semi true story of actress Marilena Amato who has a dream about being hugged by a young girl. Its a film that has haunted me since I saw it.

Go buy tickets and go

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An update on Tribeca- I will have a lot of coverage. Right now I'll have well over 60 reviews for both features and shorts. 

Beyond that I can't say, although there are a bunch I want to discuss. The discussion will begin next Sunday when the curtain raiser drops.

There will be several interviews.

And I've seen so many films I'm going to have a hard time getting films close to the embargo drop. I'm doing the best I can. Just know if I was sent the film I will be reviewing it... I'm just not sure where the post will end up.

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The current group of episodes on Netflix UNTOLD series are not particularly good.

SHOOTING GUARDS about guns drawn in an NBA locker room was just okay

THE LIVER KING about a guy who claimed to get buff by eating meat and animal organs is long at an hour and says little.

THE FALL OF FARVE doesn't reveal anything we didn't know and seems to not want to offend

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PEEWEE AS HIMSELF is wonderful. See it.

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I saw SINNERS.

I'll have a review but while I think its good, I'm kind of mixed.

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MICKEY 17 didn't work for me.  Its lesser Bong Joon Ho. Part of it is the goofy tone that just annoyed me.

Steppenwolf (2024) hits home video Tuesday

This is one of the absolute best films I've seen in 2024. Sure the ending isn't perfect, but my god the affect it has on anyone who watches it will buckle your knees.

In a country in total chaos, a woman devastated by the kidnapping of her son, goes to the police to see if they will help her find him. She is catatonic much like Barbara in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Hooking up with a psycho investigator who has his own agenda, and who isn't afraid to physically abuse the woman, the pair make a trek across the barren landscape leaving bodies as they go.

This film will leave you sitting in stunned silence. Any laughs will catch in your throat. It is a trip into the dark side of humanity, and it will leave you broken.

It is brutal and ugly in ways that actually shock you. It's so good a destroying you mind that it never shows you any of the truly terrible things that happen. (The typical terrible stuff is shown) It doesn't have to show us because we are capable of filling in the blanks because we are capable of doing these bad things.

I was left mumbling "what the f----" repeatedly.

You think you know what a chaotic hellscape is-guess again.  This vision of humanity's darkness is troubling because it's just two steps from here and right now.

This is a road movie to hell.

While normally the minor misstep at the end, more unclear reasoning, might have lessened my feeling for the film, this film is simply so affecting that pretty much nothing could change my opinion, largely because this film kicked my butt so badly. I love it but I'm not sure I ever want to revisit (that's a rave.)

One of the best films of 2024- you absolutely must see this, just be ready to go into a dark sad place.

A Hard Place (2025) hits home video Tuesday

A group of crooks flee into the country and are forced to confront the dark forces that live there. Some plant based creatures come out in the day and some evil things come out at night

If this had come out in the 1970's it would have played the drive-in circuit and would be hailed as a classic. Now it's a low budget throw back that is made with enough love and seriousness that we can forgive the low budget.

Yes the film is imperfect, but who cares? I'm so delighted to see an old school monster movie that is neither jokey nor trying too hard start a franchise that I just went with it. I love that the creatures are practical. I love that the cast doesn't wink at us. I love that you can feel that this is a film made by monster lovers for monster lovers. And I love it has a bleakness to it.

This is a modern drive-in movie of the best sort.

Recommended.

Ba (2024) Hits digital May 27

This is a bittersweet supernatural fantasy has a father becoming the personification of death to remain with his daughter, however since he is death he can't let her know.

I went into this Fantaspoa film thinking it was going to be a straight on horror film, and instead it became a horror film of a different sort, one about the loss of the ones we love and the shortness of our time on earth. The result is a film that is greater than the scary poster implies.

This is the best sort of film, one about the people on the screen. The film works works because this is not so much a film about monsters, but about a father and daughter who love each other. Its a film about family and what we do to keep it together. Sure there are supernatural bits, but ultimately this is a well plotted family drama.

Writer director Benjamin Wong needs to be applauded for giving us something more than a scary movie. I was moved by BA. I wasn't expecting to be forced to think and consider weightier issues other than who lives and who dies. Instead I was forced to ponder life in a way that I wasn't used to doing. Wong beautifully takes the framework of a horror film and uses it the way the best films of the genre do and that is to shine a light on life in new and unexpected ways. Recently I was belittled on line because I said horror films should be more than just a series of jump scares and I was asked what horror films should be if not things that make us jump via a sudden loud noise. My answer was to mention films similar to BA where the dread is rooted in real fear  and not based on some one leaping out to say "boo". 

While I suspect anyone who wants jump scares every five minutes will be disappointed in BA, those looking for a truly creepy film that is more than a rollercoaster  are going to fall in love with it and the wonderful father daughter relationship at it's center.

Highly recommended

HYPERSENSITIVE(2025) Cannes 2025

This is a stunningly beautiful journey inside the mind of a person on a road trip who is hypersensitive. It’s all visuals and sounds and absolutely hypnotic. You so need to see this on a big screen where the images can cover whelm you.

I watched this  a couple of times in a row just so I could get lost in the experience.

Highly recommended

Caravan (2025) Cannes 2025

Ester is a single mother who is forced to take her mentally challenged son on a trip to Italy

This is a very intense drama that is there is justice will be in the running for a lot of awards. This is a film that looks at parents and disabled children and doesn't shy away from the tough bits. It's a film that comes from director Zuzana Kirchnerová's personal experience with her son not only has Downs Syndrome and Autism, as a result the film shows both the ups and downs of the mother and child relationship. More importantly the film makes sure that we know how much love is there.

Anna Geislerová, plays Ester and should be on the Oscar short list. Because this isn't a big flashy foreign film the odds are it's not going to get the notice it needs to clean up. That's a shame because it is a fully invested performance that completely feels natural. I was moved. 

David Vodstrcil is incredible as David the young man with issues. As I write this just over two weeks from the film's premeire at Cannes it appears that CARAVAN is his first film, but I highly doubt that it will be his last. It's a staggering first cinematic performance.

I don't know what else to say other than this is one of the great films at Cannes.

Track this down.

BREAD WILL WALK (2025) Cannes 2025

One of a kind and deeply disturbing in the the best possible way, this film is a zombie film send up about people who eat a synthetic bread turning into nonviolent shambling loafs of bread.

Looking like a the work of someone like Ralph Steadman on acid (on more acid)  this film nails every zombie cliché perfectly it’s a wicked little film that almost every horror movie lover is going to go crazy for.

Artistically I’ve never quite seen an animated film like this. Yes the art looks similar to other films but at the same time I’ve never seen them movie.

This film is a blast. Its funny and yet nightmarish at the same time.

A must see.

Highly recommended

Dandelion's Odyssey (2025) (aka Planetes) Cannes 2025

When the world is destroyed in an atomic war some of the fuzzy danelion seeds are blown into space, through a black hole and to a new planet where the fuzzies try to find a place to grow.

Wordless animated science fiction tale looks spectacular. There are some really wonderful images in this film. Its a film I would love to see on a truly huge screen so I can really look at the things hidden in the images.

As great as the film looks, and as good as the animators are at giving the fuzzies life, this film kind of runs out of steam  about 20 minutes in. Yes, we are curious about where this is going, and yes the images impress, but at a certain point there isn't enough going on to keep us fully engaged. Yes I stayed to the end, but at the same time some of it seemed like some of the sequences were there to just show off what the animators can do.

And I know that makes it sound like I don't like the film, but I do. I like so much of the film that I wish it was a little tighter so that we had a perfect viewing experience.

Worth a look for the curious- especially on the big screen.

MILITANTROPOS (2025) Cannes 2025

Militanropos of the the title refers to the state  people adopt when entering the state of war.  The film is a look at the people of Ukraine as they fight the Russians and fight with themselves simply to survive.

Made up of a series of visually stunning images that place us into Ukraine in a way that Have never experienced in the dozens of documentaries that I have seen on the war. The images are both stunningly beautiful and heartbreaking. The result is the film gives us a sense of the country that I have never seen before.

I have not seen anything like this on a movie screen-this needs to b seen as big as possible  though I suspect it would be crushing in IMAX.

You need to see this. I find it hard to say more than that, not because I am being lazy, but rather this film is very visceral. The mix of sound and image move us on a level beyond words. Just go see this.

Hands down it is one of the best films on the fiasco in Ukraine and 2025 that I've seen.

Highly recommended.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

What was once billed as the last MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film is probably not. Since this film was shot two years ago attitudes have changed and there has been talk about continuing.  If it is, its a great send off.

A brief, and wildly missing details,  explanation of the plot has the IMF team trying to find a way to stop the Enity program, while dealing with the program wanting  Ethan to get it into the Doomsday Vault in South Africa where it will surive the upcoming nuclear holocaust.  As the world's nation spiral to the brink of war, the team tries to do what it has to. The team also has to battle Gabriel, who is on the outs with the Entity and who has plans of taking control of it.

All you need to know that the the film is entertaining as all hell. It is a film that kept a theater full of writers seated and rapt for three hours even though they needed the rest room. The film moves like the wind and the set pieces dazzle. As a thrill machine it's one of the best of the last few years.

The problem with this film, like the last film, is the villain makes no sense. Not just the evil computer program but Gabriel the human who wants to control the evil beast. He makes no sense. He won't kill Ethan for most of the film but then tries to have him fall from the sky and die- despite him having he one thing that can kill the program on his person. This after running away  and leaving Ethan with an atomic bomb. Why? To create false tension. Everything with Gabriel is a false note. He only exists in the films because Ethan can't fight a program. Honestly this film is so incredibly stupid plot wise that if it weren't part of a billion dollar franchise it never would have gotten off the ground. (If it was a race horse it would get shot)

That said the set pieces and the small moments kick ass. If it could have been just the pieces and the characters I would have loved this unconditionally. Ving Rhames is the heart and soul of the film and his words reduced the people around me to tears.  The rest of the cast are great and they create real characters you fear for. All action films should have characters this well written.

And the set pieces are magnificent. The sub and plane sequences maybe among the greatest ever put on film. That isn't to short sell the rest, if sub and planes weren't in this film the others would also be hailed as all time classics.

I had a blast.

This is one to see on a big screen.

Wellwood (2025)

A long time in coming (production started in 2018), WELLWOOD has finally landed. 

The film tells the story of a couple, Nick and Laura, going into the country on vacation. It's a trip for them to spend time together before the disease she has takes her life. When an alien space craft crashes near by Nick goes to investigate. His encounter with the alien leads him to believe that it maybe the cure to Laura's illness.

This okay science fiction fim has some great visuals (they were provided by effects wizard Alec Gillis) and some creepy moments. The trouble is that the film bobbles a lot of the other themes and the plotting by not getting the mixture right. 

Nominally the film is a look at what we would do for someone we love. The film is also film that questions what we will do to live for ever. There are questions about morality since Nick doesn't care what happens to the alien, nor does he consider what any side effects would be.  At the same time the film wants to be a romance...and a horror film... and...

Give the film a lot of credit for trying to be more than a rip snorting  scifi tale, but it's trying to do too much and it never is trulysatisfying. I don't hate the film, but I also wanted it to be better.

If you need a reason to see the film, do so for the effects.

Meteors (2025) Cannes 2025

Two slackers end a night by trying to steal a Maine Coon and up arrested in trouble. They end up working at a nuclear waste facility with one of their friends.

This off beat and off kilter dramedy doesn't do what you expect. This is a film that doesn't have characters we've see a dozen times before, nor does it do what we think it will.  Yes, it begins in a kind of stereotypical way but once the guys get in trouble the film begins to take it's own trajectory.  It's a move that ends up being very affecting.

I really liked this film. I liked that it mirrors it's characters and changes over the course of the film. If you told me as I was starting the film that some of the final images would make me misty I would have told you you were crazy.

 If you want off the beaten path film, and since you are reading Unseen Films I assume you do, METEORS is worth tracking down. While you may not find it to be your next great thing, you will like it and love that people are still making films that exceed expectations.

Hunt The Wicked (2024)

This film has some of the most insane action sequences you'll see all year. If you love batshit crazy action this film is for you. 

The basic plot of the film has a cop kind of sort of working with wanted criminial to hunt the city's big drug lord. As the pair spar they also get closer and closer to the villain who is poisoning and kidnapping the people of the city

If you want to know how crazy the film is consider that the film opens with a sequence where the wanted criminal takes on a scientist who is making the drugs...and is also a serial killer. The scientist is protected by an army. Things get even crazier as there is a fight with a knife on a wire and sledge hammer end on a chain, another fight involves electrified tridents and land sea chase involving artillery. The action is so good it's what you will remember.

Sadly as good as the action is, the script is a convuluted mess. The script seems to exist just to move the characters to the next action sequence and then give us a preachy ending where good triumphs over evil and even anti-heroes are punished. I know that one has to bend to the Mainland authorities, but their tinkering and moving things toward the party line is resulting in mish mash films.

Messy plot aside, this is a film action lover will want to put on their must see lists

Recommended.

I ONLY REST IN THE STORM (2025) Cannes 2025

This is a love it or sleep on it slow film, which is going to make you wonder why it takes almost four hours to reach its conclusion.

The film follows Sergio who is hired by a West African nation to help with a road project. Along the way he gets involved in an intimate way with a couple from the city he is living in.

I need to say two things up front. First I like some of the director Pedro Pinho's documentaries. Yes they are told in a measured (slow) way but they work. The second thing I want to mention is that no film of any length should make you question the length. At no point should a film review mention a length, except as a courtesy (for example SATANTANGO runs over seven hours so plan accordingly).  I should not be saying this film is too long and could use several sequences removed.(SATANTANGO is rambling but pulls it together)

The thing is its not that the film is bad, but a number of sequences don't seem to go anywhere. Yes they build a sense of place and character but they don't add enough. How many sequences do you need in a 211 minute film? Not to argue length but there is a point where you stop going along  and wonder where is this going and why is this taking so long? The great long movies never make you question the length. Somewhere around the half way point I was still waiting for a reason for this to be taking the long way home. I completely understand the structure comes from Pinho's documentary background, but docs are not narratives and you can't always do what you can in a doc.

Again this is not a bad film, it's just one that rambles aimlessly for two hours too much. There simply isn't enough here to support more than a 100 minute film. Yes I made it to the end, but even so I still don't know why much of this film is part of this story. Yes, its good unto itself, but in the end it felt pointless.

I fully expect this film to show up at festivals in the fall and bore audiences to tears.

Only recommended for people who like long rambling films that go nowhere.

Love Letters (2025) Cannes 2025

Celine and her wife are expecting their first child. However she has to get testimonials from a wide variety of people saying she would be a good parent so that she can legally adopt the child.

I am in awe of this film. I went from thinking it wasn't going to be anything special, to enjoying the technical aspects of the film, to suddenly finding I was full on invested. I wasn't watching a movie, I was hanging out with friends.  This went from being a movie to being a real life adventure. By the time the end came and I was reaching for tissues and I found myself screaming out loud "DON'T STOP NOW"

I have no idea who Alice Douard is but by god is she a masterful filmmaker. She isn't telling a story she is recording life. Every moment feels real. I don't know when I ever felt that every moment was real and right. There doesn't seem to be scripted drama any where in this film, it is just people living their lives. More importantly she knows how to tell her story. The perfect music drops in at just the right moment, the images become what ever they need to be (split screen? If that would make the sequence work better, absolutely).

The cast is absolutely spot on. Everyone is in their perfect role. Most importantly the relationship between the two women at the center bleeds off the screen. You can feel their connection and love as a physical ray. We fall in love with them, so much so that by the time the line "you two look beautiful" is uttered we are ready to burst into joyous tears.

This is not only one of the great films of 2025 but it could be argued that, in its way, it is one of the greatest love stories ever put on film.

This film is an absolute materpiece and I am in absolute awe of it. Words fail me because I simply can not believe what I have seen. More to the point I have a slate of other films from Cannes and I can't wait to revisit this jewel in the crown of cinema in order to write it up perfectly. 

Do yourself a favor and search this film out. I expect it to have its fans but I also expect that the cineastes who choose the big awards films may ignore it, or worse shunt it to smaller fests. Truth be told if this were an American film and was coming from Hollywood this film would win every damn award under the sun.

See LOVE LETTERS.

A USEFUL GHOST (2025) Cannes 2025

A woman who dies because there is dust in the air, returns to earth as a vacuum cleaner in order to protect her family

This is a low key, very dry, very dead pan c omedy that you are going to love or hate. More so when you consider that the film is wildly overlong at 130 minutes.  It's absurd in the extreme and not beyond using people who walk funny for laughs.

This is the sort of film that the cineastes will seize upon as something wonderfully wacky and fall down funny while most other people will be left scratching their heads. Yes, I see the humor, but at the same time seeing the humor doesn't mean it works well enough to produce a laugh or even a smile. 

This film bored me.Truthfuly it may not be the humor or the story but rather the direction and the presentation. Much of the the film is long static shots, many of which are held longer than they need be, The result is not so much a dry comedy but a partched one.

If you like done dry dead pan humor and don't mind over long tales give the films a try.

The Damned (2024)

One of two films called THE DAMNED that hit festivals at around the same time in 2024. The other is period thriller on distant island. This film follows a group of Union soldiers who are sent into the American West in order to guard an unspecified border.

That this film won awards and got glowing reviews is something I can't understand. There is quite simply nothing here. 

There are no characters. None. We kind of know who they are by their look but thats it. There is no real attempt to build characters. Any dialog is of the sort that no one would ever say. It all feels like it was taken from journals and articles, not from life. 

There is no narrative. It's a bunch of non entities wandering into the wilderness.  Where they are is never explained. What they are doing beyond "guarding the border" is never explained. They are supposed to be waiting for another group to meet them, but how the hell will they find them because they are in the middle of nowhere at a place that was randomly chosen.

Don't get me started with the few events  that happen.  The bad guys, it's assumed it's the South, but it isn't clear, attack twice, once after moving into position in front of the sentries who would have seen them. When four men wander off to check on a way through  the mountains and there is snow, then there is a sequence without snow and then the snow is back.  

When the film ended I literally had no idea why I bothered, because there was no context to anything. It was as if the film simply existed just to show life on the plains. But there is absolutely nothing here. Zip.

As a recreation of life for soldiers it does seem to have a place, but, I'd rather go see a re-enactment where I could talk to the guys.

Skip this film because this is a film that will leave you scratching your head if it doesn't put you to sleep.  

Death Does Not Exist (2025) Cannes 2025

Hélène goes with a bunch of friends to the estate of the rich land owners. The idea is to kill them and start a revolution. As the attack happens her friends are killed and she flees. Wandering the forest she is haunted by the spirits of her friends, her guilt and her life. Meanwhile the forest seems to be changing everything in it and outside it.

This is a great looking, even better sounding sounding film. The images are frequently striking. There are several that I would love to hang on my wall. The sound design is incredible with the mix of music and effects creating a mood and place most films only hope to achieve.

I just wish the film's plot matched the technical achievement. This film is a journey through Helene's head space. What we see and experience is what she does, and that is fine, but the material is very literary. This is a film where the filmmakers are more interested in making a point  with the result that there are times where the characters get lost. I never connected to the actual people on screen as much as I did to the images and sound. It doesn't mean it's a bad film, but rather one you may just watch once and not revisit.

Worth a look for animation fans.

April Ghouls 2025- Saturday Night Dating

Saturday night was a big to do. Patty Mullen The star of FRANKENHOOKER and DOOM ASYLUMwas in the house signing autographs and talking to people.

Thankfully the rain held off and the  movies went off without a hitich.

Earlier in the day Joe and I ran around and did some shopping. Along the way we stumbled upon the Big Mac Museum.

Yes its a real thing. Actually what it is is a big ass Mc Donald's with some displays in it.  It's actually pretty cool and Joe and I made an effort to have a nosh and look at everything.

At the drive in Joe spent most of the preshow time on the phone with his office. I too ended up on the phone as well talking to friends.

Saturday group photo taken from the Drive In Monsterama Facebook page

Mostly I just wandered around and watched people wandering in to see Patty Mullens.  The audience was thrilled and she was wonderful.  Watching her interact, even during the group photo was a delight.

As showtime approached Joe and I finally grabbed a bite to eat and hunkered down for the films.

FRANKENHOOKER is a great deal of fun. The story of a scientist who builds a new body for his girlfriend after she is killed in a lawnmower accident. He uses the bodies of hookers but it all goes wrong. 

Bloody and funny in all the right ways, this really isn’t a horror film but a wicked comedy sending up the horror tropes.

DOOM ASYLUM sucks. One of the worst films I’ve ever seen it was a chore to get through. It killed my desire to go later into the night.

Nominally the film is about a psycho who survived being autopsied alive killing people at an old asylum, it is a movie trailer stretched to 90 minutes.  While its intended to be a send up, it never works because no one takes it seriously. Worse the film has long stretches where nothing happens or where we have to watch random clips from a number of Tod Slaughter films cut into the film as filler. I love Slaughter and his films, and seeing them savaged did them a disservice and shows the filmmakers to be heathen. 

I hate this film with a passion and I have no idea  why it was programmed other than Patty Mullens was in it.

Both Joe and I were done  for the night because of its badness and we headed home

Drive -in Monsterama April Ghouls 2025 Friday in the rain

My brother Joe and I went to the Riverside for the annual April Ghouls portion of the Drive-in Monster-rama. As was typical we went out the Thursday before and left the Sunday after.

The trip this year was not as exciting as in past years Joe’s work took a front seat to a lot of the trip, things were melting down and he had to be on call. 

Thursday night I cranked out a quick piece on the Riverside’s drive to crowd fund some repairs to keep things going. They want to get AC in the snack bar fixed as well as the drainage in the parking are and modifications to the ticket booth (Information here)

Friday was a rain event and all of our plans that were outside were canceled. We ended up mostly tracking down Pokemon cards for my niece.

Our time at the drive in was fun. The rain largely stayed away in the hours before the film so we got to talk to Mike and Jake and several other people whose name I didn't catch. I was going to try and grab Gene for an impromptu interview but things were a bit hectic since George wasn’t there.

Photo lifted from the Drive in Monsterama Facebook page

Not long before the group photo the rain started and it got worse as the evening went on.  By the time the first of four Nightmare on Elm Street films started it was tough to watch the films.

A clear moment in the rain

Because it was raining I really couldn't watch NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET as a film with a story. Instead I was watching it as a kind of an object. I looked at it not as part of a series or something new, but as a stand alone film for the first time since it was released.

Honestly I don't think it holds up. Actually I'm kind of at a loss as to why it clickedwith audiences. What is it about Fred Kruger (as he is billed in the credits) that clicked. He is basically a non-entity for almost the whole film. He is not the quip machine he would become. He is just a figure. The film is firmly Nancy's film, and she is really badly written (and badly performed). Even allowing that this is supposed to have dream logic, the film makes no sense.  Sure Johnny Depp came from this but he too has no character. Yes, he has a great death scene but otherwise he's a void. (That he would be an Oscar nominee later in his career is not evident) The set pieces are nothing special. Outside of the ending  I realized I remembered almost nothing of this film.

Watching it for the first time in a long time I realize it's one of Wes Craven's least films. It feels like what I think it is, a workman like film from Craven. It's very by the numbers. It feels like a 1970's drive in horror film, both in a good way and a bad way. I'm not knocking Craven, I think he is a great director, but he was best he could step away from the grindhouse  and do more - look at the films he did around it.  Sure this made money- but I like pretty much every other film he did better. This film was throw back to where he started- not what he had been doing with DEADLY BLESSING or SWAMP THING or would do after it. This is actually atypical in that this is the on film from Craven where you can actually see the construction from off the shelf pieces. Its his least organic film.

I was shocked and disappointed that it wasn't better.

Thinking about the film during the screening I realized that I never much cared for the series. Yes the films have some great pieces but at the same time the plots are crappy everything exists just to get to the kills and the quips. This is a flaw in so many horror film series. Here the problem is Fred is intially out for revenge  and has weird rules that never show up again  (you have to look at him for him to have power.). It's like in the FRIDAY THE 13TH films where Jason only shows up at the very end and is a thin, malnurished kid...only to be a hulking guy in the remainer of the series. 

I was kind of heartbroken.

With the rain getting heavy and making watching the films a chore Joe and I left early.

The Old Woman with the Knife (2025)

Lee Hye-yeong gives a performance for the ages as Hornclaw, an assassin in her 60's who is tasked with killing pests, those society deems vermin. She is broken and sliding toward her end, but still fighting the good fight. She ends up teamed with a young man named Bullfight, who may have his own agenda.

Based on a novel THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE is an interesting variation of the old guy heading into the sunset. Here we have a woman and we have  one that is very intent on taking out the grim reaper when he shows up rather than going quietly.

While the film has some great sequences, particularly in the very bloody, very bruising action sequences, the script is kind of all over the place. Flashbacks are not always inserted in the best places, breaking the forward flow of the story in order to fill us in. It's not fatal but it makes it difficult for the film to have momentum. It doesn't help that the plotting is a bit too covuluted and doesn't always make sense.

What does work and what makes the film a must is Lee Hye-yeong as the assassin from hell. She's a sweet old lady to a point and then she is a stone cold killer. Never mind her work here is at odds with her work for Hong Sang-soo, the real eye opener is she gives us a real person, who is beyond broken and still going forward. We know how bad she is physically and mentally and it makes what she does all the more amazing. Yea we've seen variations on the killer at the end but this is quite simply best that has ever been put on screen by a long way. Hye-yeong gives us character shading you never seen in a film like this. Oscar won't notice her but fans will and she will end up enshrined for all time as the greatest cinema assassin.

Recommended

CInema of Sleep (2021) on VOD May 16

CINEMA OF SLEEP is an early film by Jeffrey St Jules, the director of  the excellent SILENT PLANET. It stars Dayo Ade as an immingrant trying to bring his family from Africa. However there are complications.

This is a mind bending film where nothing is as  it seems and reality constantly shifting. The opening for example ada Ade in a hotel room finding a body in his bed, only to have things shift to have him watching a film of his finding a body, only to have reality shift again and again. It's not weirdness just to mess with the audience, but something deeper and more compelling/ St Jules is driving somewhere, we just have to belt in and go with it.

And you have to, and should,  just give yourself over to it and go where it wants to take you. This is a story with a lot going on and an interesting way to show it to you. It's not a film I can really discuss because the changing nature of what we are seeing reveals things that you can't know the first time through. Sitting, staring at my screen I realize that several things I want to say will diminish what happens.  To that end stop reading and just see this film.

Trust me this film is a wicked ride, just stay with it because there is a point where you'll be locked in and dying to see how this goes (and trust me it isn't what you expect)

Rcommended.