Come Closer (2025) Opens Friday

This is the story of a young woman named Eden. When her brother is killed in a car crash she spirals off. Realizing her brother had a whole other life which she knew nothing about she begins investigating and begins a relationship with his brothers girlfriend.

This film really didn't work for me. Blame it on Eden, a character who is either badly acted or badly written, or both. The problem begins before the accident where we see Eden smothering her brother as if he was a needy lover rather than his sister.  Its the wrong sort of creepy. Watching her spiral out after that distances us as she doesn't seem anything other than nut. What makes it worse is the performance is so ungrounded that the character seems like she is in another film entirely. That isn't a bad analogy- this is a film where everyone except Eden is in another film entirely.

I was disappointed

The Chronology of Water (2025)

Kristen Stewart makes her feature directorial debut with an adaption of Lidia Yuknavitch's autobiography which chronicled her abusive up bringing, days on the college swim team and her life changing experience working with Ken Kesey. 

All hail Kristen Stewart, director. Is there anything that she can't do? She is a bold and daring director giving us a gloriously well-made film that is like an emotional lightning bolt into the heart. Refusing to feel shackled by convention Stewart does what every great director should do and that is make a film by any means necessary. The film feels more like the work of some of the independent directors I love to watch, but with a bit more fearlessness. There doesn't feel that anything was held back.

The cast is wonderful. Imogen Poots stands tall in a role that hides nothing. She is all there, and she so disappears into her role as Yuknavitch that I had to wait until the end credits to see who the actress was. Everyone else is just as good. I do however need to single out Jim Belushi as Ken Kesey. How could no one have realized that he was this good a character actor?

You need to see this. 

Highly recommended

Brief thoughts on Little Trouble Girls (2025)

Two girls on a Catholic choral retreat have their friendship tested when one of the girls takes an interest in a worker where they are staying.

The Oscar offering from Slovenia has me looking at is quizically.  While the film is good on its own terms it is very similar to about three other films from the last year or two. Its so similar that watching the film I was conflicted because the story I was seeing so close to other films that I really thought I had seen  it despite knowing that I had never seen any of the images.

Don't get me wrong, I like the film. Its really good on it's own terms, but why this was chosen for Oscar consideration completely vexes me. 

Peter Guiterrez on A Private Life which opens Friday

“I’m not crying, it’s my eyes.”

***

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

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

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

man finds tape (2025)

  A filmmaker  makes a film investigating the story of her brother, who one day found a mysterious video tape inside his barn, a tape of him when he was a young boy and a strange figure walked in. Her brother then starts a YouTube series that seeks to investgate what happened...

... I can't say any more because where this film goes is unexpected.... no really. There is a point in the film where it goes from "this is good, but I've seen this before" to "what the hell is going on?" And I mean that "What the hell is going on" in a good way. I say that because what is what happens is nothing I've seen before. It's also a film that doesn't give us a lot of answers (in a good way - the filmmakers understands that not only don't we need them but also because to do so would require stopping the film for lonmg exposition)

As much as I like the story telling, I dislike the  framing as a found footage film. There is couple of times where the film breaks the found footage wall and several others where it works against the film.  While it's annoying it isn't fatal because the story ultimately too good to fail.

Ultimaely this is one of the great horror films of recent vintage...and yea I want a sequel so I can have answers, but at the same time I don't want a sequel because it might ruin what's here.

Recommended

PEACOCK (2025)

A man who makes a living pretending whom ever other people need him to be, finds his own life imploding when his girlfriend leaves him.

Gentler but similar to the uncomfortable films of Ruben Ostlund and Torgos Lanthimos, this is a film you are either going to love or hate. Mannered in it's telling you can feel the hands of writer director Bernhard Wegner all over it. As much as his protagonist is not in control of things, Wegner is. You are either going to love that or hate it. I didn't much care for it.

What I did care for is the performance of Albrecht Schuch, who gives a masterful role as a man who doesn't know who he is or how to behave. It is one for the ages.

Worth a look if you like uncomfortable comedy.

(ADDENDUM- I saw this weeks before RENTAL FAMILY which is similar in some ways and better. Honestly by the time I saw RENTAL I had forgotten the plot completely)

Troll 2 (2025)

This is just brief thoughts on TROLL 2.

Its going to be brief because I’m still looking for the plot.

The film is a continuation of the first film, with the same characters and with the government trying to figure out what to do about trolls. This has some connection to the Second World War where the Telemark raid to stop the creation of a German atomic bomb really had something to do with a sleeping troll that was being studied. The troll gets loose and there are more trolls, and I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean I understand everything once the troll gets loose, but the whole first hour is a big question mark.

Is it bad? Not really (it gets dark and the Star Trek/Iron Giant reference killed me), but its a huge step down from the first film. Frankly if this was the first film there would never have been a second. I would love another, better film.

Worth a look on a slow night.

La Grazia (2025)

This is a beautiful film where the florishes and odd moments get in the way of a solid story.

The president of Italy is serving out his final six months. As he does so he has to decide what to do about a euthanasia bill and whether to sign two pardons for people who killed their spouses.

Paolo Sorrentino returns with a lovely and thoughtful portrai of a man of the law who has to wrestle with friends, family and what he believes in in order to figure out what the right thing to do is. It was a film that played festivals across the globe in the last year to great acclaim.

For the most part I absolutely loved this film. I loved the performance by Toni Servillo as the president who is uncertain what do do. Able to convey humor and heartbreak at the same time it is a performance that you will take into your heart and treasure.

For the most part I truly loved this film. Almost everything is spot on and I loved the mix of humnity and heady discussion of ideas. What I did not like was Sorrentino's periodic awkward flights of fancy or allowinf sequences to over stay their welcome. I broke slightly with the film with the sequence of the ambassadors arrival in the rain, which just became the wrong sort of absurd, a feeling that returned periodically through the film.

Reservations aside this is a wonderful film and worth a look.

THIS ORDINARY THING (2025) opens Friday

The story of 45 people who helped to keep Jewish people safe during the Second World War

I do not have a lot to say, largely because everything that needs to be said is said on screen. While the film is a rehash of the story of the Holocaust, the film rises above it by simply being a record of what the people who helped the Jews did. Told in a simple, almost matter of fact style, the film reveals how simply basic humanity saved humanity. Time and time again we hear the  simple refrain that they helped because that was the thing to do. No one was trying to save everyone, they were just trying to help who they could. In a world where people refuse to help or even to acknowledge that anyone not isn’t someone they know is human, it speaks volumes.

I was moved.

By the time this slightly longer than a hour long film had ended I was wiping away tears.

A truly great film.

 Recommended.

ROSEMEAD (2025) opens Friday

 

A woman tries to come to terms with the fact that her son is not taking his schizophrenia medication and is becoming more violent while not letting anyone know about the experimental cancer treatment she is taking may not be working.

This is a sold drama that show cases Lucy Liu’s true acting ability. Disappearing into the role of a mother being broken by life’s turns Liu sheds her flashy big budget persona to become a small woman trying to do right by her son. It’s a heartbreaking role that could put her in the Oscar mix if the film’s campaign can gain traction. She truly is stunning in a far from showy role that needs to be shepherded in front of academy voters.

Beyond her performances this is a solid little drama that’s worth your time.

Endless Cookie (2025) Opens Friday December 5

ENDLESS COOKIE is a one of a kind documentary/essay/comedy from the half brothers Seth and Pete Scriver. The film is nominally the story of the brothers getting together to record stories that were to be animated into a documentary that tell the story of Shamawatta, however the film is something greater than that with the film becoming a meta exploration of the family and the making of the film.

I’m going to say right up front that this film would not have worked as anything live action. The film grows exponentially due to the visuals creating a unique and one of a kid world. It’s a choice like PIECE BY PIECE (the Pharell Williams documentary) and the use of a CGI Robbie Williams in BETTER MAN that takes what would be a just okay film and makes it several shades of great.

Wandering all over the place  ENDLESS COOKIE seems like it is buckshot shot from a gun. Things are all over the place, the making of the films, the family bit, the stories that are supposed to be the film and the life of a member of the First Nation. Everything is everywhere, separate but connected like things in the house or on the porch and in the yard.  However after while the whole things makes sense and questions are answered.

Why are we hearing these seemingly random conversations? Why are things animated? How do the stories tie into this? Why are we being shown the people making the film? These questions are answered and we are placed into this animated safe space where the whole world exists because it’s all up on screen.

That probably makes no sense, and I understand that because ENDLESS COOKIE is a film that  you can not ever hope to explain to anyone, you just have to press a copy into people’s hands and say “watch this”

Consider this me pressing it into your hand and saying watch this.

In all seriousness this film may seem like other things in either construction or style but by the time you get to the end you will be well aware that the film is one of a kind and the familiarity is merely your brain trying to hopelessly  explain something it doesn’t know by making assumptions. There is nothing else like ENDLESS COOKIE and now that it is here we I can  honestly say we were lessened until it arrived.

Forget your expectations and buy a ticket and take a ride.

Recommended- even more so to the adventurous.