Papaya (2026) NYICFF

This is a wordless film about a papaya seed trying to float around and not be planted and having a grand adventure.

A visually stunning film is going to leave many people scratching their heads. Who exactly is this film for? Young kids will love the images and motion, slightly older kids will  like it okay, and I suspect anyone beyond a certain age will wonder why this is a feature. There really isn't a great deal here with sections being more interesting than the whole.The film has things to say about the enviorment and how we treat it and the animals in the world but nthe presentation isn't always fluid and seems preachy.

While I don't dislike the film, I'm just not sure it will connect with its intended audience.

Girl Who Cried Pearls (2025) plays in NYICFF 2026 in Shorts Collection 3

 

The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a lovely but incredibly bittersweet film. It’s another winner from the National Film Board of Canada that has been Oscar shortlisted.

The film is a memory tale of a grandfather telling the story to his granddaughter of the young girl who lived next door to him. She was abused by her evil stepmother and cry herself to sleep. When she cried, she cried pears which she put into a hole in the wall.

This is a beautifully animated film that is full of melancholy. The lives portrayed are not happy ones. While we know that some of the characters will be okay, there is no guarantee for others. It’s a film that is very much like life or the original dark versions of Grimm’s fairy tales.

That this gem of a film is coming from Canada isn’t surprising. The film board is responsible for some of the best animated shorts of the past five or six decades. They don’t aim for happy, but films that are good and enlightening. Unlike Hollywood, bittersweet doesn’t bother them.

While I don’t think the film will win the Oscar, I’m guessing Snow Bear will probably do so because it looks like Disney, I adore the fact that Oscar got it right and has this marvel in the mix.

Recommended.

GIRLS POV NYICFF 2026

Thoughts on the films contained in the Girls POV collection at NYICFF. Please remember that the films were not aimed at me, an old guy, but for young women the age of my niece. That said, this is a great collection of films.

FIREWALL
Ani can't reach her father in Iran due to a fire wall so she reads of a legend.
A wonderful little story of a girl finding hope and strength in the tale of an evil king being deposed by good people. This is not going to sit well with the government of Iran (hence many people who worked on it had their names removed)

EMERGENCY CONTACT'
A niece and her aunt have to ride out storm together.
This one is going to make you smile. Its a wonderful tale of an aunt who loves her niece and her niece who loves her aunt and the mischief they get into as they pass the time during a storm.

POLIWOG
A girl hitting puberty sees herself in a tadpole. 
This is a frank tale about bodily changes that will hit home for guys as well as girls. Yes I know it's a girls film and her POV but I'm a guy so don't beat me up.

JUANA PELOS
Juana wants to shave her legs so the girls don't pick on her.
This is quite wonderful and funny, and I absolutely love that it contains the admonishment that even if you do shave your legs people are going to be jerks. Its something that needs to be said to anyone who desperately want to fit in.
See this.

AKABABRU: EXPRESSION OF ASTONISHMENT
A young girl is afraid to laugh, until she meets a woman who tells her about a woman who was punished for laughing at her husband and found the power of laughter.  This is a solid little film about the power of laughter to turn the tables on bad situations

CLARA TAKES THE WHEEL
This fim will make you feel good as it makes you laugh out loud. This is the wonderful story of Clara, who on her birthday gets a driving lesson from her dad, that goes sideways.
Told with love and a sense of having lived it this film is an absolute delight. You need to see this.

Shorts Three NYICFF 2026

NO ROOM
The battle between people and cars a city street
Having an Eastern European feel to it NO ROOM  is an amusing take on the the centry old battle between pedestrians and motorists. If you've lived in a city or busy town, you'll completely understand this film

WHEREABOUTS
A 2 minute NYC tale of a day out.
A small joy

BUTTERFLY
This Oscar nominated short ndid not work for me.  Blame the visual style  which is in the same school as Paul Gauguin (who I like), but this painted animated film never clicked with me.
Not a fan of the artistic style
Based on the life of Holocaust surviver and Olympic swimmer Alfred Nakache's life, the film drifts through time as he meditates on his past while swimming.

AUTOKAR
A young girl takes the train from Poland to Belgium and imagines all the passengers as different types of animals. This is a sweet little film about how a little girl sees the world. It will make you smile.

THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS
I've run a review for this Oscar nominated film a couple of times and it can be found here.

BEAST OF THE SEINE
The true story of a beast who threw children into the Seine and the dog who sames them.
This is an amusing film that is, in its way, the ultimate shaggy dog story.

(I covered this collection via a screening link. I mention this because the web page for the collection listed the folowing film as part of it, however it was not part of the screner I was given)

CLARA TAKES THE WHEEL
This film will make you feel good as it makes you laugh out loud. This is the wonderful story of Clara, who on her birthday gets a driving lesson from her dad, that goes sideways.
Told with love and a sense of having lived it this film is an absolute delight. You need to see this.

Bread Will Walk during NYICFF's Heebie Jeebies

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 (and 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 move.

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

A must see.

Highly recommended

Space Cowboy (2024) opens today

This is a look at cinematographer Joe Jennings who makes his living by throwing things, like living room sets and cars, out of planes and shooting footage as it falls to earth.

To really appreciate this film its best to see this on a big screen so that Jennings images can overwhelm you.  The thought of seeing all of the sky diving footage on a truly big screen is truly compelling…

…largely because it will overpower the rather run of the mill story telling of the whole affair. Don’t get me wrong this is a good story with lots of great images, but the director doesn’t really do anything with it. He thinks that the images will carry the film, and they largely do, but after a while there is only so many images of flying cars and things that shouldn’t be falling from the sky before the novelty wears off and you are forced to ponder if there is anything here. It’s too much of the same thing.

While not bad, a little goes along way.

Worth a look on a big theater screen. Less so on TV

Body to Live in opens today

A look at Fakir Musafar and body modification. 

This is in no way exploitive and is a deep dive trip into the world of altering ones body that stays very much on intellectual and spiritual territory. This is the path some people take to enlightenment. It's a look into a world that is going to scare and disturb many people. 

And here lies the rub - this film is not for everyone and the devisive nature of the subject is going to make this title a difficult one to sell. Personally I think this film is brilliant. I think it is a perfect look at Fakir Musafar, some one who I have encountered in my explorations of "fringe" topics over the years. I love that the film is also an exploration of a different spiritual path to god/nirvana. This is another subject that interests me. For me this was a great film that for the most part I just went with.

On the other hand people are going to have issues with the piercings (not just ears and nipples but weights on fish hooks and more), graphic discussions of acts, of sex, and things most people don't discuss. Even once I knew the film was about Fakir Musafar and I knew where this was going I still was rattled by some things. I don't know how anyone else is going to react to the film. 

Objectively - on it's own terms as something outside of a larger picture- I think it's brilliant. As a film to just review and let it find it's audience on its own I love it. At the same time I'm not sure how many others will want to go to the places this goes and I don't know if this will find enough people who can go there wide eyed to make it anything but a fringe film.

Shorts for Tots NYICFF 2026

TheShorts for Tots is one of the great hidden secrets of NYICFF. Its filled with films that will delight everyone. Why more people don't go eludes me- though the Tots in the title clearly coonfuses the older kids and adults since the films are (almost) never just for tots. Here are thoughts on this year's collection of films.

THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOSTS
A music video for a song saying that there are no ghosts...
This is smiling inducing little ditty that would have become an ear worm ig I understoof Japanese.

SKETCHES ON ICE
A snowman dances to a boys clarinet
Pure joy. Wow

LENA'S FARM: A PAIN IN THE BUTT
A dog get prickes by a hedgehog quill.
This is sily fun.

Konigiri-Kun: Super machine?
This years entry in the KONIGIRI -KUN series is another delight. Like the Moomins, Konigri-Kun and it's sentient food tales have been a long runniung part of the NYICFF. As with all of the films that have gone before its a delight- and kind of bizarre- in a good way.

FIRST WINTER
a boy from a tropical homeland experiences his first cold winter.

This is lovely film that will get the adults misty

CLOUD FISH
A little fish tries to see the world.
This is a deeply moving lovely little film.  It's a glorious film.

LENA'S FARM: MOTRHERLESS EGG
A dog is left to care for an an abandoned chicken egg
This film is so good you will want to have Lena's Farm films every year at NYICFF

SCARECROWS' WEDDING
The longest film in the collection is a half an hour English TV film about scarecrows who fall in love.
Its a lovely little film...and another one that I think the parents will love more than their kids.

Billy Idol Should Be Dead (2025)

 

The life and times, and almost deaths, of rocker Billy Idol.

This is a wonderful celebration of Billy Idol. He was and is one hell of a guy. He has been around the block and then some ans he has the scars and stories to prove it.

While there is a lot of great music in this film, what you are going to remember are the stories. There are so many crazy things that happened that you can't help but lean in as Idol tells us the story of his life. While I know things were left out, it is understandable since this is Billy's telling (and because this isn't supposed to be 6 hours).

I had a blast watching this. If you love Idol or the music from the 80's this film is a must

Recommended. 

Father Mother Sister Brother (2025) starts on Mubi

I've been chasing this Jim Jarmusch triptych since the New York Film Festival. I am a fan of Jarmusch and look forward to his films and in poerson appearances. I almost always find something to like about his films...that was until I ran into FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER.

I really did not like this film.. This 3 part film is dull mannered and pointless. It's three not very good short films that are not particularly well acted despite the cast.  I couldn't wait for each portion to be over so that I could get to the next one because, maybe... maybe the next one would be better. They never got better.

The problem for me is that each section plays like a pretentiousEuropean art film.I have nothing against pretentiocus European art films, however at the same time I prefer Jarmusch's quirky sense of humanity, over the artistic bullshit.

Not recommended.

Ghost Elephants (2025) Has a special screening Feb 26, hits theaters Feb 27 and then on Nat Geo March 7

Werner Herzog  profiles Steve Boyes who is trying to see if he can track any relatives of the elephant known as Henry, aka the Fenykovi elephant who was shot and killed in the 1930’s and is in display at the Smithsonian. Henry is the biggest elephant known to have been killed by a human being, and Boyes thinks he is part of an unclassified species of giant elephants. Herzog and Boyes go into wild to see what they can find.

I’m kind of confused that National Geographic would have Herzog make a documentary for them. It’s not that there is a problem with Herzog’s documentaries, rather they tend to be about things not so much in the frame. Herzog is always reaching for a greater understanding of the universe by looking beyond the normal. Here Herzog isn’t just looking for elephants but examining, among other things, why we would gout and search for elephants. There is this moment about 38 minutes into the film where, where Boyes said that things don’t matter if they actually find the elephants and that perhaps it would be better if it remained a dream. If this was any other documentary by Herzog the film would have ended there. Boyes after all gives us the great revelation which is the sort of thing Herzog normally looks for.  However, in this case the film keeps going for another hour. What follows isn’t bad, it’s a National Geographic documentary filtered through the hands of one of the greatest directors ever, which if you know Herzog’s docs means you know what you are getting- something you think you know but really don't.

Herzog knows he must do a lot more than his typical soul searching and as a result we get a film that goes into a lot of interesting places.  For example, in trying to explain the scale of the destruction of the elephants over the years he turns to the infamous film AFRICA ADDIO so that he can use the footage of the helicopter elephant hunts and the endless carnage left behind. It’s a stunning moment that anyone not familiar with the earlier film is going to find rocks their world.(For a discussion of that film go here) Herzog makes his point and then some. He also gives us a look at the trackers they use to find the elephants (and which could have been a film untoi themselves)

To be completely honest I’m not sure all of this works. While never bad the mystical nature of Herzog’s style doesn’t always mesh with your typical Smithsonian films. The tone feels off. Yes the information is great, but at the same time it isn’t as smooth as it should be.

At the same time it’s a Herzog film which makes it better than almost any other film out there.

Recommended.

NYICFF starts Saturday

The New York International Children’s Film Festival opens Saturday and that means Spring is just about here.  I say that because every year the festival has been the point where winter ends and spring starts. There have been years where I went to opening night in a snow squall and then went the next day there was no snow and I was in a light jacket.

The coming of the festival also means that for three weekends the best time in a cinema in New York is happening.

You don’t believe me?

Then you have clearly never been to the festival.

Every year the best family oriented, but not just for families, films screen and the universe heals itself. The pains of the mass media and social media are replaced by hope and smiles and a glorious sense of families. Those of us who have been going to the festival since the early days know that going to the festival isn’t just going to the movies, its going home to the best family imaginable and there being popcorn and fun films.

I’m not one of the converted, but one of the ones doing the conversion by spreading the word on the cinematic wonders found there. I've dragged numerous friends over the years and they all have fallen in love with the festival.

The festival is always full of wonders. I’ve found such wondrous things over the years that have blown my mind. For example, LAMPIE this year is a truly magical film that plays like a fairy tale, but something infinitely more. It is one of the absolute must see films of the year for anywhere, not just the festival.(It really is that wonderful)

Where normally I would do a dump of reviews before the film screen, this year the reviews will be dropping after the films screen. It’s not for lack of love- it’s simply that this year I will be living at the festival, so I haven’t seen many films yet. As a result, the reviews come after I get back from the festival. (Addendum: I've just finished six of the short collections and they all contain unexpected joys - especially the Native  American Centerpiece and the Celebrating Black Styories which are only getting single screenings - but tickets now)

Do not let the fact I am not dropping most reviews until the festival starts stop you from buying tickets- do do right now _ after 26 years of going to the festival I trust the programmers enough to simply say buy tickets to everything- you'll love it all (Information here.)

And don’t let the fact you don’t have kids stop you from going- I do not have kids, but I’ve been made welcome for over two decades.

Seriously this festival is the best time you can have at the movies.

Its so good that I confuse the hell out of my writer friends by buying my own tickets despite covering the festival as press. The reason I do that is simply because I want to go and I need to help make sure the festival continues onward. I am being selfish, since I go to the festival for me, I want the festival to continue on so I can keep seeing great movies and the great people who show them.

NYICFF is one of my most favorite things in the entire world. Go buy tickets and join me.

For information and tickets go here.

Undercard (2025) opens Friday

Wanda Sykes gives an Oscar worthy performance as a former boxer working as a trainer.  She has a love hate relationship with her son, who she gave up when he was a child because she was unable to care for him.  Things come to ahead between mother and son after he gets a shot on a boxing card.

The whole story here is Sykes. Giving a performance for the ages, Sykes will make you wonder why she hasn't been doing dramas for the last few decades. Disappearing into the roll so well that it may take you a minute to realize who she is. She is not loud and forward, instead she is much more reserved.  She is someone more like most people's mom's then a comedianne. It's a perfectly modulated character who wins your heart.

While the characters and performances are so great,  the plot is nothing new. There is nothing wrong with that, it just means this film doesn't reinvent the wheel. You'll probably enjoy the film regardless.

Recommended.

Slamdance Short Takes: A STORY ABOUT YOU, SANTA ZETA, THREE COLORS PAN AFRICA, MATAPANKI, THE KEY and WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON

A STORY ABOUT YOU

A man is forced to come to terms with his past via the women who drifted through it

One part theater piece, there are losts of monlogues, and one part cinema meditation,there are altering aspect ratios, A STORY ABOUT YOU  works best in bits. This is a film of finely crafted pieces where each sequence shines perfectly, unfortunately the pieces don't truly work together. It feels like they didn't know how to tie eveything up. Don't get me wrong the film isn't bad, but for a film that contains some of the great movie moments of the year only being good over all it's a disappointment.

Still this is worth seeing if you can.

SANTA ZETA
A woman hunts pedophiles, like the one that killed her sister, only to find the one that was responsible for her sisters death, close at hand. 

Good but not great film has some great sequences in it. The trouble is that the narrative is a bit too familiar. We've seen the overall story before too many times. It's not bad but the thrill of the sequences isn't maintained in every bit of the film.

THREE COLORS: PAN AFRICA
An anthology about Black existence, each color coded to the colors black, red and green.

This film didn't really work for me. It's not the stories themselves, but more the film's insistnce on being about a greater truth. The film wants us to know this is an important tale and it tell it's story a bit too intellectually which undercuts the heart.

MATAPANKI
A young man drinks a drink and gets superpowers which creates all sorts of problems. Live action black and white cartoon, this is a kind of living comic book. Its a feature film that riffs on both comic conventions and social ideas  with mixed reasults. While by no means bad the film can be very hit or miss. Its a film you will most certainly enjoy but which you will end up liking for its big swing at trying something new as oppossed to hitting it out of the park.

THE KEY
This is an uneven, based on a true story, tale of homeless people who learn to get buy living in the homes of people who are not in their apartments all the time. There is something to this tale, but the style of the telling andbroad sense of humor at times didn't work for me.

WHISPERINGS OF THE MOON
An actress returns to Cambodia after the death of her father and reconnects with an old lover. 

Awkward inde drama has something in the central tale but it's wrapped in a style that leaves the wrong sort of silences and moments. Yes, alot of this works, but also alot of it dosn't, frequently because things are not said at the right time.

Slamdance Short take Shorts: I AM, ANIMIST COLLECTIVE, DZATA and OKAY

 

I AM
A cinematic poem in a retro style. It's a solid three minute trip to the subconcious.

ANIMIST UNCONCIUOSNESS
Another trippy experimental film melds real footage  with computer generated one to create a waking dream. Worth seeing in a darkened theater

Dzata: The Institute of Technological Consciousness
An experimental look at a fictional institute. This sort of thing is my jam. I love looks into fixtional places. While this can be a bit esoteric at times I still enjoyed the hell out of this.

OKAY

Shot using Fuji Film in order to show it off, OKAY is a tone poem of sorts about how a woman who lost her husband grieves. Full of stunning images, the film delights the eye more than the heart. Yes it soars at times, but only here and there. Still the images are enough to make seeing this at least once worth it.

Brief thoughts on TONY ODYESSY (2026) Slamdance 2026

Tony and his friend rob the bar where Tony work and then ends up on an odyssey across Brazil. 

Black and white and very deliberate, with moments of fantasy and magical realism blending with the story of two people on the run, the has some wild moments, but much of it doesn't hang together. It's trying very hard to be about something and at times it feels forced. Even allowing that it is intentionally told this is a film I liked in pieces more than as a whole.

However, despite my lack of love for the film, this is exactly the sort of film Unseen Films was set up to highlight, so if you want something atypical, give it a shot

Two of Slamdance 2026's Best: ZUMECA and SILVER

I've had a mixed reaction with the films of Slamdance this year with most of the films simply being good. Unlike in other years there had been no absolute stand outs--- until I ran into these two films very close to the start of the festival. These two films are the best of the fest -so far- and they are films destined for my year end lists 

ZUMECA
Based on a true story this is the story of Miguel, a Spaniard, who is taken in by a Taino woman named Zumeca. 

Shot in a moody black and white, with a point and shoot tableaux like style, the film shouldn't be as good as it is. It's a deliberately told version of a tale we've seen before, but somehow director Maler hits it out of the park.  Using every image, sound and performance exactly perfectly, Maler gives us a very human, a very real story that plays out before us. This isn't somewhere else but right there with us. Everything we need to know is on the faces and in the eyes of the actors. It's a staggering achievement that rocked my world in ways that few films this year have. What kills me is that I've seen a lot of films in the last two or three years about colonialism and the battle between indigenous and white civilizations and this one has haunted me the most and its seemingly coming out of nowhere... then again this is what makes Slamdance so special.

You must see this.

SILVER
Using 12 year old Juvi as our guid, we look at the highest mine in Bolivia. The Mine has been operating for centuries and it is running out of ore putting the lives of thousands of miners in Danger.

See this in darkened theater on a screen as big as possible. This verite documentary transcends the form to become a deeply moving journey to another world. Jaw droipping image follows jaw dropping image as we are brought ot this place we've never been and shown around.  It's an mind expanding trip that makes us think about the people in a place we've never been. I was floored by the film in the ways only the best cinema can achieve.

See this film.