The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much (2025) SXSW 2026

A blind violinist is put in danger by a killer.

This  is an over the top of English dubbed giallo films, that is intentionally badly dubbed. It's a film that looks and feels like a giallo from the 1970's. It's a film that doesn't let go of the conceit at any point, even through the credits.

I was amused.  I was particularly amused by how the film nails the genre... and the bad dubbing, perfectly.  This film truly gets it.

I particularly appreciate that the film is only about 15 minutes. This is a joke that is funny, but what makes it funny is not something that would survive then played longer what's here.

Because I like giallo films, I do have to say that not all film in the genre are this over the top. Actually a lot of them are not, they just seem that way because they are badly dubbed. I also think that if you don't know the genre  this film may not work for you.

Worth a look for giallo fans

Mermaid (2026) Cinequest 2026

Despite what you think, you have not seen this story before.

This is the story of young trans Cassie who wants to be a mermaid. Unfortunately her father doesn't understand. After attempting to walk into the ocean with a backpack full of rocks, Cass is rescued by Pepper a drag queen lost in her own problems. The pair begin to find a way back in each other.

You haven't seen this story before. This is not a typical Hollywood feel good film. Its a film that doesn't begin on an upbeat note but with a 10 year old walking into the ocean to end their life.  The turns do not provide easy answers. Things go wrong and people get bruised. Its a story that feels like it was lived rather than created out of thin air and the result is a film that is infinitely better than you would suspect it is by the log line.

I really liked this film. I love the raw emotion and the realistic edge the film has. The film feels like we are seeing real people because things are not instantly fixed, even at the end.

I can't recommend this film enough, especially for anyone who is like Cass or her father and need to know they aren't alone.

And Her Body Was Never Found (2026) SXSW 2026

A husband and wife go into the forest to camp and after a day of fighting the decide they may have to kill each other.

Made almost entirely just by Polaris Banks and Mor Cohen, this is a frustrating film. The film was inspired by the battles that the pair actually had, except instead of homicide the pairn turned it into a film. Its a film that wants to be several different things, a portrait of a relationship in trouble, a thriller and a knowing comedy. The trouble is that the film never gets the shifting tones right.

For me the film's early arguments are best. The argument between Banks and Cohen were emotionally difficult for me to watch. I say that because the arguments echoed arguments I had with my exes. I had used some of the same words and ended up doing the same thing, fracturing my relationship.

The problem is after awhile the film kind of loses its footing.  The argument goes on too long, at least cinematically, and the tone changes into something more humorous. Also changing is the way the film was shot as we see the footage shot by both parties as they try to make sure that their side of the battle is saved and told. Some of it works and some it doesn't. Because its hit or miss there isn't a great deal of suspense, we are simply watching and waiting to how how it all plays out.

The best part of the film is the script. The dialog is spot on. As I said I had the same arguments in my life. Unfortunately the need to keep this a (largely) two person film results in thenot really working. The two filmmakers are not enough to overcome the limitations and a couple of unfortunate choices (I'm looking at you sting in the tail ending)

This is an interesting footnote nothing more. However I would love to see what Banks and Cohen write next and shoot if they are not limited to a two person crew.

Forbidden City (2025) hits VOD Tuesday

A young woman from China allows herself to be trafficked to Italy so that she can find her sister. When her sister is not where she thought she would be,  she begins her search. Eventually she ends up hooking up with the son of the man  who is supposed to have gone off with the sister.

Atypical mix of Hong Kong martial arts and Euro crime films is something to make you sit up and take notice. The mix of action and crime drama makes for a film that isn’t like anything else out there, and which probably shouldn’t work, yet some how it does. This film hooks you early with an amazing action set piece and then just drags you along.

The reason the film works is the endless drive forward that the search for the siter brings. There is an urgency. We know early on that the bad guys are bad. And some ot the good guys are not so good either. I love that we don't have cookie cutter characters.

Certainly, the martial arts help. They are going to sit up and make you say “hello’ because there is brutality to them that is severely lacking in modern action films, especially those from China. The action is such that I was emailing friends to tell them that they had to see this because the action was going to blow their minds.

I really liked this film a great deal. I like the mix of genres and cultures. I love that some one was thinking outside of the box and was skilled enough to pull it off. Too often mixes like this crash and burn. This one doesn't. Just go with it's seemingly uneven pacing.

Forgive my lack of words  but I need to see this again to really find the words to express how much I liked this film.

A must see.

Adam's Apple (2026) CPH:DOX 2026

Ten years in the life arc of Adam, a young man who knew early on he was trans and the course his life took.

This is a you are there documentary shot by Adam and his mother over a decade. Adam was given a camera at an early age and he used it document his life from his point of view while his mother shot events from hers and the families.

At the risk of upsetting some people I'm going to say that this is a lovely film that charts everything that happens to Adam over the time frame of the film. Its warts and all portrait that makes us less an objective observer and instead a subjective member of the family. We almost instantly become attached to everyone on screen and we just go with it.  Truthfully the absolute strength of the the film is that despite things happening, the film never stops feeling as anything but a portrait of a young man growing up and becoming himself. That may not sound like much, but in an age where anyone who is trans is under fire, we need respresentations that simply say that just present it as normal (because it is).

Recommended.

Brief thoughts on DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST CPH:DOX & SXSW

A look at two mushroom specialists and the relationship between people and mushrooms.

You will forgive me if I keep my thoughts on this film brief. I really liked this fim, but having recently spent a couple oif hours with my niece who loves mushrooms I feel like she should have been the one to be reviewing it so that you could get  a real sense of the wonderful  things that are in this film.

For me this is a great look at mushrooms and people, in particular the indigenious people of Mexico. Its a film that reveals how important mushrooms are. Its a film that connected me to the love my niece has forms them. 

Do yourself and take a trip.

Recommended.

A MAGNIFICENT LIFE closes this year's NYICFF

Sylvain Chomet makes a biography of Marcel Pagnol.

I am feeling so lost regarding this film. Chomet's animation is wonderful. There are some eye popping bits that delight us with the turns as characters shift forms and we see things from impossible angles. If you are an animation junkie then you must see this.

On the other hand if you want to see a film that actually moves and isn't dramatically inert, then look elsewhere.  While the film covers the life of Pagnol, it tells it  in an imobile mode. Since Pagnol started writing plays the earlier part of the film has all the scenes as if they are plays. Later scenes when Pagnol moved to the films the shots are similar to early cinema. The result is a film that despite being animated is just a bunch of characters sitting around talking. I'm not certain why Chomet decided to do this for an animated film since the use of art would seem to imply that he was going to do something more fanciful other  than an odd moment.

While the film isn't bad, it is kind of boring.

Brief thoughts on Dead Or Dying (2026) Cinequest 2026

I need to apologize to writer director John Percell because I'm not certain how to explain the plot of this film simply. The truth of the matter is this is not a single story but several connected tales set in a future where people are dying and its not such a big deal. The tales involve a faded TV star trying to get back on top, her assistant, a shrink who refuses to listen to patients and a tech guy whose life is turned upside down when the billionaire he wants to pitch to dies. Where it goes and how it goes is the film.

I'm also not sure how to write this up. The stories are interconnected and I'm tempted to say too much and reveal some of the turns. 

What I will say is that for the most part Purcell's writing and direction are right on target.  With one or two exceptions he has crafted some great characters. Personally, I loved everyone except Sam, the needy TV star (she's too much a cartoon). The writing here is good enough that I want to see what Purcell does next.

Worth a look.

In Spite of Ourselves (2026) Cinequest 2026

Archie and Hannah meetat the bakery where she works. She is a baker, he is a comedian. Will they get together?

I don't have a great deal to say about this film - other than it surprised the hell out of me.  What is this thing called a romantic comedy where we have real people? How did they not go for schtick? More simply put this is a beautifully written, wonderfully acted film where we care from the first frame to the last. 

I am so flooded with requests to cover romances and I frequently turn them down. They are so by the book or jokey that I can walk out of the room ten minutes in and come back with ten minutes to go and still know everything that happens. I couldn't do that here... more importantly I did not want to do that here because I cared about the people on the screen. I wanted to see what happened in their lives and I wanted to see if they stayed together because it isn't clear what will happen until it does.

This is an absolute gem of a film. Its the reason I take swaths of films at a festival to see instead of picking and choosing, because it forces me to find this joyous little discoveries.

See this film- and then see it again- because its just as wonderful the second time (My seeing it twice is a rave ladies and gentlemen)

Coming to terms with Alex Cox's wonderfully weird DEAD SOULS (2025)

Alex Cox's alleged last film is an off kilter western based on a Golgo novella refashioned into a warning about the current state of America- specifically the way ICE is taking over the streets.

Cox plays a man named Strindler. He's come to a backwater spaghetti western sort of town, looking to buy the names of dead  Mexican laborers. However his plans go sideways, as his weirdness collides with the behavior and greed of those atround him.

Cox, often seeming to channel John Huston in his performance, creates a character that will make you wonder why he didn't take the lead in more films. Cox is hypnotic in a way that few actors ever are. That he can take a character that would have been a supporting player in any other film speaks volumes about how good he is.

Never having read the source novella, I can't speak as to how faithful it is. On the other hand it really doesn't matter since this film is really off kilter. Sure the notion of trying to find out the names of Mexican's in America echoes what ICE is doing, in real life, but that's kind of unintentional since the surreal nature of it all only would have kicked in when Trump was just getting back into office and the was being filmed  At the same time this film takes some odd turns with animation and musical numbers appearing seemingly out of nowhere.  You would think it shouldn't work, and the truth is it probably shouldn't have, but this is the work of Alex Cox who has made a career out of making things that shouldn't work work (to some degree.)

I really liked this film a great deal, though I'm going to be completely up front and say I still don't know what the hell is going on all along the way. Written by Cox and spaghetti western legend Gianni Garko the film has the weird sense that some of the Euro-westerns have, basically a sort of dream logic that comes when you dream with your face in the pillow. It's a strangeness that makes me want to go again sooner than later. 

This is a great film on its own terms and will remind you of of just how the movies can truly make you rethink the world you are in.

Recommended.

Beyond The Duplex Planet (2026) SXSW 2026

 

When I finished Beyond the Duplex Planet I texted my friend Nate Hood. There was something in the film that I thought was going to resonate with him on a personal level. It was something about the humanity of the story that I felt he needed to see.

The film is a portrait of David Greenberger who in his 20’s began to publish The Duplex Planet a zine that ran from 1979-2010 chronicling the the lives and words of the people who lived in the nursing home where he worked. Greenberger really got to know the seniors, and he strove to get their words and feelings out into the world.  The zine grew into a comic book series, multiple albums of songs, related books, a radio show and spoken word performances and recordings.

As much as I would love to wax poetic about the wonders of this film, but I don’t know if I have the words. The problem is that much like Greenberger’s life this film is not one thing. Outside of being a portrait of the man at the center of the film the film simply keeps evolving and building upon itself into something glorious, warm, and human. This is a film that reveals life to us in ways we never expected. How the hell can I even try to explain what a glorious experience seeing this film is.

What I really need to do is to take each one of you by the hand and bring you to the theater to see this film. I need to plop you down in your seat with a big bowl of popcorn, your drink of choice and perhaps, some tissues and let you be moved.

There is a battle in the community of film writers between those who say that we should simply say if a film is good or bad and those that say we should take the film apart and go for something deeper.  With Beyond the Duplex Planet, I am left simply saying that you must see this film because it is somewhere beyond good because the film forces us to engage with it on a deeper, very personal level. I can not say how you will react to the film, and I’m not going to force you to think or feel anything.  I  am simply going to say see this film and take the ride and then let me know how it made you feel and what it made you think since that is infinitely more important than what I think.

Highly recommended

Brief thoughts on Your Attention Please (2026) SXSW 2026

This is a look at how social media is changing our lives and our brains.

This is a very good look at the damage social media is doing to us, and changing our perspective from real interactions to the fake ones measured by clicks and likes. It's a film that clearly lays out what is going on and how we should be handing the devil we all turn to for comfort and likes. Its also a film that shows us how the universe is turning so that all that matters is if  we are paying attention to whatever or whomever is on our screens

As good as this film is as a one stop shop, it' suffers from the feeling that we've been here before. I say that because the film brings together every thought questioning social media and the drive for likes that you would have to be criminally unaware to find all of this shocking.  That is not a big knock against the film, more a warning that as a lover of documentaries on social issues not all of this is new.

My quibbles aside, if you want to scare the uninformed about the problems of likes and social media, this film  is going to be the thing to have them watch.

Capturing Bigfoot (2026) SXSW 2026

When I was talking to Marq Evans about his previous film THE DIAMOND KING, he said that his next film was going to be on Bigfoot and specifically the Patterson/Gimlin film. He told me a reel of film had come to light that was going to change everything. I asked him not to say anymore because I didn't want to have any preconceived notions when I saw the film.  We left it there until the film was listed as part of this year's SXSW when I reached out and asked to see the film.

CAPTURING BIGFOOT is the story of the best-known film footage of Bigfoot, the Patterson/Gimlin film that was shot in 1967 when the pair was out looking for the creature when one showed up and Patterson was thrown from his horse but held on to his camera. It's the tale of what happened as told by Patterson's son, Clint, and the other people involved with it, as well as the people who believed and those that didn't. It's a very bittersweet and melancholy film not just for its revelations but because it's the story of lives broken apart by the a few feet of film.

Shot in a style that at times mirrors the "true life" documentaries of the 60's and 70's. The film recalls a bygone era when you had to go to the movies to see real life monsters on the big screen. The film then hooks us with Clint Patterson watching the newly discovered film for the first time and his saying that it was going to change everything.

The selling point of the film is that recent discovered reel of 16mm film that had been locked in a vault for decades. We know the film exists at the start and it is hinted that the revelation, borne out later in the film, that it reveals the film we all know is a hoax.

Most of the film is a look at the life and times of Roger Patterson told by his son and some of the people who knew him. The film explains the whole story of the film of bigfoot that we've seen for almost 60 years, how it was supposedly shot, how it was marketed and how it tore families and friendships apart. I was not expecting the melancholy that the film creates in the viewer. There is a great sadness not only in seeing the lives of people whose whole existence is a short piece of film, but the way that piece of film wrecked lives as friendships were broken, money was stolen, and families were destroyed as family members said things to each other that should never be said. (And that is before the sadness that occurs when you realized how this film is going to break hearts and destroy the worlds of people invested in Bigfoot.)

When we finally get to the final half hour things are not as we expect. There is no grand "ah ha" moment, and the result is a film that leaves us unsettled for a variety of reasons.  The first being that the revelations shift the bigfoot board largely irrevocably. There is no going back now. What does this mean for our thoughts on the Patterson film? What does that mean for those whose lives kind of depend upon it? What of the destruction that the film has laid out? Interestingly there is no grand triumph. Other than writer Greg Long, who feel triumphant, no one is particularly happy or delighted. Damage is done.  You can't really be a feeling person and walk out of the film and feel good. Even if you felt the film was a hoax, you can't feel happy at what transpires, too many people have been hurt. The huge strength of the film is that Evans doesn't paint the ending as something glorious but allows the moment to be colored by sadness as everyone realizes that the last 6 decades were ultimately empty. Patterson's nephew's declaration of it being cool to be part of the hoax rings hollow and the efforts of a man to try in find something good in spoiled goods.

As an emotional ride this film is something special. The film packs an incredibly strong emotional punch; unlike anything Evans has done before and I absolutely love that.

If there is any flaw in the film is that there may be one or two niggling points that can be picked at, and which will be picked at, by the bigfoot true believers who will not want to accept the truth, despite Patterson's widow and others saying it was faked. Some people are not going to accept the truth, for example special effects man Bill Munn is seen refusing to accept it as a fake even after being given all the evidence. It is something many people are going to choose to do because they simply can't let go.

CAPTURING BIGFOOT is ultimately a great film. It's literally a game changer. If you have any interest in bigfoot or popular culture, the film is a must see.

Celebrating Black Stories at NYICFF 2026 gets its only screening on Saturday

SPOOKY
A lovely film about a young girl who rescues a bat.
This is the sort of film I go to NYICFF to discover

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 and the mischief they get into to pass the time during a storm.

FANTAS
Tania takes her house home to meet her friends. 
This is a lovely tale which I wish had a less contrived ending. Its not bad, its just too out of left field.

FORT BUKU
Three friends decide to go look for Fort Buku, which is the fort used by slsaves to hide out from the plantation owners. It was deep in the marsh lands in a secret location.
Wonderful long long short is absolutely not what I expected. Full of great characters , this is the sort of film you want to disappear into so you can hang out with the people on screen.  It's perfectly told from start to finish and certain to put a smile on you face.  
I wish this was getting more than a single showing at this year's NYICFF

Wrecking Crew (2026)

You have to love any film that reiffs on the hall way fight from the original OLD BOY, not just once but several times...and manages to make it work every time. 

Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa play brothers reunited after their father is killed. His death is made to look like an accident- but it isn't. Its tied to a plan to build a casino on protected lands.

The pairing of Bautista and Momoa is the no duh reason to see the film. You know with these guys you are going to get great action. What was unexpected and wonderfully welcome was the depth of character we get from their performances. They don't walk through the film but give us full bodied performances. Yea they are macho killing machines but there is a genuiine human side to them that makes the film have a deeper connection. I know some people don't want the family issue nonsense but the truth is it gives the film weight and allows the positive moments to be more satisfying. I honestly did not expect that in this film.

This film is a delight.

I just wish this wasn't locked to Amazon so more people could see it.

Mariinka (2026) CPH:DOX 2026

This is a look at  the Ukrainian city which was split when the Russians invaded. While the fil focuses on a number of people in the city it primarily focuses on three brothers, rs one fighting on each side of the war in Ukraine (Mark fighting for Ukraine, Uslan fightiong for Russia). one living with a new family in America (Samuel).

This is a very good, if largely low key look at the war in Ukraine. It's a film that casts different sort of light on the war. The view we get is not simply one one side or the other, but something much more complex. The war clearly has divided families in ways that are unexpected. Additionally there are complications that we haven't seen before such as the brothers on opposing sides still being brothers and conversing.

I like the film a great deal because this isn't a view of the war we've seen before.

And you will forgive me for not going into greater detail but I'm kind of worn out on films about the war in Ukraine. I watch a lot of docs and a great many are on the war. While this is not to sell the war or the film short it's simply to state that I've seen too many films and I'm not certain what else to say beyond this film is quite good and worth a look, especially if you don't want a view of the war you've seen before.

Recommended.

It's Dorothy (2025) hits Peacock on Friday

This is a life and times of Dorothy Gale, the lead character in The Wizard of Oz, the book, the movies and the place of all of them in the hearts of millions.

One of the best films of 2025, IT'S DOROTHY is a glorious celebration of The Wizard of Oz. This film gloriously lays out why the story, in all it's forms, means something. This is a film that explains why the story is important. 

What I love about the film is that in addition to telling us why the story means something, it makes us feel the importance. We connect to the love people feel for the film and we emotionally understand why people connect. I make this point because earlier in Tribeca there was a film about the love people feel for Jack Keroauc's On The Road. It makes the case intellectually but not emotionally. We don't feel any connection to the beat classic. However we do feel the connection to Oz.

I was moved to tears. I found myself connecting to the people on screen, which connected me to the people in my life. I could feel why the books, or the the film, ot THE WIZ or WICKED means the world to them.

This film is magnificent.

Highly recommended.

NYICFF 2026 Student Showcase screens Sunday

The Student Showcase is always a must see at NYICFF because not only is a great collection of films, but its the place to see the next generation of big name filmmakers before they are big names.

FIRST WINTER
A boy from a tropical homeland experiences his first cold winter.
This is lovely film that will get the adults misty

UMIT
In a world without light Umit builds a drum to bring the sun back.
This is a lovely little tale that I wish was longer so it really milked our emotions.

PUDDLE
Waiting on the AC repairman a cat turns into a puddle
Made by a filmmaker who has cats. This is dead on.

FLUFF AND FURIOUS
After watching a Nature show, a poodle thinks its a wolf.
Another spot on film from an animal lover. Wonderful

MAUS IM HAUS
WHile a man sleeps, mice play
A beautiful little film

THE BIG BAD WOLF
Aardman related film  about the relationship between pigs and wolves, and how they see they don’t need to be enemies. It played before HOPPERS and was a delight both times I saw it.

FRANKIE
The perils of goldfish ownership.
This is an amusing little tale.

THE DAY I LICKED A PEBBLE
Three kids decide to go to the bakery on a sunny afternoon- but the story told about a monster gets out of hand. If you have siblings this story is going to ring true- especially if you've ever tried to scare them and have it go wrong. It a note perfect film.

SPROUT
A sprout girl begins to grow facial hair.
A sweet tale about growing up

A PIZZA ME
A battle between pizza delivery people
Cute

PASSING BY
A girl bumps into a childhood friend and needs to know whether to reconnect or not 
A film wise beyond its years. This film will hit harder the older you are.

PEAR GARDEN
A six year old tries to come to terms with her grandmother who had her breats removed.
A solid little film with an unexpected subject.

NANU
How do you cancel an online order.

WAVES
A beautiful film about finding and taking strength in who we are. (This should have been in the Celebrating Black Stories collection). One of the best at this years NYICFF.

CHIQUITO
An armadillo causes havoc with a teleporting device.
This is a delightful little film.

Bushido (2024) opens Friday

Don't go into BUSHIDO expecting clashing swords and a high body count, this is another sort of film.  Yea, swords are drawn but this is a film more about characters, and the game of Go, than it is about sword fights.

The basic plot has a samurai turned engraver getting into trouble again when some gold goes missing. He had been framed and sent off years earlier for theft and now everyone thinks he did it again.

This is a mannered tale focused on the characters and not an action film. I'm sure if you've seen films like AFTER THE RAIN, SWORD OF DESPERATION (2011), LAST RONIN, TATAR SAMURAI and others, you'll know what you are getting into.

I liked this film a great deal. I think I would have liked it away from the festival mix, where I could see the film on it's own terms and not as part of an endless line of films. 

It's a solid film that is worth a look.

DEATH CYCLE (2026) is now on VOD

In the wake of a car accident that killed one woman and injured another, a figure in black riding a motorcycle is killing anyone connected to the accident or the cover-up that followed.

this is a giallo influenced thriller that takes a by the number plot and turns it into something special. This is a small hidden gem with a great cast and wicked visual style that lifts the film up from any number of  by the numbers inde thrillers and makes it something you'll want to sit on the couch and watch.

I'm not going to lie and say there is anything new plot wise, because there isn't. Instead I'm going to say that the film builds suspense and mood by creating a visual style that actually works. It works so well that even the over used drone shots that now seem to be part of every film seem  new and deliught the eye. (Seriously there were a couple of shots that had me say out loud that they looked cool). This is a modern day giallo which does what the form frequently did which was take an okay narrtive and spice it up with the visuals.

I shouldn't be down plasying the plot, it isn't as messy as giallos from the 70's, but at the same time you'll know who is behind it all almost instantly.

Definitely worth a look on a night on the couch DEATH CYCLE is now on VOD

Brief thoughts on Writing Life – Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students (2025) Rendezvous with French Cinema 2026

Claire Simon travels across France and talks to high school kids about Annie Ernaux.

This is a verite styles documentary where we listen in to groups of students in classes talking about the Ernaux.  It is thrilling to listen to kids having passionate discussions about literature. It's so much better than most of the discourse  we see in the media concerning anything cultural. The discussion is passionate, well informed and compelling.

As good as the discussion is, how you react to the film and at what point you step away will be determined by how well you know Ernaux's work. I know nothing so once the thrill of watching empassionate discussion wore off I quickly realized I had no idea what they were talking about. What the works referenced were meant nothing to me  and while I could enjoy the thematic discussions I was lost in the details. 

Simply put this is going to work best if you know Ernaux.

Three festivals start this week and a fourth concludes: Thoughts on CPH:DOX, SXSW, CINEQUEST and the final weekend of NYICFF

 Over the last week I have been swimming in way too many films. I originally thought they were all for SXSW (because every one I know was focused on that) but the truth is there are other festivals happening this up coming weekend and I have been getting tons of films for those as well. 

Because I don't have it in me to do several different curtain raisers I'm going to do one ginormous one talking about each.

SXSW
Ths is like the spring version of Sundance. Its the place in America where a lot of American filmmakers go to get first word out on their films. What amuses me about SXSW is that despite becoming a major launching pad for American cinema the festival almost always treats it as an after thought. They want to focus on music, education and othe non-cinema things. Still the festival still gets some winners every year.

The first of two absolute MUST see films at the festival is Marq Evans CAPTURING BIGFOOT. A look at the Patterson/Gimlin film that  breaks the myth, via a recently unearthed second reel of film. Evan's film is going to rewrite what we thought we knew about the mysterious cryptid. At the same time the film is incredibly bittersweet as we watch the few feet of film destroy the lives of many it touched. Just see it and be moved in both your head and heart.

The other MUST see is BEYOND THE DUPLEX PLANET, which is a portrait of David Greenberger who started the zine Duplex Planet which revealed the lives and thoughts of the people who lived in the nursing home where he worked. Expanding out to records, performances and books Duplex Planet changed lives. The film about it is a staggering achievement on a scale that few films ever reach. It will leave you full of feelings and thoughts and it will not leave you for weeks after seeing it. Trust me I can not shake the film.

EDIE ARNOLD IS A LOSER is a very good film. A visually glorious film, trust me what this film does with films will blow your mind, its the story of an outsider girl who ends up in a band and a battle of the bands. And that is all I can say. While I  was sent the film in the hope of doing an interview or getting it into the curtain raiser I was asked not to review it.  That's the filmmakers choice, they want people to see it in a theater with an audience, but the truth is having spoken to a couple of other writers who saw it and loved it, its a mistake. This is a wonderful film and everyone who has seen it is itching to sing its praises. Don't believe me- buy a ticket and go to Catholic school with Edie.

CPH: DOX
This is a documentary fest in Denmark. Its a fest that shows a lot of great docs that don't always make to the US. I was only sent a couple of films to review such as MARINIIKA about a city in Ukraine divided by the war, where brothers fight on opposite sides and DAUGHTERS OF THE FOREST a great film about mushrooms.(Trust me its really good).

However I have already covered a good number of films they are playing:

Aanikoobijigan [ancestor / great-grandparent / great-grandchild]

BELOW THE CLOUDS

BOY GEORGE AND CULTURE CLUB

Radur Jude's DRACULA

DRY LEAF

EVERYONE TO KENMURE STREET

GHOST ELEPHANTS

HAIR,PAPER, WATER...

HOLDING LIAT

LANDMARKS

OUR LAND

PHENOMENA

UNDERLAND

If you do a search you'll find reviews for all of them

CINEQUEST
Every year I am flooded with requests for coverage for films from this west coast festival- and who am I to say no?

They always have a bunch of great off the radar films that end up on my year end list. This year some of the choice films include:

MERMAID- the story a young trans girl who tries to walk into the ocean with a bakpack full of rocks and is saved by a drag queen. This is not what Hollywood give us and instead it has a real and lived in feel where people are truly damaged and not fixed at the end. You will be moved.

TETHER is a deeply moving film about the aftermath of a school shooting that asks when will the madness truly end when the shooting takes out more than just the kids in the school. Highly recommended.

IN SPITE OF OURSELVES is an expectedly wonderful romance with real people. This is not a cute Hollywood film but something more real. The cast is great and the writing is even better. It's a must see.

NYICFF
The New Yorl International Children's Film Festival is going into in its last weekend. Hopefully you already got to some screenngs this past weekend. I know a bunch sold out. 

I will be back in the trenches both Saturday and Sunday completeing the one thing that I always wanted to do- which was see every film playing at the festival. I am six features away from doing that. 

There will be more reviews this week including the just added MAGNIFICENT LIFE from Sylvain Chomet who did Triplets of Belleville. I will also have reviews of all the films in the STUDENT SHOWCASE. I can't tell you how good those films are, many are playing in other collections or as the opening film before a feature. 

I need to say something to all of you because even after talking to filmmakers people don't understand how good and important NYICFF is. I had a discussion with a filmmaker who was feeling a bit like an imposter, that his film didn't belong in the festival. What I told him was a less flowery version of this:

If you have gotten your film into the festival you have achieved something amazing. I have been going to the festival every year since the second year and the programmers only pick the absolute best films. If your film has been chosen it means that it is a top tier film and worth seeing just for being chosen. That is the reason I try to see every film that plays, because the programmers are simply that good.  NYICFF is an Oscar qualifying festival for a reason- many films they choose end up getting Oscars or nominations. If you need to know how highly they are held in the world film community consider that it is the only place Studio Ghibli has ever let play Ghibli Museum shorts for a non-fund raising reason. 

I am telling you this because you need to buy tickets and go to the festival this weekend because you will see something wondrous.

Maigret and the Dead Lover (2025) Rendez-vous With French Cinema 2026

When a former diplomat is found dead in his study Maigret is called into discreetly see if he can find out who killed him.

I  am a fan of the Maigret character. I enjoy the various versions of the mysteries. I particularly love watching how French filmmakers have brought the character to the screen.  At the same time I don't know what to say about this film. 

Playing like an extended TV episode, the film doesn't really go anywhere. While you want to see where this is going the film has zero character development. There is no real sense about any of the people on the screen. Its as if we are are coming to an episode of season five of TV series where eveyone is established and the writers are using a short hand. I honestly can't believe that this is based on a novel because eveything that makes the novels work is stripped away to the bare minimal plot. 

To be honest the film mostly works because the cast sells it. I enjoyed it watching for the most part, though I would hate to pay current movie prices to see it. Slightness of the plot aside, my real problem with the film comes at the end when after the mystery is solved there is a three month later addendum which causes the plotting to come crashing down- since there is no way, as the plot is revealed that the final revelation would have taken 3 months to be revealed.  It feels added on and a betrayal of the character.

While the film is worth seeing beyond the flaws, I would wait until it streams.

undertone (2025) opens Friday

Before we start be aware my reaction to this film is based on seeing it on a screener on TV with no surround sound. I mention this up front because this is film that an aggresive sound design that is a huge part of the film and if you don't have that your viewing will be affected.

A woman, the skeptic on a mysterious event podcast, is home waiting for her mother to die. As she does so she listens to some strange audio sent in by a listener and the sound recorded in the house she is in.

A film of sounds and silences, this is a film you are ether going to add to your list of films as one of the scariest ever made or on your list of films slightly more exciting than paint drying. I'm in the paint drying camp.

I should take a step back right here and say the final moments of the film scared the shit out of me, but it wasn't an earned scare. While it most definitely NOT a jump scare, as such, the frission it creates is just for those moments and not the 85 previous minutes.

The problem with this film its incredibly static. The mother is catatonic in the bed and never moves. The only other person physically in the film is the main character. That's it.  Visually its shots of the quiet house, some flashes of images and implications of other things, but mostly is just our heroine sitting with headphones on. Not much happens -until it does-hence the ending working- so the film feels inert.

Actually, this might have worked better as an audio play. So much of this film is geared toward the ears that I kind of wished I had headphones on (ADDENDUM: Liz Whittemore who did watch this with headphones loved it and said they are an absolute must). The audio is better than the visuals, though some of the sounds we hear sound wrong. For example, the voice of the woman singing in her sleep backwards has a metalic tinge to it as if played back on a recorder and not if they were actually making backward sounds. (I mention this because I knew someone who could mimic the sound of reversed audio and while it wasn't perfect it was freaky).

While I don't hate this film, I am not in love with it. This should have been told in another form.

Then again it may click with you, I have a couple of friends who will eat this up because slow or not they love a deliberately told horror film.

The House Was Not Hungry Then (2025)

Low key and experimental, this is the story of a house that eats people and the young woman who breaks in and kind of forms a bond with it.

Told in a very deliberate style, with each image a wide shot inside of a room in the house, this is a film that is very much about the spaces we see on screen. If you have a fear of liminal spaces, then this film may very well before you. Its a film that sticks to its conciet from start to finish which is something that may or may not work for you, especially once the house begins talking (via subtitles).

To be honest I can't really explain what this film is like Steven Soderbergh's PRESENCE which I haven't seen.  For me it's kind of like David Lowrey's A GHOST STORY, which I was very mixed on. This isn't like some recent Asian films which are a series of one shot scenes where everything is told in a tableaux, because the POV shifts as we move through the house- but each room is always seen from one point of views.  Its a conceit that both works in giving us a sense of place, but also slows the pace down.

I was pointed toward this film by Unseen writer Eden Miller. Eden saw the film a short time before I did and connected with it's off the beaten path style and musings on life and death. Since eden and I have been trading atypical films for decades I instantly had to see it.

While Eden really liked the film, I was a bit less anamored with it. That isn't a knock on the film, rather it's simply to say that I liked more for what it was trying to do and how it tried to do it more than what it achieved. I think I would have liked it more if I felt more tension and suspense. As it stands now, for me, its an interesting attempt at trying to alter the haunted house genre, something it actually manages to do in its own way.

I'm going to be completely honest here and warn those looking for something conventional, this film may not work for you. This is something experimental so it may not play for you. On the other hand fans of the off and beaten path- which is the vast majority of the readers of Unseen Films- this is a film to give a shot to.  You may not love it but if nothing else you will be reassured that the future of horror is not going to be all knife weilding maniacs.

Recommended for the adventurous.

Nightcap 3/8/26 : Catching up with random movies, why I don't get credentials for SXSW, and watching but not reviewing at a festival

Just marking some random films, I saw, but didn't feel like writing up

QUEEN OF CHESS on Netflix is a good documentary. Far from meaty but entertaining.

DEAD OF WINTER with Emma Thompson is good. I clearly missed something because I never fully understood what was going on or why, but it wasn't bad

Nate Hood insisted I watch RAP WORLD which is on You Tube. Its documentary about some guys trying to make a rap record over the course of a night. It looks like a home movie...but somehow manages to be so much more. It's a drug fueled fever dream that is unlike anything you've seen before. 
I fear people trying to copy it's style.
At the same time its a must see movie for cinema fans who want something that isn't typical, and ultimately really good.

THE BLUFF on Amazon has some great action sequences, but the plot is MIA and it is so artificial  it all feels fake. I gave up an hour in because I had no idea what I was watching.

CASINO is better than GOODFELLAS

WAR MACHINE on Netflix is essentially Preadtor meets Indepenence Day. Its entertaining but way too familiar so that its  not anything other than a something to watch and then forget. I hope to hell they don't do the implied sequel

Got whiplash going between NUREMBERG and JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG as I was writing this afternoon.

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I'm getting questioned about how much I am covering SXSW. When I say I am only covering what is sent to me I get further questions. In order to set the record straight I will explain.

I am not a fan of SXSW. They are a festival that wants you to go there to cover it, and by all accounts it's a pain in the ass to do so. The festival's remote viewing choices when I did cover officially were minimal and it didn't really pay to be official when I got just as many if not more from the PR people I know.

Additionally, I have vowed never to cover the festival as official press ever again because of something that happened a couple years back.

The short version is that one PR person, who I will no longer work with, told multiple writers that if they did not take down their negative and mixed reviews of the dog he was repping, he would have their SXSW credentials pulled. When the writers, their outlets and friends wrote to the SXSW offices they were told, that it was within the PR reps rights to have the credentials pulled and that they would pull the credentials if asked. And lest you think it didn't happen, it did because I had several writers ask me how to handle the whole matter and they sent me the email chains. I also got an email from the SXSW PR office saying they would pull the credentials.

As a result, SXSW can go take a flying leap into whatever will kill it most painfully.

That said, and something that is wonderfully in keeping with our weird world- I will probably have a curtain raiser in a few days- because I am pissed at the fest and not the filmmakers.

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And look for possible curtain raisers for Cinequest and CPH: DOX because they are this week as well,  and I have been him deep into their slates as well.

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For the first time in all the years of covering festivals I watched and did not review twice the number of films I reviewed. (Actually, other than watching and not reviewing more than two films never happens).

This year it happened for Slamdance and I'm kind of bothered by it.

It was not my intention, but to be honest two things happened with the films this year, first a lot of them, particularly with animated films and the really super short films, they were not easy to write up.  Either the films were too experimental or surreal or artistic that I couldn't find the words to accurately describe the films, or in some cases to properly write them up meant that I would have to give away the sting in the tail or twist. I don't want to ruin a film that changes if you know the outcome. 

And then there were a large number of films that really didn't work for me. Normally I don't mind writing a piece that explains why something didn't work for me, but this year, with all the Slamdance films ending up with short pieces, I didn't want to just write something that seems mean without explaining why... and I would have done so but the films didn't thrill me enough to explain.

It really bothers me that I couldn't muster enough to note the films I saw at Unseen, but sometimes it happens.

What bothers me even more is that as good as some of the film s this year were, few outside of MURPHY'S RANCH, ZUMECA and SILVER will be carried by me after the fact. They just aren't memorable enough

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THE OPTIMIST (formerly AVENUE OF GIANTS) opens Wednesday

This is a repost of the review I ran when the film played the Hamptons International Film Festival and was called Avenue of Giants.

Stephen Lang gives an arresting performance as Herbert Heller who was a Holocaust survivor who refused to talk about his past. Opening up to Abbey, a teen dealing with her own demons he finds he can finally tell his story. Heller would go on to tell his story to thousands of people, connecting them to the darkness we must never forget.

While not particularly remarkable on the face of it, THE AVENUE OF THE GIANTS  soars because of the cast. First and foremost is Stephen Lang who is so good playing the 70 something Heller. Lang is so good that despite his being the reason I wanted to see the film I  didn’t connect him to the role. Here was a little old man shuffling through his life nuke David Blumm who plays Herbert as a kid is equally good, making it believable that he grew up to be lang.

Elsie Fisher as Abbey is very good too. Taking a role that in other hands could have just come off as a deus ex machina she infuses it with humanity and as such is vital to the film.

This is a really good film and definitely worth your time.

The Ugly (2026) hits VOD Tuesday

This is the story of a man whose blind father is the subject of a documentary. His is dad is an engraver of note. As the film is being made, word is recieved that the body of his mother has been found. His mother had disappeared 40 years earlier. As the authorities tries to sort things out, so does the son and the filmmaker. Where it leads is into some dark places.

I'm mixed on THE UGLY.  Part of it is that the film is a catalog of cruelty, and in today's world I don't want to see that, partly it crushed me because in the mother I saw my mom, but mostly it didn't work because this didn't need to be a flashback film.

The film is essentially a look at how society views beauty. The woman at the film's center is someone who is deemed ugly. She marries a blind man because suppsedly only a blind man could love her.  Because she is ugly is the focus of incredible cruelty and brutality.  She is tormented for no good reason and it becomes incredibly tough to take. The film is a damning portrait of Korean society and the human condition. However it is not a film that you want to watch for fun. The cruelty is crushing. Even allowing that the world is now a cruel place thanks to certain leaders normalizing it, this is hard to take.

The real problem with the film is the structure.  Told as a series of interviews and flashbacks,  There isn't really a reason for how ts done since the interviews often overlap the flashbacks and it feels reptative. We don't need to be told and shown. The other key problem is that the film jumps through hoops so that until the finale we never see the supposedly ugly woman. The filmmakers make it laughable that we are not seeing the face. Of course the reveal  isn't surprising since while she may be a tad plain, she wasn't ugly, more so of she had access to makeup. I wish they had just told the story without the the tricks.

This leads me to something personal, which is that there was a point where my mother got sick and the illness changed her appearance. She felt she had become ugly. She had not, but she thought she had. In the mother on screen I saw my mom. It bothered me deeply and made me not want to relive that.

I don't want to make you think the film is a total, mess, it's not it's well made and beautifully acted.  I can understand why some people love the film.  At the same time it didn't work for me.