HUMBOLDT USA (2026) First Look 2026 Visions Du Reel 2026

The name Humboldt echoes through the world. Places and creatures were all named for scientist Alexander von Humboldt, the “grandfather of ecology”, who preached the interconnectedness of all things. Director G. Anthoy Svatek looks at the life of Humboldt  and his ideas by looking at three places that bear his name, Humboldt County in Nevada where scientists are monitoring big horn sheep, , Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo New York where a huge roadway is  disrupting the air quality of millions, and the Humboldt Redwoods where scientists try to understand the eco-system as it's being compromised by loggers and other humans.

This is a very good look at how small groups of people are trying to protect the environment around them because the larger government and big business couldn't be bothered. It's a film that reveals we are all in this together and if we wat to make strides we are going to have to step up and do something ourselves.

Worth a look

Ariela Rubin on ONE SPOONFUL OF CHOCOLATE (2025)

 

The first ten minutes of One Spoon of Chocolate were so intense and gruesome that I almost walked out of the theater. I decided to stay, and the next day, I am still thinking about it.

The film stars Unique, played by Shameik Moore, who I wasn't familiar with, but I thought he was excellent in the role. Unique was just released from prison and is on parole. He convinces his parole officer to let him relocate to Ohio to live with his cousin, Ramsey, his only remaining family.

He lands in a small town called Karensville (unsure if this is a real town name or was used to set the scene, I'm going to guess the second). What starts as a hopeful fresh start quickly turns into the opposite.

While playing basketball at the community center, Unique and Ramsey are confronted by a group of white men who spew racist slurs and demand they leave, as well as give up their ball and sneakers. Unique says they'll leave, but refuses the rest, and shortly after a fight breaks out. Unique wins that fight, but things only escalate from there. The group sets out on a violent, racially driven mission to destroy them, and ideally kill them. As the story unfolds, we learn the whole town is complicit, from the liquor store worker to the coroner, and worst of all, the sheriff, who is the father of the group's leader.

This film is very very disturbing. The racism and violence are extreme. There’s illegal organ trafficking. The sadness is heavy. Most of the time, it feels hopeless for the black characters when every part of the system is against them. I'm not sure I can say I liked this movie… but I didn’t hate it either. What I can say is that I felt incredibly tense the entire time, I had to cover my eyes during several scenes (which I saw others doing), and I was worried I would have nightmares (thankfully, I did not).

There are brief moments of hope, especially when Unique decides to fight back. That part of the film had the audience cheering, clapping, and even laughing. Just as you feel hopeful that the story might end well, the film ends abruptly, which is unsatisfying.

I wouldn’t call this film enjoyable. What I can say is that it made me feel tense, angry, nauseous, sad, and at times hopeful. It's also one that makes you think about racism and violence in the US. It’s a brutal film, and not one I would have ever sought out on my own.

I went to the premiere, and afterward, RZA, who directed it, asked the audience if the film made them uncomfortable. Many people said yes. It seemed like he accomplished what he wanted to.

Salt Along the Tongue (2024) opens Friday

SALT ALONG THE TONGUE is truly a one of a kind film. Nominally a horror film with a food chaser, the film also is a feminist exploration of the relationships of women, of memory, of life and of family. Its a film that is full of ideas that are seemingly all over the place, but at the same time it weaves everything together. It's a unique tapestry.

However like any unique work of art it may not click for everyone. I completely understand why in the various review aggravating sites have the film with rating dead in the middle between good and bad. This is a film that you either love or hate.

The plot of the film has a teen aged  girl moving in with her aunt after her mother's death. However the mother didn't die naturally and she wants her daughter to remain safe as she moves among a group of women who love food and other things.

Apologies if that isn't as detailed as it should be. I say that because there is a lot going on here and it's hard to simply explain it without under explaining it or over explaining it.

Personally, I admire this film more than I love it. I adore that it is the work of director with singular world view. I love that the film does things that no other film has done.  At the same time the film didn't fully connect to me. I wasn't moved the way I should have been. Yes, I can see how good the film is, but at the same time it's not for me.

And while it may not have worked for me, I know it will work for some of you. I say that because watching it I found myself making a list of friends to tell about the film.  This is exactly the sort of film that Unseen Films was started to highlight- one of a kind films that needs to find its audience. If you want a horror film that might change the way you see the world try SALT ALONG THE TONGUE.

Infernal Affairs is playing the Lincoln Center Tony Leung Retrospective

You've seen this right?

This is the story of a cop who goes deep undercover and joins the triads. It's also the story of a gang member who goes undercover as a cop. After years in deep deep cover each discovers the existence of the other sending the pair and their organizations on a collision course.

You seen this right?

No, seeing the over rated Oscar winning film The Departed doesn't count.

Come on you haven't seen this?

Why haven't you seen this?

This is the real deal. This is one of those films that comes out of Asia every couple of years and changes everything in it's wake. This is a perfect paced film running almost an hour shorter than it's bloated remake. It's a film that has style to burn.

Actually the film's flaw is that it has so much style that it pretty much overwhelms the intricate plot. I remember writing a review not long after`the film came out where I talked about how the film's style drives so much of the film during the first hour that when the plot takes over- during a tense roof top confrontation- the film feels like it's lost something. It's only on a second viewing that you realize that bump isn't as bad as you thought and that it's more like the release of a roller coaster car from the lifting chain at the top of the first hill. After all if the film didn't work the revelations toward`the end wouldn't be so upsetting. Trust me the end almost always brings an "Oh Shit" from everyone who's seen it.

I love this film. Its neat and clean and economical. Don't get me wrong I like The Departed, but I don't love it. Its too big a film with too many characters. It drones on and on and I was 90 minutes in wondering when it was all going to end since it just went on and on. Infernal Affairs on the other hand moves like the wind. There are only enough characters as the story needs.

If you want an example of how good the film is, watch one of the opening scenes with the moles on the inside and the outside of a big meeting trying to warn their real bosses about what is going down- that they suddenly realize that there is a mole in the other side. The one scene has more tension than almost any other American crime film of the last ten years. Its a masterpiece of film making.

Has time and the fact that the film has been copied lessened its impact? Perhaps slightly, on the other hand I semi-recently saw this film again and I found it still rocks. It's still a film that people are copying. Think I'm kidding? I'm not The New York Asian Film Festival recently had a panel discussion about the film and it's impact.

See this film.

If you're in the New York City area make an effort and go see this it at the Tony Leung  retrospective.

Eden Miller on MILE END KICKS (2026)

Days later, I’m still laughing about that Adrian Tomine The Strand tote bag.

(I was more of a R. Sikoryak The Strand tote bag girl but … you know.)

I would say that 2011 was the last year I was even trying to be a “professional” writer. I had a few gigs that were paying me something and I had a “job” at an online website that I did part time. This was so little money, but given I had a full-time job that barely paid anything, well, it felt like a good hustle.

I was, also, in my younger years, someone who wanted to be a music journalist. I didn’t pursue it for a lot of reasons (some of that was on me, some of that was on … reality, but look, I’m still quoted in the “Reception” section of the Wikipedia page for Poe’s Haunted, which I still make sure is still there is every so often).

Am I making this movie all about me? Yes, that’s the point and I love it.

It’s 2011 and Grace (Barbie Ferreira) is a young twentysomething music journalist. She’s a good writer but she’s in a boys’ club. She gives up her job at an alt weekly to spend a summer in Montreal (where all the cool music is happening – which, yeah, this was when Grimes was amazing) to write a 33 ⅓ volume about Alanis Morrisette’s <em>Jagged Little Pill</em>. 

But Grace is less interested in actually writing her book and more interested in hanging out and making moves on the lead of the band Bone Patrol, Chevy (Stanley Simons) while flirting with his bandmate, Archie (Devon Bostick).

Grace is a bit of a mess and oblivious to how the world works. Her roommate for the summer, Madeleine (Juliette Gariépy), is far too patient with her as Grace doesn’t pay rent, eats her food, and tends to ditch Madeleine for terrible boys.

Given that this movie is based on writer/director Chandler Levack’s own experiences, Grace is treated with a lot of empathy without romanticizing her mistakes and experiences. Grace is just figuring out who she is, after all, and she should be allowed to mess up. It’s a refreshing and kind-hearted portrait of a young woman navigating her first full taste of adulthood.

While there is a great deal of humor and some awkward sexual situations, it’s not meant to be a cringe comedy, thankfully. The moments aren’t played up for comedy’s sake but are funny because sometimes life is funny (especially when we look back).

And while we know (and Grace also knows) that Archie is the better choice, she pursues Chevy because she wants to prove she can.

Still, Grace has fleeting moments of insight – like when she says it’s probably more interesting to be Dave Grohl (used as a stand-in for all rock stars) than to date Dave Grohl – and a late-movie realization that she deserves to have her own story instead of being a part of someone else’s. But we’re left knowing this is still going to be a journey for Grace. That feels right, though.

Mile End Kicks is such a good portrayal of a time and a place, but in Levack’s hands, this feels like a universal glimpse into young adulthood. I’ll be revisiting this movie often.

Lemonade Blessing (2025) streams as part of Letterboxed Best Unreleased series starting tomorrow(plus an interview with the director)

As a young man's parents' marriage implodes he is sent to Catholic school where he meets the girl of his dreams who leads him down a questionable path and makes him question his faith.

This is a wonderfully written film. It's a film with great dialog. It's a film that is expertly structured. It's a film that largely feels like chunks of it was lived. It makes me wonder what it was like growing up in Chris Merola's house. I am in awe of how Merola crafted the film. I fully expect great things from him in the future.

But for me the perfection of the construction is one of the film's problems, it is so perfectly put together that it kind of feels artifiical. As good as everything is, the film feels like a first feature where the filmmaker puts everything into it because they fear they won't make another film. Its a film that has been so perfectly polished its a work of art and not a living breathing movie, it's a film I admire more than love. I wanted something more real.

There is another minor problem which is the cast seems a bit old to be high school kids. I understand why the cast is a bit older than what they are playing, but at the same time John looks like he's got a much too heavy five o'clock shadow at times.

My nitpicking aside this is a good drama. You will want to see it not just because Merola is going to be a big name in the near future, but also because this is a a film you will enjoy. 

I spoke to Chris Merola, the director of LEMONADE BLESSING a week before the film premiered at the Tribeca Festival.  I had been aware of the film and the fact it was going to play at Tribeca for several weeks before the announcement because I work with Chris’ mom.  Being the good mom  she is she refused to say anything about the film, not even the title, until it was announced. 

I mention the fact that I know Chris’ mom because that was the jumping off point of our talk. Chris grew up on Long Island and used that as a basis for his film. It feels like Long Island at times.

LEMONADE BLESSING is the tale of a high school student who ends up infatuated with a young girl who seems to know  it all. It’s a solid comedy drama that is going to hit home with a lot of people. It is also the calling card of a filmmaker to be reckoned with. (And for the record that is a genuine statement, and does not reflect the fact I know his family)

I want to thank Emma for setting up the interview and Chris for taking the time to speak to  me.

CHRIS: How are you? 

STEVE: I'm good.

CHRIS: Oh my gosh, dude, you work with with my mom, that's so cool.

STEVE: I asked her if there was anything she wanted me to ask him that you want on the record? She said no. 

CHRIS: Oh, I love that.

STEVE:  I said, are you sure? I told her you can get him for anything. And she still said, no.

CHRIS: Oh my goodness.

STEVE: Because I work with your mom I've got to begin with this.

How much of the, how much of the mother in the film is based on your mom? I say that because when I was watching the film, I was listening to the way she speaks, and I’m thinking  “oh my God, this is Maria.” It's like you took cadences.

CHRIS: Oh, wow. Yeah. That's super cool that you feel that way.

I tried my best to make an honest film that was authentic to my experience while also being fictionalized and being dramatic. And ultimately, you know, Mary is a fictional character, but of course, a lot of mannerisms. And I think the spirit of the conflict that both of the characters go through, I think, you know, I identify with, you know, my mom is very devout. And so I definitely growing up felt a certain amount of guilt and pressure to really live up to her standard of what it meant to be a good Catholic. You know, but of course the film is not taken verbatim from, from real life.

And I would of course want, you know, my mom's, you know, privacy in person to be respected and stuff like that.

STEVE: I was curious  because like, even when I write stuff, you can see you take certain pieces from people you know. So I just was curious because there are times where I could hear the cadences of your mom.

Where did you go to Catholic school? 

CHRIS: I did. I went to Catholic high school in Long Island.

STEVE: Chaminade?

CHRIS: You're probably in Mineola, right? You're by Chaminade. I went to the sister school, Kellenberg.

STEVE: It seems everybody goes to one or the other.

CHRIS: I figured if I went to Chaminade, I was never going to learn how to talk to girls [editor’s note: Chaminade is an all boys Catholic school in Mineola on Long Island, Kellenberg is near by and is co-ed]. So I figured I had to go to Kellenberg.

STEVE: I hate to say this as somebody who's dealt with kids from both schools, the Kellenberg kids tend to be slightly better. They're more rounded. They're less rowdy.

CHRIS: Oh, that's hilarious.

STEVE: So, just keeping on that theme, how much of this, is any of this,  is stuff you've taken from your life?, Was any of this remotely anything that's actually happened to you?

CHRIS: I have to be careful how I answer it because, you know, the film's ultimately fictional as a whole. So I would say that probably the best statement I could say is that anyone who went to my high school will probably feel very, very seen by this film. And that's probably the best thing I could say while sort of protecting the film, you know, if you catch my drift.

STEVE:  I can feel Long Island in the film. I can feel it being on target having friends and relatives who went to high school.

How long did did it take for you to shoot the film? 

CHRIS: 20 days over from July 10th to August 4th. We took weekends off. We shot 16 days in New Jersey and four days in Long Island at the tail end. And those four days were shot at my mom's house.

STEVE: Tell me about the casting and how important it was for you to get the right people. Your mom said that you got everybody you wanted to. And that helped make the movie.

CHRIS: 100%. I think, you know, it's so important to cast truthfully. So, you know, you write characters with very specific personality traits.

And then you look for actors whose essential qualities map on to those essential traits. So that when you're in a pinch and you're out of time and you need your actor to just do a take really quick and you don't have time to really get into it, whatever they rely upon, whatever their instinct is, is what the character is. Because they kind of are the character in some degree.

So we had a very traditional casting process. You know, Jake was very much someone I was interested in from the very beginning. I saw him in EIGHTH GRADE in 2018. And I really loved him there. He was like the, the chicken nugget boy. And I thought he was so specific.

I really identified with the kind of like oversharing that he does in conversations where he just gushes. And I really loved that. I felt really seen by that.

So it was always very apparent that I wanted Jake for it. And then, you know, Skye was someone that we got through a more traditional casting process. And she was just so completely perfect for it.

She was so good at hiding her feelings but also allowing just a little bit to poke through the veneer. You know, she was someone who very much I could believe that she was self-mythologizing. And, you know, lying and trying to make herself appear more worldly than she actually was.

While also trying to hide those things on her face. So it was just a matter of keeping my eyes open until I saw people that really reflected the characters.

STEVE: I've been talking to some filmmakers here in Long Island. I'm curious, how much of your crew have you worked with before? Was this like all your friends?

CHRIS: The crew is like 100% friends. I mean, some people that I was friends with beforehand, some people I became friends with during the production. But many of the people on the crew had never really done their position on this film on the scale of a feature before.

My editors and my post sound supervisor and one of my producers is like some of my best friends. And many of the people that we brought onto the project, I brought them on very early. I brought them on like 18 months ahead of time because I had to teach myself a lot of the logistics of doing this.

And so I befriended them a lot through the process as well. So I'm really happy to say that I'm pretty much friends with everybody I made the film with. And everyone was sort of more or less like got the assignment.

We're all very much on the same level, working very hard. We all saw it as a passion project, you know.

STEVE: Is everybody from here locally, Long Island, New York, or did you bring people in from LA?

CHRIS: For the most part, a lot of New Jersey, a lot of Long Island, and then a few LA people. You know, we did post in LA, so a lot of the LA people were our sound people came from LA. Like our post-production sound and our editing team was living in LA as well.

But everything production and prep was New York or New Jersey based.

STEVE: I know you've done shorts and stuff. But how long did you take before you really felt that you knew you could handle the feature?

CHRIS: You know, I've been making short films since I was in seventh grade. So I think I was always kind of excited for a feature. I also weirdly enough during COVID, I wrote a novel and that made me feel really confident that I could do more long form content and keep all that in my brain at once.

So I wrote the first draft of LEMONADE in 2021. And then by the beginning of 2023, when I had written two other features during my time at USC, I decided that LEMONADE was the most honest one that I wanted to move forward with. And I felt ready.

I felt lI was kind of happy with the short films I'd made. And you were never really going to be fully ready for a feature. And at a certain point, you just have to take a massive leap.

And that's what we did. We just took a massive leap. I don't think you're ever really ready, I guess is the answer, you know.

STEVE:  I’ve been having a number of conversations with filmmakers about financing so I was wondering how did you come together and finance this?

I know it's how difficult it is.

CHRIS: It was very difficult. We got financing from a lot of different places.  

But it was tough. It was a lot of hard work. You know, it was really, it was really difficult, but there are ways to do it.

STEVE: What is your next project?

CHRIS: I would love to, for my next project, direct a script that is a father-son tale like LEMONADE is a mother-son. It's like a sort of like a crazy stock gambling heist movie about a kid who, during the 2021 GameStop short squeeze, gambles his dad's life savings away on GameStop stock and has to get it back before his dad notices. I'm very excited about it.

I'm storyboarding it right now. And yeah, I'm hoping to get some funding together and shoot it within the next year or so.

STEVE: If this gets sold the way I think it's going to get sold, I think you'll probably have no problem getting the funding for it.

CHRIS: Oh, dude, fingers crossed. Your mouth to God's ears, man. Thank you.

STEVE:No, I think, no, because the way, the way people are talking about it, I think you're really going to be really good. You're not going to have a problem.

CHRIS:  Thank you so much.

STEVE: No thank you for taking the time.

HARD BOILED is playing Lincoln Center's Tony Leung Retrospective

This is a repost of the piece that ran in the early days of Unseen Films:

I’ve heard that Hard Boiled was to be the farewell for John Woo to big Hong Kong action. Considering some of the similar films he’s turned out in the years since I think the goodbye was premature. Woo’s film wasn’t a final statement, merely amping up of the insanity.

The plot of the film is a typical cops vs robbers story about gun running. The details of it all are largely forgettable, and completely illogical, the film makes almost no sense what so ever. It simply exists in order to set up the action sequences.

And the action is all that matters. The seemingly never ending shoot out in the hospital where the bad guys are keeping the guns is one of the truly great set pieces in film history. And considering it was all done without the aid of computers it’s even more amazing-even by Hong Kong Cinema standards.

Of course the film contains one of the most iconic images in Hong Kong cinema, Chow Yun Fat with a gun in one hand and a baby in the other. The image is not a come on, Chow does spend a chunk of the climax with a baby in his arms. It’s a sequence that would never made it out of any American studio for any number of reasons, but in Hong Kong it’s perfectly acceptable. Actually it might have ended up in a Hollywood film, but the edge would have been off it, odds are there would have been no real danger for the baby, however in Woo’s film anything is possible, I had one friend waiting for the baby to pull a gun and join the fight.

I’m not going to try and sell you on the deeper meaning of the film. I know some people have argued that the film is a reaction to the then impending handover of Hong Kong to China where the baby represents the people, the bad guys are the Communists and the cops are the Hong Kong authorities. Any thought of deeper meaning is hogwash and the work of a person with too much time on their hands. Don’t kid yourself, this is just a balls to the wall action movie. If you love action films you absolutely must see this film.

The film was released as one of the first Criterion titles ever put on DVD (in a scaled down version from the laserdisc release) however edition has since gone out of print. The film is available in a super packed edition DVD from another source and is absolutely worth picking up.

Our Land (aka LANDMARKS aka NUESTRA TIERRA)(2025 ) starts at FIlm Forum Friday

 

I saw this film when it played at the New York FIlm Festival under the title LANDMARKS.

Lucrecia Martel’s latest is a wildly uneven tale. It is, nominally, the story of a battle over indigenous lands in Argentina that resulted in a murder.

The film tells the story of the Chuchagasta community whose existence was shattered by the death of one of their number almost a decade before when three men, one of who claimed the land, got into a scuffle with them and shots were fired. The film documents the community in the wake of the trial and live in the community.

I would like to say that the reason that the film doesn’t work as well as it does is that it pales in comparison to the numerous films about indigenous land rights that have been coming out of South and Central America, but the truth is the film is badly put together. The film was assembled as if the audience was as knowledgeable about events as the filmmakers, and as a result we are lost early.

The film begins with the trial. While it would have been fine had the film had made some effort to give us a context for what we are seeing, the film does not. The film simply throws us in, and lets us thrash about for a bit as we have to piece together even the basics of the story. The film then intercuts trial footage with life in the community where we get a sense of the person who was killed and what his life was  like.

While the portrait of the community is actually some of the best I have run across in the dozen or so similar films from the last couple of years, the presentation is such that we remain outside the story because nothing is integrated. We don't get a sense of who most of the faces are. While the trial stuff is interesting, there is no effort to put it into context for anyone who isn’t familiar with the case or Argentine criminal proceedings. Much of it, say the confrontation in the courtroom,  seems alien to those of us not from the country.

And as lovely as the images from the drones are, there is simply too much. I know Martel says its there so that we remember the beauty of the land, and it is beautiful, but there is so much of it  and worst of all the film stops dead each time it appears.

While the film isn’t bad, it really should have a different presentation for maximum effect, especially since there are other films out there telling similar films more concisely.

REMANENCE (2026) Fantaspoa 2026

This is an old school style story about the work  of a wealthy architect from a century ago, who thought that his success was do to his connection to dark forces coming back to haunt us, or rather a man deeply in debt who investigates the story.

Watching the film I was reminded of some of the great B films from the 70’s and 80’s that filled cinemas before everything had to be part of a franchise. This reminded me of the work of people like Charles Band, Tibor Takacs, and others. These were solid little delights that leaned into their lower budgets and made everything work by giving us a serious tale. There was no tongue in cheek, just an earnestness that made us accept the madness on the screen. It’s a great little film filled with nostalgia and tension because the film doesn’t follow the well worn path of recent films.

Honestly this film is a delight and highly recommended.

Paikar (2025) is playing at Hot Docs 2026

Dawood Hilmandi returns home to try and reconnect with is father who was a mujahideen fighter, later a spiritual leader, writer, and poet. There was distance and silence between the pair and Hilmandi wants to find some common ground.

This is a stunning film that really isn’t one we’ve seen before. You don’t normally see a complex relationship between a father and son in an Islamic family like this. It is a relationship that isn’t black or white, which is normally how films that we see in America are portrayed. I found myself leaning in, wanting to know more about this world that was out side of my experience.

What I love about the film is that Hilmandi frames everything with love and grandeur. There is beauty to every image, even of the simplest one has weight and power to it.

I am haunted by this film.  This was the first of three I watched in succession and after ach that followed I wanted to return to this film and the people on screen.

Recommended.

Notes on the Lincoln Center Tony Leung Retrospective

I've seen all but two of the films playing the Tony Leung retrospective that is playing at Lincoln Center. I have not seen the new film SILENT FRIEND yet, nor have I seen CYCLO. I am going to try to see both so keep your fingers crossed.

I am telling you that because I am going to repost the reviews I've run before  here at Unseen and I'm going to write a few lines about the one's I haven't.  The hope is that you will be able to use the pieces to decide what to see, but the truth is since the tickets went on sale at the beginning of the month most of the screenings have sold out.

What can I say Tony Leung is a huge star and his coming to America is a big deal. If you've never seen one of his films, beg borrow or steal your way into the screenings. Leung is just a great actor. He's been on my radar since I started to really get into Asian cinema in the 1990's. He was one of the faces in the John Woo films that were my gateway drug. While some of his films are better than others his just being in a film makes it worth seeing.  It's not just that he's worked with some of the best directors in the world but more because he is a great actor.

I will be re-running reviews of HARDBOILED, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, THE GRANDMASTER (HK Cut), The full version of RED CLIFF which is one the greatest films ever made (the review ran earlier today), and INFERNAL AFFAIRs (the basis of the Oscar winning but inferior THE DEPARTED). See them all.

As for the one's I haven't written up previously here at Unseen, here are a few thoughts:

BULLET IN THE HEAD will make you want to die. A bleak tale about friends lost in Vietnam it's a gut punch followed by an eye poke. A classic.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS-  Wong Kar Wai masterpiece about two cops drifting through the city. It was the first film to put Leung on to the radar of the world and the first film to indicate Wong Kar Wai as a master diurector.  It was a pairing made in heaven and it rattled the pillars of cinematic heaven and turned Leung into a heart throb for everyone. 

HAPPY TOGETHER Wong Kar Wai reteams with Leung in a queer tale that  resonated with everyone everywhere. This film cemented Leung as one cinema's greatest actors in a tale of broken romance. It's a quiet favorite of many people I know that its fans return to time and time again because they are moved deeply by it.

HERO cinematic masterpiece is one part martial arts film and another part art house film. Its poetry (literally) in motion. Its a visual delight and a staggering achievement as the ruler of China questions the action of four heroes.

2046- Wong Kar Wai and Tony Leung strike again in a film that acts as a sequel to DAYS OF BEING WILD and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. The title has multiple meanings. Mostly its the story of relationships broken across time. While I like the film on its own terms, I'm not certain  how it plays in connection to the earlier films or even with in itself as self contained film. Regardless its a masterful film by a director and his seeming prefered collaborator

LUST, CAUTION- historical drama where sex is a weapon. Ang Lee's film was a cause celebe for a while since it's sexual nature caused it to get an NC 17 rating.  Some people love it. Some people think's over rated. Wade in and decide for yourself. 

Long ago I watched FLOWERS OF SHANGHI on some sort of DVD I picked up in Chinatown. It was a film whose look stayed with me but which otherwise completely disappeared from my brain. Trying it again for the NYFF in 2020 I was instantly struck by it’s beauty to the point where I shouted “That’s the film!”. I then hunkered down to watch the film again for the first time in a couple of decades…. And then the film started to do what it did the last time and I found I was loving everything about it but I simply wasn’t connecting and Turned it off. Its a gorgeous film but might be the least film in the retrospective.(Sorry-one had to be)

For tickets and more information go here

The Wolf and The Lamb (2026)

In a small town in the old American West, the rich and powerful are planning on screwing over the people, which a dark force is killing the animals and making the children disappear.

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB frustrates me. At times this film feels like it is going to be a grand supernatural epic. It is a film where every character is perfectly rounded. Its a film where you can feel their stories bleeding off the screen. The human machinations are very real world. The supernatural element is creepy and not like anything we've seen.

The problem is the film only runs 90 minutes  and so many threads are left hanging that I am certain there has to be another version of this film that runs about an hour longer. I say that because no one would have as much going on as this film and short every bit of it.  Almost nothing feels settled at the end. What's on screen is choice, but it feels like it is only part of the story, with threads disaapearing for long sections of the film as corruption gives way to supernatural to other things and back again. The result is a film that doesn't hang together and unevenly paced because the pieces don't blend.

While not bad, my over whelming feeling is that this should have been better... and more to the point I would gladly watch the longest version of the film because I know there is more to these stories.

Worth a look for those who don't mind imperfection in a film with great characters and ideas.

John Woo's masterpiece Red Cliff plays Lincoln Center's Tony Leung Retrospective

This is repost of one of the first pieces I posted at Unseen Films. I'm reposting it for Lincoln Center's Tony Leung retospective

John Woo's Red Cliff, which was released in theaters at the end of 2009 but in a severely cut down single film. The NYAFF did a special marathon screening during the Fourth of July Holiday Weekend in 2010 which I a chance to see the film on a big screen after seeing a couple of times on the small one. That year the film got an Honorable Mention the festival. What happened was the audience voting was incredibly high in favor of the film but the votes were discounted because it already has had a US theaterical and DVD release.

I'm going to try and be brief in discussing Red Cliff. I could discuss the film in endless detail, but I don't want to give too much away since this is full of wonderful treats and you should be allowed to find them on your own. (besides you don't want to listen to me drone on about this film. Nobody want to hear me really go on about the film)

After a decades long stay in Hollywood, director John Woo returned to China to make a film in his homeland for the first time in many years. It was to be an adaption of part of a Chinese classic tale, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and would concern the battle of Red Cliff. The plan was to film a huge epic film and then cut it down for international release. Woo brought in the best people he could and he was even going to reunite with Chow Yun Fat. Chow for what ever reason walked away and went to do the misfire epic Confucius. The cast was shuffled slightly and the film went into a long period of production. The first half of the film was released in the summer of 2008 and was a huge hit. The second half was released in the Winter and was also a hit.

The film was eventually picked up by Magnolia for US release, however what they released was the shortened International release. When the film was finally released on DVD the film was made available for both the Theatrical cut and the full two part film (which they released as both separate parts and as a special edition of the parts together)

If you've only seen the US theatrical cut I pity you. You've seen a cut of the film that effectively removed half of the full film. The way to see the film is as the massive two part five hour version that was the way the film was originally screened in Asia and which was released in the United States and else where as "The International Cut" on DVD.

The real International Cut is the short version. This short version reduced the first film to about an hour of screen time and the second film to about an hour and fifteen minutes. (weirdly I read in one place where Woo said he kind of liked the short version better. If that's true I would argue that he's gone mad)

I'm not going to get into an argument about which version is better or why. I did that in a couple of places already with the result that I don't think that whom ever maintains the NYAFF website likes me much. This entry is about the full two part version so you can guess where I fall on that argument.

The short version of the plot has the Prime Minister of the Emperor of China using his power to consolidate all of the smaller kingdoms under the power of the Emperor. The idea is that there should only be the Emperor. What the minister didn't tell the Emperor was that once he wipes out all the smaller kingdoms he was going to get rid of Emperor and crown himself in that post.

Unfortunately the kingdoms are not going without a fight and when only three kingdoms remain they form an alliance and prepare for an attack which they know is coming at the fortress at Red Cliff. Part one of the film takes us up to the point where the two armies are about to square off. The second part of the film, is eventually, the land and sea battle.

Okay, let me not put too fine a point on it, in my humble opinion the two part Red Cliff, is, despite its flaws, one of the greatest films ever made. Rarely has any film ever had the ability to be both a small scale human story and an epic armies crashing tale. Its comparable only two other multi part epics Sergei Bondarchuck's War and Peace and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

I love this film and I was handing off import copies from the time the first film came out on import DVD until the film was finally released here in the US. (I've since picked up the US release and I steer everyone to that)

I know some people don't like this sprawling, rambling epic in its five hour form. They argue that there are too many characters, too much talk (there is a great deal of philosophy) and too many subplots with the result it takes its time between battle scenes. Actually the only arguments I've heard for the short version is that its faster to the action, however what people don't realize is there are huge cuts in the battle scenes as well. * I don't understand why anyone would want to just cut to the fights since the dialog and philosophy add so much emotional resonance to the battle sequences.

I love the long version. I love the philosophy. I love the characters. I love that it takes time to get to know everyone so that many of the token characters of the first half shine in the second. I love that Woo has taken the time to create a real place on film that is inhabited by real people. Everyone, even in the small roles seems to have a real personality. There are these wonderful small moments, such as the speech at the funeral pyres in the second half, that manage to say so much more that just the crashing or armies.(The speech is gone from the short version)

What I love is that Woo has created all of these interpersonal relationships that really pay off in the end. I could wax poetic about the relationship of the three leads but their relationship stand in what ever version of the film you see and are ultimately much too obvious a point of discussion. Rather I want to talk about the small moments that break your heart during the final battle. Actually I want to talk about this one relationship, removed from the short version, that is a masterpiece of screen coupling.

The sister of one of the characters ends up disguising herself as a man and going into the enemy camp in order to spy. No one catches on and she manages to make the acquaintance of an enemy soldier who becomes her friend. However war spits on friendship and the enemy soldier is killed during the final assault. When the battle is over and the dead are being counted the girl kneels mourning over her fallen friend in a quiet testament to the stupidity of war it breaks your heart (And while I'm mentioning it the final shot of the relationship remains in the short version of Red Cliff, despite the fact that everything that would make the shot mean something has been removed). Its this wonderful moment about the cost of fighting and for a chunk of the film the set up seems so trivial, but in the end its not.

If you like action this film has it. Almost from the start the film has large scale action sequences. Going from the opening twenty minute battle to final hour plus assault this film is full of some of the most amazing battle sequences ever put on film. Truly awe inspiring and magical. And while there is some use of CGI, particularly in the fiery boat battle at the end (it had to be lest they roasted all of China) the film seems surprisingly to have been filmed with real people in real places. To me its so great not to have fake armies fighting fake armies.

And yes the film isn't perfect. It does get a bit too talky at times, there are simply too many characters and too many plots, but at the same time the film being too much makes the film just right. We feel the film bleed off the screen. We really are in these places and we are seeing armies crash. I will gladly suffer through the few flaws because the film manages to get so much right.

I should probably add that women looking for strong female characters should see this film since much of the second half of the film and the success of the good forces's plans hinges on the actions of two women who take it upon themselves to do what no man could. All of the talk in this film and about this film is about the men, but the few women in it hold their own and then then some.(I mean think about how strong the women have to be to stand out among all of the men.)

You need to see this film so DVD is fine. I know outside of Asia your chances of seeing the full two part version on the big screen is small, but if you do get the chance to see it that way do so. The New York Asian Film Festival screened the film this year in all its epic glory and the world was a better place for it.


(*An Aside: What never made sense to me was that some people don't like the talk in this film and just wish it were all action, crucified the film The Three Kingdoms (2008)(aka Resurrection of the Dragon on US DVD), which came out ahead of Red Cliff and used the same source, as being all action and no plot. Clearly you can't win.)

Untold: The Death and Life of Lamar Odom (2026)

Portrait of basketball player Lamar Odom who ended up in the hospital  after several days partying in a brothel outside of Las Vegas. Its told by his friends, family and the man himsef, who is still here despite multiple strokes and heart attacks.

Less a sports doc then a portrait of the man himself, this edition to the UNTOLD series is a return to the high quality of the first seasons.  This is a candid look as a nice guy who was and is more interested in partying and getting laid. It's portrait that reveals Odom as an interesting dude who can turn off sections of of his life at will. For example he has largely ignored his kids and exes as they tell us in no uncertain terms. You have to to give points to Odom for being part of this film when it makes it very clear that is basically is a terrible person to be involved with as anything other than a party pal.

I went from thinking the film was just going to be a kind of puff piece to being shocked that Odom was allowing the filmmakers to show him in a terrible light. Somehere around the half hour mark I was locked and loaded, un moving from the train wreck on screen. I shouldn't have been surprised since the producers of UNTOLD have made a great series of films that hold nothing back and reveal heroes to be jerks.

A very good doc, this is a film that will curl your hair at the ability of one body to stand up to so much abuse.

The Arbiter (2025) Fantaspoa 2026

In city where there is constant gang warfare, a man tries to bring the gangs together to fight a common enemy.

I want to know why this film isn't better known. Yes I know its on the festival circuit (as of this writing) but it some how manages to be an exciting, funny and kick ass exercise in an alternate universe.

One part THE WARRIORS and one part JOHN WICK, THE ARBITER beautifully creates it's own world. Nominally its a city like any other, except that the gangs are all like in THE WARRIORS. They have rules, like no guns and no property damage, which are there to keep the police off their back. It also allows the budget to be smaller since all you need are a few props, some blood and a fight choreogrpaher who knows how to stage fights for the camera. The world and it's rules are laid out in the first ten minutes and it's so perfctly done that we'll follow our hero anywhere.

What an absolutely wonderful film.

This is the sort of film that would have played for years in the drive-ins and grind houses of yester year because not only is there action and humor, but there is also a great deal of heart that shows the filmmakers care

If you love action, this film is for you because if you're like me you're going to want to watch this again.

To The Victory (2025) MOMI First Look 2026

After the war in Ukraine a filmmaker tries to figure out what to do stay, or join his family elsewhere in Europe. His wife and daughter like it better in Vienna and don't want to come home. The promised it will all be better after the war doesn't seem to be happening.

A low key, comedic look at life after the big thing is a goodlook at making do with our expectations for the future. What are we supposed to do when what we thought would happen, doesn't?  

The film plays out in long  sequences with the camera just observes. We are in the room with the characters as things play out. This makes for some interesting moments (the opening sequences for example) where things are given a different bend then they might have had there been cuts.

I liked the film.

The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson (2026)

This is a look at the life and death of the champion cyclist who was murdered for a stupid reason.

This is a good look at  a lovely young woman whose life was taken much too early. The film is a both a celebration of her life and a look at the circumstances of her death. The celebration part  is expertly handled. The investigative portion is a bit lacking despite the fact that most of the film focuses on the hunt for the killer.

The problem is that the killer Kaitlin Armstrong is largely a cipher.  As someone says about her early on, Kaitlin was the girl who stood next to Colin Strickland but was never introduced. That's kind of the case here.  We don't really get any sense of who she is other than she was dating Strickland and was being cheated on by Strickland with multiple girls. Who is she? We don't know other than a few random facts.

The film also bobbles it's discussion of Colin Strickland. Yes, we get some basic facts, particularly he was just a cyclist who had a knack for manipulating women, but there is no sense of who he is. Even when he briefly talks to the filmmakers at the end there is nothing there. We get no sense of his feelings, particularly concerning how he felt about his long time girlfriend killing the new girl in his life. He's just this guy who has retreated from the world despite setting in motion a murder. There could have been a whole section on how stupid people destroy the people in their lives but there is nothing.

I wanted to know more.

The  film never balances the desire to be a celebration of Wilson's life with an examination of her death. The search for her killer is the narrative thread but once that is resolved the film effectively ends about 20 minutes before the end credits roll. It is as if we have been told everything the filmmakers are going to say, and then kept going. 

The film isn't bad, it's just not as great as it could have been had it given us more details about the people around Wilson

Just Sing (2025) opens tomorrow

This is a look at the University of Southern California’s VoCals. They are an a ccapella group who perform musical number of the sort you see in the PITCH PERFECT FILMS.

This is a really good film. Full of wonderful people and infectious songs, JUST SING will make you feel good.  It's a delightful trip with a group singers as they share their lives and prepare for the collegitae championships.

Fifteen minutes into the film I was texting my brother to take my niece to see this film. She is currently in a high school level group that is dsoing the same thing and I know that she is going to eat this film up.

What an absolute delight.

I'm sorry I don't have much more to say than that. It's not because I don't have the words, but simply words aren't necessary because this film simply exists on an emotional level.

Recommended.

Blind Bargin (2025) starts Friday

Inspired by a lost Lon Chaney silent film, which was itself based on an 1890 novel, the film follows a young man who makes a deal with a doctor (Crispin Glover) to get help for his problems if he submits his mother to an experiement. The man's desperation  doesn't allow him to see that the doctor doesn't have his best interests at heart.

This is a great little thriller. Yes, the film has horror elements but the chills are more thrills. The film also has the right amount of gallows humor in it. The filmmakers know that the situations are completely of another era when you could let the pot boil. They know that it's over the  top and arch, so even though they have the cast play it perfectly straight, they allow the humor to exist. The result is a film that perfectly walks the tightrope of humor and horror, even to the point of doing a pirouette.

What a joy. This is a film that feels like an old school drive-in movie from the 1970's or 80's in the best sort of way. 

I loved this.  See it.

Broken Bird (2024) in theaters Friday

The official synopsis is as follows ”Sybil works at an undertakers. It's a lonely job, with few perks. So she takes solace where she can.” I’m not going to say any more.

Rebecca Calder shines as Sybil a prim and proper young woman looking to find a place to call home. With her hair pulled back and erect posture she radiates an oddness that gets creepier and creepier as it goes.  She is an interesting person who is clearly slipping and Calder keeps us watching even when we think we should look away.

She is so good that along with director Joanne Mitchell’s sense of story and of image that we are willing to go along with  the story where ever it goes.

This is a super little thriller. Sure odds are you are  going to know where this is going to go, but at the same time how the story unfolds and the craft of the film is so top shelf that you are happily going to ride this film into hell.

Highly recommended, especially if you love gothic horror.

Go buy some popcorn and go.

Interior (2025) Fantaspoa 2026

 

INTERIOR is a film you are either going to blindly accept, or you are going to walk away.

The plot of the film has a young man hiding in a specially built couch that he has delivered to various people’s homes so he can record the lives of the people living there without them being aware. After a certain amount of time the couch is removed as the “error” is discovered He is doing it for a researcher…and there are further complications.

This film doesn’t require suspension of disbelief, it requires just taking everything you see as perfectly fine. That’s really not an option since from the moment we see the couch we are left to wonder who would put this in their home-especially as a mistake.  It is an ugly thing that I can’t imagine anyone ever buying/accepting and using. Additionally, there are these large slots between the cushions that anything placed on the couch would fall inside it, and they are wide enough that if you looked, you’d see the person hiding in it. How could anyone not know there was something hinky with it? 

The plotting of the film is also a series of “wait what…?” moments that never make sense. Perhaps id the film didn’t have an unpleasant edge, we watch a woman die when she is stuck on her chair lift, a doctor with the worst bedside manner tells a patient he has cancer in the coldest possible manner (there is nothing we can do, it’s just going to be unending pain and suffering from here on out), I might of connected but to be honest I never connected. At certain point I began to wonder why I was watching it.

On the plus side the film looks great in a brutalist sort of way.

I can’t recommend this film unless you really like cold brutalist imagery over substance

buffet libre (2026) Fantaspoa 2026

 Buffet Libre is nominally the story of a Chinese food restaurant that drifts into the realm of Mrs. Lovett’s pies. It is a very black comedy that about serving up your problems to unsuspecting people.  At the same time, the film is also trying to do more. The film is a biting, and in some ways devastating, look at how various groups and cultures look at each other.

We know we are not in a happy place when the film opens in the stalls of a market in a city and two people are discussing the Chinese family down the row. One woman said not to worry about the pigeons that are flying around because the Chinese are going to eat them, after all they will eat pigeons and rats and other creatures. The discussion is uncomfortable and reveals the divisions among the characters in the film.  The film then shifts further as focus on the Chinese family. Though the family isn’t wholly Chinese, the husband is Japanese so even between the couple there are cultural differences. The cultural differences between the couple focus into how the relationship gets warped as the pair play off each other as the situation, they find themselves turns dark. It becomes clear that despite the couple being in love there maybe somethings that love cannot overcome.

I know there is a lot of dark humor in the film but I didn’t find it funny. To be the clashes between the character left me disturbed and heartbroken as events and people spiral out of control, more so with each attempt to right the sinking ship. In many ways this film crushed me. It created a head space that I did not want to be in. That is a rave but it also lessens the chance that I will make a second effort to see the film again.

If you want to see about the chasms between people, and how, perhaps, we are all alone, this film is for you

Buffet Infinity (2025) opens Friday

A battle between resturants in Westridge County turns from humorous to very dark.

I missed this film when it played at Fantasia last year, however I've caught up with it for its theatrical release and all is right with the world. This film kicks ass.

Told as a series of commercials and news clips from a VHS tape the film begins as a funny send up of local TV commercials and news reporting. However as time goes on the random commercials take the form of a narrative of live in Westridge County.  The battle between a sandwich shop and an expanding buffett take spotlight but there are other troubling threads here. What was funny becoes disturbing.

Think of this as a YouTube series on steroids.  This is the sort of alternate reality tale that many You Tube creators put out there set in a seemingly real but slightly off center place. However instead of running a few minutes it runs 90+. (And apparently there are hundred of more commercials that weren't included). 

This is a film that is right in my wheel house and the fact  that it works as well as it does really shocked me. Very often the You Tubers lose focus after a half dozen clips, but the film has dozens and dozens and it all holds together. What I love is that looking back there are no missteps. I will have to go back through the film a couple more times, but if I'm correct any thing I thought was a problem is corrected by something that follows.

This is brilliant on so many levels. If you want to see a group of filmmakers working at the pinnacle of their game this is it. What they are doing here is technically as good as it gets and should be in the running for an Oscar (no, seriously, this should get at the very least a nomination for editting).

The best part is thatthe storytellingis so assured and so perfect that even though we only get hints and glimpses of things, and very little is conventionally explained, we get the whole story. Talk about craft and trusting your audience.

If you want a wickedly off beat scifi comedy thriller see BUFFET INFINITY one of the great finds of the year.

Bearded Girl (2025) Opens Friday

A young bearded girl living in a sideshow/circus decides she doesn't want to be the next bearded lady in the circus like her mom and goes off to find herself.

This is a sweet little film. Yes, this is a just a story about finding yourself and your place in the world. At it's heart it's a story we've seen before. However the filmmakers have spiced it up with a one of a kind setting, a wicked sense of humor and life, and some of the best characters you'll find in any film all year. I absolutely loved the people on screen and I would love a sequel just so we can see what happens next. 

What an absolute joy.

This is the sort of gem that I cover Fantasia to find.

Recommended.

We Are Guardians (2025) hits streaming on Earth Day

This is a look at the indigenous population of the Amazon who are creating teams of guardians to protect the rain forests. While sections of the forest are supposed to be protected more and more loggers and other nefarious groups are invading the forests and destroying the ecosystems for their own gain.

Full disclosure I have seen a number of the recent films on the guardians and on the populations living in the jungle. I mention this because for me watching the film I did mental comparisons to those other films… 

Normally that would be a bad thing, all films should stand on their own, however in this case it’s a very good thing.  The reason I can say that it’s a good thing is that if you want to know about the situation in the Amazon and you don’t want to see a number of films WE ARE  GUARDIANS is the film you want to see.  This film tells us about who is coming into the jungle, who is fighting them and it gives us a view of the people fighting to maintain their way of life.  It’s a film that gives you enough information so that you clearly understand what is going on.

This is a solid film on a dire situation. Highly recommended.

Bernstein's Wall (2021) Opens Friday at the Film Forum

I suspect the fact I tweeted "Watching BERNSTEIN'S WALL and feeling I'm communing with God It is a religious experience" right after I finished  amused some people. The thing is  that is how I feel about the film. It is a religious experience, perhaps not for you, but for me absolutely.

Leonard Bernstein was held in high regard by my family. My grandfather who was a composer loved him, my grandmother loved him and my aunt, who was like a second mother to me made damn sure we knew he was and what he was doing. She made sure we saw the televised young people's concerts so that we got more out of music. As a result we understood the importance of music and the arts but also connecting with the music and feeling something. And I am talking about honestly and truly feeling something.

The need to feel the emotion, or in this case feel a film is a big part of BERSTEIN'S WALL. It begins and ends with the maestro talking about and and playing Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which ends with Ode to Joy. What begins with an explanation of what the music means to him ends with us watching him as he conducts the piece and he FEELS every damn note. It is a religious experience for him as well as us.

In between the sections of the 9th we get to see the arc of Bernstein's life. For him it is a magical experience that has him connecting with people and events all over the world. It is a journey that Bernstein lays out for us via interviews, lectures and performances that force us to not only reexamine his life but our own. How is it that he could be so in touch with all of life around him? I don't now but I want to try.

What I love about this film is that it is one part biography and one part work of art. Yes we get the story of a life, but because Bernstein is seen explaining his life, his work and the music he loves, the film is lifted up into a higher realm. He aren't talking about just his life, but all life. This isn't something just here on earth but something more. This film transcends just being a biography because it touches your being and gives you a view into the realm where art heals the soul.

I am beyond words about this film. It is a masterpiece that I want to watch over and over again not because I want to know about how he came to do this or that but because Bernstein's words open doors and give me hope  that the world can be a better place.

There is a discussion in the film as to whether an artist can change the world? Can art, whatever type change the world? One need only see what Leonard Bernstein did and how he influenced all that came out after him  to know it's true.

One of the very best films of 2021.

A must see.

Kirlian Frequency (2025) Fantaspoa 2026

Based on a animated web series that ran from 2017 to 2019 and which was on Netflix for a while before disappearing thefilm tells the story of station 96.6 and the dark Kirlian Frequency radio show on it's last night on the air. It was a night that comet appear and made the dark happenings even darker.

The film is a mix of live action and animation this is a distubing film. Over coming it's limited budget by mixing in animation to flesh out the stories being told by the guests on the radio show. There is a sinsiter nature to each of the six stories that leave us feeling disturbed. I saw this film late at night before going to bed and found I needed to look on line for some happy stuff to clear my head... only to find that some of the images bled into my dreams.

This is a film that proves clearly that with a good story and storytellers who care you can scare the shit of your audience with little more than just some words.

One of the best films of Fantaspoa, and possibly 2026.

Highly recommended.

Why I'm not reviewing LABYRINTH OF LOST BOYS

I am not going to review LABYRINTH OF LOST BOYS. I am not reviewing it because I am the wrong audience for the film. The film is a thriller fantasia fairy tale about a young man going to the city and finding love and darkness. The film is very much an LGBTQ film and leans into gay erotic imagery with guys of a certain build and if that doesn’t work for you the film is not going to be all it could be. If you want a thriller with good looking men at the center by all means try the film.

Nightcap 4/19/26 Drive In Monsterama's April Ghouls is next weekend

Next weekend I will be heading to Pittsburgh with my brother for the April Ghouls of the semi annual Drive-in Monsterama at the Riverside Drive-in in Vandergrift Pa.

I saw 5 of the 8 films in the theater during the original runs.

I will let you know how it goes since the NFL draft is the same time in nearby Pittsburgh.

Here is the Specials Menu at the Riverside Drive In for the weekend: 

Sloppy Joe's (two sandwiches or a meal) 

Sloppy Joe's meal (with fries or homemade Mac n cheese) 

Pierogi Pizza 

Coleslaw 

Mac n cheese 

Sloppy Joe fries 

Haluski 

Deep fried fruit pies (peach, cherry and strawberry)

Updates here

Tickets here

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The Museum of Moving Images's First Look Fest starts this week. I will have a couple of reviews.

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I have written an essay for inclusion for a Blu-ray special edition- details soon

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 I am reading the last issue of John LeMay's Lost Film Fanzine (#12) and I am wondering why he bothered.  He said he stopped because he couldn't get material, but outside of the piece on Oliver Reed every other piece is largely filler.  There was a laziness to the editing because the Ed Wood piece, which is actually very good, is titled as the first part of (a five part) series.

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Brief thoughts on The Chaplain & the Doctor (2025)

This is a look at Betty Clark a  chaplain  and  Jessica Zitter a physician  Palliative Care section of the a the Wilma Chan Highland Hospital. Its a lovely look at two women who actually want to make aa difference in the lives of their patients and not just make money.

I don't have a great deal to say about the film. Because Unseen FIlm's Nate Hood worked as I hospital Chaplain I have had a lot of discussions about the subject. I've also seen several films on chaplains over the last few years as a result.  Because of this my take on the film is different than other people's.

I like this film. As a look at two lovely women and the good work they do  it is a wonderful film. It does not deal with some of the darker aspects of hospital life. That's not a knock against the film, but more that I wanted something abit meatier. Don't get me wrong, what is here is wonderful, I just wanted more.

That said, if the subject interests you make an effort to see it when it plays near you.

Theatrical Tour Beginning April 23

Filmmaker Dr. Jessica Zitter and guests in attendance at select screenings

New York, NY // Angelika Film Center: April 23

Montclair, NJ // Clairidge Theater: April 25

New York, NY // Maysles Documentary Center: April 27 - May 3

Providence, RI // Apple Cinemas: April 30

Boston, MA // Somerville Theater: May 4

Philadelphia, PA // Landmark Ritz 5: May 9

Washington, DC // JxJ Festival: May 11

Baltimore, MD // Charles Theater: May 12

Chicago, IL // The Logan Theatre: May 14

Cleveland, OH // Atlas Shaker Square: May 19

Detroit, MI // Bel Air Luxury Cinemas: May 20