FLESH AND FUEL (2026) Cannes 2026

Étienne is a truck driver with no personal life. All he does is drive from place to place. His only human contact is the anonymous sex he has around the truck stops. However when he meets a driver from Poland his world changes and he begins to wonder if the isolated life is really for him.

This is a beautifully made, wonderfully acted film about a life most of us never really consider. What is it like to be a driver, and how do you have any sort of contact with anyone if you are in constant motion.  This is a film I really liked in many ways.

The problem for me is that I never really connected with the film. It is not the subject matter, rather it is because Etienne is largely a closed off guy. He has lived a solitary life and there are silences and pauses here you would find in the life of a man who is alone a lot. That makes it a great piece of acting, but it also makes it hard to connect. By the time the character begins to open up I was too far way to fall in love with the film.

Understand this is a film I think is a great film, but at the same time it didn't fully work for me.

Definitely worth a look.

The Station (2026) Cannes 2026

In war torn Yemen, Layal takes care of her young brother while running a women only gas station. As her brother faces conscription, the age for serving in the army is 11, she plots with her estranged sister to save his life and prevent another martyr in the family.

This is a solid moving drama about the things we will do to protect the people we love. 

Shot in a style that both feels like a slice of life drama and a suspenseful tale of a race to safety, the film sucks us in and makes it's tale not so much a cinematic adventure, but the true life tale of people trying to survive. And at this point I should mention the film, while based on actual events, is not representation of any one story, to the point that the various factions are fictious.

I liked this film a great deal. It's a film that has a story to tell and it does so in a deeply compelling way. By the time we get to the end, we are given a great deal to chew on with the final sequences of the film quietly pull the rug out from under us. The implications of getting bodies back long after battles, the fact there is no one to to help the women bury the dead and the plain of martyr's graves is much greater when you realize what that all means as opposed to the context of the sequences. It's a brilliant move that has the end of the film hit you hard after the end credits roll.

I was quietly rocked.

One of the best films I've seen from this year's Cannes, THE STATION is a film of quiet power and is recommended.

Forever Your Maternal Animal (2026) Cannes 2026

A young woman returns home to find her sister is isolating from the world and disconnecting from reality. Her mother doesn't care and is more interested in republishing her poetry and her her father is too busy chasing women.

This is a well acted and well made drama that is very much about something. I'm not entirely certain what the film is about, nor do I think the film itself knows but but it wants you to know it is about something.

That isn't a knock on the quality of the film, more to say that the filmmakers never seem to want us to forget that they are trying to say something. As a film on it's own terms I think this film is gangbusters. The performances are first rate and the way the story unfolds is compelling.

Honestly this is the sort of film that other festivals notice and screen. I am so sure of this that I would not be surprised if this shows up at Neighboring Sounds of the NYFF.

Worth a look.

Shana (2026) Cannes 2026

Shana is the story of a Moroccan-Jewish woman trying to get her life together. She's in a dead-end job, trying to get ahead through questionable means and boyfriend who is less than ideal. When her grandmother passes away it sets in motion a series of events after she is left a ring.

Opening with pictures of the plagues that resulted in the Jews leaving Egypt, the film is a kind of representation of "plagues" that visit Shanna and how she deals with them. Its the story of a young woman trying to sort out her life via series of trials.

To be honest I don't know what I think of this film. The problem for me is that Shanna reminds me of several women I've dealt with over the years who I never cared for. They always seemed to think they had their lives together, when in fact they didn't. Like Shana, many of their troubles came from their own choices.  As a result, Shana made me nervous. I didn't really want to spend time with her. In a way that's a rave, after all I see the connection to reality, but at the same time the film isn't something I need to see again.

Blaise (2026) Cannes 2026

BLAISE is based on a comic series that was turned into an animated TV series.  The film is the story of a family trying to get by. Mom isn't liked by the people she works with. Dad has never worked a day in his life. Teen aged Blaise doesn't really beling and drifts along, until he meets a girl who challenges him to do something "revolutionary".

This is a film that melds politics and odd political violence into a awkward coming of age tale. Its a film that is decidely off kilter. There is limited animation and the style is similar to some underground comics (Robert Crumb or Drew Friedman) but infused with a more modern sensibility.

I liked the film. I suspect those who like mannered knowing slightly uncomfortable humor will like it more than me. This is a film I admire more than like, however it is a film that tastemakers tend to fall all over so I suspect that the film is going to get picked up.

Worth a look.

MARIE MADELEINE (2026) Cannes 2026

Marie Madeleine works as a prostitute. She lives a free spriited life on her own terms. She makes the aquaintance of Joseph, a preacher.  A relationship between them blossoms, but there are complications...

I am haunted by this film. I have watched it several times now and find that I am some where beyond words. Or perhaps I am in a place with too many disconnected words. There is simply too much about this film that I love to simply express it in the time I have before the embargo drops at Cannes.

One part slice of life as lived and one part religious allegory MARIE MADELINE is a film with a great deal to say about a lot of things. How should be lead our lives? What exactly are the teachings of Christ? How do we approach the things that we "shouldn't" have?  As I sit here and write this I am still trying to parse that all out.

Made with an eye to giving us a real place and real people the film hits hard. Yes, there is construction of sorts to the narrative and the lines where some of the characters stand but at the same time the film never stops being real. I can see much of this happening in the real world.

I was moved and I am moved every time I see this film. When the film ended the first time I was talking to the screen. Each addition screening had me audibly reacting. This film is still sitting with me on an emotional level.

I have no words other than see this film.

I know it just premiered at Cannes, but I expect this to show up at other festivals soon.

See it and be prepared to be moved.

Midway Point (2026) hits VOD May 19

A young man on the autism spectrum is having difficulty dealing with anything except the things that interest him. Things become complicated when he falls for a girl who may have more in common with him than he thinks.

I know that the director Lucca Vieira is only 20 years old but he has a sure hand for direction. I know he has been making movies since he was 8, but the jump to a feature with big name stars is not something you normally see.  To be honest I have only seen one other person who had mastered directing so early, Madison Campione, who was still in high school when she was shaking the pillars of cinematic heaven. This is not to put the two in competition, rather it is simply to reveal how good Vieira  is. (I need to see what comes next)

As good as the filmmaking is over all I have to take a couple of points away for the script. Don’t get me wrong, Vieira  manages to get his battle with autism on screen, and he has written some wonderful scenes (I love Wes Studi telling him not to get too crazy since a lot of high school soon won’t matter) but the pacing isn’t quite what it should be thanks to several sequences having a static quality. The drama isn’t as perfectly crafted as it could be. Its nothing fatal, but its noticeable because everything else is so sterling that you see the bumps.

My quibble aside, MIDWAY POINT is worth seeing.

Noxturne (2026) Big Apple Film Festival

A concert pianist, with a younger lover is physically broken in an accident. As she struggles to recover, she sees her lover take the opportunities that should have been hers.

I am a fan of writer, director and star Kristina Klebe and I wanted to see how she was as a writer and director after loving her performances in various films. I like her work as a director. I am less a fan of her writing.

While the script is based on Klebe's own recovery from a similar accident, the turn toward making it an erotic thriller doesn't really work. The sex kind of derails the first part of the film. I'm not a prude but the plot really doesn't get going until we are almost a third of the way in. Once the accident happens and things begin to happen the film picks up steam, but it never quite fully comes together.

On the other hand, Klebe's work as a director is first rate. There are some nice visual touches that make the surreal nature of several sequences stand out in the right way. She understands how to modulate the real and the unreal, which is something most directors never learn. Her construction of sequences is quite good. You'll forgive me for looking at things from a technical aspect, but the truth is that with a better script Klebe is going to make some great films.

Is NOXTURNE worth seeing? Yes. It's a good little thriller that shows its director to be someone who is going to do great things.

Night of Passage (2025)

Three friends from Tehran are dropped off in the Slovakian forest. They are to wait for the truck that witth smuggle them into Austria. However there are unexpected complications.

I was not expecting to review this film. I had asked for FOUND&LOST a film by Reza Rasouli that is playing Tribeca, but the link was NIGHT OF PASSAGE. Not one to waste the chance to see a film that fate put before me I gave it a shot.

My one thought watching the film was when was Rasouli going to get a feature? This 20 minute gut punch heralds the arrival of a new force in world cinema. Having an urgency and lived in quality that is rare in films today, especially when the film is so good that you stop worrying about the message and the politics and purely focus on the characters.  Too often the characters get lost for whatever the director is trying to say, but here Rasouli is crying out for humanity and he never lets us forget that the pain of the world is because there are real people being hurt.

This is a masterpiece and must be seen.

Very brief thoughts on Untold The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill (2026)

This is a look at the shooting of student Lauren Kanarek by champion equestrian rider Michael Barasone.

The weakest episode of this year'scollection of Netflix sports docs is a look at shooting where the two sides  should never have been together.  Both victim and perpatror come off as partly responsible. This reminds me of the the the infamous John Du Pont shooting where the well off host went crazy.

I liked it but I didn't love it.

Exit 8 (2025)

A man confronted with becoming a father, and uncertain of what he wants ends up trapped in a never ending hallway. A plaque tells him if there are no anomoloies keep going. If there is an anomoly turn back. A long the way he meets the Walking Man and The Boy. 

Based on a video game I know nothing about, this is a film that intrigued me with it's trailer. I had to know what this was. I was more intrigued when Eden asked me if it was going to be possible to get a screener so she could see it and review it. If Eden is interested, I'm interested.

I missed the press screenings, the several viral marketing events with The Walking Man and pretty much its entire theatrical run (its still playing in NYC). I ended it up seeing it on Prime after finding out the rental was discounted and I had credit.

So, what did I think after a month of film social media chatter?

I think this film is perfectly okay. I don't think it's bad, it's just there was a  point where I wanted it to do more, I had sussed out some of the twists and I was kind of hoping for a bit more complexity in the insanity.

The truth is the craft of the film outshines the script. I adore that I was constantly wondering how it was done. I mean am I crazy or is that first long wander into the hall way one continuous take of several minutes long. I know how it was done but I don't know how it's done. Since I was focusing so much on the craft, it was clear that the script wasn't grabbing me the way I should have.

Should you see the film? 

Yes. Its a wonderfully weird film that is one of the best made films you'll see all year.

THE LIFE WE LEAVE (2026) SIFF 2026

This is a look at the embryonic industry of body composting. The idea is that instead of embalming (which uses toxic chemicals that leach into the ground) or cremation (which pollutes the air), bodies are placed in pods which decay naturally and return the nutrients to the environment. It’s a move that the mainstream funeral industry does not want to be part of.

This is a good look at a (for now) unconventional take on what happens after we die. Taking the point of view of an outsider method of body disposal, THE LIFE WE LEAVE sheds a great deal of light on how we handle the remains of the people we love.  While I have seen several films over the years concerning about what happens after, they all look at things in the same way. Because composting is something new it forces us to rethink how we view death and what comes after. Being of an age where I am closer to the end than the beginning this film made me really think about what I want to do after I go.

I don’t know what else to say, largely because anything I do will feed more into my personal feelings which with a subject like this may not be what you feel. While the story of a company trying to start up in a new direction is the thread that the themes hang on, it’s the themes that are going to hang with you. It’s the themes that you are going to have to consider since the notion of death and what comes after is different for everyone,

I really liked this film a great deal and as such it is recommended.

Butcher's Blade (2025)

Where has Butcher’s Blade been hiding? Completely off my radar until Wellgo sent me an email about it’s release the film has become one of the great finds of 2026.

A kind of martial arts meets Columbo set in Imperial China, the film tells the story of a put upon constable who is framed for the theft of a fortune in silver.  Before he can be railroaded, his old boss, the head of an elite group of investigators, shows up and rescues him. He is then put on the case to find the people behind the robbery – only the case doesn’t go as planned.

One part mystery and one part action film Butcher’s Blade rocks.

The action is first rate with lots of good wire work and beautifully film clashes. Rewatching the film (yes, I’ve seen this several times now) during a lunch break I had some of my coworkers watching over my shoulder because they were so impressed by what they were seeing. These are some great battles that will make you audibly yell at the screen.

The mystery is solid as well. I know you’ll probably deduce who the bad guy is, but at the same time watching our hero doggedly leg things out, as a kind of Chinese Peter Falk is a great deal of fun. Its rare that films like this care this much about the story as well as the action and the result is a delight.

I had blast watching this film every time I sat down to do so. The fact that I have seen the film three times is a huge rave since while I do rewatch films, I try not to do so when I have a stack of other titles to see.

This film is a must see – Come for the action and stay for the mystery.

Moss & Freud (2025)

The friendship between super model Kate Moss and painter Lucien Freud.

I am in awe of this film in a lot of ways. This is a film that hit me like a ton of bricks on a purely emotional level. the depiction of creation and of friendship on visceral level got under my skin and moved me in ways few works of cinema ever have. There is, somewhere beyond the words, a greater truth about the act of creation and of connecting to those we love that really hit home. In is one of the best explorations about why we create that I've seen.

Ellie Bamber is excellent as Moss. There is a wonderful sense of the world weariness that she must have felt. You can completely understand how she became close to Freud since he saw her as something more than window dressing. He saw her as herself and she reacted to that.

Derke Jacobi as Freud is wonderful, as always. Every action speaks volumes. We get a sense of Freud and his life not just from his words but by his inflections and gestures. When Freud yells at Moss for being late you can feel the emotion of an addict needing his fix of creation boiling up and out. In Jacobi's hands its more than just an angry moment but a declaration of self. It's a moment that hits home.

This is a brilliantly crafted film.  The editing of the various sequeces, the photo shoots and hectic life of Moss are driving and emotional. The sequences say much more about Moss' life than what they visually depict. At the same time they beautifully contrast with the quieter sequences with Freud. These sequences nicely show that there is another side to life.

To be honest I don't know what I think of this film intellectually. This is not a snide comment, more that my thoughts on the film are more emotional. I am lost in how the movie played me in my gut and not so much as to what I thought. Like any great work of art MOSS & FREUD made me feel something genuine, which is all I need, and which results in words simply getting in the way.

See this film.

BEEN HERE STAY HERE opens in New York theatres on Fri. May 15th (Quad Cinema) and Weds. May 27th in Los Angeles (Laemmle Theatres)

This is observational portrait of the island of Tangier which is the Chesapeake Bay.  A small close knit community that relies on fishing and tourists for it’s livelihood, it is also at the mercy of the tide and wind with the size of the island being reduced the two thirds over the last century and a half.

Told in the style of the great documentarians such as Frederick Wiseman BEEN HERE STAY HERE is a wonderful look at place that knows it doesn’t have many more years left. The world outside is big and loud and changing how people on the island see themselves. At the same time the storms are lessening the place they call home and there is no way to stop it.

I was moved.

This is a glorious little film that does what great docs do, which is take us to another time and place. I was on the island for the whole run time. I also enjoyed myself so much that I want to go back and see this when it hits theaters so that I can see the images big and I can fall into them.

A small aside, I was hooked on the film in the opening minutes when we got a history of the island via the announcement made on a ship sailing to the island. Rarely has all the information you need to enjoy a film been so perfectly handled. Seriously in two minutes we heard more than most voice overs or text screens ever give us. Not only that the film does it in such a way that we are in the film from frame one instead of being lectured to.

Highly recommended.

Nightcap 5/10/26; Cannes, Open Roads, a note about Tribeca coverage and random notes

Coverage of Cannes is coming this week.

How much is still up in the air since as I am writing this titles are still dribbling in.

Coverage is always a crap shoot, with titles dependent upon which PR firm I'm dealing with and what films they can actually send. (Some films can't travel)

Keep checking in and see what I’ve reviewed.

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I’ve seen a handful of films for Film At Lincoln Center’s Open Roads look at Italian Cinema. I’ve liked what I’ve seen. I am waiting on a bunch more.

Right now my advice is buy tickets and go

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I am wading into Tribeca’s selection. Weirdly it is not as short heavy as it was last year..

I’m curious how it will play out since based on clues in the PR emails press screenings are going to be a bit different than in previous years. 

I've seen a few great films. Nothing too terrible

And after over 30 films I've seen my first "Tribeca film", which is a film film that was very much of a type that its it good, but by the numbers, of a type and will probably not really be seen anywhere ever again.

A NOTE TO PR PEOPLE WITH FILMS AT TRIBECA
The plan right now is to do as I have always done and slot reviews for the festival every three hours (the spacing allows the reviews to be seen and not get swallowed up). Every film I see before the festival is going to get it's own review. As of right now I have slotted 36 review- shorts, mostly features, mostly new stuff but some reposts. I am slotting things in the order that I see them and write them up. If you were planning on sending links do so sooner than later so that the reviews get closer to the embargo drop.

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I saw Luke Evans do Sweet Transvesite with the cast of the current Rocky Horror Show on Broadway from the Tonight Show.

He is magnificent. As good as Tim Curry and Tom Hewitt (who was Frank in the previous Broadway incarnation.

I'm not so sure about the rest of the cast (I am mixed about the choices). 

But what does it matter I'm not going.  I just can't afford it

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I saw PROJECT HAIL MARY- I loved it.

I'll have a review soon

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The Pittsburgh Posts are coming. I have the piece kind of written, and they need art and to be tweaked

Untold Jail Blazers (2026)

Another solid entry in the sports series Untold tells the story of the Portland Trailblazers who for a few years made a run at the championship by collecting many of the problem children from the NBA. Things were okay until they weren’t and until the began taking in guys who sullied the reputation of the team.

Frankly told by the guys who lived it, this is a fun little tale about how a social experiment almost turned the team into a perpetual winner. Unfortunately, the off the court nonsense got in the way.

This is one of the best episodes from this season. I found myself smiling from start to finish, not so much that it’s a great tale, but because its told by some raconteurs.

Recommended

HOLLYWOOD BOMB - HOW PRESIDENT TRUMAN AND GENERAL GROVES DESTROYED THE FIRST NUCLEAR EPIC (2026) plays Monday at the Big Apple Film Festival and the International Uranium Film Festival May21

Greg Mitchell’s new short film, his fifth in five years,  was the first time he’s worked with his son Andy. The pairing is excellent as the Mitchells’ explore the story of the semi forgotten film THE BEGINNING OR THE END. It's the story of how an anti-bomb film was twisted into a pro-bomb tale.

The film was started when Edward Tompkins, one of the scientists working on the Manhattan project sent a letter to Donna Reed, about possibly doing a story about the creation of the atomic bomb. He was a former teacher of Reed's and he knew there was more to the story than what everyone was told and hoped to get both the good and bad out there. She took the idea to her producing partner and they were off and running.  However along the way the project, which was planned to be an honest look at the bomb and what happened, ran into official intervention when Leslie Groves, who was the man who ran the project,  was made the liaison with the government. Honest and impartial went out the window and big brush whitewashing went in instead.

In an age where the media is being openly manipulated by the government, here is a prime example of the government altering the story for their own means. Out was the pro and con examination of the atomic problem, and in its place was a fictional love story about sacrifice for the greater good. The film makes it clear that what the filmmakers wanted to do went out the window as soon as Groves was the advisor.

HOLLYWOOD BOMB is a head trip. It’s a look back at time we thought was better than it is now to a time where it really wasn’t. The government had its agenda and it was going to make sure we livied in an atomic age.  It’s a chilling tale about a film that was neutered and lessened by the interference.

Very much a film to search out the film HOLLYWOOD BOMB - HOW PRESIDENT TRUMAN AND GENERAL GROVES DESTROYED THE FIRST NUCLEAR EPIC.

Sanatorium Under The Sign of the Hourglass streams on Ovid starting today

With SANATORIUM UNDER THE SIGN OF THE HOURGLASS Timothy and Stephen Quay have turned several stories from writer and painter Bruno Schulz into a waking dream that takes us into another world. A mix of animation and live action this is a film that only the Quays could have made.

The plot, and I use that term loosely, has a chimney sweep trying to sell a magical box that has many lens. when you look through the lens on a certain day the cornea contained inside it will allow the viewer to see seven final moments from the life of the owner. In this case it reveals the story of a man named Josef, who takes an etherial train to a Santaorium that is out of sync with time. Its so out of sync that Josef's father who is dead, is still alive.

This film is its own world. It is a world that is best described in a dream world. Reality is subjective. Images repeat. Things shift from Quay style feral animation to real life. Things are cinematic one moment, theatrical at another. Aspect rations go from standard cinema ratios to ultra wide screen. Sone time the images are angular and sometimes something else. Everything exists only for the moment.

This is cinematic magic of the highest order. While the film may remind you of other filmmakers (Jiri Trnka, Peter Greenaway, Hans-Jurgen Syberberg , Walerian Borowczyk and others)  this film is actually more the work of the Quays. Their palette and sensibilities are all over this. 

And I am in awe of the the marriage of image and music. this has to be one of the greatest marriages of image and music that has ever been put on film. Rarely has any film used music so perfectly from start to finish. Neither lifts more than the other and the result is an emotional punch that leaves us haunted at the end.

While I think this film is possibly one of the best films of the year and of the Quays, I will freely admit that the pacing can be considered slow in the second half. I say this because I felt myself drifting off a bit. While normally that might has had me disengage, something that happened to some of my fellow writers, I stayed connected. The reason was the feeling that the whole affair is a dream. The drifting had me merging cinema and dream in the cheap seats.

Quibble aside, this is grand cinema. This is a true work of art and a masterpiece by two of cinema's masters. I highly recommend this film when it plays by you.

Linda Perry : Let it Die Here (2024)

This is a repost of the tiny review I wrote after I saw this at Tribeca in 2024

LINDA PERRY LET IT DIE HERE is a portrait of the performer and producer. 

It's a glorious look at how one woman has refused to follow the rules and in doing so broke barriers and opened up musical forms. 

A must.

Yard of Jackals (2025) is on Indepix tomorrow

In 1975 a man who quietly works for the military in Chile, finds his nights interupted when the house next door begins having unpleasant noises come from it.

The horrors of Chile's past come back to haunt the people of a quiet neighborhood. This tale of life under a military regime is not really a horror film but is more a political allegory.  This is a film about the things that happened on the other side of the wall.  Or not, a late in the game time jump kind of resets the board and alters what we thought we knew.

I'm not sure what I really think about this film. Honestly the film's insistance that it is about something kind of works against it. I kept waiting for a big twist or something truly horrible, but I don't think the uexpected horror is there. Yes the film is well made, but the thrills weren't there for me since the film seemed to want to say something important.

Louder Than Guns (2026) opens Friday

In the wake of the The Covenant School in Nashville. that left kids the same age as his children dead, Ketch Secorof Old Crowe Medicine Show teamed up with David Greene to have some discussions about what to do about gun violence. The point was to get both sides to the table and begin talking. There was no agenda, no call to ban all guns nor to arm everyone. Instead, the point was just to get everyone talking and see what could be worked out.

Certain to be hated by those to both far left and right, this film is looking for the middle ground. Something is wrong and the politicians and the media are not being helpful in finding a solution. As one person said, when he asked a politician about finding a solution he was told now not the time, to which he replied, when will be the time? This is a tough talk that no one wants to have but everyone knows they must.

I’m not going to lie and say this is an easy film to watch. It is not. People say things that will get you angry. It’s a film that is full of people who live in the towns and villages where the guns are taking lives. It’s a film that speaks to the survivors. It’s a film that gets into the heart of what people, regular people, think and feel. It’s a film, that shows the sides really aren’t as far apart as the media would have us believe.

As someone who is not anti-gun, but anti-violence I live in that middle ground. I see many of the sides of the arguments. I’m one of the people who completely understand that the answer is not just banning guns but changing how people think. There is a discussion about how the changes in societal thinking, of the decline of respect and manners has helped fan the flames.

To be honest I don’t know if I like the film, but this isn’t a film you like. This is a film you watch and ponder. It’s a film that wants to take you out of your comfort zone and make you feel uncomfortable – and it does that in spades. While I may not “like” the film in a conventional sense I will say it is a film that I admire because it rises to the challenge and doesn’t look away. Truthfully it’s easily one of the most important films of 2026 and as such is a must see film.

Man who Stole the Sun (1979) at the Japan Society May 8

With THE MAN WHO STOLE THE SUN playing this weekend at the Japan Society here is a repost of my review from the early days of Unseen Films

Leonard Schrader, brother of Paul, wrote this story of a high school science teacher who builds his own atomic bomb which has become legendary in some circles as a "lost" classic.

The plot has a high school teacher kidnapped with his class. In the aftermath he presses forward with his desire to build an atomic bomb. Once he's done he uses the bomb to get what he wants, first he demands that baseball games are televised to their conclusion (Which never happened when the film was made). Later, as the cops struggle to find the teacher, he demands that the Rolling Stones be allowed to play Japan (their drug problems prevented that).

As a lost classic I think its time has passed, which is not to say that the film isn't worth seeing. This is a good little film. Actually as a terrifying look at something the world maybe staring in the face right now. Its a sobering little film. The idea that someone could build a bomb in their kitchen is frightening. Of course the result of doing it will probably turn deadly for the builder, something you see here (and which was left out of the similar and clearly inferior Manhattan Project)

There are two things that are wrong with the movie. First is its over length. The film runs nearly two and a half hours and to be honest its too much. The second thing is that the film is very much of its time. This is best explained by the demands that teacher makes. The demands are the sort of thing that will cause people to look sideways at the plotting. While I understand the point is to make the demands trivial, they're too much in a time warp. The problems are best described as "movie conventions from the late 70's" which manage to date the film (I guessed the year of release just by looking at how the film was made) even though its unnerving when you really think about it.

Flaws aside this is a movie to try and find (good luck since its damn near impossible to get a hold of). Its a disturbing little movie that will leave you uneasy.

Untold: Chess Mates (2026)

The story of chess champions Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann who battled each other on line and in person in battles that took unexpected turns thanks to social media.

This is a look at the rise of on-line chess and the weird twists and turns that the battle between the old guard and a young upstart happens. It's an story that starts off seeming to be run of the mill before it takes some unexpected turns.  It did not play out as I thought.

While it is a great chess film, it is also an intriguing look at hoe social media turns things. A comment about the possibility of using anal beads to cheat  turns everything ridiculous because thats what everyone wants to focus on. If you want to know why the world is doomed, its social media.

This film is a great deal of fun. Recommended.

Short Reviews: MERCY, HOMICIDE Season 3, ROGER CORMAN THE POPE OF POP CINEMA and CRIME 101

MERCY-  Chris Pratt plays a detective accused of killing his wife. He is thrown into the Mercy Court, an AI court that deals with capital crimes. Contrived and full of plot holes the film makes zero sense and I kept screaming at the screen at all its errors and stupid turns.

HOMICIDE Season 3(New York Season 2) on  Netflix is good, but not quite up to the first two seasons. While dealing with some big cases (911 and Central Park Jogger but from different angles) the telling just sort of doesn't hit as hard as earlier episodes even if the stories are well told.

ROGER CORMAN THE POPE OF POP CINEMA is an hour long look at Corman's life and films. A breezzy overview its a sweet introduction that will get you hooked and want to know more.

CRIME 101 - multi-character crime story about a jewel robber, a cop and woman from an insurance agency. Well acted crime drama is okay but forgetable.  I watched this on Amazon over the course of a day and found myself having to back the film up because I didn't really retain much about the film other than the score did all the heavy lifting

Nightcap 5/3/2026- Updates, International Oscar changes and stuff

A few little notes as we head deeper into May:

I know it’s five months off but I already know my NYFF coverage will be interesting. Normally I take time off from work to go to the pre-fest press screenings but I don’t know how much I will be able to do since several people at the day job have asked for time off.

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A quick Bigfoot interview update: I have been asked to hold off posting the interview and wait for the release.

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I am in the annual “I so want to quit” period. I’ve been slammed with stuff at the day job and a puppy with health issues so I haven’t been as focused on Unseen. I feel like I’m all over the place.

I’m also not getting access to several of the bigger films, which is frustrating. Everyone wants coverage from influencers over writers because they can get happy happy joy joy coverage instead of real discussion.

On the plus side I know readership is up and I know what we are doing is appreciated because I have been getting some nice emails from filmmakers and readers.

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I should also say that I’ve done an essay for Blu-ray special edition. I’ll say more when I know it’s real… I mean the essay is done and sent off… but I want to wait until I know its gone to press.

To tie into the question about knowing people are reading Unseen, the essay came about because someone saw a review I did in 2012 of film.

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Both Ariela and I have been credentialed for Tribeca and we are already getting hit with films and offers. Reviews and coverage when the embargoes drop.

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I have three pieces relating to last weekends Drive in Monsterama April Ghouls going up soon. One on the screenings, one on the Living Dead Museum and one on Kriess’ Mini Golf Course.(It’s the oldest still functioning Minigolf in America)

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The plans for the run up to Tribeca is to continue with coverage of the Tony Leung retrospective, cover some new releases, get some Cannes coverage done, do a few festival films and then dive into the Lincoln Center Open Roads series, that should bring us into the wave of Tribeca. 

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From The Gold Derby Site how the new international feature rules work: 

"In the International Feature Film category, there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the Academy-approved Selection Committees, a non-English language film can now be submitted for consideration by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival as specified in the International Feature Film Award Qualifying Festival List. Qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars are the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for Best Film), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award — Best Film Award), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion)."

I like the idea but I am unsure about the limited number of festivals because these are the fests that most other fests pull from. Other festivals don't always pick the same winners.

I'm also qizzical about the inclusion of Sundance largely because their International films tend to be interesting but rarely earth shaking

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Related to that having recently watched MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS I'm again struck by how some films get all the attention because of good PR or friends in certain places, while being a johnny come lately to a subject/genre.  It's as if the programmers/writers haven't been watching the all the other films in the genre or on the subject that have come out in the previous five years and only are getting excited because this film showed up at the one random fest they program or cover.

I say this because there have been numerous films on the press in Russia that do the same thing as MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS but in a fraction of the time.  

Thats not to knock the film but only to point out that when something is noticed and by whom determines what is held to be the best film on a subject.

This is particularly true about the recent wave of fims on efforts to save the rain forests and the indigenious populations...

...this is even more true with a lot of inde dramas where variations on various themes, say a couple coming to a big city, or a certain romantic variation or what to do with kids when the parents die, or some other subject, ends up with one film being hailed as the best version on a subject simply because the writers saw it at the right trendy festival, that they all coover, while ignoring all the smaller fests where these wonderful, and often more creative and thoughtful variations screen because that was the festival they could afford to get into.

I am constantly getting into battles for not liking an important discovery even after explaining that I've already seen 6 other variations on the theme at other festivals.

We really need to stop taking the word of the PR people and most pundits who claim something is groundbreaking or the best version of a type of story when I the reality is its probably the only version of the story (or the second version) that they actually have seen.

Yes I know time is precious but the truth is most film writers, and almost all the film influencers, are not seeing enough films to fully judge the subjects as a whole. They watch what the studios and the big fests give them and say thats the best when the truth is they are missing out on so many more better films.

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I watched a documentary on college hazing  and I am now convinced that the so called good and normal people are some of the most sick and twisted people  on the face of the earth.

Everyone wonders how teriible things happen consider that the people who normal do things like make people eat mouse heads simply to join a frat. 

That isn't normal or good. Thats sick and twisted. 

You worry about people being gay or a different religion and yet you're fine with  behavior that in any situation other than a frat house or a sorority house would be a sign of mental illness being okay? Its not kids being kids- its kids being psychotic and its no wonder that their kids turn out warped and their relationships crash and burn.

Grandmaster at Lincoln Center Tony Leung retrospective

Wth THE GRANDMASTER playing the Lincoln Center Tony Leung  Retrospective here is the first piece I posted on the Hong Kong Version. 

(A note to start: This piece is my reaction to the original cut of the film. The film was trimmed for international release by Wong Kar Wai and then further trimmed and altered for American release thus removing some 25 minutes from it's original 130 minute run time. I will post when I see the American cut. For those wishing to know the differences I'm going to direct you here for David Ehrlich's excellent piece on the changes)

This isn't going to be a review as such, I'm going to let Eden or some of the others here at Unseen review the film (I'm not sure what I think of it) instead I'm just going to comment on some things that have struck me about the film.

When you first see the film, it's clear that the film is a Wong Kar Wai film. From the first frame to the last. Each image is carefully composed to the point of ridiculousness. Reality never looked this good, ever. This is a beautiful film that you could just play it as a moving work of art.

The trouble is that the film is so gorgeous that all of the tiny shots, flames, burning tobacco, dripping ink take precedence over the main story. I got frustrated by all of the little shots that distracted me from the human element. It wasn't until hours after the film had finished that I got past the small shit.

One of the most frustrating thing about the film is that the film is being billed as a film about the Yip man.... the trouble is that while he is a character in the film, he is not the main character. The main character is in fact the Zhang Ziyi character. She is the daughter of the master of the 64 Hands technique, and it's her journey that drives and shapes the final 100 minutes of the film. As the film stands now Yip man is merely a means into the story and a way of steering things around to the real character.

Watching the film for the first time I was frustrated and annoyed. Why spend ten years, as Kar Wai  had done, trying to make a film about a character only to push him aside? Per haps the change came in the editing which resulted in THE GRAND MASTERS becoming THE GRANDMASTER.

The film is very much like Andre Tarkovsky's ANDRE RUBLEV where the film is nominally about one character when in fact its about something else. Ultimately though unlike ANDRE RUBLEV, the film is ultimately titled correctly, it's just not titled in regard to the person we think it is.

The fights are masterful and in a way even more unreal than most other martial arts films. Think about the impossibly long train that travels behind the combatants in the final fight. There is also no rawness to the combat, it's all poetry as the men and women trading blows are seen to be partaking in the ART part of the martial arts

Some of the film vexes me. The opening battle in the rain is  incredible but what is it and why is it at the start. The fight promises a film that doesn't follow. Additionally the narration promises something that we don't see either, this is never really Yip man's story- even to the point where he sets up an office in order to teach martial arts the sequences have no real narrative point although they do end up acting as a Greek chorus to the main story.

How is the film? Taken on it's own terms and after careful consideration it's actually quite good, You have to get past the film not being a biography, and instead being an examination of philosophy- it's really about  who will be the successor of the Gong clan- and how the differences in philosophy will determine it. Yip man is merely a person outside of the battle. Yes he ends up anointed at one point, but even so  he disappears, and in the course of the film found not to really be the one.

Is the film worth seeing? Yes it is,just go in completely open minded and expect whatever  the film throws at you and not what you may think the film is about

HEAT (2026) Visions du Réel

HEAT is a look at how rising temperatures and climate change are affecting the populations of the world. Focusing on people in places where climate changes are rapidly altering how people survive, the film is a wake-up call and an alarm bell about the dangers that now facing the world.

If you ask me what I remember about HEAT, I’m going to tell you it’s the physical sensation of watching the film. Sitting and watching the film in a cold room I began to sweat.  I was not sitting in room that was around 60° F, but I was in some sunbaked desert where it was hot and dusty and really unpleasant to be. I found that I was drinking my water at a much faster rate then in a normal film. I was not safe at home but somewhere where my life was in danger.

That is a rave.

It is a rave because films like this, films that want to change our minds and thus change the world, too often five us all the facts, and thus fill our minds with thoughts and ideas that we ponder, but don’t always act on. HEAT instead goes for the emotions and gives us a visceral response. We don’t just get information, we are put in a place, even if its only in our heads, where that information means something. What is it like to be in a place where it is over 120° F every day and we have to do jobs that will probably give us heat stroke? Through sound and image HEAT makes us feel that. Me don’t understand just with our head, but we understand it with our gut so we are much more likely to actually take what we learn from the film and do something with it.

HEAT knocked my socks off from the first frame to the last. It’s one of the great surprises of 2026 and highly recommended.

MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I — LAST AIR IN MOSCOW (2024)

Julia Loktev charts the lives of several reporters for TV Rain an independent TV station in Russia that sought to report the truth. However Russian politics made it harder and harder as they were all listed as Foreign Agents, a fact that they constantly had to remind the audience.

It took me ages to finally see this film because it's almost 6 hour run time  made it difficult to screen in one sitting. Actually the film would probably be best screened as a series with breaks at each chapter.

While I enjoyed the film and the film has been winning numerous awards around the world and was short listed for the Oscars, I'm kind of at a loss as to why the film has gotten all of the accolades that it has. That's not a knock, more the realization that the film is covering the same ground as numerous other films about the state of journalism in Russia. I've seen this story before, though not quite as detailed as this 6ish hour presentation.

This is not to knock the film or imply that it is bad, only to state that if you've seen some of the other films on the subject, you know what you are going to find here. The film is very much worth seeing.

A sequel is due soon and it picks up the story of the journalists who fled Russia when their position became untenable in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.

Far From Maine (2026) plays the Atlanta FIlm Festival 2026 tomorrow

Filmmaker Roy Cohen  tells the story of his life in Israel with his partner and son in the wake of the October 7 attacks.  The couple had moved there because it was a good place to be a same sex couple starting a family. However, as violence escalated in the wake of the attacks, Cohen and his husband are forced to make some serious choices about their future, as he remembers a friend who he met in Maine, and was lost to the violence.

This is a gut punch film. A story with no easy answers and no easy through line, it’s a film that makes it very clear that what we are seeing on the TV news is nowhere near the whole story. There is more going on than can be covered in a two-minute news clip.

I’ve been wrestling with this film for a couple of weeks now. I mean that in the best sort of way. This is not a film that you can simply see and then move on. Instead this is a film that raises a ton of issues and thrashes about trying to sort them out. None of the answers, when we get an answer, are easy. Even the simplest and most basic such as “we agreed to leave if the violence came back, and it has. Are we actually going to leave?” isn’t simply answered since things have changed from when that agreement was made. This is a film that very clearly shows that even the simplest most obvious choices are not something that can be made simply.

I was and I am rocked. I am rocked so much that I have been staring at a blank screen for weeks now trying to explain how magnificent this film is. This is one of the best films of the situation is Israel because it doesn’t sugar coat anything, nor does it come in with any agenda except that of a family trapped between warring factions.

An absolute must see film, FAR FROM MAINE is highly recommended.

In the Mood For Love is playing the Lincoln Center Tony Leung Retrospective

Wong Kar Wai's visually stunning romance follows two people as they grow closer and closer as they hash out whether their spouses are having an affair.

Forget it, the film doesn't do what you expect. It doesn't act like you expect, its a film that is ultimately unique and unto itself...its a love story where the lovers really never do anything but talk.

I really like this film. It was my first trip into the realm of Wong Kar Wai and it came at the insistence of Eden who really liked the film. She was right to insist that I see the film since its a film that really helped me break down my expectations about what films should do. I should mention that I had to try to watch this film for the first time on DVD and was annoyed by it's refusal to do anything other than what it was doing.Why aren't these people getting together, why is the film framed the way it is , why is there an occasional insistence on form over content? I didn't know and was fighting it at every turn. Then I talked to Eden who told be to let all my expectations go and just watch the film. Let it be and I would be surprised.

I did and I was.

In it's way this is one of the most romantic films you'll ever see. Why is it that the unrequited or unacted upon romances are the sexiest? My guess would be is that you get to have all of the slow burn and chances to show interest with out all of the smarmy kissy kissy stuff.

For me this is one of those movies where I keep thinking this is the sort of emotion I'd want to feel in my relationship. Its a damn near perfect romance.

In the special features of the Criterion DVD are several deleted scenes, one of which is a sequence which was set many years after the fact where our two near lovers meet again. Its a great sequence, but when it's done you'll be very happy that they left it out of the film. It's not that the sequence is bad, its quite good, it's just that the sequence radically alters everything that happened before and makes a great film an okay one.

As it stands now this is a great film. If you want a real romance with real people give this film a shot, it will amaze you.