Guggi (2026) Tribeca 2026

One of the most delightful films at this year’s Tribeca, Guggi is a must see.

The film is a portrait of Irish artist Guggi (Derek Rowen) who sits and holds court talking about his life and friends (Bono). Less like a formal documentary and more like hanging out with one of the best raconteurs in the world. Halfway   into the film I wanted to do an interview, not so much to talk to him but just listen to him talk about his life and how her creates.

And I love his talk about how he creates. I may write, but everything he said about the visual arts really hit home. I especially loved his talking about his getting in trouble because he wasn’t paying attention to what was written on the board but instead the designs left by the erased chalk. That was something I did in fact and in related ways.

I don’t have a great deal to say other than I love the film and I want to hold it close to my heart. This is good times with great people and a must see.

Re-Creation (2025) Tribeca 2025

In 1996 French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier was murdered near  her home in West Cork. While journalist Ian Bailey was suspected by the police he was never charged in Ireland. He was tried in absentia in France and found guilty. RE-CREATION is speculation on what might have happened in the jury room if Irish authorities had taken it to trial.

There have been numerous documentaries investigating the case including a Netflix limited series that Bailey sued  over. I've seen several of them and I am intrigued by the case. I still am not certain as to what happened. This is another attempt to make sense of the murder.

While some of the promotional material suggests that this is an examination of the facts of the case that will allow the audience to decide, this is actually a polemic that is arguing that Bailey may not have been the killer. I don't have a problem with that but there are issues with some aspects of the film.

The first problem is that director/star Jim Sheridan is a friend or aquaintence of Ian Bailey. (I'm still not 100% certain how friendly they were/are). While that's fine unto itself, presenting this film as a wholly neutral film (we are supposed to make up our own minds) doesn't work. The problem wouldn't exist if Sheridan wasn't in the film, but the fact  is he acting as the foreman and is steering the discussion and he does so in a manner that isn't natural. This is more a dramatic lecture not a dramatic film.

The other problem is that a great deal of what we see and hear are things that would never go before the jury. The conceit of this being an actual jury discussion is never really followed as the jury discus evidence that would not have been presented to them (such as statements of one of the witnesses who changed her testimony). I wouldn't have cared but as a real trial film this film collapses. (Yes I know what goes in the US is not what would happen in Ireland, but some of the evidence was listed as questionable by some of the documentaries)

While I like the film, its an intriguing concept, I really wish that Sheridan had simply made a documentary. He could have said what he wanted with out wrapping it in material that forces the facts and the fiction to grate against each other (why do you have Colm Meaney silently play Bailey when Bailey appears in actual photos? And why use Vicky Krieps  when all she does is just ask questions?)

My resenvations aside the film is worth a look, especially if you like true crime tales.

BLUE ROAD - THE EDNA O'BRIEN STORY (2024) DOC NYC 2024

BLUE ROAD - THE EDNA O'BRIEN STORY is opening this year’s DOC NYC and it’s a joy.

The film is a look at the life and times of the noted author and teacher through her own words, her diaries and the lives of friends, family and the people she touched. It’s a film that reveals not only the story of her life but the story of the society that she came from and which she helped break apart.

I’m going to be honest, going into the film I had not expectations. I was seeing the film because it was playing DOC NYC. I will see pretty much any film at the festival regardless of what it is simply because the festival programs such great films. My attitude was this was going to be a by the numbers look at O’Brien’s life. Then the film started and I was hopelessly hooked.

That the film works so well is do to two things, the first is the fact that O’Brien and her sons are absolutely compelling subjects. Mixing current interviews with archival material the film lays out the tale so that we feel we are sitting with them having tea. We are not being lectured to but let in on a grand secret.

The other reason the film works is that director Sinead O'Shea puts the tale with in the context of society. Not only do we get the story of O’Brien’s life but we get the story of the society whose foundations he was shattering. Sure she was tel great stories but she was also holding a mirror up to society who didn’t like what it had become. The fact that this film is weaving O’Brien’s story into something larger is important when you consider that there are a couple of other films playing at DOC NYC that fail to do this. These other films tell their story in a vacuum and as such leave us with no context or reason as to why the story we are being told is important. Here we know why Edna O’Brien matters, and it’s not just because she is a hell of a person.

I loved this film. This was one of those films that when it was done I found myself sending missives off to friends who I thought would love the film.

See this movie.

HAUNTED ULSTER LIVE (2024) Popcorn Frights 2024

In 1998 a film crew goes to a haunted house on Halloween and does a live broadcast. As the presenters talk to the home owners and the ghosts things begin happening and the lives of everyone in the house wind up in danger.

Walking into the same territory as the infamous GHOSTWATCH which was a presented on the BBC with only a word of warning that it was fiction at the very beginning, HAUNTED ULSTER LIVE  ends up being a very good little horror film that wobbles a bit in that it breaks its conceit as a live broadcast.  It’s a film that lulls us into thinking it’s all a bit goofy before slowly turning up the screws.

I really liked this film a great deal. The point at which the film got into trouble for me was when the focus of the film shifted from being a straight on broadcast to showing us outside what the camera sees. While it is necessary because of what is going on, the films strengths is the copying of the broadcast. By jumping away from that the spell or the sense of this happening right before us is broken.  It’s far from fatal but it makes what should have been a truly great film into a really good one.

My desire for a scary film to be even scarier this film has chills and as such is recommended.

CLODAGH (2024) Tribeca 2024

The house keeper for a Catholic priest who teaches step dancing discovers a girl with an amazing talent.

This film is going to have you throwing things at the screen. Not because this is a bad film, rather because this is a proof of concept not a self contained film. You are going to want to know what happens next. 

Hopefully more is coming since this is sweet little tale that goes in unexpected ways. There is magic here and we need more of it.

Recommended

The Damned (2024) Tribeca 2024

At a remote fishing station in the northern oceans, a small community is struggling to survive. It is lead by a woman named Eva. She is a recent widow and he feelings are compounded by the uncertainty of the future of the people she is living with. When a ship wrecks not far off, they are forced to consider how to handle the situation since extra mouths mean they certainly will not survive. What follow their choice is the film and it's a tense spiral into danger.

Let me say this at the top - when you see THE DAMNED, and you will be seeing it,  try to do so when you can see it on a big screen. Shot in bleak and menacing places the film is a wide screen delight with the images adding equal weight to everything that happens. The images were made for the big screen and should be seen that way.

This is one of the bet films playing at Tribeca. It's an unexpected historical thriller full of suspense and dread. You know with a title like THE DAMNED this is not going to go well, and it doesn't. The fear comes from waiting to see who comes out the other end.

I had a blast watching this film. I was sucked in from the first frame and stayed glued to the screen until the credits rolled. I didn't really have any idea how this was going to go. 

This is  just great filmmaking. Yes it looks amazing, but at the same time the entire cast sells it, while at the same time director Thordur Palsson moves things along at just the right pace. Its slow enough so that we feel we are back 150 years, but spryly enough that we never lose interest. Indeed we are held in the film's vice grip as we wait to get to the film's end.

Since the film is just premiering I won't say any more other than get a ticket and go.

So This is Christmas (2024) Hot Docs

Documentary narrative hybrid tells the story of a small Irish town around Christmas.

This is the sort of off kilter film that develops a cult following and lives for ever in the hearts and minds who love off beat films. Most definitely set at Christmas time and containing talk about the holiday, the film looks and feels like something else. The lazy cheat explanation would be to compare it to the work of Wes Anderson, but the truth is that is only superficial, since director Ken Wardrop  gives the film a most decidedly bend that you can only get from having a deep love and passion for things Irish.

Made up of tableaus, voice overs and images of life this film is something one of a kind and delightfully unique.  Its so unique that it took me about a third of the film before I clicked with it. It’s not that there was anything wrong with it, more that Wardrop is doing things his own way and if you fight that the film can’t work it’s magic.

And magic it is. This lovely film is a rye look at the holiday and life in a small town. It’s a film full of the rhythms of an idyllic setting but viewed threw a slightly off window- one that gives everything a glow.

You will forgive me, but there is something special about this film that you need to experience and not read about. My words have failed me.

Do yourself a fovour, just see this little gem of a film

Puffin Rock and the New Friends (2023) hits streaming tomorrow

Feature film of the Cartoon Saloon TV series  has more adventures with the various characters from the series and it introduces a number of new friends including an otter.

This is a sweet little film. While not as heavy as the studio’s earlier films, this film is an absolute breezy delight. I smiled from start to finish. What I really loved was that the film has some real suspense. The storm sequence is tense. Had this not been part of a continuing TV series I would have been frightened that someone was going to die.

While clearly geared for small people it works just as well for the big ones as well.

Recommended.

All You Need Is Death (2023)

Aleks and Anna travel across Ireland collecting old songs which they then sell to various collectors for a price. One night they happen upon a long forgotten love song. It's a song of consuming love that has been passed down orally to all of the women in a certain family. The woman who knows the song will sing it for Anna on the condition that Aleks wait outside and that she does not record the song or write it down once she's heard it.  Unfortunately Anna records the song and then begins to try and decipher what it means....

This is not a film of monsters and jump scares. This is a film of mood and building Dread. This is a film that strives to create a feeling of doom.

I am mixed regarding writer/director/producer Paul Duane’s ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH. This is a film with one hell of a story and script  that feels undercut by the way it's shot. perfectly framed  with people seemingly placed in the frame so they are more often then not facing the camera instead of each other the film feels incredibly slick. It feels like it's staged at times and not life. There is a perfection to the images that is a bit too perfect for the story being told. The perfection of the images and the staging of some sequences kept me out of the film and kept the unease to a minimum. 

But it's not the fault of script or the cast. The cast is very good and the script is first rate. The script chills, and creates an oppressive atmosphere, while the cast sell what is happening.

If I sound like I dislike the film, I'm sorry. I actually love most of the film. I love enough of the film that I wish the film was shot better.

My reservation aside ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH is worth a look.

Black Guelph (2023)

Canto is a not so young  man in a lower class part of Dublin is looking to get out but it doesn’t seem to be possible. He’s been thrown out of his house by his girlfriend who doesn’t want him near his kid. His dad is just out of jail and is squatting in an abandoned orphanage. The past is haunting everyone, as is a local kingpin who is trolling the neighborhood looking to get paid back – and Canto owes more than he can come up with.

This is a bleak examination of life on the downside of Dublin. Everyone is hamstrung by toxic traditions, bad choices and dark secrets in the past. It’s the story of a group of people who can’t get out of their own way even though they desperate to do so.

One of the best films I’ve seen for this year’s Dances With Films THE BLACK GUELPH is the feel sad film of the festival. It’s film that feels more like real life than a drama and as such it hits hard. I didn’t want to watch the lives imploding and wanted to look away, but I liked them so much I couldn’t not see what happened to them. It’s such  a good film that I can’t believe it’s director John Connors‘ first feature.

I really liked the film, but the downbeat edge to it makes it a film I may not revisit.

My reservation about revisiting it aside, this is definitely one you’ll want to see at least once.

Quintessentially Irish (2024)

Director Frank Mannion​ interviews various famous and not so famous people about what they consider to be quintessentially Irish.

This is a good but completely disposable footnote film that is simply an endless parade of people talking about being Irish and things that are Irish. It’s kind of like a weakly organized You Tube Video of good stories. The stories are fine but there is no real through line and you increasingly wish there was a point. Honestly while I enjoyed the stories I got about of the third of the way in and started to do other things because my interest waned and there isn’t much to see beyond people talking to the camera.

While not bad I’m kind of at a loss as to how this got released  other than as a cash grab for the distributor who can promote it with a killer cast.

Worth a look if you’re feeling a yen for the Emerald Isle, but you really can skip it.

Puffin Rock And The New Friends (2023) NYICFF 2023

Feature film of the Cartoon Saloon TV series  has more adventures with the various characters from the series and it introduces a number of new friends including an otter.

This is a sweet little film. While not as heavy as the studio’s earlier films, this film is an absolute breezy delight. I smiled from start to finish. What I really loved was that the film has some real suspense. The storm sequence is tense. Had this not been part of a continuing TV series I would have been frightened that someone was going to die.

While clearly geared for small people it works just as well for the big ones as well.

Recommended.

The Problem With People (2023) Austin Film Festival

 Put upon Colm Meaney’s father says he’s dying. His dying wish is to heal the family from some long ago rift that split the family. Seeking to fulfil his dad’s dying wish he makes contact with Paul Reiser, his long lost cousin, who is now a rich builder in NYC who is dealing with a heart attack, a divorce and his daughter’s adopting a baby. Deciding to take up Meaney’s invitation he flies to Ireland where the two men butt heads…before realizing they are similar after all.

Despite going largely as you would expect THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE is a delight. It’s good time with good people- particularly Reiser and Meaney. They make a hell of a pair and even before the end they seem like two old friends. Actually the best part of the film is that Meaney gets to play one of his very rare leads. Sure Reiser is on screen with him but Meaney is literally the first and last face we see in the film and it’s an absolute joy.

I’m not going to lie and say this is the best film you’ll see this year, but I will say it’s one of the most entertaining.

Currently playing at the Austin Film Festival THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE is worth your time

Fishmonger (2023) Fantastic Fest

FISHMONGER Trailer (2023) - Dir. Neil Ferron from Neil Ferron on Vimeo.

 Neil Ferron's FISHMONGER is a diseased film in the best possible way. The story of a young man whose mother is dying and who must get married before she does lest a curse takes hold is a black and white comedic nightmare that is going to have you laughing as you squirm in your seats.

I'm not going to say too much about the film, not because there is nothing to say but because I want you to get a full front shotgun barrel to to face when Ferron's characters start explaining things and your stomach starts turning. Even knowing that is not going to prepare you for a film that is going to have you mumbling to yourself for most of it's 25 minutes. 

Trust me when I say if a film is suppose to provoke a reaction and make you engage with it, the FISHMONGER does that in spades. This is quite simply one of the few films that you will see this year that is going to force you to react in the same way someone grabbing your throat and crushing your wind pipe does. I sat there wide eyed and slack jawed as this just spun wildly out .

While not for the squeamish, the strong of heart and stomached are going to have a ball.

Recommended.

North Circular (2023) opens Friday

NORTH CIRCULAR is the story of Dublin’s North Circular Road, from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Port. Shot in moody black and white and full of fantastic music and stories the film is a trip across the city and through time.

I really wish I had seen NORTH CIRCULAR on a big screen. The images are truly breath taking. This is a film that absolutely would not work had it been in color.  The duotone is everything and it puts us into the land of dream where the world of past and present merge.

This film is wonderful.  As I said this film full of great stories. If you ever wanted to know why we are always influenced by the past this film will give you a good idea since through the songs and stories we see how the course of out lives and those around us affect us all.

The truth of the matter is that this film is not a film to read about or discuss. This is a living breathing cinematic trip. You have to travel the road from start to finish to understand why it’s so special.  You have to see and hear it all. Yes some of it may not be your pint of beer, but I’m guessing most of it will be. I’m also guessing that there are going to be times when the words/music and images come together to into a glorious transcendent moment that brings tears to your eyes.

Highly recommended, NORTH CIRCUAR is a must.

The Black Guelph (2022) Dances With Films 2023

Canto is a not so young  man in a lower class part of Dublin is looking to get out but it doesn’t seem to be possible. He’s been thrown out of his house by his girlfriend who doesn’t want him near his kid. His dad is just out of jail and is squatting in an abandoned orphanage. The past is haunting everyone, as is a local kingpin who is trolling the neighborhood looking to get paid back – and Canto owes more than he can come up with.

This is a bleak examination of life on the downside of Dublin. Everyone is hamstrung by toxic traditions, bad choices and dark secrets in the past. It’s the story of a group of people who can’t get out of their own way even though they desperate to do so.

One of the best films I’ve seen for this year’s Dances With Films THE BLACK GUELPH is the feel sad film of the festival. It’s film that feels more like real life than a drama and as such it hits hard. I didn’t want to watch the lives imploding and wanted to look away, but I liked them so much I couldn’t not see what happened to them. It’s such  a good film that I can’t believe it’s director John Connors‘ first feature.

I really liked the film, but the downbeat edge to it makes it a film I may not revisit.

My reservation about revisiting it aside, this is definitely one you’ll want to see at least once.

Lamb (2022) Santa Barbara International FIlm Festival

While a mother and her baby are having breakfast a menacing young man enters.

When LAMB ended I yelped "You can't stop now!" I was so shocked at the ending I scanned through the end credits to see if director Sinéad O'Loughlin put in anything to indicate what happens next.  She did not, with the result that I was left twisting in the wind.

All hail a director who understands the power of suggestion and allowing our minds to fill in the blanks.

Dear god what a film. I mean seriously, this small little poisoned pill packs a punch. This is the sort of a thing that gets a director noticed.

Hello Sinéad O'Loughlin, I have taken notice, what are you doing next?

This is a lean mean film that grips you as tightly as a psycho's arm grasping yours as he leads you out the backdoor to the slaughter.

Highly recommended both as film unto itself and as a calling card of a director to reckon with.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Martin McDonagh’s story of the end of a friendship is yet another trip to his world of cruelty. The basic story has two long time friends on the outs when one of them decides that he doesn’t want to be friends any more and to seal the deal he says that he will cut off his fingers if they ever speak to each other.

Why does all of this happen?

Beats the shit out of me.

Then again I have been asking that question about McDonagh’s work for decades. While there is no doubt he is  one of the best writers of the last 50 years he has a serious problem with plotting, specifically everything he does hinges on this dark turns that happen no really good reason other than McDonagh deems it so and has to have his characters screwed over in the end.

Going back to his early plays McDonagh has always enthralled me with his various tales of human darkness, but he almost always ends up pissing me off with his weird ass turns into cruelty that seems out of left field. More times than not (Pillowman and the Cripple of Inishman being the exceptions) the stories hinge on a twist  or set up that makes zero sense.  Clearly McDonagh thinks humans are fools deserving to be crushed, and I could except it if his stories didn’t almost always leave me feeling that the he only knows how to end his work by fucking everyone over (don't get me started about The Hangman). He is the best example of the artist who feels he can only be taken seriously if there is tragedy in the third act…even if that means cooking the books to do so. He always seems to be saying "People have to die/be broken even if I have to invent an out of left field turn to do so."

BANSHEES begins with a turn that’s believable until with get to the whole finger thing and then it just goes off the cliff. None of it really makes sense. Yes it’s well done, but I was never buying the bullshit.

Frankly outside of the acting and technical aspects this is a kind of stupid tale.

My Sailor, My Love (2022) TIFF 2022

Director Klaus Härö's MY SAILOR MY LOVE is an emotional powerhouse. This is a film where the most perfect cast you can imagine takes a good script and turns it into a film that will leave you spent and weeping at the end. 

The film concerns Grace. A nurse with a strained relationship with her father, she is unhappy with the way he is letting things go. Figuring he could use a woman's touch to clean things up, Grace hires a widow named Annie to come in to cook and clean. Despite initial friction Annie and her charge hit it off. They hit it off probably much to well for Grace's liking, with Annie and Grace's dad falling in love.

I am not going to lie and say that this is perfect film. It's not. Honestly the plotting is very soapy at times. I mean the twists and turns are often predictable.  On the other hand the road maybe familiar however the film lifts itself up by having a cast that makes every scene seem real and emotionally charged.

All hail James Cosmo, Bríd Brennan, and Catherine Walker. Giving three of the best performances you'll see all year they make you wish that Oscar gave awards for Best Ensemble. I love this trio with all my heart. The manage to take every scene, every word, every gesture and give them weight the vast majority of films never can muster. Words hurt. Gestures reveal pain. Truths are exposed.  While I have had some of the discussions here and could relate, so much more I had no experience with, but as each scene played out I found myself delighting in the feeling that the leads were revealing some great hidden secret.

My mind was blown...and by the end my heart was broken and I was fighting to keep the tears from overwhelming me.

You really need to see this, if for no other reason that you will witness three performances for the ages.

Recommended.

Liz Whittemore on IT IS IN US ALL (2022) SXSW 2022

Once more Liz Whittemore from Reel News Daily checks back in with a look at the look at toxic masculinity IT IS IN US ALL

Hamish arrives on the soil of his mother’s birth; she is felt instantly. A shocking car accident rips him apart, shattering his clenched control. A beast broken, he finds himself lost in the world of his long-deceased mother. Young teen Evan, also involved in the accident befriends Hamish. The tremors of want and love beneath the stifling soil push to the surface, as he is led by the vitality of the unbridled boy Evan. He experiences the electric eroticism of living and danger. His rage accelerates to violence, and ultimately his vibrant release.

The layers of complexity in this script are unfathomable. A small town brimming with secrets pushes Hamish past his already frazzled limits, physically and mentally. In an attempt to figure out why his late mother left her hometown years ago, Hamish finds himself wrapped up in the local drama. As he navigates through the town landscape, quite literally at times, he faces more personal uncertainty than he could have ever anticipated.

If you want to see sheer brilliance on screen Cosmo Jarvis is your man. His portrayal of Hamish is brimming with nuance and unresolved trauma. If you have yet to see Jarvis in The Shadow of Violence, you must. The themes of identity and grief drive the film, and Jarvis plays each beat with an intensity that gets under your skin. 

Fair warning for photosensitive viewers: look for intense strobe effects combined with loud music about an hour into the runtime. Impactful lighting choices, a bathroom, a club, headlights, or the naturally foggy but lush landscape create a tense atmosphere. Themes are identity and trauma take center stage. Writer-director-actor Antonia Campbell-Hughes nails this narrative. IT IS IN US ALL is in direct response to toxic masculinity. The disintegration of self in these male characters occurs because they have been prevented from expressing emotions, questioning their place, or healing their wounds. It’s a sharp, meditative piece of filmmaking and evokes a much larger conversation on patriarchal behavior. 

For more from the wonderful Liz Whittemore go over to Reel News Daily