Stand Clear ' the Closing Doors (2026) Tribeca 2026

 

A small moment on a subway as  new arrival has to deal with a passenger taking too much space.

Anyone who has ridden the NYC subway will relate to this story of rudeness and sucking it up for the brief ride to the next stop.

For me the reason to see the film is to see writer, director and star Stacey Sargent in action. Even in this brief seven minutes she shows she is a force to be reckoned with, perfectly putting us on the train with everyone else. What makes her shine  is that she gives personalities to everyone on screen as well as giving us a sense of what its like to be in a crowded car. I want to see what she does next.

All the Queens Houses (2025) DOC NYC 2025

Absolutely great short film about architect Rafael Herrin-Ferri and his favorite films in the New York section called Queens. The film is a trip with Herrin-Ferri as he shows us his favorite homes and places in burough.

One of the great films of DOCNYC and one of my favorite films of 2025, its a ten minute joy ride that shows us some really neat places while revealing why the drive to make our house truly our own is a good thing. The film blew my mind.

I don't know what to say other than this is story telling of the highest order.

Highly recommended.

Drop Dead City (2025) hits digital November 14

DROP DEAD CITY is a wonderful film. It’s timing couldn’t have been better. This look at the point at which the city of New York almost defaulted and was told to drop dead by then President Ford is surprisingly relevant.

As a document of what happened and why, as well as a portrait of New York City in the bad old days, this film can’t be beat. It’s a film that shows us how a bunch of guys who really didn’t do what they should have been doing almost killed a city. Its an eye opening tale that most aren’t aware of. Actually as some one who lived through the crisis I didn’t know the details of most of this and I was focused on the film more than many films of recent vintage.

Honestly there is so much information here I need to see this another time or two just so I can connect up the various bits with the way the city is now.

And speaking of now, watching the explanation of what happened I was shocked by what is currently happening in Washington. The cavalier attitude of the trustees of New York in the 70’s matches the attitudes of many currently running rough shod over the government in Washington.  This film is a wake up call.

But I digress.

DROP DEAD CITY is a great film. While it can be a bit over whelming in the amount of information it gives us, its really nice to see a film that gives us a lot of material consider because it knows we can handle it.

Recommended

Late Fame (2025) NYFF 2025

LATE FAME has great performances from Wilem Dafoe and Greta Lee but is otherwise a film of half realized ideas.

The plot has a bunch of 20 somethings hooking up with a once briefly famous poet (Dafoe) who works in the Post Office. They have read his book of poetry and and want him to be part of their clique. He joins and tries to write some new material for their upcoming salon.

The gem of an idea gets lost about a third of the way in as the film flounders and goes from pillar to post. Great ideas about getting older  are lost next to badly written and badly acted scenes involing the young turks. The film sputters to life infrequently but it never maintains its footing.

It doesn't help that Kent Jones, for all his year promoting and writing on film is an unimaginative director. Yes he is technically proficent  but he has no style of his own. Much of the film feels like it was cribbed from other, better, inde films. That may play okay with the art house crowd who don't watch many small inde films, but  as someone who tends to focus on these small films, I didn't see anything new.

The worst part is the script itself. The first third of the film is solid and focused as it nicely sets things up, but then the film stops having a real narrative thrust and we are left with random scenes that don't connect. Threads are brought up that get abandoned and it all ends in a moment that they must have had when they wrote the first third but didn't know how to get it. The result is series of failed dramatic scenes that break everything part just so the film ends well.

Its a mess.

On the other hand both Dafoe and Lee are awards worthy and deserving of a better film together with a real script and an experienced director.

For Venida, For Khalief(2025) Tribeca 2025

This is the story of Kalief Browder and his mother. Their lives were upended when Kalief found himself in trouble with the law and forced to spend years in solitary confinement. 

This is less a biography, but a meditation on jails, prison, criminal justice and the tolls the families caught in the wrong end of the system. The film uses Kalief's tragic tale to let up know how broken the system is. It also uses Venida's words to make us feel the pain.

Give this film  a huge number of points for bringing together a large number of important topics. Its a film that looks not just how broken things are now and how bad they were in the past. The film also tries to look a head. It's a heady mix of topics that are going to make you think long and hard about how we treat "criminals".

At the same time the film is very unfocused. Yes, the film is experimental in it's construction, but at the same time it never pulls it all together. We jump from thing to thing and then back again. While we are pulled in in some glorious moments, there are other times when we end up on the outside looking in. By the time the film began to focus on the bulldozing of Rikers Island for a solar/battery farm I was too far on the outside to ever go back in.

This is worth a look for the arguments it makes, but not for how it presents them.

Drop Dead City (2025) opens Friday

DROP DEAD CITY is a wonderful film. It’s timing couldn’t have been better. This look at the point at which the city of New York almost defaulted and was told to drop dead by then President Ford is surprisingly relevant.

As a document of what happened and why, as well as a portrait of New York City in the bad old days, this film can’t be beat. It’s a film that shows us how a bunch of guys who really didn’t do what they should have been doing almost killed a city. Its an eye opening tale that most aren’t aware of. Actually as some one who lived through the crisis I didn’t know the details of most of this and I was focused on the film more than many films of recent vintage.

Honestly there is so much information here I need to see this another time or two just so I can connect up the various bits with the way the city is now.

And speaking of now, watching the explanation of what happened I was shocked by what is currently happening in Washington. The cavalier attitude of the trustees of New York in the 70’s matches the attitudes of many currently running rough shod over the government in Washington.  This film is a wake up call.

But I digress.

DROP DEAD CITY is a great film. While it can be a bit over whelming in the amount of information it gives us, its really nice to see a film that gives us a lot of material consider because it knows we can handle it.

Recommended

The Big Johnson (2025) Slamdance 2025

The life and times of Dean Johnson who was tall, bald, queer and very much alive. He threw parties, made music and art and generally didn't care what people thought because he was too busy doing.

I did not think I was going to fall madly in love with this film but I did. Blame it on the fact the film is so full of life that I couldn't help it Johnson was an amazing man who enjoyed life and it bleeds off the screen. This is a portrait of a man and the time he lived in and we fall into it. If you want to know what it was like in NYC during the late 1970's and early '80's on the Lower East Side this film is for you. 

Before I continue to talk about the film I should probably warn you the film is graphic in its depiction of sex both visually and in discussions.  Sex was part of Johnson's life, he made porn movies and was a sex worker, and he enjoyed it so it's on screen. Bravo for not censoring it.

I do love this film, and my heart breaks that he is no longer with us. 

This is one of my favorite films of 2025. See it.

Itch (2024) Dances With FIlms New York

When a new disease starts turning people into crazed killers, a single father and his young daughter end up hiding out in the store where he works.

While I could argue that the last thing we need is another “zombie” film, after all there are too many these days, however when a good one come along I’m happy to watch it. ITCH is one of the good ones.

While ITCH is not going to rewrite or revitalize it is going to entertain you. The film is  low key look at what would happen if something like this would really happen- namely it wouldn’t instantly be yelling and screaming but low key confusion and uncertainty. It’s also a film that is about the characters not the violence. This is one of the rare horror films that takes time to genuinely build characters and relationships. By the time the nastiness starts we are deeply invested in everyone.

ITCH is a small gem. It’s one of the  better recent horror films because it genuinely wants to tell a story not just throw blood and body parts at us. I had a great time.

Recommended.

The Room Next Door (2024) NYFF 2024

Pedro Almodóvar's first English language feature has Ingrid (Julianne Moore) reconnecting with Martha (Tilda Swinton) who is fighting cancer. When Martha decides to end her pain permanently, Ingrid agrees to accompany her.

Mid-level Almodovar is more like stage play then a feature film. While Moore and Swinton (and John Turturro in a funny cameo) are excellent, the script is full of dialog that is purple and exactly the sort of thing that you only hear on stage. We aren't listening to conversations but listening to speeches. Because everyone was saying perfectly craft lines about the meaning of life I never connected. There is no small talk only live and death discussions.

It' not bad, but it isn't great either. This is a impressionistic painting of life not life itself.

This is going to work best for fans of the director.

eVIL SUBLET (2023) hits VOD today

 

A couple finds the apartment of their dreams- the problem i it's haunted by an evil ghost.

This well made horror comedy not only is a well done horror film but a pointed look at life in New York City. Playing it largely close to real the film pulls us in. While the film can be occasionally silly, the film is largely the sort of funny that doesn't kill the chills.

That the film works thanks to the cast headed by Sally Struthers and Jennifer Leigh Houston who sell the madness.

To be honest, I had no plans to watch the film, but a slot opened up in festival coverage and I decided to give the film a shot... and I was surprised and after the Psycho opening, the film pulls it back and  we end up with a spot on look at life in NYC.  I was enchanted because I know people like them.

What I like about the scary stuff is that it doesn't follow the typical path. There is all this shading that we get that makes this not your daddy's haunting. 

I had a good time with this

Recommended.

TWST (2024) NYFF 2024

This is a repost of the review that ran when the film World Premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month

TWST is a profound head scratcher.  Andrei Ujică's found footage film looks at the Beatles arrival in New York City and the surrounding area up to their performance at Shea Stadium and it is oddly lifeless. How the great filmmaker could make a film this dull boggles the mind, more so when it it playing two of the biggest film festivals in the world.

The film is a mix of documentary footage mixed with some fictional characters (inserted via drawings). It's a film aiming to to recreate a moment in time and make it alive for today by mixing by mixing old footage and the words of some people who were there and some new material. 

Unfortunately it just sort of lies there.

The problem with the film is that out side of the voice over and the inserted drawings a great deal of this material is material that we've either seen or seen a version of. Specifically if you are a Beatles fan you've seen this before. This is especially true  if you are from New York.  While the film stitches a great deal of the footage of the arrival of the group to NYC and the insanity and press conference together it's nothing particularly exciting. Its a lot of people screaming and the Beatles cracking wise. Why are we being shown this? I'm not certain.

Once the press conference is over the film switches gears and we get sequences in the city, at Jones Beach and else where, and while we get some voice overs that attempt to stitch the material together into a faux narrative, nothing really sticks. There is little excitement. Worse some of the constructed conversations feel fake. While I can blame Ujica's not being from New York in the 60's for some of the clunkiness of the dialog, the truth is the words feel artificial and not anything would say. For example the girl's discussing shooting of the World's Fair Pavilions footage is structured not so much to be the actual talk of two young women, but rather to explain what we are seeing.

None of it is bad as such, but rather it's incredibly dull...and worse it never seems to give us a reason as to why we are seeing this. Honestly I have no clue, none, as to why we are seeing any of this.

Personally out side of getting to hear the radio broadcasts of WMCA, WABC and others I really could have cared less.

A boring bust.

HOLD BACK THE TIDE (2023) opens Sept. 6th in New York (DCTV) and Oct. 4th in Los Angeles (Laemmle Theatres)

I saw HOLD BACK THE TIDE in November of 2023 when it played at DOC NYC. I saw it in the middle of seeing close to 100 films.  It was a beautiful film that haunted me but which left me with more feelings than words so my review ended up very brief and as part of a multi-review piece. My review was simply:

This is Poetic look at oysters in and around New York. Full of stunning imagery and telling a story of clams and clamming in the city the film is a delight for the eye and ear. Recommended

With the film returning to New York Friday at DCTV and then  hitting LA at the Laemmle Theaters on October 4  I wanted to put the film on your radar.

Go see it- especially if you can see it on a big screen where he images with burn into your soul

Emergent City (2024) Tribeca 2024

An exploration of the efforts to revitalize and gentrify the Industry City section of Brooklyn New York.

Observational look at the people trying to change a section of New York. Whether it's for the better or for the worse depends on your point of view. The film is a look at the people in the neighborhoods, the board rooms and the government offices. We watch as various events, big and small play out, while occasionally hearing interviews and news reports to help give things a context.

I had always thought it was impossible to make a dull film about New York City but EMERGENT CITY put me to sleep the first two times I watched the film.  I eventually made it through the film  but it took a great effort to do so.  There is something about the way that directors Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg have arranged the material that makes it less then compelling.

Part of the problem is that watching the film it isn't immediately clear what we are watching or why we are being shown. Yes they talk to us about Brooklyn, and Industry City, and they show us life in the borough, but at the same time it doesn't seem focused. What exactly am I watching and why? The best observational documentaries grab you from the start and pull you in. The work of Frederick Wiseman can be rambling at times but it's always pretty clear what we are seeing. EMERGENT CITY didn't seem to be focused at the start and so the images of life in Brooklyn just hung there unconnected to anything.

The other problem is that the film is weirdly too observational. Yes we are watching life and events play out, but there isn't an urgency. What makes certain scenes so important? We should be pulled into events and carried along. You can't make a documentary about the revitalization of a section of the city and come out of it wanting to know more about the two kids arguing on a front stoop that is one of the first images in the film. I wanted to know more about them and their lives and not about everything else

While far from bad,  there are some interesting discussions here, but none of it is really compelling, or more to the point the wrong things are compelling.

Hongfu Hotel (2024) Tribeca 2024

Father and son prepare to walk away from their hotel and the ghosts that live there.

Hands down one of the very best films of 2024. This is maybe one of the absolute best ghost stories ever made. It's a stunning film that says more about life than most feature films.

All hail Tian Xu, who along with everyone connected with this film has made a glorious film full of life and hope.  What wonders will he turn out next? I don't know but sign me up and let me buy the first ticket.

Set in NYC's Chinatown this film has a tactile quality. Having spent too much time in off the beaten path places in Chinatown I could feel the hotel and the rain soaked street. I've been there. I know this place without ever being there. 

The story itself kicked me in the ass and had me quietly sobbing for an hour or so after seeing it. I couldn't write on the film until the next day. All I could do was fire off emails to friends who I knew would love the film.

The film is being described as a horror film in the promotional genre listing, but the film isn't one. Yes there are ghosts, but they aren't really scary. They are just residents of the hotel.

Exploring the things in our life that change and those that hang around the film speaks volumes about the things we collect and the importance of the people in our lives. Why do we keep some people around, even if they once hurt us? What does it take for us to move on? There is a great deal to unpack here.

I was rocked. The final images of the film moved me deeply, with one that is probably going to haunt me forever

I can not tell you how good this film is.

If you just let this movie show you its wonders on its own terms I think you will find this to be one of the absolute best films you will see all year. Highly recommended

Queen of the Deuce (2022)

If you had any real curiosity about how the Deuce’s movie theaters were run you would have run across the name of Chelly Wilson who as the title of the film about her says, was the Queen of the Deuce. She owned a number of the porno palaces and made a mint  doing so. I had heard her name for years but I knew nothing about her until  The Queen of the Deuce appeared on my radar, and having seen it all I can say is it’s a hell of a film.

Chelly was a Greek Jew who got married at an early age because her father arranged the marriage. She swore to her father she’d marry the man but divorce when he died. From there she went through a series of husbands, numerous lovers, had several children, was openly gay, survived the Holocaust, made a fortune and changed people’s lives. It’s a wild and crazy life that no one would believe if it weren’t true.

I absolutely loved most of this film. As long as we are focused on Chelly this film is gangbusters. Chelly is a woman who was one of a kind and watching the film I regretted that she wasn’t alive to see the film celebrating her life. I say this not so much think sh’d enjoy the film, but more I might have had an opportunity to meet her.  What a great broad as my mother would say.

As good as the portions of the film where Chelly appears the sections with out her fall flat. About an hour in the film goes int a long history of adult movies in New York and Chelly disappears. Yes it’s informative, but it’s not Chelly. Worse the film ends with a coda from Chelly’s grandson that feels out of place because we really don’t know much about him. Actually out side of Chelly and her daughters the rest of the family are just talking heads.

While I could argue that the film could be trimmed, the central focus of the film, Chelly, is so magnificent that I’m still going to say this film is worth a look.

Flying Lessons (2024) First Look Festival 2024

This is a chronicle of what happened when director Elizabeth Nichols meet Philly Abe, who was a tenant in her building at a community meeting. The pair were there because they were trying to do something about their evil landlord. The women bonded and Nichols became fascinated by punk Abe who was a performer, director and activist for decades.

Lovely portrait of a friendship and a life that might never have gotten noticed.

Abe was one hell of a figure. She was a woman who took no shit from anyone and changed the lives of the people around her. Nichols warts and all portrait is a fitting memorial to a woman who not so quietly rocked the pillars of heaven.  I am amazed that Nichols got  so much  from Abe since it seems we get to know not only about the life she led but about the woman herself beyond that. Normally we aren't allowed to see this deeply into an individual.

What connected me to the film was she reminds me of my late friend Sally Willis kind of looked like Abe and had her sense of life. I can only imagine what would have happened if they ever met.

This is a good look at a great woman.

Recommended.

 

VESELKA: The Rainbow on the Corner (2024) just premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and hits theaters February 23

 

The life and times of a the Lower Eastside New York institution that started  as news stand and morphed into a late night hang out and became the center of the Ukrainian community in New York City. While it’s a film that is firmly focused on the family and people who run the restaurant, the film is still going to leave you hungry for some good Ukrainian food.

Veselka is a legendary New York eatery. It’s a place you go to where you want good comfort food. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ukranian or not (they have other things on the menu), it’s just good. I’ve eaten there many times, the last being Tribeca last year when a friend was bring a bunch of Ukrainian filmmakers to get some food that was like home.

There is magic in this film.

It’s a wonderful story of community that makes you lean in and feel part of what’s going on on screen. It doesn’t matter if you’ve ever been to Veselka or not, it simply matters if you are human or not.  This is the story of how one island can make a difference in people’s lives for the better.

I was moved. I was also surprised. There was a point about a half an hour in when I thought, where is this going to go, they’ve covered the history of the restaurant and the family there is no where to go. I was wrong there is plenty of places to go. The war in Ukraine happened and at that moment the film shifts, partly to tell a war related story, but to the story of a community. Yes, we knew the story of the eatery, but once the war begins affecting everyone’s lives we see how Veselka is more than just a place to get good food.

As I said the film is magic, it’s the story of connections, the ones we can see and the ones we can’t. It’s a story of hope and perseverance. It’s a film that you feel more and more connected to as it goes on as it moves from being an acquaintance, to being a friend until finally you feel as though you are family to everyone on screen.  You want to give them a hug.

What a great film.

Go see this film (and have dinner plans for afterward because you will leave hungry)

AND YES -It will be playing the Village East Cinema in NYC so you can see the movie and go have dinner.

DIVERSITY PLAZA (2023) DOC NYC 2023

Jackson Heights Queens, the most diverse zip code in America and perhaps the most diverse area in the world (They say people from 190 different countries live there). Focusing on the Himalayan immigrants in the town this is a great look at an NYC neighborhood and some of the people who live there.

If you are a fan of Frederick Wiseman this film is for you. An observational film of the best kind,  this is film that picks you up out of your seat and drops you into the place it is about.  It’s a wonderful film about the life of the immigrant community and how they hold on to some traditions and adopt others. It’s a much too short slice of life that’s like hanging out with the people it highlights.

Watching the film I was struck by how much the film feels like being in Jackson Heights. That may not sound like much, but having seen so many films filmed in places I know and having them feel wrong, it’s nice to see one feel right.

This is a small gem of the festival and recommended.

Psychedelicized: The Electric Circus Story (2023) DOC NYC 2023 11/12

This is a look at the legendary Electric Circus night club that mixed music, art and circus into a mind altering experience that ended up changing everything that followed.

This is a one of the best films at DOC NYC. It’s a straight up telling of the short life of the club from the seed of the idea to the clubs closing sometime after a bomb was get off on the dance floor. It’s a trip through popular culture during the late 60’s and the start of the 70’s.

What I like is that the film wisely doesn’t try to really try to show what it was like in circus. Yes we get photos and we get some film, but the film doesn’t make an effort to try and duplicate that. I say that as someone who has spoken to several older friends who used to go to the circus who said that there was no way to explain the experience of being there. It was a one of a kind experience that resulted in being told after concert experiences  with them that certain shows, say at the Park Avenue Armory were kind of like being at the circus.

How good is this film? I almost instantly just stopped taking notes and just went along, carried by the tales being told and the images being shown. This film is truly a trip back in time.

What an absolute joy.

Highly recommended.

Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall (2023) Tribeca 2023

A look at the history of  dancehall, the music style that has roots in reggae, links to hip hop and other styles. Its told by the people who created it and danced to it.

This film filled in a blind spot for me. While I was familiar with a bunch of the music we hear in this film I didn't know what it was called. I had no idea about any of the details of the story and I sat there wide eyed like a little kid as I learned new thing after new thing. 

I had a great time watching this film and it was a joy not to be the only one in the audience bouncing to the beats of the music.

Recommended