Adipurush(2023)

ADIPRUSH was supposed to play Tribeca but was pulled for supposedly because they were afraid of it being bootlegged before it was released. It's an odd thing because I've never ever seen any cameras at Tribeca except during the Q&A.(And since it was supposed to play in 3D any image would have been unwatchable).  There was also a story saying that the reason it was pulled so everyone could see it. 

When the film actually opened in theaters the talk on my Twitter feed was it was pulled because the film wasn't good and they wanted to get it into theaters before word leaked out. Twitter was also aflame with people condemning the film the film for changing history and the story it is telling. Some people were saying the film was sacrilegious in what it did. 

Not being at all familiar with the story I can not speak to what the film's accuracy in telling it's story, however I can speak to how the film hit a guy who just wandered in off the street and watched it on Netflix and that is this is a pretty wild action adventure. It moves like the wind, probably a little too fast, but at the same time it just goes.

You will forgive me if I don't go into details. I wasn't taking notes I was just being carried along by the motion and the images. I had a grand time. I had such a good time that I wish I had seen it in a theater and 3D.

Is this the best film in the world? No but it is a lot of fun. It's a three hour rollercoaster.

Recommended

Carlos (2023) has special screenings September 23,24 & 27 and opens on the 29th

I’ve been chasing CARLOS since it played at Tribeca earlier this year. I had hoped to get into the screening and concert but I couldn’t score a ticket.  There was no press screening and I couldn’t make the encore screening since it was too late on a work night. However because I have friends with long memories I got an email asking if I still wanted to see the film since it was coming out in September. I of course jumped at the chance.

Filled film wall to wall music the film is the life and career of Carlos Santana in his own (and occasionally his family) words. It’s the arc of his life as the son of a mariachi musician all the way up to superstardom. It’s the story of a really nice guy who weirdly lucked into his career by being really good at what he does and meeting the right people (Bill Graham) at the right time.

The trouble is that as Santana tells it there really wasn’t a lot of drama in anything that happened. He simply drifted from one thing to the next with his talent and drive pushing him forward.  That’s not a bad thing if you are living it, but half way into the film I kind of was hoping something dramatic would happen. A flat tire? A paper cut? Maybe he locked his keys in the car? Something anything. 

Don’t get me wrong it’s absolutely a lovely film that I will rewatch every time I run across it because of the music, but as a dramatic story this is a bit lacking

Reservation aside this is a great film and is recommended.

AFIRE (2023) opens Friday

Friends Leon and Felix go to a house by the sea owner by Felix's family. Leon is going to work on his novel, Felix is going to work on an upcoming exhibition of his work. Things become complicated when they discover that Nadja and David already there. Things become further complicated as out of control wildfires threaten the house.

A winner at this year's Berlin Film Festival, the film was also the subject of a great deal of discussion at this past Tribeca Film Festival where everyone was asking each other if they had seen the film yet. The talk was such that I was excited but because of scheduling I couldn't make any of the Tribeca screenings and had to wait for the run up to the theatrical release.

I'm going to be completely upfront and say that I know that all of the talk in the weeks running up to my seeing the film effected how I feel. I do like the film but I know my expectations for the film did not match up with the film I saw so my reaction is probably some what tempered by all of the talk as a result. I say this because there was so much hype at Tribeca I was expecting something different.

Regardless of my liking the film instead of loving it there are two things that would have been an issue  even if I had seen the film with no build up.

The first problem with the film is the main character of Leon. A self-absorbed writer who is unaware of anything outside of his own wants and desires, he is a hard man to like. While there are hints of something behind the narcissism, I mean he has friends, he is still the sort of guy you wonder why anyone would want to spend time with since his two main traits are complaining and chain smoking. His ticks are hard to accept, especially when we are supposed to like the guy, but instead of liking we kind of just feel sorry for him. It also feeds into the other problem with the film, the plotting.

The other problem is a director's Christian Petzold's plotting which is much too deliberate. Watching as the the extremely well drawn characters go through their paces  you can feel the how Petzold is moving them around. You can feel them being used as a novelist would use his characters to get his points across. While it can partly be explained by a bit at the finale, it still makes it a tough slog as things don't feel real with beats such as Leon being forced to suffer with how bad his novel is several times and the forest fire not really being thing until it is feeling artificial constructions that will are kind of assured will mean something later (kind of like Chekhov's gun).  I would have liked not to feel like I was being manipulated from the first frame.

Reservations aside, the film does manage to pull things together in the final moments and I felt a tug of the heart strings and got misty at several points in the closing minutes (even if I full knew they were completely unrealistic). Honestly, I would have loved a whole film that had the structure and emotion of those final minutes.

Is the film worth seeing?

Yes. But I'm not certain it's going to be one of your great films of the year.

Perfect Find (2023) Tribeca 2023

After going through a bad break up that wrecked her career Gabrielle Union is forced to take a job working for a very meticulous boss. When Union’s friends take her for a girls night out she meets a younger man  and is smitten. The flirting goes nowhere. However things become complicated when she discovers the young man is the son of her boss.

Lovely cinematic themed romance is just a delight from start to finish. A story about people and not movie characters, I was delighted to be watching a bunch of adults on the screen instead of stereotypical movie characters. Sure there  are some nods to cinematic romance, how could it not this is after all a film about movie lovers, but it all works.  I was smiling from ear to ear from start to finish.

PERFECT FIND premiered at Tribeca a couple weeks back and once the screenings started everyone started talking the film up as a great find. More than one writer was puzzled as to why the film wasn’t getting more of a push from Netflix because it was so good. I don’t have answer other than small films like this are not getting theatrical pushes when they should.

On the other hand it is on Netflix where everyone can see it and fall under its spell

Transition (2023) Tribeca 2023

Journalist Jordan Bryon walks a razors edge as Afghanistan falls to the Taliban and he begins his transition from female to male. As the country explodes around him he can't let the Taliban fighters he is profiling know that he was born a woman. 

Edge of your seat biography will have you wondering how this is all going to come out. While we know on some level this will be fine, you can't be certain to what degree nor what is going to happen to the people around him. This is a hell of a tale that is expertly told.

Truth of the matter is that TRANSITION is the sort of absolutely great film that can get lost in a huge festival like Tribeca. Anyone I know who saw the film loved it, but many people simply didn't have it on their radar. You need to put this on your list of must sees and track it down either at the next festival or when it shows up in theaters.

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

IT'S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL (2023) Tribeca 2023

This is the life and times of the Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, from their meeting as kids on through the present day. It's a warts and all look at the ladies, their music, their causes, and lives that will have you going out and buying some of their albums.

Everything you ever wanted to know is here and that's both a good thing and a bad thing. I say that as a guy who absolutely loved the film, but also as one who questioned the film 123 minute running time. There is nothing really wrong with the run time, except that the editing is so loose at times that the film occasionally feel rambling. I had the feeling that if it was cut a little tighter or lost about 15 minutes this would be one the great films of 2023.

Seeing the film early on the first day of press screenings I spent the remainder of the festival getting blank stares from people who were horrified that they missed the screening because they love the Indigo Girls. Apparently most of the people I know would have loved to see the film but somehow didn't realize the film was playing (the title doesn't give away it's connection to the duo)

Don't make the same mistake, track this film down and see it.

Liz Whittemore of Reel News Daily on F*ing Buck Dent (2023) Tribeca 2023

David Duchovny adapts his novel of the same name for the big screen at Tribeca’s 2023. If you grew up a Red Sox fan like I did, the name Buck Dent is akin to “He Who Shall Not Be Named” in Harry Potter. Being a Sox fan, I was constantly aware of the curse. You can spot the mix of joy and anguish on my face throughout the years in a series of photos of little Lizzie propped up against The Green Monster. Duchovny perfectly captures the masochistic nature of born and bread fans in his heartwarming and hilarious film BUCKY F*CKING DENT.

Ted is a failed writer who slings peanuts at Yankee Stadium -of all places. When he finds out his estranged father, Marty, has terminal lung cancer, the two go on an unexpected journey of reconnection through an elaborate hoax by Ted. Through the aid of Marty’s barbershop buddies and his assigned “Death Nurse,” Mariana, father and son discover they are more alike than they realized.

Logan Marshal-Green in Tribeca's Bucky Fucking DentA bit of truth and fiction, the film combines Super 8 recreations of scenes from a novel Marty never intended for anyone to see and the masterminded shenanigans from Ted and Co. The dialogue is pure acerbic deliciousness. The chemistry between Duchovny and Logan Marshall-Green is divine. The back-and-forth between the two feels effortless. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard at the inevitability of death.

BUCKY F*CKING DENT is a joyous celebration of forgiveness, fearlessness, and living. Dare I say it is a crowd-pleasing home run of a film? Nay. It’s a Grand Slam.

FOr more from Liz go to her regular home at REEL NEWS DAILY

LET THE CANARY SING (2023) Tribeca 2023

 

A look at the life and times of Cyndi Lauper.

A must see film portrait of a wonderful woman, that every little kid should be shown since it shows you that if you are yourself you will find a place to grow and thrive. It took a while but Lauper found her place and thus changed the world for the better.

Focusing primarily on her early life and the period surrounding her first three albums this is a giant ball of nostalgia. Those of you who have been fans for decades will find your lives replaying as you watch Cyndi relive her life. I was moved to tears. 

While the film focuses in the early part of her life the film also highlights her  causes she supports. What I absolutely love about this film is the way it does this is makes us feel exactly why she is supporting the LGBT community, and AIDS research and everything else. We see how the causes connect to her life. For the first time in any portrait of an artist do we viscerally understand why these causes matter.

And then there is the music-or in the case of many of us the soundtrack of our lives. It's wonderful and best of all it has lots of songs I completely for got about.

Highly recommended

Performing during the post screening concert

Enter The Clones of Bruce (2023) Tribeca 2023

This is a look at the Bruce Lee knock off films that followed in the wake of Lee's passing. Officially there are 88 however the actual number is closer to 200.

Seven years in the making the film was being worked on until the very last minute. Despite being accepted into Tribeca the film had to be recut at the last minute when the man who was Bruce Li agreed to talk 4 weeks before the festival. I can only image what had to be lost, as well as I'm curious what the original three hour cut of the film looked like.

While the film seems to be a bit rambling, no doubt the result of a last minute editing, I really enjoyed this film a great deal. It was wonderful to hear all the stories about the making of the films. It made me want to go and pull out the films I have in my collection and watch them (A box set with this doc and some titles is coming soon)

 I had a blast.

After the world premiere screening there was a Q&A (see below) which was great fun and absolutely not long enough.

Highly recommended to anyone who ever heard about the clones of Bruce Lee.

The League (2023) Tribeca 2023

This is a look at the Negro Leagues of Baseball  out of which came many of the greatest players of all time.

This is a glorious celebration of the men who played the game better than anyone ever, it's also a record of a piece of history that most people have never heard. Sure every baseball fan has heard of the Negro League but most don't really know the details, nor have they seen any of the film that was shot of the games.

All hail director Sam Pollard who has made a film that is going to open the eyes of many people who only know the subject as a few cold sentences. This is a film that brings it all to life.  This is a film that explains simply and easily why the men who played in here were the best that ever was.

I don't say that lightly. While I am a white guy, I grew up hearing stories of the Negro Leagues. While I know my dad never saw a Negro League game he was a fan, the result of the stories his friends would tell him of the games that they went to. As the greats like Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Satchell Page moved over to MLB he was regaled with tales of what these giants did  before.

Luckily Pollard tells us and amazingly occasionally shows us.  What a joy it is to see the found footage on the big screen where it can truly impress us.

I loved this film.

Talking to someone connected to the film's PR between screenings I mentioned how much I loved the film and I inquired if there was any plans to expand the film into a mini-series. They looked at me quizzically until I explained how much more there was to tell. There were so many great players and so many great stories that a film of 103 minutes can't contain them all.  I wanted to see more.

What a great film. It's so good that I'm planning on seeing it on the big screen again when it its theaters in July. 

Somewhere Quiet (2023) Tribeca 2023

A Meg and her husband go his families summer home in order to help her try and recover from a terrible kidnapping.

This is a film that is pretty much told from Meg's point of view. She has been so traumatized that she is unsure of anything. Even simple events take on ominous shading. We are never certain of anything at any point. Watching the film we get a  good sense of what Meg is feeling.

As well done as much of this film is there is a point where the narrative begins to break apart. The problem is that there is such a lack of communication between the couple and between the filmmakers and the audience that a couple of turns seem to come from out of left field. We are told things that would alter how we see events but are instead only mentioned when they would result in a gasp from the audience, not at a point where it would be natural to insert the information into the story. The story telling doesn't feel fair.  

I was fine for a while and then I stopped caring. I felt that the filmmakers weren't telling Meg's story so much as gaslighting the character in order to produce a reaction in the audience.

I was disappointed.

Miracle Club (2023) Tribeca 2023

One of the best films of the Tribeca Film Festival (and maybe 2023) is a magnificent exploration of life, faith and forgiveness.

When Chrissie (Laura Linney) returns to Ireland after the death of her mother, many people are shocked, they never thought she'd return. Her ex-best friend (Kathy Bates) is bitter and angry, the mother of the love her life (Maggie Smith) doesn't know what to do. Through circumstance the women, all end up on a trip sponsored by their church to Lourdes.

While some of this plays out as you expect, most of this does not. While it does have a warm and fuzzy feel at time the pain all the women feel is very real. Nothing is completely sugar coated, people are bruised, do terrible things and reveal wounds that time may not be able to heal. I am not going to go into details, I'm only going to say that you will be moved.

It's a no duh that a large part of the reason the film works is the cast. Linney, Bates Smith and Agnes O'Casey as Dolly, a young woman desperate to have her son speak, tear the screen apart with their performances. They are so good that you may not want to forgive Bates being a bitch on wheels for a chunk of the film.

And then there is the script by Joshua D. Maurer,  Timothy Prager and  Jimmy Smallhorne which is just gangbusters. Warm and wise, the script perfectly explores the things we do that drive us apart and how life can reshape us enough that down the road that we can come back together. It's a brilliantly written film that will have you pondering faith, belief and forgiveness in ways you hadn't before because it doesn't take the easy road. I also have to cheer the fact that it doesn't give us answers to everything, nor does it reveal all it's magic to everyone. One thing that happens is unexpected because the film chooses to have it happen not in a big mushy scene but a small private moment almost as a throw away. Its a choice to do a BIG thing in a small way and it will make you gasp-in a good way.

This is a glorious filmmaking. It's so good that I shocked the PR person outside the screening by asking if there would be an Oscar push for the film, particularly for the ladies at the center of the tale. She didn't know. Frankly if they are smart they will.

This is an absolute must see.

Lost Soulz (2023) Tribeca 2023

A winner of an audience award at Tribeca LOST SOULZ was a film that many of Tribeca staff and several writers insisted that I see.  The mix of characters and music had clicked with everyone who saw the film. Based on Word of mouth this looked to be one of the best films of festival. 

This is the story of a young rapper named Sol who lives with his best friend Wesley and his family.  After Wesley overdoses, Sol hits the road, traveling across Texas with a group of artists he met that night. As the group travels and performs Sol discovers who he is and what it means to be responsible and have a family.

This film is wonderful. Full of great characters and greater music LOST SOULZ is  one of the best films of Tribeca.

The look of this film is magical. The stunning visuals mix perfectly framed images with pumped up colors to create a world that is like our own and frequently like our dreams. 

The Music is note perfect. So many times in films about fictional performers the music isn't what it should be, you can't understand why people are falling over the music we hear. You get one, maybe two good songs that stand out but no more, but that isn't the case here. The music is so good that you want to lean in and follow Sol's journey. There is the added bonus that the songs and the score blend together to create a seamless whole.

The cast is great. Sure it helps that I haven't seen most of the cast before so they are real people, but even so none of performers seem to be acting. Everyone seems to be inhabiting their characters. This makes everyone feels real and inviting.

I love the narrative of the film. I love that the film doesn't do what you expected. LOST SOULZ doesn't take any of the regular paths in similar music films. Things aren't pumped up dramatically, life flows. It's a joy not to have confrontations that are coming from the mind of the writer instead of the life of the characters.

This is a great little film. 

What an absolute joy. This is why I love going to festivals and dwelling among the inde films, it's because I get to discover wonderful films like this.

Highly recommended.

Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story (2023) Tribeca 2023

Portrait of performer Eugene Hutz who ended up leaving Ukraine for America just before the USSR fell, and into a punk rock crowd in Vermont. Many years it later resulted in his forming the punk band Gogol Bordello which fuses folk music with rock and roll.

Absolutely joyous film about life and music as well as life as music as we follow Hutz and his band across the globe and back to Ukraine to perform for the soldiers during the war. It's one of a kind film that is an absolute delight for the soul as the insanity of life gives birth to musical joy. I and the the few people at the press screening I attended were dancing in our seats. I now I regret not going to to the world premiere screening where the band played after the movie.

This is as good a marriage of performance and cinema as they come when you aren't a pure concert film.

One of the great films of the festival and the year.

Liz Whittemore of Reel News Daily on The Listener (2023) Tribeca 2023

Steve Buscemi‘s Tribeca 2023 film, THE LISTENER, finds Tessa Thompson playing Beth, a crisis line operator who works the overnight shift. Watching Thompson process callers’ stories in real-time is akin to live theatre. Scenarios range from a call from a formerly incarcerated man, a husband who just told his wife he doesn’t love her, an overburdened mother, a runaway in danger, and more.

Keen-earned viewers will recognize more than a few familiar voices over the phone. Beth’s story is the last to reveal itself. Her final call, which is also the lengthiest, challenges her sense of emotional security but ultimately invites us into Beth’s life in earnest. The camera follows Beth around her apartment. There are moments of silence, but just a few. Thanks to screenwriter Alessandro Camon, THE LISTENER is fully ripe for the stage.

Tessa Thompson is in every single frame. The gentleness in her voice is soothing. Her patience is breathtaking. Underneath her job slips a weary face. The emotional investment is palpable. This performance is a master class in measured behavior. Thompson had me in the palm of her hand.

Steve Buscemi has given audiences a contemplative character study brimming with empathy and humanity. A peak inside the world of mental health workers is nothing short of fascinating. THE LISTENER is a skillfully directed film and another magnificent performance from Tessa Thompson. It’s a must-see at Tribeca 2023.

More from Liz can be found at REEL NEWS DAILY

Once more with feeling: More Tribeca 2023 Capsule reviews: ROLLING ALONG, BOCA CHICA, POISONED, CHASING CHASING AMY, OTE

ROLLING ALONG
The filmed record of Bill Bradley's one man show is not  at all what I expected. A completely compelling autobiographical look at the basketball great and legendary politician, it turns the notion of "documentary" on it's head. I say that because watching the film I felt infinitely more informed than I did coming out of most of the other documentaries at this year's Tribeca. Yes the story told is Bradley's tale slanted to make him look good, but there is a human side to it and it makes you feel like you were having dinner with the man. One of the great surprises of the festival, it's highly recommended.

BOCA CHICA
Young woman in the Domincan Republic struggles with her identity and with her dreams of becoming a big star as an upcoming wedding threatens to reveal secrets.  This is a good small scale drama that I liked but which I had seen at the start of the festival since 110 films in it ended up being unfairly compared to the rest. Definitely worth a look

POISONED TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FOOD
Excellent Netflix documentary on the contaminating of our food. 
I really liked this film a great deal. Having had a father who spent 40 years working for the local health department where he was in charge of food and beverage I found the film full of all the stories and warnings he had been telling me all my life.  What I loved was that going into the film with a friend who said that he was certain that because he was a vegan he was not going to have anything to worry about. By the time the film ended he looked a bit green around the gills as he saw the dangers in many of his favorite foods. A great film that is highly recommended.

CHASING CHASING AMY
Sav Rodgers explains how his life was forever changed by the controversial film CHASING AMY. This is a deeply moving story of one man's connection to a piece of art and how that art allowed him to survive and thrive. I really liked the film and its story of how hope for those who feel lost, can be found in unexpected places. Highly recommended.

OTE
Meandering tale of a Black woman from New York traveling across Turkey who decides to make a trip to Armenia. True road film, it begins as she arrives and ends when she meets her friend, moves at the speed of life, Whether that clicks for you or not will be determined by whether you fall into the rhythm of the walking woman. I liked the film a great deal but I wished I could have seen it in a theater where I could have been fully focused on the film and not distracted by the things around me.  That's not a problem since getting a future chance to see this on the big screen is something I wholeheartedly am looking forward to.

You'll Never Find Me (2023) Tribeca 2023

 

On a dark and stormy night a frighten man hears a knock at the door. It's a young woman who is looking for a ride home. 

An almost stage play between a man and an unexpected guest was  the best of Tribeca's Midnight section this year. While the film isn't perfect it goes the wrong sort of weird in the last 20 minutes, it is for most of its running time a scary nerve wracking  experience as we are never certain what is happening and who is who. It was a film that had the writers I was with grinning at each other when it ended. This was a film that kept us locked and loaded until the end.

The only problem with the film is the last 20 minutes or so which show signs of not knowing how to end. It was an ending that resulted in a wonderful discussion with a filmmaker about what can happen when you don't know how to end something...basically you end up like this.

Ending aside, YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME is a pretty little suspense machine and is recommended.

Open Heart (2023) Tribeca 2023

This is a look at New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. It's a look at his life and career and how heart issues changed his life.

If you go into this film looking for just a highlight reel of great hockey moments then you will be disappointed. Yes there are some great hockey sequences, but the truth is this film is actually about a man trying to find his place in the world.  It's a film about a man who was so driven to win that when he couldn't, he wasn't sure what to do.

I loved that this film isn't what I expected. I love that it isn't the greatest hits. I loved that this film was all about a man trying to find inner peace after realizing he never had it when he was striving to be the best at what he did. This is a film about finding out what happens when the circus leaves town without it's star attaction.

I was moved. As much as I hate to say it this film is full of great life lessons for everyone not just over achieving hockey stars. If you can go into the film understanding that you are going to find great things here.

Recommended

Still even more short pieces on Tribeca Features: CYPHER, RATHER, RON DELSENER PRESENTS

 

CYPHER
Big winner at this year's Tribeca is a good psuedo-documentary about a rapper who is stalked by an unknown person and gets dropped into the middle of a conspiracy theory. It's a wild and head trippy film that I really liked, despite not being sure that it pulled enough of the story together to fully work. Reservations aside, the act of watching the film for the first time is a fantastic ride and that alone makes it worth seeing even if I'm not sure that I'll need to see it again.

RATHER
Excellent portrait of the legendary reporter is exactly what you'd expect from a film about the man as made by the director. 
To be honest my original plan was to do a big write up of the film however as the fest went on I delayed writing as I battled to find words for a really good film that did exactly what I thought it would but didn't really leave any room for discussion. Its a great portrait and exactly what you think it is, and nothing beyond that

RON DESELNER PRESENTS
Watching this film was like reliving the last 50 years of my life because Delsener was the guys who brought everyone to the New York area. A good look at the man and his achievements, it was a walk down memory lane for me.  I'm not sure how this will play in Peoria because they don't know the man, but I suspect the last part of the film when we find out he helped engineer the the mega-mergers of concert promoters and ticketing services are going to piss them off.  While there is no denying he was always in it for a buck, the fact that the guy everyone said was great because it made concerts personal and human, is responsible for the cold faceless entities who control music now is crushing. More so since despite retiring he is still trying to do it his way. A lot of people who saw the film came out after seeing the end saying "you know I used to like him". It's almost as if he killed his own kids.