Mutter: Diary of a mother (2026) Tribeca 2026

A woman gives birth to a monster and she does whatever she has to to protect it.

Yea they kill the dog. I say that because some people don't want the dog to die. It does.

This an interesting film up to a point, but the problem is we've been here before. We know how this will play out, so we aren't sure why its taking so long to get to where it's going.

I freely admit the PR for the film may have influenced my feelings. I received a number of emails saying this is the first great Turkish horror film. Additional several writers mentioned how they heard how great this film was. I was confused since it seems no one has seen the work of Can Evrenol who makes films so good that even though I know they will F me up, I still see them. Basically I need to rewatch it with no expectations.

Despite my uncertainty, if you want a disturbing horror film give this movie a try.

The Turkish Coffee Table (2025) Fantaspoa 2026

I ended my review of the original version of this story saying "If you want to go to a really dark place THE COFFEE TABLE is highly recommended. Me I don't know if I want to go there again."  I had hoped never to see the film again... and then I found out the great director Can Evrenol had a new film  and I watched it blind never figuring that it would be a remake of a film that deeply disturbed me to my soul. It's not only a remake but it often ups the ante.

The plot has some new parents buying a coffee table for their home. Not long after, while the baby is alone with the father, something terrible happens. What follows is the blackest of comedies, in a way, that is funny in the most uncomfortable ways until it isn't.

Largely following the script for the the original Spanish film, Evenrol sticks with what worked in the original film, adding some shading of his own (it's graphic in ways the first film wasn't) and he plays with the fourth wall. Its moves that may or may not upset fans of the first film. I'm not certain that things had to be tweaked myself, however I do have to admit enough is changed that even knowing what was going to happen I had to keep watching to see if that's what happened.

On a personal level I've been a fan of Evenrol since his film BASKIN a few years back, and I've loved all his other films. He is a one of a kind filmmaker whose film I hunt down. While I admire what he did with this remake, I kind of wish he had either done a bit more change things up, or had just told his own story. That's not a knock on the film, only a statement that I am finding remakes less thrilling, especially when the original is so stellar.

That said, This is absolutely  not for everyone, at the same time if you liked the first film or like deeply disturbing films that drags the blackness into the light this film is worth a try. Its a good film if you like this sort of thing.

Yellow Letters (2026) Berlin 2026

One of the great pairings in screen history

I find it funny that one of the best films at this year's Berlin Film Festival, which is being rocked by off screen battles concerning filmmakers and judges taking political stances,  is a film about politics crashing down on a family.

 

This is the story of Derya and Aziz, a couple who get on the wrong side of the Turkish government. She is a well known actress. He is professor and playwright. Not long after their new play opens and Derya ducks out of getting her photo taken with the Govenor of the city, they find the play suspended. Aziz is also essentially removed, along with a lot of other professors, from his teaching position. Does it have to do with the protests going on in the street? Maybe maybe not but it puts a strain on their family and they are forced to move.

Ozgu Namal and Tensu Bicer head a stellar cast in what should be a film that gets lots of Oscar nominations when this hits America later in the year. They pair absolutely nail their roles as the couple who refuse to break under political pressure. They are the center of the film and they keep us watching and full invested even as the not so clear politics get in the way. They are one of the great screen couples, on the order of William Powell and Myrna Loy, of Tracy and Hepburn but with a much more serious edge. We feel their togetherness. We feel their sense of family. It is absolute perfection and it lifts the film up into the strasphere. Even if the rest of the film wasn't so good. The pairing of Namal and Bicer is magnificent alone would be reason enough to see the film. In all seriousness people will be studying their performances and chemistry for decades to come.

The narrative is very good. While politics is the mcguffin that drives the plot, the film's strength is the fact that this is a domestic drama. How does Derya, Aziz and their daughter respond to preassure? This film invesigates it. It's a very modulated exploration that wonderfully doesn't go off the rails into artifical high drama.  Director Ilker Catakn keeps it all under control.

If there is any problem with the film it's in the handling of the politics. Wanting to speak to a large audience and wanting to fit into the world today where authoritarian leaders are running regimes that take arbitary action against people they don't like, the reasoning for the retaliation isn't wholly satifying.  That would be fine if the film was more of a Kafka like exercise, but the film is much more grounded in the real so it doesn't fully fly. For me it makes a five star film a and four and a something one.

My quibble aside, YELLOW LETTERS is a great film. It is destined for lots of awards and is a must see.

The Things You Kill (2025)

Canada's Oscar entry film concerns a professor who convinces a gardener to commit murder as revenge for the questionable death of his mother. Instead of making things better it kicks open a hornets nest of complications.

 This is an intense family drama that is being told in a very deliberate manner. Designed to string us along before dropping the floor out from us this is a film where we lean in while trying to hide from the body blows we know are coming. It's all made worse by the fact that there is a point where the film turns and we are not where we expected to be. The turn is the reason that I am not going to do a big review for the film, simply because I do not want to spoil where this goes. (I've seen several reviews that have used phrasing that wrecked things)

Know that this is a solid film and very recommended.

Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) Thanksgiving Turkey

From it’s release THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING WOMAN has divided audiences. Some people loved the satire of consumerism and Science fiction and some people didn’t. I know the films reception kind of short circuited Lily Tomlin’s attempt at being a leading actress.

The film has housewife Tomlin beginning to shrink as a result of being exposed to everyday chemicals.  As she shrinks she becomes a celebrity. Some mad scientists kidnap her hoping to find away to shrink humanity.

While the film made money, the film was a critical disaster. Critics hated it.  While the critical opinion has changed over the years the film has remained a footnote in everyone’s career.

I saw it in a packed theater the opening weekend and I thought it was just okay. I thought, and still do, it was trying to do too much. I think it sacrifices laughs for making a point. I’m also not a fan of the look of the film. It has muted images with pastel colors, and it just feels wrong. I mean really wrong. It feels like an odd dream or as if we are watching a film that was damaged.

While the film made money I don’t think it really helped anyone’s career, though director Joel Schumacher skated on to a great career afterward (BATMAN AND ROBIN among others).

The question you are probably asking is why is this in this series of Turkeys if it made money. The reason is it’s a lost film of sorts. Time and tide pushed it aside.  It’s a film no one really talks about, or even really likes, I mean it’s okay, but that’s as far as it goes. In its way it’s a cinematic misfire. It was loaded into theaters, made a noise when the trigger was pulled and then went nowhere.

Is it worth seeing? As a footnote for everyone involved, but I would be hard pressed to give you a reason beyond that, it isn’t really funny, and its points were obvious even 40 years ago.

Crossing (2024) opens Friday

A woman leaves Georgia (the country) and goes to Turkey with the intention of finding her trans niece. With a young man who knew her niece in tow, she explores Istanbul.

CROSSING is a delightful bittersweet tale about the things we do for love and the times we find there. Its a film that doesn't move like a movie but more like real life.  Its a film where you can't see where it's going because things don't seem plotted but lived.

This was one of the films that I really wanted to see going into the festival. I have no idea why, but there was something about the write up that intrigued me. The film itself is did not disappoint. Its a look into places about which I know nothing. It introduced us to a group of people who won our hearts and we wanted to travel with.

If there is anything amiss in the film it's a late in the game turn, a flight of fantasy, that seems like a cheat in an otherwise very real film. It was out of place, not remotely fatal, just momentarily disappointing. (I can't tell you what it is for reasons you'll know when you see this film)

That minor moment aside CROSSING is a great film and highly recommended.

CROSSING (2024) Tribeca 2024

A woman leaves Georgia (the country) and goes to Turkey with the intention of finding her trans niece. With a young man who knew her niece in tow, she explores Istanbul.

CROSSING is a delightful bittersweet tale about the things we do for love and the times we find there. Its a film that doesn't move like a movie but more like real life.  Its a film where you can't see where it's going because things don't seem plotted but lived.

This was one of the films that I really wanted to see going into the festival. I have no idea why, but there was something about the write up that intrigued me. The film itself is did not disappoint. Its a look into places about which I know nothing. It introduced us to a group of people who won our hearts and we wanted to travel with.

If there is anything amiss in the film it's a late in the game turn, a flight of fantasy, that seems like a cheat in an otherwise very real film. It was out of place, not remotely fatal, just momentarily disappointing. (I can't tell you what it is for reasons you'll know when you see this film)

That minor moment aside CROSSING is a great film and highly recommended.

About Dry Grasses (2023) opens Friday

A big favorite at this past New York Film Festival ABOUT DRY GRASSES tells the story of a school teacher in a small village in the Anatolia region of Turkey. As he prepares to finish up his fourth year at the school complications arise.

This is a really good film. I had wanted to see it at NYFF but the run time of three and a half hours made it difficult because of how it ran across other films. I was also wary because I was afraid of getting locked into a really long film at the festival where it might be difficult to bolt.

I should not have worried. This film is a compelling film. Watching the film for my year end catch up I figured that if I didn't like it I could just move on to something else.  However from the first frame to the last I was held captive by the film. I was completely engaged with the people up on the screen. I was carried away.  To be honest I really don't know if the film needed to be 217 minutes, I started to waiver a bit after two hours, but at the same time I wasn't going anywhere because I wanted to see where it was headed.

If you want a great drama and have the time, I highly recommend ABOUT DRY GRASSES.

About Dry Grasses (2023)

A big favorite at this past New York Film Festival ABOUT DRY GRASSES tells the story of a school teacher in a small village in the Anatolia region of Turkey. As he prepares to finish up his fourth year at the school complications arise.

This is a really good film. I had wanted to see it at NYFF but the run time of three and a half hours made it difficult because of how it ran across other films. I was also wary because I was afraid of getting locked into a really long film at the festival where it might be difficult to bolt.

I should not have worried. This film is compelling film. Watching the film for my year end catch up I figured that if I didn't like it I could just move on to something else.  However from the first frame to the last I was held captive by the film. I was completely engaged with the people up on the screen. I was carried away.  To be honest I really don't know if the film needed to be 217 minutes, I started to waiver a bit after two hours, but at the same time I wasn't going anywhere because I wanted to see where it was headed.

If you want a great drama and have the time, I highly recommend ABOUT DRY GRASSES.

A pointer toward Dormitory (Yurt) Venice 2023

This is a pointer toward a the film DORMITORY which just premiered at Venice.

The film is a the story of a young man who is torn between the religious and secular worlds in Turkey and how the demands of both don’t always mesh comfortably. He is sent by his religious father for instruction to a dormitory, while a friend shows him how to work the system. However he finds it difficult to straddle both worlds. 

While I am not going to say a great deal about it I will say you should go see it.

The film is rooted in the split between the worlds within Turkey. Ever since the modern country was moved from a religious state to a secular one by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk there has always been tension. Things are not helped by the country being the buffer between the Arab world and Europe.

You will forgive me for not doing a big write up on the film but this film is so good and so thought provoking that I can not in good conscience write a “review” of the film on a single pass. There is simply too much I want to say and so much I need to ponder.  Further complicating matters was the fact that as the film was coming to its conclusion I found I was connecting things up with moments earlier in the film. I realized that I needed to go through the film a second time  because how I was viewing the film changed. There was this grand AH HA moment where it all clicked… essentially making my notes useless.

In order to meet the embargo date, and because I have other films I need to see I can only point you to this film and tell you that you will want to see this film.

Recommended.

AURORA’S SUNRISE (2022)

Portrait  of Aurora Mardiganian, who escaped from the Armenian genocide, fled to America and ended up starring in a silent film that told her story and those of the Armenians being killed by the Turks.

Using the 18 minutes of the previously lost film AUCTION OF SOULS that starred Mardiganian, as well as video of her before her death, the animated AURORA’S SUNRISE tells the story of what happened to bring her to America and make the film. Not shying away from what happened the film makes clear how the genocide occurred and how the now lost film helped to save thousands of other refugees.

I like the film but I don’t particularly love it. Don’t get me wrong it’s a hell of a story, and one that is so strong that it over comes any short comings of the film (I adore the Charlie Chaplin story) the problem is that the style of the animation didn’t work for me.  It’s purely a natter of personal taste. I love the images it creates, but there is something about the motion that kept me from truly giving myself over to it.

My quibble about the style of animation aside, I still recommend the film. The story it tells is an important and compelling one. It’s a film that once more reminds the world  that genocide is nothing new and was going on longer than most people think.

ALMOST ENTIRELY A SLIGHT DISASTER (2022) NDNF 2023

A group of people wander around Istanbul in search of love and friendship.

Deadpan comedy/drama is a frequently amusing look at life in Turkey. Made with a very mannered style the film is not going to connect to those who can’t click with it’s view of the world, but those who like their humor dry this film is going to be like mana from heaven

Worth a look.

Abject (2022) Thanksgiving turkey

A year after the death of a couple's child they go away to retreat where a counselor attempts to help them get over their grief. However despite the help the couple sinks deeper and deeper into darkness.

Not very good "thriller" that is covers ground we've been over before a thousand times or more. This is the basic "couple goes away to save their marriage and have it all goes wrong" cliche. The way you get this to work is you give the audience characters they can relate to and feel sympathy for. Thats never the case here. We never really feel for the broken couple because we never feel the connection.

I know part of the problem is the script which doesn't really work, but it doesn't help that the cast, though trying, never wins us over. I can't tell if its their fault or if its the fault of the poor script which doesn't give them anything to do.

This is just a film that misses. It misses so much that I can't even joke about it, I can only suggest you avoid it because it's not even fun to make fun of.

the 355 (2022) Thanksgiving Turkey

 

A team of women  has to track down an electronic device that can hack into any sort of technology and take it over, even to the point of causing planes to explode in mid air.

A cast of some the greatest actresses is wasted in a mess of a film that feels as though half of it was cut out and which is poorly edited. In all seriousness the action sequences don’t have the pop they should despite having turns that haven’t been done before in any film I’ve seen.

I have no idea what happened but this film is mess. I really don’t know why  because everything I it needs to work is here except in the assembly. I mean the cast is has Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Bingbing Fan, Lupita Nyong'o, Sebastian Stan, Diane Kruge and Edgar Ramierez, the set pieces rock and the maguffin is interesting and yes THE 355 just lays there and dies before our eyes.

What kills me is not that the film failed to work, rather that the film could potentially prevent Hollywood from reassembling the cast or a similar one for something potentially equally kick ass.

A mess. I can’t recommend it even for free since its two hours you will never get back

The Girl With No Mouth (2020) is out on home video and VOD December 8

Can Evrenol who made the truly disturbing BASKIN switches gears and makes a family friendly apocalyptic tale. The film is the story of the title character who was injured by a toxic explosion. Her uncle arrives and want to take the girl away as part of a plan to hide the crimes of the corporation he works for. She escapes into the forest and meets up with several other children who have their own physical problems. They are pursued by the uncle and his men as they try and make their way to a magical lost city.

I think this is a surprisingly good fairy tale. And make no mistake this is a fairy tale, with characters all seeming to represent certain aspects of  human experience. Yes they are kids, and evil adults, but they are all representative of something more as you will realize when you realize one kid has no no nose, another no eyes and so on. This is not meant to be a straight on representation  of reality but some part of the world it is taking place in. I was enchanted.

More to the point I absolutely love that the film simply puts forward its story and doesn't try to explain it all. Not everything explained. The story kind of bleeds off the screen and we are left to ponder things for ourselves. I also love that the kids fumble about as kids would fumble about, without a clear direction except the one dictated by fate.

And the film gets bonus points for have real danger and exacting a cost. Where most American family films would make it all okay, here things aren't. Stuff happens and even the ending makes you wonder what is next- in a good but also wary way.

This is a super little film. This is the type of film that I love to highlight.

Recommended, especially for those who live to go off Hollywood, THE GIRL WITH NO MOUTH hits homes video and VOD December 8.

The Antenna (2020) hits virtual theater October 2

A new government directive has antennas for a new communication system installed across the city. At one apartment block the installation leads to a series of weird occurrences including the antenna oozing a thick black substance that bleeds through the building.

Full of slow building dread and an occasional wicked sense of humor, the commentary is very pointed about our obsession with screens, THE ANTENNA is a decidedly off beat horror/science fiction film. While the film  feels similar to other dystopian/1984 like films the film still manages to put its own spin on things thanks to a script which keeps us wondering what is going to happen next and what exactly is going on.

What I love about the film is it's visual sense. Yes it reminds us of other run down worlds we've seen in other films, but at the same time it manages to make it all seem new. Where exactly are we? It supposed to be Turkey but it could be anywhere. When is this taking place? It's not really clear and it pulls us in as we try to sort it all out. I was hooked and I couldn't look away.

If THE ANTENNA has any flaw it is the fact that the film is over long at 115 minutes. Yes the film is deliberately paced which helps it create it's own unique rhythms, but at the same time there is a point in the last hour  where it begins to feel long. I'm not sure what could be done to speed it up since this film is so deliberately put together, but at the sametime I lost a littlenthsiam for the film.

Regardless of my thoughts THE ANTENNA is worth a look for anyone who love dystopian science fiction.

THE ANTENNA hits Virtual theaters Friday and then VOD October 20

Belonging (2019) NDNF 2019

Burak Çevik contemplates the murder of his grandmother by his aunt in his sophomore film BELONGING. Told in two parts the film seeks to make sense of the tragedy, first with a recounting of the testimony of Cevik's aunt's lover's testimony and then with a fictional recreation of the first meeting of the doomed lovers.

I originally watched BELONGING unaware that it was based on an actual event that happened in the director's past. I had thought the entire film was fictional, however after reading on the film and it's screening in Berlin I discovered that the testimony that opened the film is the testimony given in the murder of his grandmother. Finding this out changed, slightly, my opinion of the film by giving it some added weight.

Based on truth or not (the second part of the film is supposition) this is an okay film. An attempt to try and sort how so something so tragic could have such a banal beginning never builds to any heat. We know it's all going to go wrong, and we know how, we just get to watch how the killers were put on the road. While never bad, it never is truly engages.

A disappointment.

Kommissar X – Drei grüne Hunde - Death Trip (1967)

Fourth film in the Kommisar X series has lots of action if little sense. It is also one of the best looking films in the series and one of the few ones to really include characters outside of the main action.

The plot of the film has Captain Rowland transport a million dollars worth of LSD to Turkey for the army. The want it in case of an unconventional war. However it is eyed by  group of bad guys who want it for their own purposes. Joe Walker gets sucked into it when a conversation he has in a bar leads the bad guys to think he knows something about the LSD. Mayhem results.

Filled with real characters beyond Rowland and Walker  this is ultimately one of the best in the series.... assuming you just let the plot go where it wants to. All of the sequences are really good, with some great characters, the problem is the plotting that keeps everything linked up really isn't there so trying to make sense of it can be frustrating.

Then again the action sequences in this film are really great, and they get better as the film goes on with two of the best, one in a castle and it's tower and another set in the desert holding our attention  simply because they are just so freaking cool. (I never expected the motorcycle chase to go that way)

I really love this film a great deal and it's highly recommended, especially if you get the gorgeous print from Sinister Cinema.

Dream of Zorro (1952) aka Sign of Zorro

Hands down this is the worst Zorro film I've run across. This Italian monstrosity should be burned where ever it is found.

The grandson of  Zorro is an infantile nudnick who plays triangle in an orchestra. Having so sense of the world he dresses like an over grown child.  Brought home by his grandfather who wants to have him become Zorro. Cringe worthy  things happen.

Bad all around action comedy has horrible jokes, embarrassing performances and weak action sequences. While definitely not helped by a dubbing that gives the young Zorro an effeminate voice the poorly done physical jokes and worse verbal ones just make this film nigh unwatchable.

I will be haunted by our hero's childish dress for years to come. The over done hat and the rest of the costume is the sort of thing you have to see to disbelieve.

I hate this film a great deal.

If you ever run across you'll know you've reached cinematic hell

Brief thoughts on It Will Be Chaos (2018) which plays on HBO Monday night

A look at the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean via a survivor of a horrible boating accident that left hundreds dead off the coast of Lampedusa in Italy and a family that fled Syria into Turkey.

How you react to this film will be determined by how many films on the refugee problem you have encountered recently. If you haven't seen many then the film is going to be a punch in the gut and a poke in the eye. Reducing the story down to two affected stories will potentially move you to tears since you will get a sense of just how bad things are.

On the other hand if you are some one who has been taking in a steady diet of films on the subject then this is going to be less effective, not because the film is bad but because you've seen similar stories before. If you've seen films such as FIRE AT SEA, SKY AND GROUND, SEA SORROW, 4.1 MILES and others, then you know the territory you're operating in.

For me the strongest part of the film is the details of the Lampedusa tragedy. The sheer scale of what happened touched me. I took copious notes,  which aren't going to get used because the rest of the film left me unable to say anything new.

I should point out that this doesn't mean the film is bad, more that there is a good chance you may feel you've been here before.

IT WILL BE CHAOS screens Monday on HBO and again on Wednesday the 20th.