She Dances (2025) opens Friday

 

Steve Zahn gives a career defining performance as a divorced father who is tasked with taking his daughter (played by his daughter) and her friend to a dance competition. Nothing goes as expected.

This was one of the great films at Tribeca and of 2025.  This gem of a film has more heart in it than almost any film from the last few years. Its a film that is about people, and it's about real life and not movie moments (even if it steals a beat or two from ROCKY). 

I freaking loved this film. I loved that it really doesn't do what you expect. It doesn't give us all the answers, things are left hanging because the unexplained things simply wouldn't come up naturally in the story. I love that there is no real forced dramaic turns. Ethan Hawke's key role as Zahn's business partner and best friend is truly unique film role. He's a guy who is like a real friend and not a plot point. When he shows up late in the film there is genuine shock as to why. It's something unexpectedly beautiful.

Sitting in the theater with Liz Whittemore I found that the two of us were audibly reacting. We knew how much we were enjoying the film  by the comments that were slipping out. When it was over the two of us sat in the dark wondering how this film was not the subject of  massive internet chatter.

I was moved by this film. I love this story of a father and a daughter. I could see my brother and my niece in the deep bond the two have. This is one of the best films about characters in years. And I love the ending.

You absolutely must see this glorious film...it will make you feel great.

Joel and Claudia Soisson answer questions following the final NYICFF 2026 screening of BIRD BOY

 

This was recorded March 15,2026 at the SVA Theater in NYC.

Joel is the writer director of the film, Claudia is Joel's wife. She plays a reporter in the film. She was also one of the driving forces behind the scenes of the film.

MY NDA (2026) SXSW 2026

 Let me speak honestly and openly, because I can, because I did not sign an NDA (a non-disclosure agreement). Additionally, I want to speak openly because telling you that I went into this film prepared to hate it only to come out loving it, tells you how good it is.

The film is a look at non-disclosure agreements and what signing them means. Normally people are paid a lot of money not to talk about something because either they are trying to protect trade secrets or in the case of people like the President of the United States, they are trying to hide misdeeds. The film reveals how intrusive the NDAs are (some won’t let you even talk to your therapist)  and the issues that they cause in people’s lives.

This is a great film. Using the lives and experiences of several people it shows us what it all means. It’s an eye-opening look at something everyone mentions but no one understands, even some of the attorneys who draft them.

This is something you need to see- especially since with the current administration attempting to silence leaks by having governmental employees sign them.

Highly recommended.

Bone Keeper (2026)

A group of friends get together to try and find one's missing mother who disappeared into a cave... where monsters are supposed to lurk.

Old school horror film that echoes earlier B horror films of the 80's and 90's (BOOGENS for example) is a lot of fun on its own terms. Is it perfect? Oh hell no, but its an old school monster movie with an icky tentacled monster that does nasty things to people. It's the sort of movie that knows what it is and leans into it the way old school monster movies leaned into their monsters

As much fun as the film is once the group heads into the cave, the film has some issues, largely doing with the film's tone and use of cliched tropes in the first half. What I mean by that is the film feels as if it is edited to be a coming attraction, but with longer play in the scenes. Things move along with out a good clip and a slightly flashy style, that looks good but doesn't build the suspense. Of course this is filler, but at the same time we never really connect to any of the characters beyond a superficial level. ( Also not a huge fan of the sequel set up)

Then again it doesn't matter once we get to the caves and the monsters come out to play.

What fun.

A must for monster movie lovers.

NYICFF 2026- introducing MOOMINVALLEY and t-shirt toss

 

The introduction to the final screening of MOOMINVALLEY at NYICFF 2026

And yes- the t-shirt hit me

Nightcap 3/22/26 - Random notes

Some random notes from the last few weeks. I am  behind because of festival coverage as well as being very sick for the better part of a week which pushed things back.

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I had a great time at NYICFF.

Thank you to everyone there. It was a blast as always.

I have multiple interviews to get up. As well as Q&As and pictures so keep reading.

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The flood of reviews will slow slightly- but continue to look for SXSW and cinequest reviews this week because I got some films late

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Over the last weekend I had some intriguing conversations with some people I know from festival going.  They were giving me the skinny on a couple of festivals around the country that made me wonder what the future holds for them. I will comment further when I see how some things shake out.

(Yes I should not be spreading rumors but at the same time you don’t know which fests I’m talking about)

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I am going to have coverage of New Directors New Films, though not as much as in past years.

Part of it is I didn’t get to press screenings but most of it is that many of the titles didn’t float my boat.

Actually having waded into several titles I have acces to, this is looks, as in recent years,  to be largely a festival of art house titles that won't be seen again again out side of the festival.

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Speaking of floating my boat – look for a lot of this year to be less crazy- at least into the fall. Part of it is that the non-writing and watching stuff is devouring my time and part of it is shifts in my day job is going to eat into my time.

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I did enjoy the World Baseball classic.

I did not enjoy the NYC sport talk hosts roasting it because it wasn’t a big deal to them. Despite what they said- everyone else liked it and thought it was something special.

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I am not connected to the New York Mets this year.

Part of it is that the few pre-season games I've seen this year have not instilled me with hope for this season- something that died as the team slid off the table last year.

More to the point the removal of most of the names in moves that seem the wrong sort of calculated distanced me from when the dominoes started to fall.  It's not so much that I need to have the same guys year in and year out, but I want to have players I connect to. This is the first year where there is only one player (Lindor) that I have a connection to. Everyone else is cipher or non-entity

I truly believe that owner Steve Cohen wants a winning team but on his terms, which means he wants enough money to build his casino so he'll gut the team to keep costs low. 

I will be happy if I'm wrong but I suspect the Mets are doomed this year.

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Yes I will be going to this Aprils Drive In Monsterama at the Riverside Drive In.

Our plans are complicated by the NFL Draft being the same weekend making where we staying something new.  What I mean by that is the place we usually stay with $70 ish a night motel is now well over $300 a night. We are farther from Pittsburgh  but closer to the theater

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The Mahoning Drive in is dropping their schedule and there is a ton of good stuff. If you can get there check out their schedule- their memorial day Zombie-thon is awesome

Sisters (2025)

Maria Munro tells the story of discovering that she had a sister back home in Venezuela she never knew about.

This is a glorious film. This is one of the best docs I've seen in 2026. Its a film that is so full of life and the connections we have that we aren't always aware of.

Told in a simply style, and several parts that simply drop us into a mystery and pull us along SISTERS moved me in ways few films have done this yeas. Its a simply tale told in the best possible way.

I don't have much beyond that except I have no notes. The film is perfect.

See this film and you'll call someone you love. 

Dog Shit (2026)

This is a short from a a film collective in Liverpool called People Versus TV. Its a wickedly pointed film that speaks volumes about our society. The film is the brief tale of a man who thinks that a new deodorant will make him a better person.  Its a biting take on the  way many people think they are going to get to ahead.

Running a brief four minutes DOG SHIT is a bracing introduction to People Vs TV.  While the fact that the film is being told with an action figure may make you think it's not going to be good, but the truth is the group uses the technique to make their point. I like that you can feel that the film isn't just a cheap joke. There is weight to what we are seeing beyond just being funny. I'm impressed enough that I want to see what the group does next.

AFTER THE STORM (2025)

Sungbin Moon's film about her mother and her drinking is something you need to find.

More powerful then most feature length docs, AFTER THE STORM is a quiet film about the power of love to bridge gaps and heal.

Told via a remote connection, Moon is here in the US her mother and her mother is a seen via zoom. The two women simply talk. They speak frankly with result that we instantly know the two women and we like them.  By the end the film we are misty.

This is great filmmaking by a great filmmaker. I want to see what Ms. Moon does next.

Make an effort to see this film.

Für Elise (2025)

Jaschar Marktanner returns with the story of a couple pondering where to go with their relationship.

Some one get a feature budget for Marktanner so we can see what he'd do on a larger scale. A master of small moments he gets better and better each time out of the box. 

This time his tale of the final moments of a relationship hit home. Deflection becomes hope becomes something else. It's a note perfect film of a small moment in time. Marktanner balances it also so perfectly he never leaves us wanting. We know everything we need to know.

This is great filmmaking from a great filmmaker.

Chase this film down.

Brief thoughts on STORMBOUND (2026) SXSW 2026

This is the story of storm chaser Jeff Gammons as he finds out that his kidneys are failing on the eve of what looks to be a storm season of record proportions.

I am going to be honest and say I am all over the place concerning this film. Being released in the IMAX format the film is going to be pushed as a big screen experience and to be honest when those storm sequences hit this film will blow you away. At the same time a great deal of time is spent telling Gammons’ story, which if fine, but I’m not certain it needs to be done in IMAX. And you will forgive me about being bothered by the split nature of the film, but I watched the film from a screening link and began with the IMAX count down, which had me adjusting what I was seeing so that I would consider it as an IMAX film. I kind of wish that this was two films- a shorter film that just focused on the storm chasing moments and another feature- minus the hype of Gammons story.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a solid film, it is just its billing as a super screen film is over doing it.

Tether (2025) Cinequest 2026

 

This is the story of a father trying to deal with the loss of his daughter in a school shooting and the security guard who froze and allowed it to happen.

Director Hariharasudhen Nagarajan and writer Anghus Houvouras's TETHER is a thought provoking look at the aftermath of the all too common occurance of a school shooting. The film goes beyond the typical stories we see in the media. There are no easy answers. More importantly people don't instantly get over the bad things that happen to them. People are broken weeks after the fact. Even the "bad guy"  authorities who didn't act are not what the media or social media present them as.  Nagarajan and Houvouras have made a film that is important and should be seen because of how it peels back the layers on an important issue of our time. We clearly see the casualties beyond those struck by bullets.

At the same time I need to warn you that as good as the writing and directing is the performances are a step or two down.  While the leads are adequete they never fully sell the grief and pain the way they should have.  When the final confrontation occurs it doesn't soar because  neither actor feels as fully invested in what is happening. Yes, how they are acting is good, but it doesn't feel as though it is being lived. I wanted to be broken and I wasn't.

My quibbles on the acting aside Nagaranjan and Houvouras have made an important film. It's a film that grabs you and forces you to consider what is happening to those left behind. It wonderfully does not give answers but instead, and more importantly it gives us the room to ponder the on going national tragedy in ways that the regular media and other films have not given us.

Recommended.

Two Prosecutors (2025) opens today

During Stalin's reign of terror in 1937, a letter from a political prisoner gets out of a prison and into the hands of a state prosecutor who goes to visit the prisoner. Once there he is effectively told to go home, but he persists.

While I can sing the praises of TWO PROSECUTORS from the technical stand points, it looks great and is flawlessly acted, the truth is this is a two-hour trip to nowhere. I say that because there is a point very shortly after the prosecutor shows up that you will know how this is going to end, down to the final shot. It's going to end badly and all the extended takes and Kafka like turns can't hide it.

To be honest, I was with the film 100% during the opening sequence where a prisoner is tasked to burn letters to Stalin from the prisoners. This was something I hadn't seen before. However, once the prosecutor arrives at the gate of the prison and the film slows to a crawl as he is forced to sit and wait, walk all around the prison, take a train ride before being told to wait some more. Nothing unexpected happens and we know this good man is doomed by the corrupt system.

While not bad, it's wildly over long (this would be a fine short film) and terribly obvious.

I cannot recommend it.

Kaiju Guy (2025) NYICFF 2026

If you want to know how good KAIJU GUY is consider that I ran into people I know from the New York Asian and Japan Cuts Film Festivals who had heard how good the film.

The film is the story of a young man who works for his local ciy's PR department. The mayor wants a promotional film made for the city. When things go sideways he decides to try and make a kaiju film.

There is way more than that going on and once a certain plot twist happens this film  goes from being an amusing but kind of dispoable comedy and becomes a wonderful film about people trying to do the right thing despite their bosses telling them otherwise. The film changes and suddenly fills with emotions and warmth. Rarely have I been this invested in a group of characters as I was with the people in KAIJU GUY.

 You (and I) need to chase this film down.

One of the great films of NYICFF

My Life in Versailles (2025) NYICFF 2026

Feature expansion of the NYICFF winning film from 2020 is a glorious little film that earns every damn emotion it elicits from us.

Te film tells the story of Violet. After her parents are killed in a terrorist attack she is sent to live with her uncle Regis, who stayed away from their family. It seems her family looked down on Regis and his job as a care taker at the Pa;ace of Versailles. While Regis tries to connect, Violet chaffes. Will the pair get along.

Oh, hell yeah, and the result is a glorious film. What makes this film work is that everyone in the film is a person and most of them are broken and damaged. We connect to the pair because they are us. The joy we feel at what happens is because we have felt the pain.

This film is magic- and by the time the ending comes you will be misty and wondering when we can spend time with Violet and Regis again.

See this film.

Esta Isla (2025) opens tomorrow

A young man scrapping by begins to slide toward crime. When job goes wrong, he and his girlfriend end up running into the mountains in an effort to hide from a hit man.

This is a film that is very interested in showing a place and a way of life a bit more than it is interested in telling a compelling story. Sure, there is a narrative thrust, though thrust is too strong a word, its more a push. The characters are very much part of the life and the place on display, but the problem is that unless you are part of that life and that place it is not going to connect to you. Watching the film I could feel the cast and crew bleeding themselves and experiences into the film to create something near and dear to their heart. The trouble is it's a little too personal.

This isn't to say it's a bad film, it's not. The cast is strong, the interpersonal reactions are strong and the violence when it happens feels real. The trouble is focus on place and life leave us  a step or two outside the ring where you fall in love with what is before us.

Worth a look for those who think they may connect.

Palestine 36 (2025)

PALESTINE 36
Palestine's entry to the Oscars is the story of a young man caught up in the politics and tensions of 1930's Palestine, where the influx of European Jews is turning the status quo upside down.

This is a solid historical drama that takes the current vogue of Palestine before the Second World War tales and tries to tell a large story than that of a family caught in the march of history. I mention this because PALESTINE 36 is one of a half dozen or more films that have come out this year set in the same period, and one of at least three that is in the Oscar mix.

Of many films of a similar subject this is probably the most conventionally told, but it is also the one trying to tell a larger scale story. We are introduced to a swath of people from various groups and we are given a wider look at the politics of what is going on.

While just as good as the other films on the subject, it stands out for not taking a similar path. At the same time it is hurt by being clumped together with films that are less conventional. Don't get me wrong, I like the film, but at the same time seeing it at the end of the year in the midst of Oscar talk, I found it hard to take on it's own terms. That said I will revisit down the road.

My peronal quibbles aside PALESTNE 36 is worth a look.

Mickey, a documentary film by Dano García at SXSW

Filmmaker Dano Garcia charts ten years in the life of friend Mickey Cundapí (she/her), known artistically as Mis$ Mickey, a trans multidisciplinary performer. The film charts and reinvents the past through documentary recordings, recreations, and art.

This is a one-of-a-kind trip through a life. It’s a film that seeks to not only tell Mickey’s story but to force us to rethink the past, present and future as well as how we see the world.  It’s a film that shifts styles and points of view, which forces us to fully engage with the images and sounds coming off the screen.

Destined for a long life in the artistic festivals where the audiences are open to fully engaging with the art before them, MICKEY is a film that may frustrate the regular movie goer. I say that because the films shift of tone and style forced me to play catch up and remain engaged on its terms.  This is not a film for anyone who wants just will have a film wash over you.

I will not say if you will find this good or bad- however I will say that if you want a film to engage with, you must see MICKEY

Bird Boy (2025) NYICFF 2026

Joel Soisson's BIRD BOY is a delight. 

The film is the story of a boy named August who is sent to live with his great uncle and aunt after the death of his mother. August has been bounced around from 6 other family members and his dumping on a distant farm is his last stop.

The vast majority of this film  is not what you expect.  Yes the set up is something we've seen before but once the ostrich shows up the film goes into unexpected places. What an absolute delight.

What makes the film work is that writer director Soisson gives us real people. Almost everyone in this film isn't a cliche and we lean into the film as a result. Soisson also makes sure we love the people on screen by giving us great actors, including Tia Leoni. 

I absolutely loved this. It surprised me at almost every turn.

You need to see this film. Its wonderful.

Two at NYICFF- Thoughts on the final episodes of MOOMINVALLEY and a non review of GRANDFATHER WAS A NIHONJIN

MY GRANDFATHER IS A NIHONJIN
This is a brief note to say that I am not going to be reviewing MY GRANDFATHER IS A NIHONJIN which played this past weekend at the NYICFF. I can’t fairly comment on how the film because the English dub was incredibly bad. There was no life in the vocal performances, with the accent given to the grandfather being in the territory of old school Hollywood stereotypical. I’m also not certain about the English script which seemed to simplify everything down way too much. I can’t honestly believe that the film script would make things that simplistic. I am told the original version plays much better so I will wait to do a review then.

MOOMINVALLEY
Stretching things out for a final year, NYICFF ran the final three remaining episodes of the British series MOOMINVALLEY.  There are no more episodes to run since the series finished production several years ago and despite attempts to continue the series finally shut down.   Coming from the very start of the series the festival had held off running the episodes because they weren’t as good as all of the later episodes.

The three episodes are sequential with the first episode having Mymble bringing her brood in late winter to crash at the Moomin home until midsummer. The episodes set up most of the characters including the Moomins and Little Mai. There is a variation on the tale that was told in a later episode. It doesn’t play as well as what would follow. The second episode was focused on Snufkin who was on his way to see Moomin Troll and was trying to compose a new Spring song. It’s an okay episode. The final episode has Snufkin arriving at the Moomin home just as Moomin Troll captures a baby dragon which causes a rift between friends.  It's another okay episode, which doesn’t live up to later episodes.