This is a very clever little film with a nasty sting in its tale. Running a breezy three minutes it’s kind of hard to write on since there isn’t much I can say without spoiling it.
That said, this is destined to be kicking around the festival circuit so definitely make an effort to see it.
This is a solid, if small scale thriller that is getting notice because Steven Soderbergh is presenting it. I’m not sure what he found so thrilling about the film that he felt the need to help promote it but he has.
My uncertainty about the great director’s attachment to the project aside, this is a good thriller. It’s a high tech game with the robbers trying to crack the encryption so they can get the cash out. That doesn’t always make for the most exciting of scenes as people are frequently typing or talking at screens (forgive me I’m not a fan of films with people at screens). That said the action bits do pop to life.
While I enjoyed the film, it never really soars. Partly it’s the slow down when people are at computers and part is this is a little bit too much by the numbers. We’ve seen variations on this tale, just not involving computers.
Worth a look on a quiet night.
Some how these very brief reviews of horts from Dances With Films from last year ended up scheduled randomly in the middle of this year.
YOU ARE HERE
An insurance salesman has an existential crisis when he discovers the size of the galaxy
Okay short film doesn't really stick the landing. It seems to be building to a grand revelation that never really comes.
PRINCETON'S IN THE MIX
A mother finds out her son will get extra time on the SAT if he is disabled.
Much too long shaggy dog that goes exactly where and how you think it will. It's well done but you will really wish they had spent more time to make the ending less obvious.
SALLY GET THE POTATOES
Young girl hides in the family laundry cart at christmas and learns everyone's secrets.
Form over content short that doesn't add up to much
Charming science fiction film doesn't break any new ground but at the same time it is extremely entertaining. I smiled and laughed my way though the film.
The reason the film works is the cast is letter perfect. We not only believe everyone on screen, we also like them. This point is key to accepting the two actors play Oscar. We need to believe that the young actor will grow up to be the older one and we do.
The film also benefits from a audio cassette powered 1980's soundtrack. The music is a mix of songs you really know and some you haven't heard in ages which sells the whole affair since we wouldn't just hear the big hits in 1989.
This is a sweet little film. Being able to find a sweet little film like this is the reason that I love NYICFF. They schedule these wonderful off the radar films that you walk out of and want share with friends and family. Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket for the screenings this weekend and next.
Recommended.
This film is just glorious.
The film is the story of 12 year old Benny. His parents are divorced, puberty hit and he started to gain weight. He loves to cook and he loves to make music with his friends. As he gains weight the people around him try to help him lose weight, but it’s tough.
This film just works from top to bottom. It’s got great characters, fantastic music and sense of life that sucks you in. It’s a film that caught me unaware. I say this because it started and I wasn’t certain it was going to be my cup of tea, then the song began and I warmed up, and then Benny said “We’re at the age where when we get thrown out of the play ground we have no where to go.” And I fell head over heels in love with the wisdom.
This is just a great film and it kills me because it isn’t Disney or Pixar or from Japan and as a result it may get lost in America and other parts of the world. People don’t gravitate toward films like this and it’s a sin. This film is light years beyond what Disney and Pixar is doing. It packs a punch that goes in your gut and stays there.
I absolutely love this film
A must see.
The film is the story of Mona, a Kurdish girl who fled the war in Syria and ended up in Germany at a new school. She doesn't fit in with the other kids. But her love of soccer wins her friends and a place on the indorr soccer team.
This is not what you expect. Yes it's a trip to the championships-the title is WINNERS after all- but the film has a great deal more going on including a look at friendship, the creation of a team, being a refugee, being a kid, families, war and a few other things. It's a film that has a lot going on but never loses it's way.
Actually this film is so packed with stuff that there was a point when I thought the film was done because there was a moment that waould have been the climax for any other film. Instead WINNERS just blew past it and kept going for another hour. I'm not complaining, rather I'm amazed that it never lagged. I was exhausted by the end but I was also misty because this film earns every emotion it squeezes out of us.
This film is glorious.
An absolute must see when it plays at NYICFF this weekend- or where ever you can track it down.
While this film is funny, the film is actually a deadly serious look at the experience of veterans returning from war. Yes it's funny the way that Zoe comments on everything, but there is something heavier going on. The why of Zoe is crushing when we find out. The other threads of such ass survivors guilt, and the macho military attitude are beautifully laid out.
The cast is great. Sonequa Martin-Green is awards worthy as Merit. Natalie Morales is wonderful as Zoe. The big names of Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris are perfect in their smaller roles. They add a gravitas to the whole film.
To be honest if it wasn't for one thing, this film would be in the running for my best of the year list. The problem is that as good as everything is, writer director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes doesn't blend things as well as he should have. The funny Zoe bits work against the serious Merit bits. The two parts are great on their own but for a lot of the film they don't work together. The reason is that they are treated almost as separate films with some of how Zoe acts/reacts being too much as if she were alive.
That said the film still works, and is still great. I highly recommend it.
The film follows the adventures of Guo Jin, a member of the Song, who was raised as the adoptive son o Genghis Khan. He had set out to find his way in the world and had fallen in love with a young woman name Huang Rong. She helped him become a great martial artist however they had a falling out, however when they calmed down they began to try and find each other only to end up in the middle of the war between the Mongols and the Jin armies. Complicating matters is the fact that a master named Venom West is seeking the secret of the Novem Scripture which will give him unlimited power.
This time out its a sprawling epic action/romance/fantasy that is heavily enhanced by computer effects. In all honesty if they didn't use effects this film could never have been made. Armies that big and wonders than enchanting don't exist in real life. Once you decide to ignore the uneven nature of it this film is a great deal of fun.
I had a blast with LEGENDS. Its a big epic of the sort few people attempt any more. The action is spectacular with a couple of bits resulting in my talking out loud. More importantly we have great characters. Sure some like Venom West are cartoony, but we still care about them.This is the sort of film that will make people fall in love with crazy martial arts epics...
...or mostly. The problem here is that as good as the ends of the film are there is a deadly middle section that slows it all down. In the middle Guo returns to the Mongols and is heralded a hero. He is loved by princess, who had just rescued Rong from Venom West just before Guo's return. What follows is roughly an hour of soap opera as the two women pine for their man, the Princess unaware that Rong is the woman Guo threw her over for. It's not bad but is slows the film to a crawl.
That said the film picks up in the final third and it's full of rousing action.
I had a grand time with the film. I actually wish I had a chance to see this in 3D because some of the shots would have been amazing with extra dimensions.
A couple of people I spoke with compared this film to Hark's classic ZU WARRIORS films, but honestly I liked this more. I appreciated that the film had a more solid plot than the earlier ones.
If you can get out and see this in a theater before it gets pulled, do so. It truly is a big screen movie.
Recommended.
I was not a fan of the early part of this film which was the set up. We’d been there before and Michael was in sufferable. I wanted to drown the kid. However once Michael is stranded the film begins to pick up and by the time the orangutans show up I was fully invested. Then by the time end came I was an emotional mess.
I absolutely loved this film a great deal. The emotional arc was masterful and the fact the film doesn’t shy away from sadness (the ending is heart breaking) or disturbing (you though the death of Bambi’s mother was bad, you ain’t seen nothing) gives the film an emotional weight that is rare in any film, never mind animated. I think Joe Bendel was correct in comparing the film to the film THE RED TURTLE from a few years back since it was the last time I remember an animated film had this much weight.
Part of the reason the film works is the animation and the vocal performances. Rarely has character animation been this good in any films. The characters seem alive, both human and animal with each one given small nuances that make them more life like then even your typical Studio Ghibli release. Add to it a vocal performance as good as the one Ken Wantanabe gives and you instantly have something that should be in the running for a Best Actor Oscar. I’m serious about that.
This is something you need to see, and bring tissues because you will get misty.
The best of the bunch is LES BETES (a full review elsewhere) which is a stop motion homage to 1930 animator Ladislas Starevich films.
The other film I liked was deluge DELUGE. Its an ever growing hand drawn animated film that is a visual delight.
As I said the rest didn't stick with me to write them up.
The film keeps the political machinations and inner workings of the Vatican mercifully simple for non-Catholics. A pope dies. A conclave of cardinals must assemble to elect a new one. The man tasked with running the show is one Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), a man of solemn devotion to duty and very human doubts about his faith. As voting begins favorites emerge among the pack of candidates. There’s a blowhard traditionalist from Italy who resents all the social progress the Church has made since the reforms of Vatican II. There’s an American liberal who wants to expand the role of women in the Church. There’s a Nigerian conservative vying to become the first African pope. And there’s a Canadian moderate who’s not above a little wheeling and dealing with his fellow cardinals. As vote after vote leads to deadlock, Lawrence finds himself untangling conspiracies that might make or break the most popular candidates.
What makes Conclave unique is how seriously and earnestly it considers the theological implications of its intrigues. Time and again the point is made that the cardinals are fallible human beings, each with their own flaws and shortcomings. There can be no perfectly moral candidate, so how much sin is too much to disqualify someone from becoming pope? Can decades of penance and devoted ministry wash away scandals that are decades old? Is Machiavellian politicking among voters justifiable if it means the “right” candidate gets elected? Are the burdens of the Holy See too great for any one man at all? These are the questions that bubble beneath the surface of the film, keeping it from becoming nakedly sensationalist despite several shocking twists and turns. The result is a tense thriller with a heart, a brain, and a soul.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION
A man hears an audio descrition of his life...and confronts the man doing audio decription. Off kilter comedy about the voices we hear in our heads. I've seen other similar films, but this one pulls it off the best because they keep it closer to real.
CLEANSE
Incredibly brief and deeply distubing short about an obsession with washing hands
PROJECT DAD
The relationship between Camilla and her father, a pick up expert who is exploring alternate spiritual viewpoints. This is an intriguing look at a father daughter dynamic that kind of runs out of steam somewhere in the middle
POSSUM
This is the story of a man who beats possum to death and then brings the corpse back to his group of friends. This is an off kilter attempt at something that didn't seem to really work as it tries to become about something.
The film is the story of two friends dealing with a shared grief who decide to bike through the desert before one of them goes to join a religious order… but in actuality it isn’t and it’s so much more. The film is more a mental and psychic journey that mirrors the journey of the women on screen.
I am going to assume that when you watch THE BUILDOUT you are going to sit and give yourself over to the film. I’m going to hope that you see it in a darkened theater or room with no distractions. I say that because the film is very deliberately put together. The POV shift from objective to subjective, from standard cinematic presentation to found footage and back again. This is a trip of a film that you need to go on from start to finish with out taking any side breaks or looking away.
I’m not going to say a lot about the film not because it’s bad, but because while the film does ponder friendship, loss and moving on, as well as several other themes and subjects (religion, aliens), I found the one discussion I had about the film ended up not just discussing the film and it’s topics but our own feelings and our own lives. The discussions focused on how the film kicked up feelings and made us fell in regard to our own lives. The discussion was a give and take and not just a statement of “fact”. Because of this I’m not going to “review” the film but point you to it. You need to see it and experience it and discuss it and how it effects you with other people who’ve seen it.
Films like THE BUILDOUT are why cinema is a social pursuit.
Highly recommended
This is the second of several looks at the Slamdance shorts from Caitlin and Brent.
Lumbago
Surreal comedy in which a shaggy dog story is told to a captive audience on a hot summer day. A deliberately strange and uncomfortable film with an assortment of odd characters and an animated sequence holding it together. An actual shaggy dog makes an appearance.
The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste
The line between imagination and reality is disturbingly blurred as two young girls play at adult relationships. Perfectly captures the creepy absurdity and drama of childhood games.
The plot has a debt collector discovering a portal to hell in the local laundromat. It transpires that it opened so that a demon can cross over and take the collectors next door neighbor who is, by all accounts a great guy. As things go he begins to feed people into the portal in the hope of saving his friend.
There is a great film locked in this story, but this isn't it. As much as I love almost everything about the film, I absolutely hate the matter of fact tone. That would work except that the film alternately tries to play things as a horror film (it's lit that way) or didn't know what to feel or think. Forgive me the story and the performances but the director's choices work against the audience connecting to it.
Give the film points for trying but the film never satisfies.
COMPLICATED
This is a look at young people who have complicated diagnosis. Their diseases are not things easily treated and as a result they fall between the cracks of the medical safety net. This is a solid doc about the trouble with insurance and government programs. Recommended.
Don't go into this film looking to hear the hits and feel good, that isn't this film. In a world where we are getting glorious tribute films where performers look back the glories of their lives, we finally get a film about the the dark side of fame. It's a heartbreaking tale of some performers who not only fell from the top but fell into the dumpster.
I honestly don't know what to say but this film hit me like a ton of bricks. Its my own fault since thanks to a steady stream of happy docs I kind of forgot that this sort of thing can happen. Truth be told if you know any aspiring stars main lining triumphant docs about the entertainment industry they need to be shown this so they know what can happen,
This film is going to make you stare at the the screen slack jaw and disbelieving and as such is recommended.
This funny little film shouldn’t work but the choice of shooting it as if it were a kind of documentary brilliantly makes the film from a comedy into a real life adventure. It also helps that the cast and crew enlisted real people to help with their mad game so it feels even more real.
I had a blast.
Recommended.
...And if you are not a friend or family or a fan the odds are you are going to feel lost. This film just starts and goes and assumes you know who Bartell was and who all of the people talking are. It's an interesting story but the problem is that there is nothing by way of an introduction. It just starts and goes and hopes either you're on the same page as the filmmakers ot thatyou'll catch up. While I enjoyed the stories, I didn't like them as much as I should have because the film didn't give me enough context.
I still don't know who the hell Bill Bartell was and frankly this film didn't make me want to go find out. My one memory of watching the film was sequence where someone was explaining Bartell's efforts to get someone to play gigs in the US and realizing I had no idea what any of this was about because there was no context to any part of the story and pondering if I should just stop watching the film because I was utterly clueless.
A disappointment.
I liked this but I didn't love it. I'm a behind the scenes Disney stories junkie and I have watched similar You Tube videos and I've read some articles on the subject. For me this was good but not great. The problem is that the film doesn't have enough to it to fill a feature running time. This feels like an expanded episode of a TV documentary series or a YouTube video.
That said if you ever wanted to o behind the scenes at Disney in a non-white washed manner this film is for you.
If that doesn't make sense don't feel bad. There is probably nothing I could ell you about this film that will prepare you for what it is. That's not a bad thing. It is in fact a very good thing because it means no matter what I say you will be surprised.
This film at first confused me because I had no idea what it was doing and then I just was so intrigued that by the time I got to the end I wanted it to keep going because I was having so much fun just riding around.
What an absolute joy
All films should result in the audience sitting there in wide eyed wonder traveling where ever the director goes,
In all honestly I can't say anything about this film other than just see it because that is the only way to do it justice.
One of the great discoveries of 2025. See it where you can.
The always wonderful New York International Children’s Film Festival starts Friday and all is well with the world. (Tickets Here)
Thismaybe my most favorite festival of all time. I’ve been going since the second year and I’ve had a blast every time.
Started by parents who wanted to find the best films for their kids the festival has grown into one of the most important anywhere in the world Tto play here is such a huge deal, so last year Japanese studio Toei made a big deal when their film MAGIC CANDIES played the festival because it meant something to have the film premiere here to the international film community. It’s also an Oscar qualifying fest, which means that the films can get into the running for the Oscars if they win an award. And it’s the birth place of GKids, the film distributor which is responsible for keeping the Studio Ghibli films in constant circulation.
The most important thing is that this is the place to see great films, period, full stop. With rare exception the films that play here have always been among the best you will see all year. I don’t know what voodoo that they do but the films all kick serious buttocks and produce smiles, even as they break your heart. Everyone leaves delighted.
I love this festival.
I love this festival so much that I have been dragging friends and family to it for decades. I bring everyone I can because even though they more often then not have no idea what the films are, I know they are going to be things that they will love with their hearts and souls when they are over.
The key thing that everyone needs to know is that the festival is not just for kids. Yes it’s nominally a children’s festival the films are such that they are great for everyone. While mostly its families attending, there are few of us hearty souls who make the trek and to see the films and dodge the t-shirts tossed because we know we are going to see the films that are going to rock our world forthe rest of the year.
I am deadly serious: If you live in New York and you love movies or cinema or films than you have to go because there is magic here. (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A KID)
This year I’ve bought a full festival pass and I’m going to see a ton of films. Everything from shorts to the new Michel Gondry.
KENSUKE’S KINGDOM is the grossly underseen adventure film that played at the festival last year. It’s the story of a young man who gets shipwrecked on an island with his dog. Its as good as films come, though bring tissues because there is one heartbreaking scene that will rock your world. The other is LIVING LARGE which is about being an overweight outsider, and it is a note perfect film. I lived this and I know how right on target it is. Buy tickets and go to both. (I’m reposting my reviews toward the end of the week)
[ADDENDUM: As this posts I've seen a couple more films and I have to say if you want to spend all day in the dark and see three sure fire hits go next Saturday (March 1) to Scandanavia House and see KENSUKE'S KINGDOM, SALTA! and WINNERS. Its three of the best films of the fest (KENSUKES was on my best of 2024 and WINNERS is an early choice for best of 2025) Reviews of WINNERS and SALTA! post in a couple of days]
As for everything else reviews are coming. I have tickets for 12 or 13 screenings and I may do more. Ultimately I should have reviews of all of the feature films and about half of the shorts. Because I am seeing everything at the fest there is no way to do must see list - however the festival is so strongly programmed you can not go wrong with anything you get tickets for.
Trust me you need to come join me because this is going to be the best time you have at the movies all year.
TICKETS AND MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE (And if something sells out do go to the theater anyway because most times you can get in via stand by.)
This dystopian take on America and right wing conservatism is has a lot going for it. It creates a nice sense of place and has some wonderful set pieces.
The trouble is that the film is very much intent on making a point and provoking a reaction and the result is a film that keeps us distanced from the events happening on screen because they never fully feel real or real world. The film never thinks fully past the point it's trying to make so the world feels a bit unreal.
Still the film does generate tension and as a thriller in a not so alternate universe, the film is gangbusters. I love that how it goes is not remotely how I would have guessed.
Recommended as a solid thriller with issues on its mind.
I honestly don't know if this film is making fun of Clowdus and his actors or whether the film is in their corner. I say this because quite honestly this film plays like a real world Christopher Guest film. Remember Waiting For Gufman? This is like that.
My feelings for the film are not particularly favorable. Outside of a montage of Clowdus saying epic, I didn't much care for this. Clowdus and his cast are rather self absorbed. I don't know if this is the way they really are or if they are playing to the camera. While we don't need to like the subject of a film we do need to connect, because without it there is no reason to watch. I never connected because I don't think the film knows what to make of its subject.
I don't know if this film has a reason to exist.
For those curious the show they are preparing ran 50 minutes and is one of the many "experiences" Clowdus has presented. (details can be found here: https://brianclowdus.com/performances)
This is the story of Ben Kjar. He was born with Crouzon Syndrome which made his face and head grow irregularly. It also made him smaller than most people his age growing up. Kjar found joy in sports and his passion in wrestling. Through pigheadedness and endless drive he managed to become the best in the country.
I loved this film. It is a glorious portrait of a young man who didn’t let the world or his medical issue stop him. The result is a tale that earns every tear it produces.
While the film is mostly structured like a typical documentary, director Tanner Christensen knows it doesn’t matter since the arc of the film is so spectacular and that Ben and his family are so compelling that you don’t need to spruce things up. He just tells the story and let the emotion and connection bleed off the screen.
I can not tell you how moving this film is. If you ever wanted to know why you should never ever give up this story explain why and it will give you hope. Ben was a tiny guy who never could win, but he had the drive and the will to keep going. As a result of his constant driving forward he gained traction and ended up changing the world of everyone around him.
It is also an very important film about why you should never ever judge a person by how they look because the person you make fun of just may change the world.
This is one of the best films of 2025. I cannot recommend it enough.
And bring tissues.
Bloque
A drummer struggles with creative block, his progress both disrupted and inspired by fragments of memory. I enjoyed watching the disconnected story come together, and I always appreciate music and rhythm as a means to construct a story.
Chickenboy
An isolated farmer and his half-chicken offspring aspire to a more exciting life. Intentionally silly and schlocky, with cartoonish gross-out humor - you will not be disappointed if that is your cup of tea.
Clementine
The titular character contemplates taking a new step in transition, while receiving guidance (and a whimsical tour of the vagina) from caring queer friends and unwelcome objectification from strangers. Clementine’s vulnerability is particularly painful to watch given current events.
