Honey Don't! (2025)

While I appreciated the intention of Ethan Coen's and Tricia Cooke's first installment of their lesbian B-movie trilogy, Drive Away Dolls, I struggled to fully get in tune with its wavelength. The film took large helpings of Coen caper hallmarks and tossed them into the blender with coming-of-age road trip energy and some genuinely weird stylistic decisions. I could see the charm and I lauded the frank sexuality of the film, but the result was more live action cartoon than classic drive-in programmer. Now we have Dolls' spiritual sequel - Honey Don't - which maintains some of the same ethos of its predecessor translated to a neo-noir detective story. Margaret Qualley stars again, this time as the titular private investigator in and around an palpably dusty Bakersfield, CA. The story begins with a classic set up - a potential client for Honey turns up dead. The local police, led by a inept Charlie Day, declare it an accident but Honey starts to tease at the deeper details. She winds up digging into a local cult led by Chris Evans and as well as in bed with a world weary policewoman played by Aubrey Plaza. The plot beats will be recognizable to anyone familiar with pulp detective tropes - drugs, corruption, a missing girl, a femme fatale, even a classic protagonist blackout. However, they don't cohere in a particularly satisfying way and at the end of its brisk 88 minutes, you may find yourself with more questions than answers.

I confess that I quite enjoyed Qualley as Honey O'Donahue. Her hard drinking, hard quipping, sexually motivated if emotionally unavailable P.I. had enough grit and style to appeal even if the character wasn't totally revelatory. I cannot fathom why Coen and Cooke insist on having Qualley do accents, but I found her New York tinged dialogue less distracting than her wildly outsized drawl from the previous film. Oddly, it is revealed that O'Donahue is a local which leaves her accent as much of a mystery as her immaculate 40s inspired wardrobe. This is a common thread throughout the film - aspects of both the plot and the world are introduced and the reasons behind their existence are rarely revealed. It's as if Coen and Cooke were reading Chandler and decided that the success of The Big Sleep is due to the incoherence of its plot and not in spite of it. We're introduced to Reverend Drew Devlin (Evans), his bizarre cult, and the criminal activity that underpins it early in the film - Honey's investigation naturally leads her on a collision course straight to them. Evans accounts reasonably well for himself and it functions as a fair critique of evangelical grifters - but how this figures into the central mystery of the film comes off as flimsy by the finale. Two aspects of Honey do satisfy even after the credits roll - One is some absolutely ridiculous gory violence and the second is the heat between Honey and Aubrey Plaza's MG. Their initial meet and first "date" rekindle some of that fervent sexual energy from Dolls though, as this is a ultimately a more pessimistic film, the good times cannot last. 

I think the attempt here was to capture some of the strange, laconic atmosphere that a handful of the reinvented noirs of the 70s employed (Less Chinatown and more The Big Fix) and that speaks to me. There's an almost dreamlike sequence where Honey considers the existence of the downtrodden in Bakersfield and how that connects to the local bus. It reminded me in a small way of the Art Carney obscurity and personal favorite - The Late Show. I fear I may projecting more of Coen's and Cooke's influences on Honey than what actually turns up on the screen. Of course the tone of those earlier films - not exactly laugh out loud funny, not particularly action packed, deliberately esoteric - didn't win over many fans at the time, either. Whether this is truly reaching back towards those orphaned genre curiosities or just a bit of a muddle will likely require another watch from me - however, I think I'll be happy to do so.

Americana (2025)

It can be difficult not to note the influence of Pulp Fiction when you're faced with a film like Americana - feature debut from writer/director Tony Tost. Despite Americana's rural South Dakotan (with a touch of Wyoming) setting, I immediately started drawing connections to Tarantino's iconic L.A. crime tale  - Somewhat elliptical narrative, discreet titled chapters, unflinchingly violent, still quite funny in parts, and a noticeably intentional musical palette.  There's even a classic moment of a tough guy (a Native American resistance fighter brilliantly played by Zahn McClarnon) discussing the pop cultural influences that led him to adopting his current moniker, Ghost Eye.  I wouldn't call Americana derivative, though, and I think Tost brings a thoughtfulness to his film that helps nail down a tone that many attempt and few manage well. In addition to the crime milieu, Tost is also playing with the Western genre and this is where Americana gets the most interesting for me. I'm not the world's foremost expert on horse operas, but I caught more than one verbal and visual reference to notable predecessors - Old shoot em' ups on television screens, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid is invoked, and a doorway shot that could have been plucked right out of Sergio Leone film. The archetypes of the genre are also clearly on display - Americana features contemporary incarnations of cowboys and Indians and eventually sets them in conflict against each other. In this story, the fight isn't a territorial dispute but one over a piece of cultural history, a ghost shirt, appropriated by an affluent white man and considered valuable enough that other men will steal and kill to get their hands on it. 

Desire drives most of the noirish narrative in Americana - the shirt represents a chance at wealth and an opportunity to get out of South Dakota. Halsey's Mandy wants to sell the shirt to finally break free of all the toxic men in her life and find somewhere safe for her little brother Cal (who, often hilariously, believes he is the reincarnation of Sitting Bull). Sydney Sweeney's Penny Jo dreams of a singing career in Nashville, despite her stammering speech, and sees the shirt as her ticket out. Regardless of their flaws, Tost demonstrates a real affection for his characters and that affection is best demonstrated by Paul Walter Hauser playing the guileless, lovelorn Lefty Ledbetter. Unlike the other characters in the film, Lefty isn't looking for riches - he only wants to fall in love and share his life with a nice girl. The object of his affections becomes Penny Jo which inevitably pulls him into the hunt for the ghost shirt - misguided maybe, but hardly greedy. 

Each party and faction is inexorably drawn to the shirt for a final showdown at an off -grid Wyoming compound that isn't explicitly defined but is clearly driven by some kind of patriarchal, separatist hierarchy. The plot mechanics that pull everyone to this conflict faltered a bit for me, but the climax absolutely delivers in the kind of glorious shootout worthy of the best Westerns. The final moments involve both emotional reunifications and some tragic departures - but I especially appreciate that the women of the film (so often abused and overlooked in even the best examples of the genre) are granted the most catharsis and get at least some of what they were looking for.

Americana is darkly funny, violent, and presents an authentic and unique sense of place. It's getting a theatrical release this week (8/15) and is well worth seeking out.

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Two-Fisted Soul - Truck Tuner (1974)

This review was originally published in Klon Waldrip's Ghastly Horror Society zine. I've republished it here in memoriam of Jonathan Kaplan.

Big Brother is Comin’ and He’s Comin’ On Strong!

All American International Pictures wanted out of Truck Turner was a kickass Isaac Hayes score and enough action footage to cut a decent trailer. The script had been bouncing around for years and when it failed to come together as hardboiled crime flick intended for Bob Mitchum or Lee Marvin, the producers decided to make it a “black” movie and reached out to Hayes. AIP’s hope was to replicate the double fisted success of Shaft and deliver decent box office performance alongside a hit record. For his part, Hayes was willing to ink the music deal provided he got to star in the movie (after winning the original song Oscar for Shaft, he had no shortage of offers). Jonathan Kaplan had been attached to direct since the Mitchum/Marvin discussions and wasn’t sure what to make of the “Black Moses of Soul” but went out to meet his new leading man. The two hit it off almost immediately due to their shared love of Otis Redding, Kaplan’s passing resemblance to Stax Records stalwart Donald “Duck” Dunn, and a mutual conviction that the film as written wasn’t much fun. They agreed that to better suit both Hayes’ temperament and their artistic convictions, they’d inject the straightforward crime story with humor and heart while still delivering on the tunes and action enough to fill five trailers.

When He’s Baddest, He’s the Best!

Truck Turner’s set up changed very little from the early drafts, but the plot did go through some evolution – Mac “Truck” Turner was a former gridiron star turned .357 Magnum packing skip tracer in L.A. He and his partner Jerry take a risky job to bring in a violent pimp by the name of Gator. Gator is killed in the pursuit and his lover and stable madam, Dorinda, offers a bounty of her stable of women to any pimp in L.A. who can take Turner out. The details are heavy, but the delivery is light. Turner is introduced as a slovenly, oversleeping cat-dad (Harry Callahan, he ain’t) and he and Jerry (Alan Weeks) give each other shit over cars and women. When Turner indulges in a fistfight with a racist blowhard they’re hauling in, Jerry rolls his eyes like he’s seen this dozens of times before. Besides his friendship with Jerry, Turner’s relationship with his thief girlfriend Annie (Annazette Chase) infuses a lot of heart to the film. Hayes’ performance is solid, he’s essentially playing himself on camera, but Chase is good enough to bring substantial emotional heft to their scenes. Nichelle Nichols undeniably steals the whole damn show as Dorinda. Tough, foul mouthed, and mean – apparently Nichelle adlibbed much of Dorinda’s dialogue and she crams as many “bitches” and “motherfuckers” into every scene as she can. Heartbreakingly for genre fans, this was a one-off performance for Nichols who would immediately retire from the blaxploitation racket. Fortunately, she left us with gems like “Gentlemen, this is my family. These all prime cut bitches, $238,000 worth of dynamite. It's Fort Knox in panties.” Rounding out the main cast is Yaphet Kotto as Harvard Blue, the hardest and most pragmatic of the L.A. pimps. Kotto wasn’t particularly interested in Turner but he was going through a divorce and needed the scratch. In a way, this works for his character. While everyone else in the film seems to be having the time of their lives; Harvard Blue brings a sober, “sick of your shit” attitude that pairs beautifully with Kotto’s inherent gravitas. It’s not the most charming Kotto’s been on screen, but he makes you believe that he’s bad.

When He Gets It On, the Action Takes Off!

Kaplan was well aware of what his producers were looking for in the dailies and his attitude towards action sequences was that if they were completely over-the-top, he could maintain a more lighthearted tone. He absolutely nails that in some sequences: during a high-speed car chase, a pimp barrels through a baby cart filled with bagels for no discernable reason. The “Pimp Funeral” is one of the more notorious sequences in the film: a procession of candy colored “pimpmobiles” delivers a coterie of Gator’s associates decked out in everything from mourning veils to rainbow wigs to jeweled eyepatches (the look of the working girls was supposedly derived from the Pointer Sisters). Along with his editor, Michael Kahn (Spielberg’s go-to guy for decades), Kaplan’s facility for visual storytelling makes for stylish, propulsive, hard-hitting (they used the punching sounds from Enter the Dragon) filmmaking even if visual continuity gets tossed out the window on occasion. Because the crew had to work fast and on-budget, they utilize a ton of fantastic location footage from mid-70s L.A.: fistfights and chases erupt through Skid Row, dive bars, insane mansions, and even a water treatment plant. Kaplan also cranks the violence up to eleven showcasing some blood-drenched brutality. There’s a distinct shift in tone for the final 30 minutes of the film resulting in some truly visceral shootouts and carnage. Is it funny? I’m not so sure that it is, but it’s cinematic as hell.

By 1974 the initial wave of blaxploitation pictures was losing steam. Both Shaft and Superfly were subjected to less heralded sequels and studios were beginning to combine elements of horror or martial arts to help invigorate the genre. Truck Turner distinguished itself from the pack with its comedic leanings and freewheeling style. It’s not the toughest blaxploitation flick, and it’s certainly not the meanest, but it’s arguably the most fun. See it now, see it again, and see it with an audience if you can. 

She Rides Shotgun (2025)

She Rides Shotgun is a film I've been looking forward to since hearing its announcement. It arrives boasting serious talent behind the camera including director Nick Rowlands (Calm with Horses) and a screenplay from Super Dark Times writers Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. However, my enthusiasm was mostly due to my having so loved the source novel of the same title by Jordan Harper. Harper has unleashed a handful of books that incorporate economical prose, gritty violence, and a genuine facility for cinematic fights, chases, and twisty reveals. Of course, adaptations of even the finest written work can falter when translated to film and I did have questions on how some aspects of the novel would be incorporated. However, I'm happy to report that Shotgun delivers a taut, well executed, potently performed genre piece that may be the perfect antidote to anyone fatiguing from blockbuster season.

The story of the film, in broad strokes, is essentially that of the book: Nate McClusky (Taron Egerton) has recently been released from prison - however he earned the enmity of a powerful Aryan gang while inside and now has a "green light" for his death as well as the death of his family hanging over him. Nate finds his daughter Polly (Ana Sophia Heger) so that the two can hide, survive, and possibly escape the threat of murderous gang members and those in their sphere of influence. Polly, who hasn't seen Nate in years, is naturally suspicious and frightened and what follows is as much a story of the two learning to relate to one another as it is a chase story - though it is still punctuated with tense sequences of action and violence. The success of the film is heavily indebted to the stand out performances from the two leads. Egerton, against type, manages to convincingly walk the tightrope between an edgy ex-con capable of intense physical brutality when called upon and a genuinely caring parent. Ana Sophia Heger may well be giving the child performance of the year, absolutely embodying the intelligent, independent Polly who is both keenly perceptive but also still a young child being subjected to a tsunami of emotional trauma. The first 15 minutes of the film beautifully establish Nate and Polly's rapport with each other - allowing their mutual suspicion to pare away naturally and give way to a fragile, but vital, trust.

Shotgun features some tremendous supporting roles as well, notably John Carroll Lynch as the sheriff in a county outside of Albuquerque (where much of the film takes place) that also happens to house one of the largest meth labs in the state. Lynch is capable of both a folksy charisma and chilling menace and transitions seamlessly between them in a scene where he questions and tortures a wayward heroin mule caught in his territory. My favorite bit of casting has to be  Rob Yang as Detective John Park. Park, in the novel, is written as a committed career investigator who is obsessed with the chase and finding his quarry. Yang does embody some of this aspect but he also delivers it with an intellectual remove that adds another layer of interest to the character. I'm mostly familiar with Yang as a television actor but I would love to see him lead a crime/thriller film of his own.

Stylistically, Shotgun feels like a film with a real budget behind it. There are some breathtaking shots of the New Mexico landscape at twilight that give way to almost alien darkness dotted with city lights stretching out into the distance. The exteriors are paired with some novel neo-noir interiors including a dimly lit roadside trailer "trucker's chapel." Much of the movie centers on the evolving relationship between Nate and Polly, but the action is visceral when it arrives. The fight sequences are awkward and nasty - feeling much more like the reality of violence than action movie choreography. The film does allow for a highly cinematic car chase between Nate and the local police - it bends plausibility but never breaks it and it's hard to resist genre goods delivered so expertly. The climax lands somewhat clumsily for me, but it's still a solid action sequence that allows for some fantastically villainous stuff from Lynch. The denouement again gives Heger a platform to capture startling emotional complexity from a performer so young.

She Rides Shotgun is getting a limited theatrical release starting today (08/01/2025) and I would highly recommend you seek it out if it is playing near you. A friend recently asked me if mid-budget crime films and thrillers are clawing their way back into the theater and I'd like to think that they are. This one is too good to miss.

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Best New-to-Me: May 2025

 For a variety of reasons, I've been struggling to get a new post up for a bit - but I'm finally back in the saddle for another BNtM update. I wound up skipping April as I had already written long posts for MSPIFF and my film viewing began to trail off a bit after that. May started off somewhat slowly as well but things picked up as I made a second NYC trip for the year and I did both some writing for Perisphere and appeared on the Trylove podcast in relation to the Trylon's screening of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. I've also been catching press screenings as I can and trying to start knocking out potential films for the second volume of Apache Revolver. I still have a few copies of the first issue so do not hesitate to reach out if you're interested in one. June arrived with heat and wildfire haze  and then transitioned to rain and still more smoke. The prospect of staying close to home and mainlining esoteric genre film is very appealing to me and I normally participate in the F This Movie! Junesploitation film challenge. This year I decided to sit out of themed challenges and focus on zine related viewing - all the while balancing the onslaught of summer new releases. Anyway, let's chat about what I watched last month.

New to Me!

The Drop (2014) - One of a few posthumous James Gandolfini films and one that quite honestly flew well under my radar. Written by Dennis Lehane (based on his short story that he then novelized after the movie?) and featuring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace alongside Gandolfini, I found Drop to be a totally worthwhile entry to working-class, bottom of the heap crime operative oeuvre. This isn't the masterpiece that something like Coyle is but that's okay. Hardy does another weird accent, but his character is a bit of an oddball so it seems fitting. Gandolfini does a terrific job embodying a criminal archetype totally dissimilar from the one he's best known for. Worth checking out!

The Lady in a Black Dress (1987) - An absolute stunner of a neo-noir with an insanely gorgeous opening sequence. This is largely the story of Reiko (Tomoyo Harada) who is part drifter, part innocent, and ultimately a kind of femme fatale for anyone drawn into her orbit. It's a deeply atmospheric, almost art-film take on the hardboiled Yakuza story. It's filled with gangsters and violence (the always amazing Bunta Sugawara plays a fascinating character constantly at odds with the yakuza stereotype) but also fueled with fashion, neon, and music. I was really taken with this one and will undoubtedly give it a full write up in the next zine.

Station (1981) - I keep coming across these oddball Japanese crime films from the early 80s when the hyper-violent Yakuza film craze had run out of steam and everyone was looking how to refresh the genre. I'm not sure Station gets there or if it even remotely courts the same audience, but I have to admire its audacity and scope. The plot stretches out over a decade - detailing the life of a police officer who finds himself repeatedly torn between personal obligations, patriotism, and his professional duty. It's punctuated with moments of palpable violence and involves a serial killer mystery but Station operates more along the lines of a drama than it does a genre picture. Ken Takakura is tremendous in the lead and I can't help but love the series of bleak, snowy locales featured throughout.

The French Detective (1975) - Pierre Granier-Deferre seems to specialize in the kind of mid-tier French thrillers that you watch when you've seen the others and The French Detective/Adieu Poulet probably fits that bill. Lino Ventura plays the veteran doing a quasi-Harry Callahan bit of bucking against a system riddled with corrupt politicians, connected crooks, and apathetic authorities. He will absolutely bend the rules in pursuit of justice but pulls short of abject brutality because he's still Lino Ventura and we need to love and respect him at the end of the day. Patrick Deware plays the younger, hot-headed rookie and does a fine job at it - though this is Ventura's film through and through. I found it entertaining and filled with charismatic screen presences even though it lacks the hardboiled intensity of my favorite films in this mode. It's never really outrageous (though Ventura has a scene of physically throwing a series of Hare Krishna devotees out of a police station) but its political cynicism and lower budget hijinks reminded me more of Years of Lead Italian crime films than the French conspiracy thrillers ascending around the same time period.

Streetwise (2021) - Part of the Criterion Channels Chinese crime film collection featured on their streaming service. Absolutely stunning film that reveals a cinematic beauty despite eschewing the neon nights of larger cities for a crumbling, grimy small town. Streetwise is fueled by neo-noir bleakness but also funny and quite heartfelt at times with an ensemble of engaging characters. So far, this is the only feature directorial effort from Na Jiazuo, but I will absolutely keep my eyes peeled for his next film.

Highway Patrolman (1991) - A genuine cinematic oddity as Alex Cox (Repo Man) headed south of the border to direct an unflinchingly melancholy look at law enforcement in Mexico. The film is a Mexican production and in Spanish. It stars Roberto Sosa as an irrepressibly eager rookie patrolman who soon learns to navigate and then participate in corruption and abuses of state power. It's funny at times, rather lovely in a desolate way, but ultimately deeply tragic. I'm glad to have finally made time for this one.

Let Him Rest in Peace (1985) - Lady in a Black Dress piqued my curiosity so I tracked down another 80s crime flick from Yoichi Sai. Let Him Rest in Peace exchanges the lights of Tokyo for a blighted seaside town. Tatsuya Fuji plays the enigmatic protagonist who persists in hanging around the town despite nearly all the residents being unfailingly hostile towards him. This is kind of a slow burn and comes off as initially perplexing though the underlying story is satisfyingly revealed by the end. I found myself easily drawn into the right headspace for this and was especially taken by Mitsuko Baisho's performance as a hardnosed local madame. This and Lady seem like no-brainers for a company like Radiance to take on and release in a nicer format.

Theatrical Screenings!

A New Leaf (1971) - A film I absolutely adore and playing on 35mm at The Trylon, it doesn't get much better. I initially saw all of Elaine May's films on my own at home so I'm never quite sure how her thorny, uncomfortable approach to comedy will play with an audience. New Leaf positively destroyed with the crowd I watched it with - the Grecian nightgown bit nearly brought the house down and it's one of those deeply cathartic experiences that keeps your love for public moviegoing alive. As an aside, I took my mother to this and she thought it was the best thing she'd seen in quite some time.

The Howling (1981) - We caught this at the Prospect Park Nitehawk theater while we were in Brooklyn. This was a screening co-hosted by the Brooklyn Horror Society and The Twisted Spine. We'd been to other BHS screenings before and The Twisted Spine is a horror lit. imprint that will be opening a brick & mortar horror/dark lit. bookstore sometime in the near future. This particular screening featured an introduction by actor and horror author Nat Cassidy who we got to meet briefly afterwards. All of that is cool and one of the many reasons we prioritize getting out to films while we're in NYC. The Howling is also very cool with a fantastic cast and brilliant creature effects. I hadn't seen in a decade or more so this was a terrific way to revisit.

The Legend of Ochi (2025) - We returned to the Nitehawk to catch this family-friendly(ish) A24 title that I wound up missing at MSPIFF because of schedule conflicts. I'm not going to pretend that this is a masterpiece of narrative filmmaking but the puppetry is remarkable and the Ochi is insanely cute. I've found myself recommending this to more people in my life than I recommend deeply obscure Japanese crime films - it's got a winning formula reminiscent of 80s fantasy adventure films and who doesn't love a story about how your parents are kind of stupid?

Drop Dead City (2024) - We made it out to the IFC Center (which I haven't been to in ages) to catch this intrinsically New York story while we were still in town. I was introduced to Drop Dead City via a podcast interview with the directors and I was fully aware that one of those directors was the son of Felix Rohatyn. So I was prepared that there may be some bias towards Rohatyn or the wisdom of the Municipal Assistance Corporation. However, I was also aware that access to the personalities populating the talking head segments of Drop Dead City had at least something to do with co-director, Michael Rohatyn, having grown up around them working with his father. Regardless, if you look at the film as a primer or an overview on the financial crisis facing New York City in the mid-70s and not an exhaustive treatise on the subject, I think you'll be both informed and entertained. By necessity of form, some stories are not told, some angles are not explored, and I'm sure there is some bias intentional or not. Still, this is an easy recommendation for NYC enthusiasts due to the extensive archival footage. It's also something that sickos like myself who are obsessed with city-level governance will find interesting. I'm hopeful this will hit streaming and find the right audience. I'm glad to have seen it with a NYC crowd so that I could groan along with everyone else when Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney made and appearance and while I don't love talking during movies, I will grant a shout out to the woman who kept repeating how "disgusting" Milton Friedman was during his brief cameo.

Thunderbolts (2025) - The initial press screening for this latest MCU chapter was cancelled due to tornado warnings and I initially had written this off. I finally caught it on my own dime because I kept hearing so many glowing things about it. Instead I was treated to shockingly tepid stuff that I suppose serves as an example of where are standards are for superhero blockbusters. I did appreciate that it wasn't three hours long.

Karate Kid: Legends (2025) - I wasn't sure how I would feel about another entry into the Karate Kid franchise (I dropped out after part III) but I find it hard to resist a New York set martial arts coming of age tale even if it was shot in Montreal. Maybe I was swayed by the pre-show demonstration from a local karate school, maybe it was the generous theater cocktail I was enjoying, but I thought Legends did a surprisingly pleasant job evoking 80s and 90s combat tournament adventure films while adding a dose of fighting video game and comic book energy. It's probably too frenetic - throwing everything and anything into the mix as it whizzes by - but the kid in front of me could not have been more engaged which is probably the true test of its appeal. The fights are pretty cool and Ben Wang is a charmer. Put him in a live action TMNT movie with actual dudes in turtle suits and I'll go see it. Also it's only 94 minutes!

Black Tight Killers (1966) - I've been meaning to catch this for a while so I was stoked to see it scheduled as part of the Genre Brain Melt series at Emagine Willow Creek. There are some astounding bits of framing (Hasebe's apprenticeship under Seijin Suzuki is apparent) and some outrageously cartoonish gags that kept me on board with Black Tight Killers. There are also a staggering number of fight scenes and plotty dialogue sequences - not one of them is great and many of them are pretty lame. Still, glad I caught it and got to see it such a nice restoration as well.

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MSPIFF 2025 - Part Two

 This is part two of my coverage from MSPIFF 44 wrapping up another year of mainlining international new releases as long as my schedule and body permits. Please do check out part one for an introduction, more capsule reviews, and a brief nod towards seeing Ang Lee speak as part of the festivities.

I was starting to flag a bit in the second week but I still turned up most days to fit at least one film in. I also thought the films were really excellent in the second week and I had a chance to finally check out some things that debuted at Cannes last year (just as this year's lineup was being announced). One thing I'm really happy about this year is that the weather held out reasonably well so I was able to bike to the theater most days and even walked all the way down on Saturday. I did take the bus a couple of times but a biking/transit/walking film festival is undoubtedly the best kind of film festival and I was feeling very fortunate about that.

Day 6

Undercover (2024) - A stylish Spanish police thriller with some profoundly stunning location footage (mostly in and around San Sebastian). Much of Undercover seemed to be occurring in wintertime and cold beach/coast has to be one of my all-time favorite ecospheres. I had not heard of Undercover before it was announced for MSPIFF but I was instantly excited for it. I love that some of these more classic film genres are still thriving in various international markets. While Undercover nails the aesthetics and contains an excellent lead performance - the political themes seem desperately undercooked. It's adapted from actual events of a young woman who went...undercover...and infiltrated the ETA. I am in no way an expert on the ETA, Basque sovereignty, or Spanish politics in general - but I don't think I'm that much better informed from this film. It's a snapshot containing elements of terrorism, state sponsored violence, systemic misogyny, cultural identity, and political liberation - but it doesn't have much to say about any of it and the final message feels muddled at best. Really cute cat, though.

Day 7

I needed a break and took this night off.

Day 8

Misericordia (2024) - This was a film I had heard great things about following its early festival rounds and one of the first things I reserved a ticket for when I was granted a pass. I think it's easiest to describe Alain Guiraudie's latest as a mystery - or at the very least; mysterious - though it is one less concerned with "who" and more focused on "why" Misericordia features exquisite autumnal French village atmosphere and a genuinely fantastic central performance from Félix Kysyl. It reminded me of Patricia Highsmith in some ways with this elusive, seductive main character but it's a far stranger affair than a Ripley story. There is a darkly humorous streak that runs through the entire film but it feels wrong to describe it as a comedy - it both contains one of the most hilarious scenes I saw during the fest and one of the most brutally horrific. The title is derived from the Latin word for mercy and there are some (very French) discussions around crime and punishment but I am still ruminating over how that theme is reflected throughout the film. This one beguiled me and I'd absolutely recommend it even if you don't find yourself as transfixed as I did.

Day 9

Caught by the Tides (2024) - Another Cannes standout. Narratively abstract and aesthetically chaotic - I can understand that Caught by the Tides will be a challenging watch for some (apparently at least one walkout during the screening I caught). I was absorbed by it, though. Tides is largely assembled from existing B-roll footage from Jia Zhang-ke's previous works. I am not familiar enough with Zhang-ke's filmography to spot where different segments of Tides was cribbed from, but I still loved the clash of formats and styles - careening from flat, digital industrial footage to grainy, low res night scenes to lush 35mm landscapes. It's impressive how this film is utilizing older footage, going back decades in some cases, but still manages to speak to recent history (albeit through a lens many of us are unfamiliar with). I know that travelogue is not sufficient to make a film compelling, but I thought there was significant value in this sprawling window into Chinese life. Hopefully this gets a wider release here and people can give it a shot. Definitely better to see it in a theater.

Day 10

We Can Be Heroes - Shorts Program - I didn't have anything planned out for the afternoon so I thought I would check out some shorts. Of all festival programming, short films truly are the most ephemeral and frequently the hardest to see outside of a fest environment. These were short documentaries covering subjects ranging from tattooing to puzzles to an elaborate corporate prank. Arguably the most moving of the bunch was How to Care (which sadly does not appear to be listed on IMDB or Letterboxd at the time of writing). It's focused on the life of Dan, a septuagenarian living with cerebral palsy, and the community of caregivers that help support him. It's a subject I have some personal experience with and I understand how critical those assistance and enrichment programs are. Dan and crew were also in attendance for the screening which was extremely cool to see. 

I'm guessing Adidas Owns Reality is the program selection that will have the best chance of life outside of the festival circuit. It documents an elaborate corporate hoax perpetrated by the Yes Men who are well known for culture-jamming hijinks largely at the expense of the wealthy and powerful. This particular prank involves a fake "co-CEO" of Adidas and a Berlin fashion show meant to confront the realities of sweatshop labor. The film is infuriating and funny and their cause is a righteous one. I hope this lands in front of more eyeballs.

Mr. K (2024) - Though I am not particularly familiar with the work of writer/director Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab, Mr. K was another festival selection that I was highly anticipating. Anything starring Crispin Glover was bound to interest me and it's also good to see something unapologetically weird. Ultimately, I think my anticipation was rewarded. Schwab apparently spent years developing K and it's certainly noticeable in the production design. Glover's awkward, nervous magician becomes trapped in a bewildering, labyrinthine hotel populated with frequently hostile (or creepily familiar) denizens who never seem to go outside. The hotel and it's myriad rooms, kitchens, stairways, and closets are impeccably rendered and filled with the kinds of aesthetic touches that would reward repeat viewings. I don't think there's anything terribly groundbreaking in this Kafkaesque conspiracy tale but I still think Schwab mostly nails the tone and the delivery. I found myself repeatedly noting what were likely influences but also connections to other films and filmmakers. The ending didn't land with everyone I saw the film with, but things took a strange enough, gross enough turn beforehand that I was satisfied. 

Day 11

Odd Fish (2024) - An Icelandic film ostensibly about two old friends and co-workers in a remote fishing village where one comes out as trans to the other (and her community). I say ostensibly because though there is an excellent and courageous performance from Arna Magnea Danks, the film spends less time on her transition and far more on the identity crisis of her middle-aged, cis-dude friend. As a cis-dude fast careening towards middle age - I would have been much more interested in a film driven by Danks' character. Still, this is a good natured film and it is filled both with some lovely coastal scenery and largely takes place in a rustic seafood restaurant that looked absolutely incredible. For her part, Arna Magnea Danks has mostly worked as a stunt and fight coordinator but absolutely has the goods as an actress. I'd love to hear more about her real life story.

Kill the Jockey (2024) - Luis Ortega is a filmmaker who landed on my radar largely thanks to his 2018 film, Angel, loosely based on the real life exploits of Argentine serial murderer - Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch. Jockey is not remotely based in reality and is much lighter film in content - something in the vein of mildly surreal crime-adjacent flicks like the cinema du look movies. It's an incredibly stylish film utilizing some excellent long takes, some inventive POV work, and beautiful integration of pop music. Another strong lead performance, this time from Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. Biscayart is a handsome actor but Ortega manages to present him oddly enough to remind me of someone like Denis Lavant. Jockey starts in a heightened reality but only gets stranger and harder to hang onto (narratively) as the film progresses. It does deliver some lovely twists along the way and I will likely want to revisit it upon wider release. 

I had planned to see another movie but I was going to have to wait an hour and then stay up for another two hour film and I was running out of steam. Jockey was a terrific note to end on though and sometimes it's best to quit while you're ahead. I had a great time at MSPIFF this year, they put on a wonderfully run festival, and I can't thank the film society enough for granting me accreditation again. There were a few new wrinkles that I appreciated this year - though I only attended one screening, I really do like the preview idea for passholders. I'll have to take better advantage of that if its offered again. I also like the fact that I saw more familiar faces this year. Some of that is a matter of connecting with friends and some of that is due to my involvement with MNFCA. There's a certain comradery with regular attendees and I've had great conversations with total strangers in line, in the theater, and even on the bus ride home. Still, it's nice to have some friends around. The last thing is that I'm so happy that the Cabana Club opened just down the street from the theater. Great bar, good food, and staff that was very understanding that I might have to move quickly to see my next film. Highly recommended for a pre or post movie beverage the next time you're at the Main. 

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MSPIFF 2025 - Part One

Back for its 44th year, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival presented by the MSP Film Society is the largest film event in the Upper Midwest and something I look forward to every springtime. Last year I was only able to attend a couple of screenings due to travel, but this year I'm in town, I'm ready, I'm willing, and I've been very generously accredited for a press pass from the organizers once again. Programming is king when it comes to good festivals and MSPIFF remains committed to showing a wide range of films and perspectives from all over the world that include a lot of smaller films. I noticed quite a few titles that haven't necessarily gotten an overabundance of attention at the larger, market festivals. It can make it a bit challenging to parse the schedule, but the freedom of the pass allows for me to take a few chances. 

The thing that more than endears me to the festival in recent years is that it's mostly concentrated at The Main Cinema across the Mississippi River from downtown Minneapolis. MSP Film Society runs programming at The Main all year round, but it's a tremendous central location for a festival that I can bike or bus to easily. It's in a great neighborhood and it's no problem to find food or coffee or even walk along the river in-between films (provided I give myself some time to do so). An especially exciting development this year is that I feel like I know more people at the festival and have had the good fortune of scheduling some viewings with friends and even running into old pals unexpectedly. 

I think the format I used in 2023 was a good one, so I'll be doing the same this year: Capsule reviews of everything I see and broken out into two parts. I think this will give people a good idea of the variety of films on offer and my hope is that you might see something interesting in this entry that compels you to attend MSPIFF while it has another week left.

Day 0

I already wrote about Bushido in my March entry so I won't go into details here. I like the preview screening idea, though. I hope that continues next year.

Day 1

Free Leonard Peltier (2025) - Opening night shindig and three sold-out screenings of this latest Leonard Peltier documentary. The history of the American Indian Movement, the arrest and conviction of Peltier, and the absolute chicanery on the side of the FBI are important stories to tell and MSPIFF accorded the event with the appropriate deference. There was a performance from local indigenous people, and invocation in Lakota, and then a zoom call from Peltier himself! I only wish I liked the film better. It functions well enough to convey the history but the film starts to meander somewhere in the midpoint. There is also the deeply unfortunate choice to bolster the archival footage with AI enhanced digital sequences. It's so unnecessary and I can't even say it's very effective. I wasn't positive at first but when I looked into the filmmakers, it became apparent that one of them is an enthusiastic generative AI adopter. It's hard not to contrast this film to Michael Apted's Incident at Oglala which I think is a much stronger feature. Thankfully, Peltier has finally been released from prison which does provide a moving coda for the film and serves as a testament to keeping the faith in the face of injustice.

Day 2 

The Friend (2024) - This other Sigrid Nunez adaptation from 2024 (the first to hit our shores was Pedro Almodovar's The Room Next Door) features Naomi Watts as a Manhattan writer who must come to terms with both the loss of a friend and mentor, the aftermath of the relationships left in his wake, and (most critically) the inheritance of his 150lb Great Dane. I know I'm not supposed to give credence to the concept of "guilty pleasures" but I really do feel guilty at how much I enjoy watching erudite, literary, essentially affluent people running around New York doing New York stuff. I can't help it and it may be a sickness, but I still think The Friend is pretty good. Watts is actually terrific and Murray delivers some brutally funny (if nihilistic) lines. I am uncertain of animal "performances" but I actually believed this dog to be in mourning for his person. What a good boy. Speaking of which, the film was co-introduced by Karl and his owner/trainer and it appears that I'm easily taken with gigantic dogs in indoor spaces. 

The Wailing (2024) - Not to be confused with the Korean folk horror/thriller of the same title. This Wailing is a largely Spanish production about different generations of women being haunted by a mostly unseen force. I am loathe to actually list this one as I was getting tired, it was late, and I still had to bike back home. I'm afraid I bailed about halfway through and didn't give The Wailing an entirely fair shake. It felt like a tepid mixture of YouTube creepypasta videos and tropes that were wearing thin in J-Horror 20-30 years ago. In fairness, I have a potent aversion to films filled with people doing things on phones and laptops - I don't like being subjected to text messages and IMs in real life. Why would I want to deal with it in film?

Day 3

LUZ (2025) - Given my expressed distaste for digital spaces, Flora Lau's use of a virtual reality game as a framing device for her intergenerational, bi-national film could have flopped instantly for me. Instead, I found myself absolutely taken with its gorgeous photography and meditation on how we build relationships. As mentioned, it's beautifully shot - contrasting a neon, nighttime Chongqing with a distinctly old-world version of Paris. The characters in Chongqing are unapologetically 21st century - watching livestreams and playing the titular VR game. In Paris, Isabelle Huppert's Sabine lives a largely analog life of books, art, records, and face to face relationships. The two worlds mirror each other throughout a few scenes and then begin to overlap - both aesthetically and due to the game. 

I'm not certain that LUZ (the film) is looking to admonish modern society (though it does take some beats to illustrate how dumb we look plugged into our devices) but it does seem to encourage life affirming, non-virtual connections. When Sabine's step-daughter explains that the virtual world is better than the physical one, Sabine flatly responds "I don't even know what that means." The goal of LUZ (the game) isn't rendered meaningless but my sense is that Flora Lau is reminding us that connectivity we effortlessly achieve virtually should be a means to strengthen our real world relationships.

The Surfer (2024) - When films and filmmakers make intentional nods to grindhouse cinema - the results are often mixed at best. Self aware attempts to be bonkers are usually injected with unwelcome comedy or an assault of film homage so that you can rest easy knowing the director watched the same grimy films you now own on 4K Ultra Hi-Def disc. I think Lorcan Finnegan has largely struck the right tone with this quasi-psychedelic throwback to the 70s/80s Ozploitation boom. Nic Cage is the right man for the job of both being incomprehensibly stubborn and the object of torrential abuse and humiliation. Crazy Cage done correctly is a joy on the screen. The Surfer is not exceptionally violent (all things considered) but it is visceral and contains more than enough stomach churning, wince inducing moments to make up for its relative bloodlessness. 

Day 4

Unholy Communion (2025) - I make it a point to see any crime films playing at MSPIFF since I've kind of made that my beat in the last year or two. I'm not going to pick on Unholy Communion too much as it's a small, local production though it does co-star one of the more notable actors to emerge from Minneapolis - Vincent Kartheiser. Communion is competently done but ultimately comes off as bland.  Everyone involved seemed very nice and I do think that Mancini's in St. Paul deserves more screen time in more movies.

Meet the Barbarians (2024) - Julie Delpy's satire of French xenophobia and intercultural relations is ultimately a very gentle one, but it still remains funny and insightful. It's no surprise that the overwhelming pleasures to be found here are in the performances from an excellent ensemble cast. They manage to make the village residents heartfelt enough that you can become invested in the local melodramas. Also, some gorgeous footage of Brittany doesn't hurt. I only wish that the reality presented here seemed more plausible compared to the rising tide of right wing nationalism felt all over Europe and the US.

The Wedding Banquet (2025) - Andrew Ahn's reinterpretation of Ang Lee's 90s indie classic could have gone terribly wrong and yet, I feel like I'll be recommending this one broadly. I haven't seen the original in ages (and now I'd very much like to revisit it), but Ahn's interpretation feels like it lives very much in its own space. The cast is truly excellent - though they are so good that Bowen Yang's comparative lack of expressive depth is noticeable. He's still hilarious when called upon and there are so many funny moments in this. It's easy to describe Ang Lee's films as gorgeous or luminous or whatever your preferred adjectives for "very pretty" are - Ahn is working in a different register but it's still lovely. Elegant compositions and some terrific location footage - especially multiple sequences in what I believe is Discovery Park. 

Friendship (2024) - I finished my fourth day with a raucous, sold out screening of Andrew DeYoung's buddy comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson. There are some gut busting gags in Friendship and (because I'm a simple person) a lot of my favorites were pure physical tomfoolery. That said, I think the film was losing steam and losing me somewhere towards the middle. Tim Robinson's Craig says "I'm all out of ideas" before embarking on a toad fueled psychedelic experience and I felt that the movie was talking directly to us at that point. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to mention that Conner O’Malley has a small cameo in the film. Some guy behind me roared "Let's Goooooooo!" the minute O'Malley turned up. That's absolutely the target market for this one.

Day 5

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) - I remembered being distinctly dubious when I went to see this when it opened. I considered myself some kind of Hong Kong cinema aficionado and was NOT impressed with various Hollywood attempts at importing Wuxia stylings (I was kind of dickhead as young men often are). Also, Ang Lee didn't do martial arts movies so what did he know? Lee's film shut me up so quickly and I was duly chastened. It had been a few years since I revisited Tiger so I was very much reliving that same thrill during the opening brawl between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi. I couldn't help but think how deprived we are of action this virtuosic since the balance has tipped towards digital effects even in Asian cinema. What a joy to see action and adventure at this scale shot on film. Also, the inn scene/send up of heroic fiction is still beyond hilarious. The guy with the iron abacus kills me every time.

My next MSPIFF stop wasn't a film but a conversation and Q&A with the man himself, Ang Lee. He spoke for around an hour with a moderator and I feel like I could have listened to him all night. Ang Lee was incredibly humble about what he's been able to achieve and yet not overly demure. He's clearly passionate, perceptive, and possessed of a certain eloquence though he constantly deprecates his English. Great event and I was very grateful to some of my fellow MNFCA folks who waved me over to a good spot

Việt and Nam (2024) - Ang Lee went on to present a screening of Brokeback Mountain which was no doubt tremendous. I opted instead to see this Vietnamese film that interestingly shares some thematic, contextual connective tissue to Brokeback. Việt and Nam entered my consciousness when it made John Waters' annual "best of" list and this was arguably going to be my only chance to see it. The movie is utterly stunning. Each frame is beautifully composed with an incredibly rich film grain and even some print artifacts. I understood that it was shot on 16mm, but I have to wonder if director Truong Minh Quy used an older film stock as well to achieve the look. It's a far more abstract film than I expected and even though I was engaged - fest life caught up to me and I conked out for the last bit. Not my finest festival moment but it really had been a long few days. I am hopeful Việt and Nam gets distribution somewhere or maybe a Mubi deal? My lack of stamina notwithstanding, I think this one is worth your time especially if you know what you're getting into.

That's it for Part 1 of my MSPIFF coverage this year. I will be posting a Part 2 early next week. There are still many screenings and multiple opportunities to see international films at this years fest. I'd highly recommend making time for it and if you see me at the fest, please say hello!

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