Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: George Clinton in WE WANT THE FUNK. Courtesy of Firelight Films.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of the insightful Andy Kaufman biodoc Thank You Very Much, the delightful music doc We Want the Funk and the indie drama Nora. The best six new movies are documentaries; five are about musical, performance and visual artists and the sixth is about a psycho killer.

A Complete Unknown now rents for under $6 on Amazon and is free on Hulu. You can also pay more to watch it on AppleTV, YouTube and Fandango.

REMEMBRANCE

Richard Chamberlain (right) in THE THREE MUSKETEERS with Michael York, Oliver Reed and Frank Findlay.

Richard Chamberlain burst into the culture as TV’s dreamy Dr. Kildare, went to the English stage to hone his acting skills and returned to dominate the genre of television miniseries with Centennial, Shogun and The Thornbirds. Chamberlain made his share of movies, and my favorite is his role as Aramis in Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

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Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor in THE NARROW MARGIN

On April 6, Turner Classic Movies will present The Narrow Margin, a taut 71 minutes of tension from my Overlooked Noir. Growly cop Charles McGraw plays hide-and-seek with a team of hit men on a claustrophobic train. Marie Windsor is unforgettable as the assassins’ target. McGraw and Windsor’s performances are first-rate, and their hardboiled dialogue is terrific. Director Richard Fleisher, early in his career, imaginatively stages the woman-hunt up and down the tight corridors and compartments of the moving train. I just rewatched The Narrow Margin at Noir City in January, and it’s still a masterpiece.

WE WANT THE FUNK: Tear the Roof Off the Sucker

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Photo caption: George Clinton in WE WANT THE FUNK. Courtesy of Firelight Films.

The delightful We Want the Funk is as far from an eat-your-broccoli documentary a you can get. Directors/producers Stanley Nelson and Nicole London explain the musical essence, history, and socio-political context of Funk without taking any of the fun out of it. Because the very raison d’être of Funk is to make you want to move your body, this is an especially enjoyable watching experience.

We see the evolution of Funk, beginning with James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament/Funkadelic. We Want the Funk traces influence from the Black church and Funk’s legacy impacts on Afrobeat and Hip-hop.

We hear from musicians, like the always playful George Clinton, and scholars, including my favorite musicologist and cultural historian, Questlove. We Want the Funk drills deep to explain James Brown’s weaponization of the one-beat and Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham’s innovative slap. And how elements of Funk were absorbed by Brits like Elton John, who was stunned when Bennie and the Jets topped the US R&B charts.

We Want the Funk emphasizes the moment when Black music mirrored Black attitudes and sensibilities, as the Civil Rights Era morphed into Black Power. There was a political subtext to Dance to the Music. Motown acts had made sure that their appearance and behavior appealed to mainstream (i.e., White) audiences. Adopting a newly Afro-confident starting point, Funk music didn’t care how Whites reacted (although Whites, being humans, have embraced it, too).

Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin. PBS begins airing We Want the Funk April 8 on Independent Lens. It will become available on the PBS app and PBS YouTube beginning April 9th.

NORA: navigating a world she never expected to inhabit

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In the highly original indie drama Nora, a singer-songwriter (Anna Campbell, who also wrote and directed) leaves the music industry to return to her hometown, along with her precocious six-year-old daughter. Her confidence rocked by her life changes, she is now the new gal in a society run by her former high school classmates. Her feelings are reflected in her songs, dropped in throughout the movie,

The crux of Nora is the portrait of an accomplished woman navigating a world she never expected to inhabit, not to mention again finding herself at the mercy of high school Mean Girls. Campbell’s screenplay genuinely captures the vulnerabilities of solo parenting and career change.

I found two of the minor characters to be unrealistically perfect, but Campbell resists the cliche of having Nora hook up with the sensitive, supportive guy.

The songs, written by Noah Harmon (formerly The Airborne Toxic Event), are outstanding. Campbell shows a knack for directing music videos.

The kid actor, Sophie Mara Baaden (Anna Campbell’s real life daughter) is very good. Lesley Ann Warren has a cameo as Nora’s judgy, stifling mom; Warren has been working steadily in the four decades since Mission: Impossible and Victor/Victoria, amassing 136 IMDb screen credits, and it’s great to see her here, too.

I screened Nora for its world premiere at Cinequest. It opens April 4th at the Living Room Theaters in Portland.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH: provocateur explained

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Photo caption: Andy Kaufman in THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Courtesy of Drafthouse Films.

Andy Kaufman was an original, whose art always confounded the expectations of others. The fine biodoc Thank You Very Much both reminds us of Kaufman’s gifts and explains the roots of his offbeat, often bizarre humor..

Director Alex Braverman takes us to Kaufman’s formative childhood and the parental lie that shaped much of his psyche. We hear from Kaufman’s dad, his creative partner Bob Zmuda and Andy’s girlfriend Lynne Margulies. Friends Danny Devito, Marilu Henner and Steve Martin pop in, too.

Kaufman was a prankster and a provocateur, so much so that, when a woman suffered a fatal heart attack on stage, the audience suspected that it might be a part of Kaufman’s act; (it wasn’t).

And what about his notorious wrestling wrestling against women? It’s the most controversial element of Kaufman’s work and the most inexplicable. Thank You Very Much sheds important light on this obnoxious performance art.

And here’s a delightful nugget – we even get to learn the origin of Latka’s accent on Taxi.

Thank You Very Much is in theaters, with filmmaker appearances at several LA theaters this week. You can also stream it on Amazon and AppleTV.

Movies to See Right Now

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Photo caption: Thomas Kinkade in ART FOR EVERYBODY. Courtesy of Tremolo Productions.

This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of two absorbing biodocs, Art for Everybody and Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.

Cinequest movies can be watched at home through midnight on March 31 for less than ten bucks per movie. Here are my recommendations. I highly recommend the Kenyan thriller The Dog and the Mexican drama The Move In. Find them on Cinequest’s on-line festival, Cinejoy.

CURRENT MOVIES

ON TV

Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor in THE BRIBE

On March 29, Turner Classic Movies airs the overlooked film noir, The Bribe. A federal agent (Robert Taylor) goes undercover to investigate a war surplus scam.  His one clue is that an American ex-pat couple in a Mexican seaside resort may be involved.  The husband (John Hodiak), frustrated that a medical diagnosis has ended his career as a pilot, has taken to the bottle.  That means that his nightclub singer wife (Ava Gardner) is often unaccompanied.  Posing as a tourist, the agent befriends them and tries to figure out which of the local shady characters (including the oily Vincent Price) is Mr. Big.  Of course, he falls for the wife, and she reciprocates – but is it because she’s made him as a cop? As the double crosses mount, everybody is bathed in tropical sweat.

Gardner, who broke through at age 24 in The Killers just three years before, is still at her most ravishing.   Her off-the-shoulder tops and two-piece swim suit get our attention, but she especially rocks the bare-midriff outfit in the photo above.

But the best reason to watch The Bribe is Charles Laughton, an acting legend never better than here as a professional briber.  His character often acts like a coward, but he is flush with confidence when it’s time to make a deal.  A master of manipulation and persuasion, this guy is a great negotiator.  In turn ingratiating and menacing, Laughton’s performance lights up the last half of The Bribe.

Charles Laughton and Robert Taylor in THE BRIBE

JANIS IAN: BREAKING SILENCE: she stepped onto the roller coaster at 16

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Photo caption: Janis Ian in JANIS IAN: BREAKING SILENCE. Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.

In Janis Ian, Breaking Silence, the biodoc of the earnest pop-folk singer-songwriter, a teen prodigy steps onto the roller coaster of the music industry at a tender age and experiences the highest highs and the lowest lows. And, it turns out that there’s more to Janis Ian than Society’s Child and At Seventeen.

The word prodigy is overused, but accurately describes Ian, who was doing professional-level song-writing at age 14. Her dad answers a booking request on the home phone with with, “You know she’s only 15, right?“

We’re not surprised that Ian experiences the shock of instant national stardom, the vicissitudes of record companies, the proverbial crooked business managers, (but not as MANY drugs as in most music biodocs).  But it’s insightful to hear from Ian herself about how all this seemed and felt as it happened. Ian recounts her relationships while touring, with both men and women, and the impact of being outed involuntarily.

When Ian is unexpectedly confronted by someone who broke her heart years before, she blurts out the perfect last laugh.

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence was made with Janis Ian’s cooperation, and takes a very sympathetic point of view; that’s okay because Ian herself is clear-eyed, self-deprecating and maintains a solid, often wry, perspective on her experience. Janis Ian herself testifies, along with others close to her (including old pals Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez). 

This is the third feature for director Varda Bar-Kar, who is aided by excellent editing from Ryan Larkin in his first feature.

The theatrical release of Janis Ian: Breaking Silence is rolling out, including California cinemas: Laemmle NoHo, Laemmle Monica, SBIFF Film Center, SBIFF Riviera, Smith Rafael Film Center, Rialto Cinemas Elmwood and Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol.

THE DOG: obsession and desperation in Mombasa

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Alexander Karim in THE DOG. Courtesy of Cinequest.

The electrifying thriller The Dog follows a classic neo-noir premise. MZ (Alexander Karim), a low level hood, is assigned to drive the call girl, Kadzo (Catherine Muthoni), and he falls for her – against the explicit instructions of their employer and advice from Kadzo herself. To stake a new start for them in a faraway land, he reaches for the big score. Desperation results. What’s unusual about The Dog is that it’s exceptionally exciting and that it’s set in Mombasa, Kenya.

In his quest to make a quick fortune, MZ tries to cash in on a tip about a drug deal. When that goes awry, he finds himself owing a huge debt to Saddam (Caroline Midimo), one of Mombasa’s crime matriarchs. He then tries working with Saddam’s rival Ainea (Veronica Mwaura). MZ takes more and more risks as he get more deeply entangled with the two godmothers. All the way, he’s just one double cross away from disappointing the last people he’ll ever disappoint.

There’s a wonderful low-speed tuk tuk chase (on three-wheel taxis) through Mombasa’s open air markets, street performers and herds of goats. And there’s another unforgettable scene that will be particularly uncomfortable for male audience members.

The Dog matches up well to Howard Hawks’ definition of a great movie – three great scenes and no bad ones“. My FOUR nominations for the three great scenes:

  • a big spender who owes MZ money brings him to his home;
  • Kadzo has MZ film her latest video ad, and he watches her at her sexiest through her cellphone camera.
  • Kadzo explains that she is not asking anyone to save her;
  • MZ faces his reckoning,

The Swedish-born Alexander Karim is superb as MZ. MZ works out to maintain a physicality that intimidates johns and debtors, but he knows his place in the crime hierarchy and grovels before the godmothers; when he screws up, he knows the consequences and moves directly into desperate terror. Alexander Karim has worked in lots of Scandanavian films (so he must be familiar with Nordic Noir) and appeared in Gladiator II.

Catherine Muthoni in THE DOG. Courtesy of Cinequest.

Catherine Muthoni is very good as Kadzo. This may be a neo-noir, but Kadzo isn’t a manipulative femme fatale – it’s only MZ who drives himself to his fate. Midimo and Mwaura are wonderful as the two crime bosses. Watch for how matter-of-factly Midimo dons Saddam’s eyeglasses in the most extreme scene.

The Dog is brilliantly directed, and edited. The director is Alexander’s Ugandan-born brother Baker Karim, who is also based in Sweden. That makes The Dog a Swedish movie, although it has every appearance of a Kenyan film.

Until midnight on March 31, you can stream The Dog from Cinequest’s on-line festival Cinejoy for less than ten bucks: buy ticket to watch The Dog.

ART FOR EVERYBODY: a contradiction revealed

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Photo caption: Thomas Kinkade in ART FOR EVERYBODY. Courtesy of Tremolo Productions.

Art for Everybody, the absorbing and revelatory biodoc of painter-entrepreneur Thomas Kinkade, begins with an audio recording of a 16-year-old Kinkade, aspiring to become a famous painter when he grew up – but not a poor one. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, harvesting great wealth by creating demand where none had existed and filling it with what he, controversially, called art. After trading on his conservative Christianity, his business model became unsustainable, and Kinkade, living apart from his family, drank himself to death.

That’s a hell of a rise-and-fall story arc, but it gets better. After his death, his family finally saw the other 90% of Kinkade’s work, secreted away in a room they had called “the vault”. Those paintings, so shockingly different than his commercial ones, revealed a Kinkade that he had hidden from everyone. I like documentaries that are jaw-droppers, and this is one. In her first feature, director Miranda Yousef, who also edited, unspools Kinkade’s story flawlessly.

Kinkade, an astonishingly fast and prolific painter, built his empire on sentimental and comforting landscapes with exaggerated light features, such as warm light glowing from the windows of a forest cabin at night. That signature became the Kinkade brand, and he even trademarked the self-given moniker, “Painter of Light”. Because they don’t evoke anything but passive contentedness, I wouldn’t even describe these paintings as art, but rather as decoration or collectibles.

Their themes are more fantasy than nostalgia. For example Art for Everybody shows a Kinkade street scene of busy San Francisco, filled only with all-white, heterosexual families; as a lifelong Northern Californian (like me), Kinkade would surely have known that this was a San Francisco that has never existed.

Kinkade’s open religiosity attracted customers and investors. He exploited the culture wars and even advocated the censorship of other artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano.

Kinkade, busy opening galleries in shopping malls, was already the painter who had sold the most canvases and prints in history before many in the fine art world had ever heard of him. In 2001, when Susan Orlean profiled him in The New Yorker, pointing out that ten million people owned Kinkade products, the traditional art critics seemed to howl in unison, “how DARE he?“

Art for Everybody is impeccably sourced with testimony from Kinkade’s wife and kids, his siblings, the co-founder of his company, along with Orlean and a bevy of experts in the fine arts world. I can’t remember a documentary where the subject’s family was more clear-eyed about their deceased loved one. They clearly love the guy, but pull no punches about his quirks and flaws.

In one revelatory moment, Yousef shows us a home movie of Kinkade taking his family back to see the modest house where his single mom raised Thomas and his siblings. As a kid, Kinkade was deeply ashamed of this home, and vowed to live more comfortably as an adult. As Kinkade shows his wife and kids around, it’s clear that he saw it as hell hole. Placerville, however, is not a bougie place, and Kinkade doesn’t report that he was spurned or teased because of his home, nor do his siblings seemed to be scarred by it. Clearly, the shame he felt was internally driven. Kinkade’s brother spells out what appealed to Kinkade about painting cozy cottages.

This was a a very complicated man – fun-loving dad and workaholic, a talented fine artist who aimed for the lowest common denominator. Once we’ve seen him as a proudly philistine huckster, it’s breathtaking to discover what he painted for himself and hid away. Might Kinkade have destroyed himself by not working out his demons through his art?

After premiering at the 2023 SXSW and a strong festival run, Art for Everybody is rolling out in theaters.

Cinequest movies go on-line today

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Photo caption: Alexander Karim in THE DOG. Courtesy of Cinequest.

Beginning today, and thru midnight March 31, select films from this year’s Cinequest are now available to watch at home through Cinequest’s online festival Cinejoy. The price is less than ten bucks per movie, and you can watch all of them with a $50 pass,

There’s a Spotlight section where you can join others watching the film at the same time and participate in Q&A with the filmmakers. The films that I recommend are in the Cinejoy Showcase section, so you can watch them whenever convenient:

  • The Dog: This electrifying thriller follows a classic neo-noir premise. A low level hood is assigned to drive a call girl, and he falls for her – against the explicit instructions of their employer and advice from the call girl herself. To stake a new start in a faraway land, he reaches for the big score. Desperation results. What’s unusual about The Dog is that it’s exceptionally exciting and that it’s set in Mombasa, Kenya. There’s a wonderful low-speed tuk tuk chase (on three-wheel taxis) through Mombasa’s open air markets, street performers and herds of goats. And there’s another unforgettable scene that will be particularly uncomfortable for male audience members.
  • The Move In: In this Mexican drama, a couple moves into a new home and, the first night, think someone has broken in; it turns out to be only the clang of an old window, but it’s a really scary experience, and the man, heading off to defend them, suffers a panic attack. As they unwind from the incident, it appears like they can get past it, but can they? In his first feature, writer-director-producer RS Quintanilla gradually reveals more about the origin and underpinnings of their newish relationship, as the experience makes its mark . It’s a similar premise to Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure, but The Move In is more subtle and perhaps even better. This a profoundly clever screenplay, and The Move In is one of the very best films at Cinequest. World premiere.
  • Burt: The title character in this affecting dramedy is a an elderly street musician with Parkinson’s. Burt rents a room in the home of his landlord Steve, an ever-suspicious and oppositional guy who is Burt’s age. Nevertheless, Burt is relentlessly upbeat. A young man, Sammy, arrives with a letter from one of Burt’s youthful flames, explaining that Sammy is Burt’s son. Burt jumps into belated fatherhood with both feet, and then discovers that all is not what it seems. Director and co-writer Joe Burke, in his second feature, succeeds in getting fine performances from non-professional actors playing Burt and Steve. Executive produced by indie stalwart David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls, Undertow). World premiere.
  • Alien: This mysterious Russian sci fi tale is set in the unfamiliar, remote Ural hinterlands. Lyosha, the local oddball, has a hearing disability, lives in his grandmother’s cabin on the edge of the settlement, and has built an impressive tower out of trash that he has collected. He has also jerrybuilt a radio system and made giant circles in the fields, all attempts to contact space aliens He is teased pitilessly by the village japesters. We later learn that the long ago disappearance of his mother has affected his psyche. A newcomer suddenly appears at his cabin – most certainly not looking like any space alien that Lyosha has imagined. Is this visitor just a runaway from another village, an emissary from deep in the universe, or a supernatural messenger from his mother? It’s all up in air as hostile villagers close in, all thew way to an unpredictable ending. US premiere.
  • Xibalba Monster: In this gentle, 76-minute tale, a pudgy Cuernavaca 10-year-old is sent off with his nanny for an extended visit in her remote Yucatan village. The affluent city kid is now in a poor community, tucked in the jungle with ancient Mayan ruins. He is now among the country kids, who do what kids do, completely unsupervised. He’s not been getting attention or affection from his widowed father, and he’s developed into a watchful, quietly curious kid with a gift for lying when convenient. He’s curious about mortality, and, throughout the story, reminders of death keep popping up – a highway accident, a museum with spooky artifacts, roadkill, a cemetery, local tall tales and more. Still, Xibalba Monster is decidedly not scary and captures the way that kids play and imagine. Adults will enjoy it, as will kids from middle school up. US premiere.
  • Boutique: To Preserve and Collect: This infectious documentary is about passion – passion that fuels the preservation and rejuvenation of cult cinema. We’re mostly talking about exploitation movies that would otherwise be lost. Much the credit for saving them goes to Severin Films and Vinegar Syndrome, which are essentially the Criterion Collection for grindhouse cinema. Both companies evolved from aficionados making bootleg tapes of their favorite obscure films into legitimate catalogues of preserved films. You may not think that a certain movie is IMPORTANT, but there is probably someone who finds it absolutely ESSENTIAL. Many movies have been made to be disposable, but have inspired loyal fans. One person’s drive-in may be another’s arthouse. What makes Boutique: To Preserve and Collect fun to watch is the contagious enthusiasm of the devotees. US premiere
  • American Agitators: This is the important story of legendary organizer Fred Ross, the mentor of Cesar Chavez, and essentially a saint of the social justice movement. American Agitators shows Ross being formed by the Great Depression and the left-wing politics, the union movement and the New Deal. This extraordinarily well-sourced doc rolls out Ross’ legacy today, not just Chavez the icon and the Farmworkers movement, but the influence of Fred Ross, Jr. and organizing campaigns in 2025. LOCAL INTEREST: Fred Ross met Chavez at Cesar’s home at 53 Sharff Avenue in San Jose, hired Cesar as his deputy and organized out of McDonnell Hall at Our Lady of Guadalupe on East Antonio Street.  Cesar’s son Paul (of San Jose) appears in the film as does Luis Valdes of Teatro Campesino, who has also had a significant presence in San Jose. World premiere.
  • A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini: Here’s an underdog story – a boy loses his immigrant father, starts out impoverished and builds the nation’s largest bank, helping to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. This very comprehensive documentary also tells the less well-known story of Giannini as movie financier – backing films like City Lights, Gone with the Wind and Sleeping Beauty. LOCAL INTEREST: Giannini’s childhood began in San Jose, his father was murdered in Alviso, and his first bank branch building still stands, only 1500 feet from the Cinequest screening at the Hammer Theatre..  US Premiere.
  • Silent Sparks: In this Taiwanese neo-noir, small time hood Pua is released from prison and checks in with the swaggering, exuberant local crime lord. The boss assigns him to a lieutenant, Mi-Ji, who happens to be Pua’s former cell-mate. But when Pua and Mi-Ji meet again, the encounter is a study in social awkwardness. Pua just wants to start earning money and working his way up in the syndicate, but Mi-Ji is surprisingly unhelpful. What explains Mi-Ji’s behavior toward Pua? As Silent Sparks smolders on, the risks escalate. Promising first feature for writer-director Ping Chu. US premiere.
  • In a Wintry Season:  This heartfelt and intoxicating documentary starts out looking like a fairy tale, and unpredictably turns decidedly not, as the real world and human behavior intervene.  I generally resist filmmakers profiling their own parents, but In a Wintry Season won me over with its candor, authenticity and surprises.  It’s a relatable story of two people and their family and their times, but it brings us into a meditation on what is American Catholicism today.  With its very sweet ending, In a Wintry Season will be a crowd=pleaser at Cinequest. US Premiere.

These are all good, but don’t miss The Dog and The Move In.

Florencia Rios and Noé Hernández in THE MOVE IN. Courtesy of Cinequest.

Wrapping up Cinequest

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Photo caption: Florencia Rios and Noé Hernández in THE MOVE IN. Courtesy of Cinequest.

Here are the Cinequest 2025 films that I hadn’t written about yet in my The Best of Cinequest:

  • The Move In: In this Mexican drama, a couple moves into a new home and, the first night, think someone has broken in; it turns out to be only the clang of an old window, but it’s a really scary experience, and the man, heading off to defend them, suffers a panic attack. As they unwind from the incident, it appears like they can get past it, but can they? In his first feature, writer-director-producer RS Quintanilla gradually reveals more about the origin and underpinnings of their newish relationship, as the experience makes its mark. It’s a similar premise to Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure, but The Move In is more subtle and perhaps even better. This a profoundly clever screenplay, and The Move In is one of the very best films at Cinequest. World premiere.
  • Xibalba Monster: In this gentle, 76-minute tale, a pudgy Cuernavaca 10-year-old is sent off with his nanny for an extended visit in her remote Yucatan village. The affluent city kid is now in a poor community, tucked in the jungle with ancient Mayan ruins. He is now among the country kids, who do what kids do, completely unsupervised. He’s not been getting attention or affection from his widowed father, and he’s developed into a watchful, quietly curious kid with a gift for lying when convenient. He’s curious about mortality, and, throughout the story, reminders of death keep popping up – a highway accident, a museum with spooky artifacts, roadkill, a cemetery, local tall tales and more. Still, Xibalba Monster is decidedly not scary and captures the way that kids play and imagine. Adults will enjoy it, as will kids from middle school up. US premiere.
  • Boutique: To Preserve and Collect: This infectious documentary is about passion – passion that fuels the preservation and rejuvenation of cult cinema. We’re mostly talking about exploitation movies that would otherwise be lost. Much the credit for saving them goes to Severin Films and Vinegar Syndrome, which are essentially the Criterion Collection for grindhouse cinema. Both companies evolved from aficionados making bootleg tapes of their favorite obscure films into legitimate catalogues of preserved films. You may not think that a certain movie is IMPORTANT, but there is probably someone who finds it absolutely ESSENTIAL. Many movies have been made to be disposable, but have inspired loyal fans. One person’s drive-in may be another’s arthouse. What makes Boutique: To Preserve and Collect fun to watch is the contagious enthusiasm of the devotees. US premiere
  • A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini: Here’s an underdog story – a boy loses his immigrant father, starts out impoverished and builds the nation’s largest bank, helping to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. This very comprehensive documentary also tells the less well-known story of Giannini as movie financier – backing films like City Lights, Gone with the Wind and Sleeping Beauty. LOCAL INTEREST: Giannini’s childhood began in San Jose, his father was murdered in Alviso, and his first bank branch building still stands, only 1500 feet from the Cinequest screening at the Hammer Theatre..  US Premiere.
  • Nora: A singer-songwriter (Anna Campbell, who also wrote and directed) leaves the music industry to return to her hometown, along with her precocious six-year-old daughter. Her confidence rocked by her life changes, she is now the new gal in a society run by her former high school classmates. Her feelings are reflected in her songs, dropped in throughout the movie, and Campbell shows a knack for directing music videos. Campbell’s screenplay genuinely captures the vulnerabilities of solo parenting and career change. Two of the characters are unrealistically perfect, but Campbell resists the cliche of having Nora hook up with the guy. The kid actor, Sophie Mara Baaden, is very good. The songs, written by Noah Harmon, are outstanding. World premiere.
  • The Bitter Tears of Zahra Zand: Having fled the Islamic Revolution of 1979, recently divorced and going broke, a famous Iranian fashion designer is trying to maintain her former lifestyle in London. She tends to narcissism and extravagance, which makes for character-driven humor. The designer is wonderfully played by Iranian poet Boshra Dastournezhad (so good in Radio Dreams), who co-write the screenplay. It’s basically a remake of Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.
  • 1 + 1 + 1, Life, Love, Chaos: In this awkwardly titled Quebecois comedy, an author suffering from writer’s block takes her on-and-off boyfriend and her teen daughter for a secluded week at her aunt’s country cabin. As she battles with her self-confidence, the situations struck me as contrived in a sit-commy way, but the protagonist’s narration of her inner dialogue is a hoot. World premiere.
  • The Courageous: In this Swiss drama, a mom lives on the margins with her kids. She admittedly has no good choices, but she takes increasing risks to provide for the kids. The film is well-acted and well-shot, but it intends to depict the mom as rebellious and individualistic, when she is actually endangering her children’s welfare and long-term futures. Instead of rooting for the mom, audience members will want to call Swiss Child Protective Services.
  • The Summer Book: An elementary school-age girl and her father, struggling with the death of her mother, spend the summer at her grandmother’s home on a tiny Finnish island. The grandmother (Glenn Close) always knows the right thing to do or say as the girl heals and comes of age. This is an adaptation of the 1972 novel by Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson, which is reputedly a great read.  Unfortunately, its literary merit isn’t translated to the screen. Close’s fine performance can’t save this slog. I checked the time after nothing had happened in the first 31 minutes, and decided to keep watching in case it turned out to be the most boring film I had ever seen. That most boring film ever remains Le Quattro Volte, but The Summer Book is a contender.
Manuel Irene in XIBALBA MONSTER. Courtesy of Cinequest.