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Movie Review

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Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie in still from Sabbath Queen. 2024. Sandi Simcha DuBowski. Image courtesy of Roco Films
The Long Island Jewish Film Festival is returning to the Cinema Arts Centre for its third year! The festival will span six days, May 1st – May 6th, and present a selection of films at the forefront of Jewish cultural storytelling. The festival will feature films that include innovative documentaries, riveting dramas, and hilarious comedy, all curated by David Schwartz, Curator at large at the Museum of the Moving Image, who will also host filmmaker interviews and audience discussions after many of the festival’s screenings.

The Long Island Jewish Film Festival was organized to help celebrate the rich cultural traditions and history of the Jewish community in America and abroad.

The festival will begin on Thursday, May 1st with a screening of the powerful documentary, Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire, with the second day of the festival focusing on the recently rediscovered and restored drama, The Heiresses.

The third day of the festival will feature screenings of three films: the fascinating documentaries Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round & Janis Ian: Breaking Silence, as well as the new biopic Midas Man, on Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Sunday, the fourth day of the festival, will feature a screening and discussion of the documentary Ada: My Mother the Architect, in addition to a showing of the hilarious comedy Bad Shabbos, and an encore screening of The Heiresses. Monday will feature repeat screenings of both Midas Man & Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire, and the festival will conclude with a screening & discussion program highlighting the documentary film, Sabbath Queen.

There will be encore screenings for most of the films featured on Friday & Saturday for those who observe Shabbat. Tickets are $16 per film, $10 members.

The Films:
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
Thursday, May 1 at 7 PM
With editor/producer Michael Chomet in person
& Monday, May 5 at 7 PM
With director Oren Rudavsky in person
Eighty years after his liberation from Buchenwald, we seek to understand the man behind the searing memoir Night. Told largely through his own words and eloquent voice, Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire seeks to penetrate to the heart of the known and unknown Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) – his passions, his conflicts and his legacy as one of the most public survivors of the Holocaust. With unique access to archives, interviews and employing hand painted animation, the film illuminates Wiesel’s biography as a survivor, writer, teacher and public figure. (2024, 87 mins)

The Heiresses
Friday, May 2 at 7 PM
& Sunday, May 4 at 7 PM
Isabelle Huppert stars in this recently rediscovered and restored drama from Hungarian filmmaker Márta Mészáros. Huppert plays Irèn, a young Jewish seamstress in 1936 Budapest, who is recruited by the wealthy Szilvia (Lili Monori), to conceive a baby with her military officer husband so that Szilvia can inherit her father’s fortune. Meanwhile, the rise of Nazism has begun to poison Hungary’s ruling classes, complicating Irèn’s entrée into high society. Laying bare the complicated processes of class, motherhood, inheritance, and fascism. (1980, 100 mins)

Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round
Saturday, May 3 at 1 PM
When five Howard University students sat on a segregated Maryland carousel in 1960, the arrests made headlines. When the largely Jewish community living near the amusement park joined the Black students in picketing, the first organized interracial civil rights protest in US history was born, eventually leading to the creation of the Freedom Riders. With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman, four living protesters rescue this untold story, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding the impulse to activism. (2024, 89 mins)

Janis Ian: Breaking Silence
Saturday, May 3 at 4 PM
& Tuesday, May 6 at 4 PM
With prerecorded interview with director Varda Bar-Kar
At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Janis Ian, a Jewish teenage singer-songwriter from New Jersey became a sensation after releasing a hit song about an interracial relationship, “Society’s Child.” Ian would go on to jam with Hendrix, party with Janis Joplin, and play duets with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. But she also had to work to overcome the stigma of her debut, homophobia, industry misogyny, and serious illness. With access to Ian’s music, archive, collaborators, and music journalists, this in-depth documentary chronicles the singer’s epic life journey. (2024, 114 mins)

Midas Man
Saturday, May 3 at 7 PM
& Monday, May 5 at 4 PM
Brian Epstein is recognized today as the man who signed The Beatles, and in doing so, created the blueprint for music artist management. From his formative years to wild, unprecedented global success and the ensuing chaos as he managed and promoted some of the biggest acts in the world, Midas Man brings to life the untold story of one of the world’s most significant outsiders. (2025, 112 mins)

Ada: My Mother the Architect
Sunday, May 4 at 1 PM
With director Yael Melamede in person
Ada Karmi Melamede is one of the most accomplished female architects in the world, but very little is known about her outside her home country of Israel. Ada – My Mother the Architect is a deeply moving portrait of an extraordinary woman directed by her daughter, filmmaker, and former architect, Yael Melamede. Ada is a true pioneer whose work gave physical form to some of Israel’s highest democratic ideals, most notably in the acclaimed Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, the Open University, and Ben Gurion Airport. (2024, 81 mins)

Bad Shabbos
Sunday, May 4 at 4 PM
Kyra Sedgwick and Cliff “Method Man” Smith lead a hilarious ensemble cast in the award-winning comedy that took home the Audience Award at the 2024 Tribeca FilmFestival. When David and his fiancé Meg gather for his family’s traditional Shabbat dinner on New York’s Upper West Side, things spiral faster than you can say “hamotzi” when an accidental death (or…murder?) derails the evening entirely. With Meg’s devoutly Catholic parents due any moment to meet David’s very Jewish family, soon Shabbat becomes a comedy of biblical proportions. (2024, 84 mins)

Sabbath Queen
Tuesday, May 6 at 7 PM
With director Sandi Dubowski in person
Filmed over 21 years, Sabbath Queen follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie’s epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation. (2024, 105 mins)

The Cinema Arts Centre is located at 423 Park Ave., Huntington. Get tickets and find more info here: https://cinemaartscentre.org/long-island-jewish-film…/

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In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Monty Python and the Holy Grail will return to select theaters nationwide on Sunday, May 4, and Wednesday, May 7, courtesy of Fathom Entertainment.

“Fathom Entertainment has prided itself in bringing classic and cult classic films back to the big screen where they deserve to be enjoyed by fans – old and new alike. Few classic comedy films top the great Monty Python and the Holy Grail in terms of legendary status. Fathom is delighted to bring it back to theaters upon its 50th anniversary,” said Ray Nutt, Chief Executive Officer at Fathom Entertainment.

Grossing the highest box-office of any British film in the U.S. when released in 1975, this “cult classic” comedy from the Monty Python team loosely follows the legend of King Arthur (Graham Chapman), along with his squire (Terry Gilliam) and his Knights of the Round Table (John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin), as they embark on a fearless quest in search of the elusive Holy Grail.

Locally, participating theaters include AMC Loews Stony Brook 17, Island 16: Cinema de Lux in Holtsville, Regal Cinemas in Deer Park, Showcase Cinemas de lux in Farmindale and Regal UA in Farmingdale.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at Fathom Entertainment in advance or at participating theater box offices.

 

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From left, LIMEHOF Vice Chairman Tom Needham, LIMEHOF Manager Barry Fisch, actress Taylor Red Fox, Director Maria Capp, actor Chris Road, actress Veronica Kelly, LIMEHOF Chairman Ernie Canadeo and actor Seth Gilliam at the event. Photo courtesy of LIMEHOF
Actor Chris Roach speaks at the event.
Actress Taylor Red Fox speaks at the event. Photo courtesy of LIMEHOF
Staff and crew of 'The Lady of the Lake' take questions from the audience after the screening. Photo courtesy of LIMEHOF
‘The Lady of the Lake’ stars Seth Gilliam, Chris Roach, Taylor Red Fox, and Veronica Kelly come out to show support. 

The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) honored director Maria Capp (originally from Ronkonkoma), and screened her latest film, The Lady of The Lake: The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma, on Saturday, April 19 at the museum, located at 97 Main Street in Stony Brook. This event was the lead-off film of LIMEHOF’s recently announced Monthly Local Filmmakers Series, which turns the spotlight on Long Island-based directors and their films. 

Capp flew out from Los Angeles to participate in the event and was joined on stage by some of the film’s stars, including Seth Gilliam, Chris Roach, Taylor Red Fox, and Veronica Kelly for a Q&A after the screening. They all spoke about being part of the film. 

“I think it’s wonderful, and I’m really grateful to everybody who has opened their arms and provided this opportunity to be the first film in the film series,” said Capp. “It’s really important what’s being done—and that is to keep arts in the community and bring local artists to the forefront. It’s been really quite an enjoyable experience and a pleasure working with everybody here.”  

Seth Gilliam, perhaps best known for his roles in The Walking Dead and The Wire, plays Adam Schultz, the main character’s father, in Lady of the Lake. He says it was great to screen and watch it with a local Long Island audience.   

“The crowd was really attentive and seemed to really dig it, and that makes it all worth the price of admission to me,” Gilliam said. “I wanted to be part of a coming-of-age story, but I’ve long since ‘come of age’—so being the father was the only role that I could actually play. I was drawn to it [the film] because of Maria Capp’s passion for the project and need to tell the story, and I wanted to be a part of it.” 

Chris Roach is a comedian from Ronkonkoma. He says he was aware of the real legend of the lake and wanted to be part of the film when Maria told him about it.

“She sent me the script and I really liked the role,” Roach said. “He’s a guy who adds some comic relief to the movie, which is something I really love doing. Being a proud Long Islander, it’s important to come out and represent whenever you can. This was extra special because I had a little part in it—and I love Maria and her family.” 

 Taylor Red Fox is an actress who has recently appeared in the TV series Manifest, has acted in off-Broadway theater, and is also a member of The Shinnecock Nation. She plays Tahoma in Lady of the Lake. 

“I’m excited that we’re all here as Long Island community members and we can help add to the artists in the area,” Red Fox said. “We were able to portray a side of the story that wasn’t disrespectful or dishonoring the memories of anyone living in the area. It was great working with Maria and Seth and the other actors, and I love that we were able to include actors who are local from the area in ways they may already be involved in the community—like being a comedian.”  

The film series is sponsored by Rick Eberle of Magnetic Vine and G&R Events. LIMEHOF Vice Chairman Tom Needham organized the event and emceed the Q&A that followed the screening. 

“The LIMEHOF Monthly Local Filmmaker Series is a celebration of the incredible filmmaking talent emerging from our region,” said Needham. “Each month, we showcase the creativity, passion, and dedication of local filmmakers—providing them with a platform to share their work and connect with audiences who appreciate the power of storytelling. This series is an important part of our mission to support the arts and highlight Long Island’s impact on the entertainment industry.”

For over 20 years, Maria has worked in film and with the arts community on Long Island, NY and in Los Angeles, CA in a variety of roles as an award-winning writer, director, producer, and acting coach. In addition to The Lady of the Lake, she has been involved as a producer with many notable movie credits which include narrative features in the storytelling: Reach, DIVOS!, Four Cousins and a Christmas, and the Weekly World News Studios’ The Zombie Wedding.

The Lady of The Lake: The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma is a Native American folklore thriller distributed by Vision Films Inc. This film was shot on location, in around filmmaker Maria Capp’s childhood hometown Ronkonkoma, and stars Seth Gilliam (The Walking Dead) and Nia Sioux (Dance Moms) as, respectively the father and daughter protagonists. Also featured are Larry Saperstein (High School Musical: The Musical [TV Series]), Emery Kelly (Netflix’s Alexa & Katie), Steven Thomas Capp (Fat Camp), and Julie Dove (Days of our Lives).

The next director to be recognized in the series is Sean King from Huntington on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. Sean will be screening his latest film ScreamWalkers and be accompanied by Glenn McBride Jr. (Actor), Celia Spero (Actor), and Peter Bune Jr. (Producer). LIMEHOF welcomes nominations of local film directors and movies for consideration to feature in the series. For more information, visit the LIMEHOF website at https://www.limusichalloffame.org/

 

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Film director Maria Capp's 'The Lady of the Lake' will be screened this weekend. Photos courtesy of LIMEHOF

The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF), 97 Main Street, Stony Brook recently announced the launch of a monthly LIMEHOF Local Filmmakers Series, which turns the spotlight on Long Island directors and their films. Sponsored by Rick Rberle of Magnetic Vine and G&R Events, the series will feature a variety of dramas, horror films, comedies, and documentaries, among other genres. Attendance is free for LIMEHOF members and general admission ticket price for non-members. 

Sean King’s ‘Screamwalkers’ will be screened on May 17. Photo courtesy of LIMEHOF

“The LIMEHOF Monthly Local Filmmaker Series is a celebration of the incredible filmmaking talent emerging from our region,” saidLIMEHOF Vice Chairman Tom Needham. “Each month, we showcase the creativity, passion, and dedication of local filmmakers, providing them with a platform to share their work and connect with audiences who appreciate the power of storytelling. This series is an important part of our mission to support the arts and highlight Long Island’s impact on the entertainment industry.”

The series will kick off with film director Maria Capp, who will screen her latest film, The Lady of The Lake: The Legend of Lake Ronkonkoma, on Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m. 

A Native American folklore thriller distributed by Vision Films Inc., the film was shot on location, in around the filmmaker Maria Capp’s childhood hometown of Ronkonkoma and stars Seth Gilliam (The Walking Dead) and Nia Sioux (Dance Moms) as, respectively the father and daughter protagonists. Also featured are Larry Saperstein (High School Musical: The Musical [TV Series]), Emery Kelly (Netflix’s Alexa & Katie), Steven Thomas Capp (Fat Camp), and Julie Dove (Days of our Lives). See trailer here.

“I wrote, directed, and produced a psychological thriller about Lake Ronkonkoma’s legend, addressing grief and challenging Native American stereotypes,” Capp said. A Q&A panel will follow the screening, emceed by Needham. 

The series continues on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. with a screening of filmmaker Sean King’s Screamwalkers, the ultimate 90’s style slasher experience.

LIMEHOF welcomes nominations of local film directors and movies for consideration to feature in the series. For more information, call 631-394-8387.

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Charles Hller (Rami Malek) takes revenge after his wife (Rachel Brosnahan) is murdered. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Revenge is a favored plot devices of the thriller genre. Studios release dozens, if not hundreds, of films each year, drawing from this seemingly endless well. Cinema is populated with tales of the average (usually) man retaliating for the abduction or death of a loved one (spouse/parent/child). The hero, discovering new-found or dormant resources, overcomes evil, destroys their opponents, and allows the audience a vicarious sense of justice. 

Robert Littell worked for many years as a Newsweek journalist during the Cold War, serving as the magazine’s foreign correspondent from 1965 to 1970. Beginning with The Defection of A.J. Lewinter (1973), the award-winning Littell wrote over twenty spy novels, many concerning the CIA and the Soviet Union, the most recent A Plague on Both Your Houses: A Novel in the Shadow of the Russian Mafia (2024). 

Rami Malek in a scene from ‘The Amateur’. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

With Diana Maddox, Littell co-adapted The Amateur (1981) for the screen, starring John Savage and Christopher Plummer. Director James Hawes helms the current remake, with a screenplay by Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli. Taking the novel’s basic story but eschewing many of the more interesting details, they have fashioned a by-the-numbers thriller that, for all its drive, never builds momentum. 

Low-key (almost somnambulic) Charles Heller (Rami Malek) works as a CIA cryptographer. His wife, professional photographer Sarah Horowitz (Rachel Brosnahan), travels to London on business. She is taken hostage and murdered during an illegal arms deal gone wrong. 

Grief-stricken, Heller decides to kill the four terrorists. Leveraging information he uncovered about a drone strike cover-up, he blackmails Special Activities Center Director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany) for information. Furious but cornered, Moore buys time by sending Heller for training with Colonel Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne). Once in Europe, Heller methodically hunts down his wife’s killers. He teams up briefly with an anonymous source, Inquiline (Caitriona Balfe), but most of his work is done solo, with Heller harnessing his genius rather than his limited physical skills.

The film travels from Paris to Marseilles, Istanbul to Madrid, and finally Constanta (Romania) to the Baltic Sea, where the climax is a low-grade confrontation between Heller and the mastermind, Horst Schiller (Michael Stuhlbarg).

While The Amateur contains little original, the novel touched on a few insightful pieces, particularly connections to the Holocaust. With the story updated to the present, these aspects and one of the most interesting characters, a shadowy figure known as the Professor, have been eliminated. Even Heller’s fascination with the identity of the author of Shakespeare’s plays is absent, leaving Heller a one-note character.

If anything, the film highlights technological change, with a world run by computers and monitored in every corner by thousands of cameras. However, these devices have become central rather than tools for telling the story.

Rami Malek in a scene from ‘The Amateur’. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Rami Malek rose to prominence with the USA Network’s Mr. Robot, for which he received an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. His big-screen work included the Night at the Museum trilogy, Larry Crowne, The Master, and Need for Speed. But his breakout came with his Oscar-winning performance as Queen’s singer-songwriter, Freddie Mercury, in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Malek is unquestionably an unusual and gifted actor, capable of complexity, variety, and style. But his performance as Heller is so subdued as not to register. Except for one beautiful moment when he opens Sarah’s suitcase, he seems to play Heller without a heartbeat. For Malek, The Amateur will be remembered as an in-between film, a bland undertaking contrasting with better and more textured work. 

Brosnahan is relegated to two short scenes, a handful of flashbacks, and a couple of “visions” that do little to show her range or talent. The always watchable Fishburne barely appears; there is a sense that he was shot for expediency, getting his scenes filmed in as few days as possible. 

Balfe is fine as Inquiline but saddled with sharing her history rather than revealing character through action (and the screenplay does her no favors, ignoring the more complicated background introduced in the book). McCallany does the best he can with a stock political villain. It is left to Jon Bernthal, as an operative known as “The Bear,” to provide an off-beat glimmer. 

Unfortunately, The Amateur offers no growth and certainly no catharsis. The resolution lacks a final of energy or surprising revelations. 

The final ten minutes wrap up the big picture, followed by a vaguely uncomfortable exchange meant to be humorous, ending with a simplistic final image unsubtly telegraphed earlier. 

For two hours, everything happens, and nothing happens. The constant movement possesses motivation but no sense of internal purpose. The film is both literally and figuratively bloodless. In the end, The Amateur provides a generic espionage drama with perpetual action but little intrigue.

Rated PG-13, the film is now playing in local theaters.

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Naomi Watts as Iris and Bing the Great Dane as Apollo in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Bleeker Street

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

“What will happen to the dog?” That question is the inciting force of The Friend, Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s meditative adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction.

Canine cinema is its own subgenre. From Old Yeller to As Good as It Gets, Marley & Me to The Art of Racing in the Rain, the four-legged companions have threaded through dozens, if not hundreds, of stories. The films (Cujo excepted) focus on the transformative power for and of the love of dogs. From tear-jerkers to family farces, man’s best friend has often provided a mirror of their companions’ hearts, minds, and souls. 

Naomi Watts as Iris and Bing the Great Dane as Apollo in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Bleeker Street

The Friend lives in the intersecting worlds of literature and academia. Writer-former professor Walter (Bill Murray) takes his own life, and his third wife, Barbara (Noma Dumezweni), asks his former graduate student, colleague, and friend, Iris (Naomi Watts), to adopt his dog, a Great Dane named Apollo (Bing). Reluctantly, Iris agrees to temporarily house the dog in her rent-controlled New York apartment, where Hektor (Felix Solis), the superintendent, reminds her that pets are forbidden in the building. The film follows the usual path of distance to acceptance to bonding. 

While the description might indicate a by-the-numbers tale, The Friend rises above the basic. Iris and the denizens of her narrow, mostly intellectual world dwell in inner emptiness. Even Walter’s death leaves them numb, struggling to find meaning or even feeling. (It is no coincidence that Walter’s hero was the existential and almost perpetual bleak writer Samuel Beckett.) 

Iris, a self-proclaimed cat person, lives without a cat. Though the claim could be because of the apartment rules, it is more likely about her disconnection from connection. She collaborates with Walter’s illegitimate daughter, Val (Sarah Pidgeon), editing a book of Walter’s correspondence. But the undertaking is sluggish, frustrating, and unsatisfying. The publisher, Jerry (Josh Pais), pressures them to finish as there is “more interest in a dead Walter.” 

Iris’s mixed views about Walter (a serial philanderer) seep into every moment of Watts’ strikingly understated performance. Her Iris dwells in a sort of twilight void; the conflict and eventual acceptance of Apollo awakens her spirit, giving her life and giving that life meaning. Watts creates a powerfully subtle, multi-dimensional Iris. Watts is not so much slow as methodical, breathing the struggle of daily life. She is nothing less than riveting.

Naomi Watts as Iris and Bill Murray as Walter in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Bleeker Street

Watts is surrounded by equally restrained and effective performances. The always reliable Dumezweni grounds Barbara; Pidgeon makes the daughter simultaneously free-spirited and haunted; Constance Wu brings the right touch of narcissism to Tuesday, the insufferable second wife. Solis and Ann Dowd, as neighbor and friend, Marjorie, offer some of the brighter, warmer colors. 

Murray appears in a brief prologue, a few short flashbacks, and a fascinating speculative scene in which Iris attempts to work out her relationship with the dead man through the process of writing. Murray finds sweetness and restraint adding to Walter’s contradictory behaviors.

The only one who seems to truly mourn Walter is Apollo. From the drive from the kennel with Apollo gazing sadly out the taxi window to his coopting of Iris’s bed where he lays woefully inert, Bing brings a heart-breaking “humanity” to the Great Dane. (World-famous Bill Berloni is the supervisory animal trainer.)

The Friend can be summed up simply: Dogs are good. Dogs heal. Dogs provide hope. Dogs change lives. It still comes down to “What will happen to the dog?” But, with McGehee and Siegel’s mutely elegant screenplay and fluid, sensitive direction, Watts’ cathartic Iris, and a first-rate supporting cast, The Friend transcends expectations and delivers a memorable, occasionally painful, but ultimately hopeful film.  

Rated R, the film is now playing in local theaters.

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Nicole Kidman as Nancy Vandergroot in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Amazon Prime

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

“Sometimes I wonder. Is it even real?” This notion heralds an interesting premise, but the idea fails to manifest in Amazon Prime’s limp psychological thriller Holland. 

Holland, Michigan, is a midwestern idyll—a Dutch Stepford, complete with tulips and windmills. Rooted in Americana values, one expects the town to be composed of theme park facades. 

Nicole Kidman as Nancy Vandergroot in a scene from the film.
Photo courtesy of Amazon Prime

Life Management (Home Economics) teacher Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) lives a seemingly picture-perfect existence with her devoted optometrist husband, Fred (Matthew Macfadyen), and a well-behaved thirteen-year-old son, Harry (Jude Hill). Her world is a softly padded suburban prison, with a church deacon husband who is a community pillar. When asked if she did something different with the dinner recipe, she replies: “Brown mustard instead of yellow. I felt like doing something crazy.” 

Nancy’s hunt for a missing earring reveals a stash of Polaroid film and a suspicious parking ticket. The discoveries suggest Fred is having an affair. Admitting that she likes to “play detective,” Nancy enlists the attentive shop teacher, Dave Delgado (Gael Garcia Bernal), to help uncover Fred’s double life. 

Nicole Kidman and Gael Garcia Bernal in a scene from ‘Holland.’ Photo from Amazon Prime

“He goes to a lot of conferences for an optometrist,” she shares. The pair embark on a search for answers. “Sometimes in life, you know, you’ve got to follow the clues wherever they take you.” About one hundred minutes in, the story turns dark. A climactic confrontation leads to a complication and a less-than-satisfactory second climax/conclusion. 

With the right treatment, the predictable setup can make for an engaging story. Alfred Hitchcock often elevated modest plots with unusual twists, interesting points of view, and an ability to elicit fully realized characters. Hitchcock knew film was less the telling of the story but how the story is told. Unfortunately, Andrew Sodroski’s cluttered screenplay and Mimi Cave’s jumbled direction fail to commit to a tone or style. 

Mixing horror tropes (including nightmare visions), caper standards (almost being caught while searching for evidence), and off-beat humor (a kiss interrupted by a car hitting another car), the genres are not blended but rather randomly stacked. 

Much of the dialogue feels like it is being delivered in quotation marks and italics as if everything is simultaneously important but not what it seems. “We have to stay through Tulip Time.” Is this meant to be humorous? Foreboding? Quirky? Ultimately, the statement feels awkward, as does most of the film.

Matthew Macfadyen and Jude Hill in a scene from ‘Holland.’ Photo from Amazon Prime

The most effective piece is the model train hobby shared by father and son in the orderly garage: “You get to make a story about someone you’ve never met before and direct their whole lives … you get to control everything.” The toy railway’s real purpose is much deeper and the film’s most chilling element. 

Kidman is a gifted actor. With Nancy, she channels some of the more benign shades of To Die For’s Suzanne Stone. Nancy is naïve, frayed, and sometimes a little loopy. Kidman manages to carve some dimension in the homemaker’s struggle, finding balance and understanding in the gathering darkness of Nancy’s crumbling reality. The fact that her internal imbalance is not fleshed out (or resolved) lies squarely with Sodroski and Cave. 

Macfadyen (so strong as Mr. Darcy in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice) makes Fred charming, easy, and plausible, veering away from the ominous. Bernal is slightly over-earnest as a man of great conscience who is clearly in love with Nancy. Some racial issues imposed on the narrative ultimately go nowhere, but Bernal uses those to give his character a sense of other in an almost solely white community. Hill makes Harry believable—both likable and subtle. 

Holland attempts to cover self-knowledge, infidelity, guilt, racism, psychological abuse, societal expectations, and a host of other concepts. By trying to say and do so many things, the film fails to unify as one. In the end, Holland is a simplistic suspenser mired in assorted clichés.

Rated R, the film is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

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A scene from 'Snow White.' Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in a scene from the film.Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Andrew Burnap as Jonathan and Rachel Zegler as Snow White in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Gal Gadot as the evil stepmother in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
'Snow White' is now playing in local theaters. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

Disney’s Snow White arrives in theaters on a wave of bad publicity. The casting of a non-traditional Snow White and that actor’s criticism of the original animated version, the approach to the seven diminutive cohorts, and the friction between its two stars have caused the House of Mouse to take a cautious approach to the live-action release.

The 1937 feature was part of Disney’s Golden Age of Animation. While a progressive sensibility can find fault with its outdated views, it remains unmatched for pure art and craft. Over the years, dozens of Snow Whites have graced the big and small screens. Beginning with the 1902 silent, adaptations include Mirror, Mirror; Snow White and the Huntsman; Snow White: A Tale of Terror; and Snow White and the Three Stooges.

Putting this aside, Disney’s Snow White is a by-the-numbers remake with some modern additions. The plot connects the usual dots. Snow White’s mother dies, and her father, the king, remarries a beautiful but vain woman. The sorceress queen’s magic mirror informs her she is no longer “the fairest of them all”—that honor now bestowed on her stepdaughter, Snow White.

Enraged, the queen orders her huntsman to take the princess into the forest, kill her, and bring back the girl’s heart. The huntsman takes pity on the girl and lets her escape. Snow White seeks refuge in the cottage of seven dwarfs. When the queen discovers the girl is still alive, she turns herself into a crone, giving her a poisoned apple. Snow White eats the apple and “falls dead.” True love’s kiss—in the form of a prince—wakes her from her death-like slumber, and they live happily ever after.

The new Snow White follows the essentials with a few variations. Snow White is named for the snowstorm during which she was born. The king disappeared, but no proof of death added to Snow White’s quest. The young woman displays a strong independent streak and speaks up for the mistreated citizens. The biggest departure is the absence of a prince. In his place is the generic “guy,” Jonathan, and his seven out-of-work actors. Snow White and the low-rent Robin Hood “meet cute” when she catches him stealing potatoes from the royal kitchen. While she lets him go, he is arrested and tied to the palace’s front gate. She sets him free. Later, they meet in the forest and reconnect. 

None of the changes are terribly original. While nodding towards political correctness, they could have enhanced this Snow White had they been well-handled. However, they are not, and they do not. The leaden film’s muted and desaturated colors create a joyless landscape. The production is oddly cheap, with costumes evoking dollar-store cosplay. (The exception is the queen’s wardrobe.) The new songs—by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Jack Feldman—barely register. From the lifeless and oddly brief opening number, “Good Things Grow,” and Snow White’s generic I Want song, “Waiting on a Wish,” to the queen’s bizarrely wrong-headed “All is Fair,” not one is memorable. The incongruous “Princess Problems” might be a Meet Me in St. Louis cast-off.

Rachel Zegler (wonderful in West Side Story) is a fine, charming Snow White, understanding the decisive, strong character. She moves with elegant determination and sings with heart and purpose. She just deserved a better script and a modicum of direction. 

Gal Gadot is the most wooden villain on record (including the talking trees in The Wizard of Oz). Her stiff line readings compete with the worst community theatre divas. She looks great; unfortunately, she speaks as though she learned her lines phonetically. 

Andrew Burnap is saddled with Jonathan, a hero so dull that he seems like he is going to fall asleep mid-sentence. (The vibe is a fast-food counter worker on his third consecutive shift.) A distinct lack of chemistry separates Zegler and Burnap; whether this is an absence of spark between the actors or the failure of the screenplay is hard to judge. 

The always reliable Patrick Page voices the Magic Mirror and ably channels the 1937 film. Ansu Kabia’s huntsman barely receives two dimensions. One suspects with the right opportunity, he could have made more of the role. The entire cast appears under-rehearsed as if the cameras rolled days before they found any comfort with the material. Snow White is indifferent Renaissance Faire meets second-rate theme park.

And then there are the dwarfs. (Oh, those dwarfs.) Regardless of the public relations problems, this choice was not the solution. The seven CGI-ed figures attempt to capture the charm of their animated counterparts. They do not—not even a little. Living in a Thomas Kinkade-inspired cottage, their images are simultaneously generic and disturbingly hideous. (The equally CGI-ed forest creatures are a little better, in their kinda weird-kinda cute way.)

Disney misfired, trying to please everyone by twisting itself into a knot of contemporary sensitivity. With lackluster design, an underwritten but overthought screenplay, and an insignificant score, this Disney canon entry will be remembered for its muddled controversies rather than its less-than-bland enchantment. In the end, Snow White is not so much about staying woke but staying awake. 

Rated PG, the film is now playing in local theaters.

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Robert Pattinson as Mickey 18 and Mickey 17 in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel

“Have a nice death. See you tomorrow.” This single line captures the plot, theme, and tone of Mickey 17, writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to his award-winning film Parasite.

Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7 was among NPR’s Best Sci-Fi Books of 2022 and was nominated for Best Science Fiction Book by Goodreads. Now, Bong Joon Ho brings  the novel to the big screen in an epic adaptation titled Mickey 17. The  first-rate cast features Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.

Robert Pattinson in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

In the year 2054, sad sack Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) and his friend, the opportunist Timo (Yeun), are pursued by a vicious loan shark. The pair decide to escape Earth, signing up for a four-and-a-half-year voyage to Niflheim, a planet colonizing under the rule of the failed multi-millionaire politician Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo). The unskilled Timo finagles a position as a shuttle pilot. Conversely, the doubt-plagued Mickey signs on as an “Expendable.” 

Using a cloning technique banned on Earth, Mickey is subjected to experiments and fatal assignments to make the new planet habitable. After he dies, he is literally reprinted, including uploading his memories and personality traits. (The visual printing is one of the film’s most memorable visuals.) Along the way, Mickey develops a relationship with Nasha Barridge (Ackie), a strong-willed, free-spirited security agent.

The complications come when Timo erroneously reports Mickey 17’s death, unaware that the planet’s indigenous lifeforms, Creepers, rescued Mickey 17. Unknowingly, the scientists generate Mickey 18, the brashest and most aggressive Mickey. This mistake generates the forbidden “Multiples” situation. The dual Mickeys introduce an element of farce into this hybrid of dark comedy, science fiction, horror, and satire.

Robert Pattinson departs from his usual leading man persona for Mickey 17. The fatally passive titular clone is the definition of the little man lost in society, almost blithely accepting his fate. He is a man who signed away his life without reading the contract. Mickey 18 is closer to Pattinson’s usual undertakings, the curled, lipped, sexually charged bad boy. Pattinson adeptly creates two visually identical but wholly contrasting characters.

Robert Pattinson as Mickey 18 and Mickey 17 in a scene from the film. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

At the center of the film is the buffoonish but appallingly dangerous leader, the egomaniacal and photo-op-obsessed Marshall. Easily manipulated by his underlings and his diabolical wife (Collette), Ruffalo embodies the danger and idiocy of an oligarchical politician with too much power and money and very little brain power. The performance is a hilarious horror, as the fascist clown spews white supremacist hate speech aimed specifically at Niflheim’s resident Creepers. Collette matches Ruffalo, all blazing eyes and sharpened talons, whispering in his ear like a demented Lady MacB.

The entire cast is effective, alternating the comedic with the callous. Ackie exudes a rough charm as the daring and audacious Barridge. Yeun brings an off-handed charm to the morally bankrupt Timo. Even Patsy Ferran, as scientist Dorothy, creates dimension in one of the few caring team members. 

Cinematographer Darius Khondji and production designer Fiona Crombie perfectly complement each other, capturing the overdeveloped Earth, the dark, cramped spaceship and colony quarters, and the bleak tundra of Niflheim. Bong and his frequent collaborator, Jang Hee-chul, designed the Creepers, which are simultaneously adorable and repellent. 

Bong makes clear commentary with Marshall’s pejorative orations on a white master race, the eradication of the native Creepers, and acceptable scientific experimentation on people who are “expendable.” The presence of Marshall’s followers in their red baseball caps is a pointed statement; depending on one’s leanings, this is either the film’s strength or flaw. Mickey 17’s lack of subtlety often pushes the film from social satire into spoof. 

Like with Parasite, Bong proves he is a master of bold cinematic strokes and unusual and exceptional focus. However, unlike its Academy Award-winning predecessor, Mickey 17 has excess in both grotesquerie and running time. If Bong did not surpass his masterpiece, Mickey 17 offers a bleak, often brutally funny, and ultimately engaging film.

Rated R, the film is now playing in local theaters.

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IThe Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) has announced the launch of its inaugural Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Music Documentary Film Festival from Aug. 8 to Aug. 10  at LIMEHOF’s museum location at 97 Main Street in Stony Brook Village. Entries are now open to music documentary films from around the world and will be accepted through May 1st on FilmFreeway.

“This music documentary film festival is the perfect way to extend the mission of the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame—to preserve the past, celebrate the present, and ignite a love for music in future generations,” said LIMEHOF Vice Chairman Tom Needham who is organizing the film festival as Executive Director with film festival Artistic Director Wendy Feinberg.

While many know LIMEHOF as the exclusive home of the My Life: A Piano Man’s Journey Billy Joel exhibit, over the last 20 years, LIMEHOF has inducted over 130 Long Island artists, from a wide range of artists in all music genres including Billy Joel, Stephen Schwartz, Mariah Carey, Lou Reed, Clive Davis, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Ramones, Public Enemy, Carter Burwell, John Coltrane, Run DMC, Cyndi Lauper, Louis Armstrong and Simon & Garfunkel. This is the first time the museum is holding a music themed film festival of this kind.

“As a music lover, I am extremely excited to be involved in the creation of a film festival totally devoted to music docs to be held at a fantastic venue, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame!” said Wendy Feinberg, Artistic Director of the film festival.

The film festival has just accepted the new documentary “Cat’s in the Cradle: The Song That Changed Our Lives” which celebrates LIMEHOF inductee Harry Chapin who founded Long Island Cares. The film features several LIMEHOF inductees including Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Dee Snider.

“As Executive Director of the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Music Documentary Film Festival, I am honored to announce the screening of Cats in the Cradle: The Song that Changed Our Lives,” said Needham. “Harry Chapin, a proud Long Islander and LIMEHOF inductee, used his music not only to tell stories but to change lives. This documentary beautifully captures the enduring power of Cats in the Cradle, a song that has resonated across generations and continues to inspire reflection on family, time, and the choices we make.”

This brand-new initiative amplifies LIMEHOF’s mission to celebrate music in all its forms. This festival will exclusively showcase music documentary films from around the world that examine music topics like music scenes, music history, tours, biographies, festivals, music education, concerts, culture and music technology.

The festival accepts music documentaries in features and shorts categories. The entry fee is $40, and entries are accepted through May 1. At the conclusion of the festival, awards will be issued in a variety of categories to recognize the best participating films. For more information, full rules and details please visit FilmFreeway(https://filmfreeway.com/LongIslandMusicandEntertainmentHallofFameMusicDocumentaryFilmFestival)

About LIMEHOF

Founded in 2004, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the idea that Long Island’s musical and entertainment heritage is an important resource to be celebrated and preserved for future generations. The organization, which encompasses New York State’s Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, and Kings (Brooklyn) Counties, was created as a place of community that inspires and explores Long Island music and entertainment in all its forms.  In 2022, LIMEHOF opened its first Hall of Fame building location in Stony Brook, New York. To date, the organization has inducted more than 130 musicians and music industry executives, and offers education programs, scholarships, and awards to Long Island students and educators.

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