BOX MAN releases on home video June 30 From Third Window Films

Those who obsess about the box man become the box man

Gakuryu Ishii tells the story of a "box man", a man who lives inside a cardboard box. Based on a novel by  Kobe Abe, this film follows the Box Man as he talks about his life and his haunted by a photographer who is obsessed by him

Contemplating this film during the long period of time between watching and writing I think THE BOX MAN maybe Ishii's best film. A perfect marriage of story and cinematic skill this is a film that  perfectly showcases Ishii's skills as a filmmaker to tell a story that rocks us. I know that's an odd thing to say especially since Isshi has been rattling the pillars of cinematic heaven ince 1980's CRAZY THUNDER ROAD, but it maybe true. I know I will need to see the film again to be certain.

Even if it isn't Ishii's best, it's still a hell of a film and a must see. 

Feeling like a film from the 1970's with modern sensibilities the film is a heady mix of thought provoking ideas and off kilter turns. Sure the basic notion that we are all in our own boxes is there but at the same time there is so much more going on. Trust me on this there is plenty to think about on every level.

If you love movies or cinema or film you need to see this film. This is the sort of film that any lover of cinematic storytelling is going to eat up.

One of the great films that Japan Cuts in 2024.

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (2025) Tribeca 2025

This is a look at artist Jens Haaning who scammed the Kunsten Museum out of $84,000 by giving them two empty frames instead of the cash in the frames. This caused a fire storm as the museum tried to get the money back, Hanning tried to stay out of trouble and leverage the controversy to his advantage.

Say what you will, Haaning is a scammer. He is the sort of artist that I have known for years who take advantage of rich stupid people and institutions by telling something cheap is worth a fortune. While I have a deep love of art I don’t like many artists and I’d like to pop them in the face.

Haaning is one I want to hit. He is clearly running scams and some times he makes money and more often he doesn’t has the vast  number of unsold works he still has. That he spent the money as soon as he got it isn’t surprising.  That he freaks out when he realizes things are not going to go his way is even less surprising.  

I was amused and horrified that we let con men like Haaning get away with his nonsense.

Worth a look.

STATE OF FIRSTS (2025) Tribeca 2025

Portrait of Congress Woman Sarah McBride who is the first openly Trans woman in Congress.

This is a super portrait of McBride from her birth to the present. It’s the story of a woman who was always interested in politics and who has stepped on the stage at an important moment, 

While I have seen other tellings of  McBride‘s tale before this is the best. It gives us lots of time to get to know her and what she stands for. While the film could be accused of being a bit too loving, she does not appear to have a dark side, I have no issue with it, simply because in a time of hate, a purely positive film is welcomed.

Highly Recommended.

MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE (2025) Tribeca 2025

 This is a look at the birth of House music. It’s a Chicago centric look at the creation of the musical genre by the people who lived it.

This is a wonderful film. One of the first films I saw at Tribeca at the festival, it was a film I have been talking up ever since.  The film has a great beat and you can dance to it.

What makes the film so good are the stories told. The film explains the why and how and where it all went down. It reveals to us how the elements came together and most importantly how House influenced everything that came after it.

Is it the gospel truth, I say that having seen other films claiming to tell the story, I have no idea, but quite honestly it is the best telling I’ve seen and the most enjoyable.

The last two films I saw for Tribeca 2025: REBECCA and EMPIRE SKATE

While I will have a a couple more reviews coming from the festival I wanted to get my thoughts on the final two films I saw for the fest because I only had short reviews in me:

REBBECA
This is a Live Nation produced portrait of singer and actress Becky G (Rebbeca Marie Gomez) as she puts her new album together.

This is a slick, by the number and over polished film that feels like so many prepackaged film. This film is so slick that even the live music sounds prerecorded.  This isn't to say that the film is bad, just so by the numbers that odds are unless you are a fan you aren't going to be maddly in love with the film.

For fans.

EMPIRE SKATE
This is a 30 for 30 look at the NYC skate culture that grew up around the Supreme brand.

This is one of the rare 30 for 30 films that didn't fully resonate with me. This feels like there is an assumption that we are aware of the subject. I was not fully and I kind of felt lost. The real problem was that I never fully connected with it and as a result I just kind of let it wash over me.

Worth a look, because it isn't bad, but this is best for people familiar with the subject.

ON A STRING (2025) Tribeca 2025

A violist still living with her parents tries to sort out her life and the ex-boyfriend who informs her that philharmonic has an opening for a viola opening.

Isabel Hagen writes, directs and stars in this charming little film. Hagen has created a film with some really wonderful moments and some great characters. I laughed repeatedly at some of the things that happen (the opening wedding proposal is destined to be considered a classic).  I was delighted.

My only complaint about the film is there are a couple of quirky turns that don't really need to be there (I'm looking at you obnoxious brother). It makes me think that the next time out, assuming Hagen doesn't use the quirks she'll make a perfect film.

This is a film that's worth your time.

Recommended.

 

Jesszilla (2023) Opens Friday

I went into this portrait of teen boxer Jesselyn Silva blind. I had loved the short film that played DOC NYC a few years back so this was high on my must see list for the festival. I was not disappointed and completely blindsided by the turn of events in the film.

The film is the story of Silva as she trains for and competes in the boxing tournaments for girls her age. She is a kick ass young woman with a drive that most men don’t have. She is a fighter in the truest sense of the word and watching her compete is so much fun. What isn’t so much fun and kind of shocking is the turn the story takes not long after her appearance in one of the competitions she is diagnosed with cancer. I was not prepared for what happened or how Jess is forced to take a new course in life. Jess being Jess I’m certain this will lead to bigger and better things. (And I hope we get to visit her again in a few years)

I’m not sure what to say. This is just a great film. It’s good time with great people. It’s a wonderful portrait of a young woman

JUST KIDS (2025) TRIBECA 2025

This is the story of several trans kids who are trying to just live their lives in an age when the far right is trying to control them.

This is a lovely portrait of some people who are just trying to live their own lives but are in danger of circumstance and politics preventing that from happening.

This film will move you. The reason is that this film is simply a portrait of a bunch of kids who just are. They are not remotely what the right would have you believe, but they are instead just kids.  And their families are just regular people struggling to do what is best for their kids, including moving from one state to another just so they can get life affirming care.(And the film makes clear that the care isn't always meds, but simply be able to get support and advice). There is no flash, just life. This film makes clear that the fear mongering is pure BS.

This is an important film that corrects the hysteria.

Recommended.

CUBA AND ALASKA (2025) Sheffield 2025, Brussels international FIlm Festival and Munich International Film Festival

By the time we realized we were supposed to be afraid it was too late. - Alaska

This is the story of two friends, Alaska, so named because people think she is as cold as ice, and Cuba, nicked name because growing up they thought she was from Cuba. When the war in Ukraine started they took up being medics. They work together to keep each other sane  and alive.

This film is not what you expect. It's a film that doesn't behave like any typical war/Ukraine documentary. This is a glorious celebration of life and of friendship. It's the story of two women who are trying to do the right thing and still live their lives. 

Made up a combination of body cam footage, cellphone video and footage shot by the film crew this film puts us into the action in ways that pretty much no other Ukraine doc has. This is not a world of gloom and doom, but is instead something much more complex. Life is going on outside the war zones, even if the war hangs over everything.  Its a film that reveals the situation in Ukraine to be much more complex.

I was knocked back on my heels by this film. It did not do anything I expected it to. It went all over the place into unexpected places and it made be rethink how I think about not only the war, but all war and the reporting about them.

This film is wonderful. I love that it is not conventional and forces us to truly engage with it.

Highly recommended.

CUBA AND ALASKA  played the Sheffield INrernation Doc Fest, is currently at  the Brussels International Film Fest and will be at the Munich International Film Festival June 29 & 30 and July 4

It's Dorothy (2025) Tribeca 2025

This is a life and times of Dorothy Gale, the lead character in The Wizard of Oz, the book, the movies and the place of all of them in the hearts of millions.

One of the best films of 2025, IT'S DOROTHY is a glorious celebration of The Wizard of Oz. This film gloriously lays out why the story, in all it's forms, means something. This is a film that explains why the story is important. 

What I love about the film is that in addition to telling us why the story means something, it makes us feel the importance. We connect to the love people feel for the film and we emotionally understand why people connect. I make this point because earlier in Tribeca there was a film about the love people feel for Jack Keroauc's On The Road. It makes the case intellectually but not emotionally. We don't feel any connection to the beat classic. However we do feel the connection to Oz.

I was moved to tears. I found myself connecting to the people on screen, which connected me to the people in my life. I could feel why the books, or the the film, ot THE WIZ or WICKED means the world to them.

This film is magnificent.

Highly recommended.

BEYOND THE GAZE Jule Campbell's Swimsuit Issue (2024) opens tomorrow

The life and times of the Sport’s Illustrated Swimsuit issue  as told by the woman behind it, the photographers who shot them and the women who filled the pages. It’s the story of how one person changed the lives of many people for the better and how ultimately the cheesecake photos resulted in things that were so much more than just eye candy.

This is a good look at Jule Campbell and the people who crossed her path. It’s a film that is going to tell you everything you wanted to know about the Campbell and then some. Perhaps a little bit too much. While the film is never bad I began to run out of steam  probably about 30 minutes before the end. I think it was more that I had heard everything I felt I needed to at that point.  That’s not a knock, but more a statement that I had to step away.

Quibble aside, the film is quite good and worth a look.

Wendy Feinberg's Photos from the Tribeca 2025 Premiere of DEPECHE MODE: M

 

THE PRICE OF MILK (2025) Tribeca 2025

This is a look at milk in America... and the dairy industry in country as well. It's a complex story that is going to piss you off...in a good way.

Starting with the Got Milk Campaign  the film spins off into some unexpected directions revealing that the dairy industry is messed up with the Federal government taking money from small farmers for campaign that won't help them and how companies like Fair Life scam the system to make millions which they use to further scam the system to make more money.

I got pissed off. I got pissed off because this film revealed all sorts of bad and good things that I never knew.  Walking out of the press screening I knew I wanted to see this again, when I wasn't at the end of a long day of seeing movies.

Whether or not you like milk this film is a must since it says a great deal about how we live our lives.

AstroNots (2024) hits Your Tube today

As two astronauts prepare to be launched to mars one of them has a panic attack.  This is an amusing little twi hander that is going to make you laugh. It’s a perfectly done comedy that nails it in so many different ways.

The fact that it had me laughing out loud says so much

This is definitely one to track down.

(There is a post credits scene)

Star Trek Strange New World Season 3 Episode 1- Tribeca 2025

I went to see the first episode of the new season of Star Trek Strange New World with John and Bully at Tribeca. They screened the episode and then did a Q&A.

The episode is the second part of a story involving an invasion by the Gorn. Seeing it without seeing the first part I was enthralled. I picked everything up easily. It was awesome and now I have to go back and see what went before.

The Q&A was a lot of fun. It was a delight listening to the moderator try to trip up Akiva Goldsman on the seeming "mistakes" in Trek.  Goldsman had answers for everything. I also loved seeing Carol Kane talking about how she never watched Trek and had no idea what she was getting into. It was wonderfully refreshing.

I had a blast and as someone old enough to have been watching the series since the original run it was old home week despite my never having seen an episode.

MY MOM JAYNE: A FILM BY MARISKA HARGITAY (2025) Tribeca 2025

Mariska Hargitay assembles her family and the friends who knew her mother, Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay is trying to connect with the mother who she barely remembers (Hargitay was three years old when her mom was killed in a car accident)

This film  is not really about Mansfield the movie star, but about Mom. This is a film that looks to help Hargitay sort out who her mom was and why she did the things that she did.  It's an incredibly personal film that is not going to play well for anyone who is looking for the life  a woman behind the Hollywood persona. She wants to feel the woman who spoke as she did at home and not the one on the movie screen.

This is a an intriguing film. It's a film that holds our attention because the film simply doesn't go and do as we expect it to. There are some interesting twists here and little facts that most people who are not Mansfield superfans would know. For example while I knew Mariska was in the car during the crash, I didn't realize that they authorities didn't know she was in the crashed car and only found her when one of her brothers asked if she was okay. They then went back and found her wedged under the front seat.

Ultimately this is a lovely film about finding one's self and refinding a deeper connection to our families.\

Recommended.

Wendy Feinberg Photos from the Tribeca 2025 Premiere of THE ROSE : COME BACK TO ME

 

Nightcap 6/22/25 - Tribeca winds down, bad restoration

the qote at the bottom of the DVD cover is mine

Yea, Tribeca coverage at Unseen Films is never ending... or will end in about a week. 

Between Ariela and myself we will have around 150 film reviews.  As this posts I'm just starting to put together some photo pieces based on the pictures Wendy sent me.

I know you're probably sick of it - but the truth is some of the films coming are some of the best films of the year.

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I'm going to get dis-invited to a certain festival but I need to warn you that there is going to be screenings of the restorations of several classic films from the Shanghi Animation Studio.  THE SEALED BOOK and THE MONKEY KING UPROAR  IN HEAVEN are due to  play NYC in a month.  THE MONKEY KING is being pushed as being a restoration of the complete film which is enouh in some people's eyes to make it worth seeing.(The film was restored  in 2012 and slightly shortened with input by the original filmmakers).

The problem is that the restorations were done by AI and the result are films that look nothing  like the original films, but like something that was cranked out by computers recently. All of the details in the original images is gone.

I discovered this  because I was watching a version of THE SEALED BOOK on You Tube and was kind of shocked by how the image looked like it was done recently. This lead me to reading on the the film and discovering the studio's use of AI to do the restoration and how it was removing details in the images. 

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I am having computer issues.  not sure  how this will play out...

A Matter of Time (2025) Tribeca 2025

 Eddie Vedder gives a performance to raise money to help cure epidermolysis bullosa, a painful genetic disease that makes the skin seperate from the body. The skin ends up as fragile as a butterfy's wings. As we watch Vedder perform we get to know several of the people suffering from the disease.

This was one of the best films at Tribeca and maybe 2025. It was an absolute sin that this film played late in the festival because it greatly reduced the audience for the film and it prevented it from having a chance of winning many awards. I was the only member of the press in the screening and it was a fraking shame.

This film will moved you - bring tissues. The young people struggling to live their lives will break your heart with what they have to suffer and make your spirit soar because you will understand that we humans can overcome anything.

What I loved was that Eddie Vedder comes off a genuine wonderful person. His comments to and about the people we have met makes you realize that he loves each and everyone and that he considers the as friends. Too often you see celebrities phone in the love, but not here. When he introduces Better Man and dedicates it to one of his friends who passed you feel his loss.

This film is a great film.  You need to see this, for all sorts of reasons, but mostly to see some of the most amazing people you will ever meet. 

Highly recommended.

Wendy Feinberg's Photos from the Tribeca 2025 Premiere of ANDY KAUFMAN IS ME