NEW YORK MOVIE JOURNAL (Feb.-Mar. 2020)

[Chris Knipp]

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (Eliza Hittmann 2020. I had only seen her Beach Rats (ND/NF 2017), about a young man with a secret gay life. This is a vérité, pared-down, linear account of a teenage girl in Pennsylvania going with her cousin to NYC to get an abortion. "Isn’t it wonderful how the opportunity for safe reproductive health is becoming something you can only find in a few major cities? " - comment on a key Season Four "High Maintenance" episode (S4E4, "Backflash"). The austerity and focus of Never Rarely are impressive, the theme important and increasingly timely, and response has been accordingly positive. It's also completely joyless and humorless. Do we have a choice? Mike D'Angelo has recently (4/18/20) opened an online review "A film that offers virtually nothing but compassion, which makes it all but impossible to criticize without seeming downright heartless." Watched at Angelika Film Center Fri., Mar. 13. Metascore 93%.



THE BOOKSELLERS (D.W. Young 2019) A documentary about New York independent booksellers and some of the institution's history, punctuated with comments by a famous book lover: Fran Lebowitz. Comprehensive, but I'd have perhaps preferred a closeup of one really colorful and interesting rare book dealer, like the late Peter B. Howard of Serendipity Books, in Berkeley. Watched at Quad Cinema Sat., Mar. 14, 2020. Metascore 74%.
THIS JUST IN (Apr. 11, 2020):
The Booksellers will open nationwide on Friday, April 17 as part of Greenwich Entertainment’s virtual cinema initiative. Greenwich is partnering with movie theaters that are currently closed because of Coronavirus precautions so their customers can still watch The Booksellers and patrons can support their local theater during this difficult time.
When I watched this at the Quad, the little auditorium was full enough that I sensed it was probably dangerous to be there.


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That (]THE BOOKSELLERS) was the last movie I saw in New York after the Rendez-Vous public screenings and the ND/NF press screenings were cancelled and before I returned to California because everything was cancelled and because we are all afraid.

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THE CLIMB (Michael Angelo Covino 2019). Watched on a screener, this is a highly accomplished and cinematic film that's fun to watch and rewatch. The liaisons and interesting musical interludes and the fluidly tracked long single takes may overwhelm the emotional content a bit, but I am expecting raves, and there already are. Full review on release. It was to come out Mar. 20, but was postponed due to the vurus. Watched Mar. 18 and 19, 2020. Metascore 82%.