1. Still Walking by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Dysfunction what’s your function? In this lovely portrait of the Yokoyama family, the minor-key Japanese auteur is characteristically — and thus beautifully — restrained in his handling of the left-behind. The remaining kinfolks gather for the 15th anniversary of the eldest son’s passing; what ensues is oh-so-subdued yet altogether resonant in its cumulative affect, as long-standing tensions are aired then bottled up for the next, never-guaranteed visit. As the pensive, ne’er-do-well-enough younger son, Hiroshi Abe embodies the perfect love-hate prism to glimpse a family with an universal DNA.
Dysfunction what’s your function? In this lovely portrait of the Yokoyama family, the minor-key Japanese auteur is characteristically — and thus beautifully — restrained in his handling of the left-behind. The remaining kinfolks gather for the 15th anniversary of the eldest son’s passing; what ensues is oh-so-subdued yet altogether resonant in its cumulative affect, as long-standing tensions are aired then bottled up for the next, never-guaranteed visit. As the pensive, ne’er-do-well-enough younger son, Hiroshi Abe embodies the perfect love-hate prism to glimpse a family with an universal DNA.
2. Blank City by Céline Danhier
First-time helmer Danhier deserves instant street credit for this anthemic, high-octane look at two underground film movements: the No Wave and the Cinema of the Transgression. Born from the muck of downtown New York during the late-70s/early-80s, these we-the-poor groundswells were defined by a DIY aesthetic and the wild fact that every artist in the LES was (or seemed to be) in cahoots. Informative without ever being dry (Danhier weds telltale bits of the era’s films and music to plain-spoken interviews with Jim Jarmusch, John Waters, and Thurston Moore, among others), it’s a marvelous primer that deftly folds 10 offbeat years into 100 minutes.
3. Kobe Doin' Work by Spike Lee
24 frames per second in the name of number 24. For basketball junkies and those who bleed purple and gold, this anticipated joint (premiering May 16 on ESPN) doesn’t disappoint. The titular superstar jukes, jives, and serves up a bounty of X’s and O’s as well as teammate counsel for an unsurprising yet undeniably fab chronicle of a player who’s sported the scarlet A (for Assumed heir to G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan) for over a decade now.
24 frames per second in the name of number 24. For basketball junkies and those who bleed purple and gold, this anticipated joint (premiering May 16 on ESPN) doesn’t disappoint. The titular superstar jukes, jives, and serves up a bounty of X’s and O’s as well as teammate counsel for an unsurprising yet undeniably fab chronicle of a player who’s sported the scarlet A (for Assumed heir to G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan) for over a decade now.
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