Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!
Connie has been reviewing film uninterruptedly since 1970 (47 years) and routinely covers the Chicago International Film Festival (14 years), SXSW, the Austin Film Festival, and others, sharing detailed looks in advance at upcoming entertainment. She has taught a class on film and is the author of the book “Training the Teacher As A Champion; From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now, published by the Merry Blacksmith Press of Rhode Island.
“Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story” won the SXSW Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW 2026. Directed by Ayden Mayeri, it’s the story of a quartet of childhood friends who made a record when they were junior high school age (11 to 13) and it surfaced as a hit on the website Rate Your Music 24 years later. Said Director Mayeri, “This album being discovered is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
The X-Cetra Story (Photo by Dessie Jackson).
”WRITER/DIRECTOR
Director Ayden Mayeri, who has 58 IMDB credits, has appeared in such films as Paul Feig’s “Jackpot!”, “Mr.Throwback,” “Cora Bora Comedy,” “Spin Me Around,” and is the Writer/Director of this award-winning documentary. After the unexpected fame of their album Et-Cetra, (made in 2000), Mayeri decided to try to get the foursome together again, twenty-four years later. Ayden admitted “I really missed hanging out with them and being carefree. She likened their reunion in Santa Rosa as “Our version of Backstreet’s Back.”
Ayden Mayeri
Ayden admitted that she wanted to recapture the unself-conscious feeling of her pre-teen years. It is captured via extensive videotaping by one of the girl’s mothers from back when the girls were 11 to 13, in 2000. Kudos to Editor Phil Rosanova and Audrey Leach, who drew the task of blending copious amounts of film and to cinematographer Barry Rothbart. The musician mother Robin O’Brien who had ties to the German music provider Akim and produced the girls’ maiden vocal efforts deserves much credit for the album existing at all, also.
Now 36, Mayeri described the era to The Daily Texan as “a journey of me trying to fit in.” She said, “It’s just me and my friends, living our childhood dream, putting our vision out in the world… It was crazy because we made this album in the year 2000 when we were 10 to 12 years old … we were immediately very embarrassed about it. We were like, “Let’s never talk about that again. We’re in junior high. Everything’s embarrassing. (We) don’t want anyone to know we did that.”
CAST
X-Cetra cast
Following “Rolling Stone’s” writing an article on their X-Cetra album of the early 2000s, the quartet of old friends gather in Santa Rosa and even write some new music. The film became a thumbnail character sketch of each of the four girls: Jessica Hall, Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn and Ayden herself. The intervening years for each girl are related in a way that makes us care about them, especially since we’ve seen them when they were adolescents perched on the verge of high school.
EDGE OF INNOCENCE
The universal truth for all girls that comes throughis that dating and boys and being “cool” will change the relationships between these girls that formed earlier. The self-consciousness of youth will sometimes inhibit even those who are obviously talented at a young age. One of the reasons Ayden gave for making the documentary was this: “I think my greatest dream is that people feel free to be creative for no reason and to really go back and tell their younger selves that they’re great … I really wanted to show what girlhood feels like, and that’s why I’m reading from my diaries, and we’re talking about some kind of messed up stuff, because that’s girlhood”
X-Cetra cast
It was clear early on that Ayden was innately talented. But, as a lyric sung in the documentary asks, “Did I make you feel embarrassed when I’m something to be cherished?” This film allowed the four fast friends of 2000 to revisit and recapture the exuberance of their youth, via X-Cetra.
Jessica, for instance, shares that boys of their class harassed her with the nickname “titless” for a long time, while Mary—the youngest at eleven—was excluded from the group as high school approached because the other three were two years older. Brushes with parental divorce, drugs, relationships gone wrong—all are included and fill in the picture of who these four girls are and who they were in 2000 before life intervened.
DOCUMENTARY RESONATES
X-Cetra cast
The documentary struck a chord with the audience, which voted it the winner of the Audience Award at SXSW 2026. It resonated with me, as I taught junior high school students for eighteen years. I remember my own daughter’s early friendships and creativity when exactly the same age as these girls in 2000. The line, “Are you gonna’ live in that moment for the rest of your life?” was a good one, highlighting that the lives of the foursome have moved in separate directions.
Thanks to the parents who both filmed and recorded the girls at a young age, we can see the arc of their lives from 2000 to 2026. I’m sure their reunion to celebrate the unexpected success of X-Cetra the album was a great one.
This SXSW documentary was a joy for the original members of X-Cetra and it is a joy for the audience.
Ryan Gosling has not had a release recently—not since “Barbie” in 2023, for which he was paid $12 and ½ million dollars (compared to the $29 million he earned for 2016’s “La La Land.”)to play Ken. “Project Hail Mary” was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are best known for “The Lego Movie,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” and the animated film “Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth. As his memory returns, he discovers he is on a mission to stop a mysterious substance (an astrophage) that is killing the sun. It’s a desperate Hail Mary ploy to save Earth. An unexpected friendship with an alien dubbed Rocky ends up being crucial.
Those who read the book were among the most supportive, but also the most critical of the Drew Goddard adaptation of the Andy Weir (“The Martian”) book. I have not read the book, so I’m out of that debate.
Andy Weird book “Project Hail Mary” is the basis for the film.
THE GOOD NEWS
Anthony Whyte of “The Movie Blog” was correct in saying, “Project Hail Mary” is about learning how to understand someone completely different from you. He describes it as “a warm, funny, and genuinely heartfelt sci-fi film that reminds you why these stories work in the first place.”
If it works, that is. For me, it did not, but “Project Hail Mary” opened at $33 million domestically on Friday at 4,007 locations. If it reaches $77 million by Sunday it will be the best opening for Amazon MGM ever, eclipsing 2023’s “Creed III,” which garnered $58 million. This means that, just like my opinion of “Plantman & Blondie” at SXSW as weak, I am the one out of step with the mainstream. So be it.
TONE
Given the previous films from this directing team the humor was a given. That part works. However, for me the movie at times couldn’t seem to make up its mind if it’s a comedy or a save-the-world serious epic. With Gosling, who was so good at light humor in 2016’s “The Nice Guys” (as well as during his guest stints on “Saturday Night Live”),I went into the film fully expecting lightweight banter and wry humor. I was looking forward to that. Did the humor mix expertly with the seriousness of the save-the-world mission? That’s the question.
Films like “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011) and “Barbie” fed into this expectation of a humorous good time. There is humor in “Project Hail Mary”—perhaps too much of it, since the entire film, like “Independence Day” or any previous Save the World movie—is all about sending a team into space to certain death, a suicide mission— to save the planet and preserve the universe. A team of three people will be launched into space to find out why astrophages are draining stars in the solar system.
What is an astrophage and why should we care?
THE SCIENCE
Ryan Gosling plays a middle school teacher with a doctorate in molecular biology who is drafted to save the world in “Project Hail Mary.”
The science is explained well as mentioned in Anthony Whyte’s The Movie Blog review. It’s easy enough to understand to the extent that we need to remember any of these sci-fi explanations. As someone who dropped out of chemistry after one day (and physics in two), it was plenty detailed enough for me. Judging from math and science scores on tests nationwide, it will be adequate for the average audience member.
As Anthony noted in his TMB review: “Visually, the film is strong across the board. The use of color and lighting stands out immediately. This isn’t the cold, sterile version of space we’re used to. There’s warmth here. There’s texture. It feels lived in. The camera work and transitions are consistently engaging, with some shots that genuinely feel like they were pulled straight out of a comic book panel.The cinematography and sound design are the real stars of the show.” Agreed. Cinematographer was Aussie Greig Fraser who is known for Dune: Part One (2021), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty
SOUND
Co-star Sandra Huller as Eva Stratt has a fairly big part early on and sings “Just stop cryin’, have the time of your life. We can meet again some day, Somewhere far away from here.” The music, in general, is very good. The sound adds immeasurably in ratcheting up tension. Composer was Daniel Pemberton, who also did the music for “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse.”
THE CAST
Basically, it’s a one-man play, as Ryan Gosling’s character is the only one of the three astronauts who survives the blast-off into space. The two supporting NASA astronauts don’t survive the trip out and we learn very little about them.
And here’s where I have to get off the fan bus.
RYAN GOSLING FILMS
Ryan Gosling.
I’ve been a fan of Gosling’s since his performance in 2001’s Sundance film “The Believer,” which won the Grand Jury award at Sundance over 25 years ago. There is not a red-blooded heterosexual woman alive who hasn’t seen “The Notebook” (2004) and loved the romance with Kate Beckinsdale. Gosling’s star continued to rise with “Half Nelson” (2006), for which he was Oscar-nominated as Best Actor in a Leading Role, followed by “Blue Valentine” (2010). “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011) saw Gosling lifting Emma Stone in the fashion of Patrick Swayze in “Dirty Dancing” and teaching Steve Carell how to be cool.
Then came “Drive” in 2011, “The Ides of March” (2011), “The Place Beyond the Pines” (2012), “The Nice Guys” (2016) and “La La Land” in 2016, (which we all thought had won Movie of the Year for a few minutes on Oscar night, thanks to Warren Beatty and FayeDunaway.) “ Blade Runner 2049”—often mentioned as Gosling’s finest film—came out in 2017 and 2023’s “Barbie” cemented Ryan Gosling’s status as a hunk whom heterosexual women want to see romancing an equally attractive female lead.
ROMANTIC LEAD?
Project Hail Mary
So, who’s the female romantic lead in this one? Answer: nobody. “Gravity” (2013) at least had Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in space together, without pursuing their romance. So, could we have that version of things in this sci-fi space movie, please? Ryan doesn’t have to get the girl, but could there BE a girl for him to potentially court? (Do people still use the term “court” in 2026? No? Okay. Their loss.)
That lack of a romantic sub-plot explains why there IS no girl, no romance, and way more emphasis on getting along with intelligent alien life forms in the universe—a trendy topic in today’s news. Give me back a leading lady that our 45-year-old hero can at least flirt with, please. And aim for “Gravity’s” length (91 minutes).
It didn’t work for me (and neither did “Plantman & Blondie” at SXSW) but different strokes for different folks.
FATAL FLAW
Ryan Gosling in “Project Hail Mary.”
THE MOVIE IS TOO LONG. WAAAY TOO LONG. This is an interstellar sci fi comedy drama based on a book by Andy Weir (“The Martian”) that is meant to be light-heartedly amusing while taking us on a space adventure. It’s not “Oppenheimer.” Much of the film involves talk of space and one highlight is Gosling’s dramatic walk in space to secure a predator that will neutralize the star-eating effect of astrophages.
But the film ran over 2 and ½ hours. While I enjoyed the friendship between James Ortiz’s alien Rocky, I would have liked the movie much more if it had a backstory involving Ryland’s love life—or lack of one. Not true to the novel? A valid defense, but I haven’t read the novel, and I wish I hadn’t spent 3 hours seeing the movie, despite my admiration for Ryan Gosling’s body of work.
Steven Spielberg was interviewed onstage at SXSW on Friday the 13th, 2026, in the sixth floor ballroom of the Hilton in Austin. His appearance was the first at SXSW since 2018, when he appeared at the Paramount in support of “Ready, Player, One.” This time, we can assume that his appearance was meant to coincide with the release of “Disclosure Day” in theaters on June 12th.
ORIGIN OF CREATIVITY
Spielberg remembered being taken to Disney films by his parents as a child. They thought taking young Steven to see “Fantasia” as a seven-year-old would be safe. He disagrees. “The least safe thing they could have done was to take me to see Fantasia when I was only about 7 years old. I had this kind of over-dose or over-abundance of imagination, so whenever I saw something I would extrapolate from that. There was this sequence called The Night on Fall Mountain and it just destroyed me. What I wanted to do with my impulse was— when something scares me— I want to create some sort of talisman to protect myself…That’s kind of how the whole thing started with me wanting to find some way to put it up somewhat to take it out of me and put it on something else.”
Since launching his career with 1975’s “Jaws” Spielberg has had 223 wins of various sorts out of 358 nominations and is synonymous with modern American cinema, whether as writer, director or producer. He and Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas are the subjects of the recent best-seller “The Last Kings of Hollywood,” which I am currently reading. In his sixty minutes onstage, Spielberg, 79, reflected on his remarkable career and on some of the films that instantly summon the American cinema experience.
“E.T.”
Spielberg defined “E.T.” as a demarcation point in his career, making him want to have kids. He said, “I didn’t have much of a home life,” which later was explained more fully in his autobiographical film “The Fabelmans” (which Spielberg described as $40 billion of therapy that Apple and Dreamworks paid for”).
Of making “E.T.” Spielberg explained , “I loved those kids. I didn’t want them to go home.” He even acknowledged that Drew Barrymore never really went home, in the metaphorical sense, after starring in the film about an alien visitor.
He explained that, although it cost $10 million to shoot the film in chronological continuity, that was done so that the young actors and actresses would be saying goodbye to “E.T.,” the alien, in the final scene of the film, rather than the normal way of shooting pieces of the film out of context. He pointed out that this compounded the sadness of separation that all of the cast were feeling as the making of the movie came to a conclusion.
ALIEN MOVIES
With his disclosure that “E.T. made me want to have kids, Spielberg gave credit to wife Kate Capshaw and their 7 children and 6 grandchildren. Of his children, he said, “They keep me relevant and current.” He also absolutely crowed about the recent Obama comment about potential intelligent life beyond human life in the universe, saying, “This is so great for ‘Disclosure Day!’. That film comes out in June. Spielberg admitted that the recent New York Times series of articles on UFOs (now known as UAPs) “rekindled my interest in this subject matter.”
HISTORY
Spielberg onstage at SXSW on March 13, 2026.
Spielberg said that, “I’m drawn like a magnet to history. I just found so much richness in stories about the past.” He praised this year’s “Train Dreams” for covering an entire life over 75 years, since, “films move so fast.” He mentioned influences such as TikTok, and Instagram, while saying he is not on Instagram because of the “missing time dilemma.”
Question: “How do you do what you do?”
Spielberg’s answer was that he storyboards if there are a lot of special effects, but also noted that there were none on “Saving Private Ryan” or “Schindler’s List”. “I know the page count I need to cover. If you cast your film right, you get a person with a deep understanding of how film works.” He shared that he and Tom Cruise were both early arrivals on the set of “Minority Report” and said, “Your instincts and intuition are your best friends. I just need the cast to trust me” and advised would-be filmmakers to “learn from your heroes from before.”
SPIELBERG’S NIGHTMARES
A poster for the 1975 American film ‘Jaws’, directed by Steven Spielberg for Universal Studios. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)
Spielberg said, “Even the happy ones (movies) come from my nightmares.” He said the audience is the most important barometer for a film and admitted that the “Jaws” team “didn’t know what we had until the ‘Jaws’ premiere at the Medallion Theater in Dallas,” adding, “I have previewed all my films in Texas.”
His story of an audience member leaving the theater during “Jaws” to vomit, but then returning was a great, if amusing, tribute to his storytelling ability.
HUMILITY
Saying that his worst nightmare would be “not to get to do what I do” Spielberg expressed great admiration for David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia.” He and Martin Scorsese worked together to restore parts of the film that had been removed by studio heads saying, “You will never be as good as David Lean. It keeps me humble.” He described watching the film so many times that a silver object in the sand caught his attention and is still a mystery.
The acclaimed director also remarked, “I was riding high in 1978. My next movie ‘1941’ came out and I was humbled.” He also said, “Every film is different. Every film is a birth, a life, and a death. I don’t judge my accomplishments based on one film. I always fear that if I looked back too much I’d not move forward.”
FAVORITE PERFORMERS’ SCENES IN HIS FILMS
Spielberg mentioned scenes from “Amistad and Tom Hanks crying in the crater and Daniel Day Lewis as Abrahan Lincoln. Two shots. Four minutes. One cut to David Straithorn. The scene had to do with the need to pass the 13th amendment, which made slavery illegal. “I was in the other room crying. Daniel Day Lewis asked, ‘Where’s the skipper?’ Then he came back, put his arms around me and hugged me.”
UNDER-APPRECIATED SPIELBERG FILMS
One humorous anecdote that came from the question about his under-appreciated films was the story that, when he was single, he had a criteria for a second date. “I used to show girlfriends “A Guy Named Joe” (Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne) or “Always”—Audrey Hepburn’s last film, Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter. “It was the film I used to show girlfriends. Them and ‘Two for the Road.’ If they didn’t cray at the end, I wouldn’t go out with them again.’
MOVIES AS COMMUNITY
When asked about the community and communication that happen in a theater (“The real experience comes from gathering audiences tougher at movies or concerts.”) Spielberg remarked that “Theaters like IMAX have committed to you.” He was asked what he can do to preserve the movie-making experience as it has existed for decades, given streaming and the tremendous convenience of portable communication devices like the IPhone. His response was, “All I can do with Ambling Entertainment and my parent company is make movies that people want to see.”
He admitted that he remains current, saying, “I see it all because it’s kind of a rush to see them all. I see everything I possibly could see.” With A.I. turning 25 this year he remarked that he is still very integrated with the writing process and said “I haven’t used A.I. in any of my films. I am not for A.I. if it replaces a creative individual,” which brought a round of applause.
When asked what film of his he would suggest if aliens wanted to see a film that was about human history, Spielberg suggested “E.T.” rather than “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He also expressed great admiration for Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” calling it “the kindest film I’ve ever seen” and vowed that his next film will be a Western that will “kick ass.”
“Chili Finger” at SXSW with Sean Astin and Judy Greer. (Photo by Cristina Dunlap).
Directors Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad brought the indie film “Chili Finger” to SXSW, which premiered on March 14 at the Zach Theater. I broke a tradition of decades of watching the Oscars “live” to journey to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar on March 15th to see it. It was not the World Premiere, which took place May 14th, but it was only the second screening of this thought-provoking movie. It was worth stepping away from our annual Traveling Trophy for Oscar Predicting, which I am nominally in charge of (and, yes, there IS a real Oscar trophy—of sorts.)
This 100 minute character study starred Judy Greer, Sean Astin, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman, along with new-comers Madeline Wise, Paul Stanko, Sarah Herrman and Sara Sevigny. Writer/Directors Benda and Helstad are partners heading up Beyond the Porch productions, blending their Michigan roots and their shared USC educations to create independent films. “Chili Finger” was shot in Champaign, Illinois, in the heat of summer. It involves a fictional Wisconsin fast food chain, Blake Junior’s (they filmed in an old Hardee’s restaurant), to bring us a story based on reality.
“Chili Finger” cast members Madeline Wise and Paul Stanko during the Q&A for “Chili Finger” on March 15, 2026 at SXSW.
TRUTH TO FICTION
In March 2005, Anna Ayala falsely claimed to find a severed human finger in her Wendy’s chili in San Jose, California, creating an international scandal that cost the chain over $21 million in lost sales. Investigations revealed the finger was a hoax, traced to a colleague of Ayala’s husband who lost it in a workplace accident. Ayala was sentenced to nine years in prison for the scam. At the beginning of the film we are told: “Some of the events depicted in this film actually happened. Some did not.”
DOES THE FILM FLIP THE FACTS?
I had not read this synopsis: “When Jessica Lipki discovers a severed human finger in her bowl of chili, she recognizes an opportunity to seize control of her stagnating life. Jess blackmails the regionally-beloved fast food chain for $100,000 in return for Jessica and her blissfully ignorant husband Ron (Sean Astin) remaining quiet about the incident.”
When I entered the theater—abandoning the 98th Oscar ceremony “live” for the first time since 1955–I had been too busy working as press at SXSW to read extensively about the film beyond its theme-revealing title. I realized it had its original inspiration based on the Wendy’s true incident, but I honestly did not remember what the outcome of the original chili finger discovery had been. Did the original diner who perpetrated fraud do prison time? Did not know. Am glad I did not know, going in, who was guilty of what—or if Judy Greer’s character was an innocent accused of something she would never do.
CAST
Writer/Director Steven Helstad of “Chili Finger” at SXSW. (Photo by Megan bailey).
I recognized going in, however, that this cast would be dynamite, and they were. (Questions about how they came to be hired abound.) Madeline Wise as Blake Junior and Paul Stanko as Trevor Stempor, two of the newbies, were also spot-on in their roles. The two Sarahs (Sarah Herrman as the pregnant girlfriend of Trevor and Sara Sevigny as Jackie, the server) were also good. Having a good script and good actors: a good start. Add to that the storyboarding, especially of the character Dave Pendleton (Bryan Cranston), and Cinematography by Cristina Dunlap, editing by Todd Zelin, sound design by Peter Bawiec and original music from Dan Deacon: Voila! Chili Finger: Fantastic Film.
Q&A
Paul/Trevor during the “Chili Finger” Q&A.
Paul Stanko told us, in the Q&A following the screening what it was like acting with John Goodman and Bryan Cranston. He said he was “so intimidated.” Paul added, “They were all wonderful people. They were all there to support. They elevated my performance. All I had to do was be there and say my lines.” He described the experience as “surreal” and “amazing.”
The shooting site, Champaign, Illinois, in June can be very hot and muggy. (No shock there.I live in Illinois half the year and grew up in Iowa.) Sara Herrman, who had to wear a pregnant belly on the first day of shooting, inside a trailer that was stiflingly hot and swampy, on a day when rain was pouring down, repeated her words from that first day of shooting [in a very small voice]: “It’s just so hot.”
Writer Stephen Helstad said he wrote the script during the pandemic; there were numerous drafts. What set the script above other scripts were the twists that come, one after another, as we invest in Judy Greer’s character of Jessica Lipki.
By the end of the film I began to wonder if Jessica would be able to live with herself—and with her husband Ron—after everything that has happened. Like Amy Madigan’s Oscar-winning character in “Weapons,” I almost feel as though there should be a follow-up film that focuses on how Jessica’s life plays out from the final frame forward.
JESSICA
Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad of “Chili Finger” on March 15, 2026, at SXSW.
Jessica is a small-town divorce attorney who seems too good-hearted a person to be a con artist responsible for trying to scam anyone. At various plot points Jessica demonstrates that she is not a “bad” person. She literally saves Dave Pendleton’s (Bryan Cranston in ascenery-chewing turn) life. Is this woman a con artist or not? That question lingered, for me, for quite some time. (*Remember: I’ve been attending late-night films and, also, fairly early films. I passed out in the lobby of the Paramount last year on Opening Night,after covering 3 Red Carpets from 4 p,m, until 2 a.m. Bear with me. I also had great empathy for the poor beer bottling employee who lost the finger in opening scenes after ripping my right thumbnail off at the Austin airport—an “avulsion”— in a bizzare luggage rack incident. These things only happen to me and made me the perfect audience for “Chili Finger.”)
Jessica demonstrates angst over the departure of her daughter for college (the dreaded “empty nest” that I avoided by having two children born 19 years apart. Family motto: “Every 20 years, whether you need to or not.”) It becomes clear that husband Ron is much more enamored of fast food at the local café than Jessica is. There may well be more cracks in the relationship as other truths surface. Ron is “in” to WWII and dancing the polka. Jessica seems less thrilled about these mid-life couple activities. There are musings about the supposed “joy(s)” of having children. Since the U.S. birth rate is at an all-time low (and most births occurring are to women over 30) that statistic percolated in the back of my brain (and also in the sub-text of the dialogue.)
AFFORDABILITY
Director Edd Benda of “Chili Finger” at SXSW 2026. (Photo by Ben Winchell).
The constant refrain of finances being tight comes to the surface over and over for all concerned. I couldn’t help but wonder if $400 to fly to visit their daughter in Philadelphia was enough. (Not right now, certainly). I wanted to ask what Ron was doing at “the mill.” Whatever it was, the smell lingers on the workers’ hands long after they leave work. Did he also work at the beer bottling plant? I noticed that Jessica is carrying an old-fashioned paper boarding pass at one point and thought, “Well, THOSE are on the way out!” (Because they are.)
GUILTY OR INNOCENT
Once again, I was grateful, going in, l that I didn’t know whether Jessica was guilty of being a con artist or not for a long time. Do yourselves a favor and don’t read the IMDB snippet before watching the film. How much more interesting the film becomes when you, as an audience member, are trying to judge whether a woman who seems as basically decent as Jessica could have tried to perpetrate fraud. Did she or didn’t she?
Edd Benda, Director of “Chili Finger”.
TRUTHS
Two truths that were underscored by this film, for me: 1) Some people are much better liars than others. (2) The “affordability” crisis that the majority of Americans are feeling right now is real. Since American voters were conned by a master con-man we now find ourselves facing an affordability crisis not unlike the one we faced during President Carter’s years in office.
To quote A.I.: “During Jimmy Carter’s presidency (1977–1981), gas prices in the U.S. more than doubled, surging from roughly 61 cents to over $1.25 per gallon by 1980. Triggered by the 1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent oil supply shocks, consumers faced severe shortages, gas lines, and high inflation, resulting in a “crisis of confidence.”
Does any of that sound familiar? Probably not, if you are young. Trust me. It was brutal. A teacher of junior high schoolers at the time, the administration screwed our thermostats down to 60 degrees to save money. In Illinois. In winter. I was sick with strep throat for months. Having lived that gas shortage of 46 years ago, I sent the spouse to fill up my Prius tank here in Austin immediately. I remember what came next. (*Side note: one of my friends, Mary Beth Koob, was an Iranian embassy hostage freed by Carter after being held prisoner for 444 days. Ronald Reagan took all credit for Carter’s diplomacy in getting the hostages out alive.)
CONCLUSION
Believe me when I say that “Chili Finger” is a wonderful indie film that shows great promise. I’m looking forward to future films from these two filmmakers. As a former business owner in Bettendorf, Iowa (home to Scott Beck and Bryan Woods of “A Quiet Place” fame) let me heartily recommend that fans check out this film.
To the young filmmakers, if you’re still in town after “Chili Finger” finishes screening, I’d love to ask you some additional questions before you depart [or send them to you via e-mail.] Drop me a line. I’m here through May 15 (when Bruno Mars beckons at Soldier Field, Chicago.) I did not want to distract you tonight from fully enjoying a night of Triumph among True fans who turned out on Oscar night (3/15/2026).
Side-note: I did get a chance to (a) meet Edd’s Uncle (b) congratulate Director Edd Benda on “Chili Finger” (c) Tell Edd he resembled Seann William Scott of 1999’s “American Pie” vintage, which will date me even further(d)Talk to Hannah Shealy about her TV pilot “Birth Is for P*ssies.” (Excuse the rambling; repeated 3 a.m. write-ups are taking their toll.)
I hope that the filmmakers find this semi-review on my blog and drop me a line so I am able to send some additional questions their way and find out about their upcoming projects. Stay tuned for further developments (if any). Keep checking www.TheMovieBlog.com for a more “professional” approach to reviewing whenever I/we get around to it.
I also hope they fix the elevator in the parking garage, but that’s a very faint hope.
“Perfect” is a 94-minute film directed by British director Millicent Hailes which had its World Premiere on March 14th in the Visions section of the SXSW film festival. “Perfect” attempts to break new cinematic ground by using sound in a most unconventional way, Someone decided that repetitive dialogue—super-imposing the same line over the dialogue being spoken at that moment in a sort of echo chamber effect— was a good idea.
It was not.
It came across as auditory assault. The dialogue (scripted by Kendra Miller and Hailes), when finally deciphered, was banal. “You’re going to be all right” was the oft repeated sentiment. That line, based on the plot events, seems inaccurate.
By film’s end the lead character (Ashley Moore as Kai) is far from “okay.”
She has lost at love more than once and is burning her car—the car in which she had been living. Her romance with a mysterious pregnant woman ( Julia Fox of“Uncut Gems” who alsoexecutive produced) has crashed and burned. Kai is stranded in the middle of nowhere
SYNOPSIS
Julie Fox as Mallory in “Perfect” at SXSW film festival Visions section on March 14, 2026.
The plot: “In a world devastated by a contaminated water supply, Kai, a lost soul, finds herself living out of her car after a bad breakup. Each day is a struggle until fate leads her to a hidden utopian lake where the water is pure and life flourishes.” A ragtag group of outsiders — Sonny (Lio Mehiel), Pinksy (Ryder McLaughlin), Nik (Micaela Wittman), Cal (Creed Bratton), and Emil (Sergio Lane) — have carved out a fragile community there. At the lake, Kai meets Mallory, a wealthy and mysterious pregnant woman running from her past. They fall into a passionate romance, but as Kai becomes more attached, she begins to see the cracks in Mallory’s story.
Moore and Fox are striking onscreen, and their fragmented love scenes are filmed with an eye for beauty. Director of Photography Ksusha Genenfeld makes the most of their chemistry — there’s plenty of skin, and film editor Amber Bansak has composed a romantic pastiche of sensual erotic images. Viewers here for the sex scenes will be pleased. Beyond that, the plot doesn’t offer much. It’s surprising to hear lines like “fucking faggot” and “Is this giving gay?” used casually, tossed off nonchalantly by a queer director who founded a magazine (yves 2c) for under-represented genders.
BACKGROUND
Director Hailes studied fashion in London and has a degree in photography. The film has been picked up by Visit. Hailes said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Visit Films… we’re honored to join their slate and look forward to bringing the film to audiences worldwide.” Visit’s president, Ryan Kampe, added: “Perfect is the perfect film for our times… a smart and provocative film that weaves together a potential apocalyptic future with the needs and desires of the human body.”
THE “MORAL”
Ashley Moore as Kai in “Perfect” at SXSW on March 14, 2026.
If there’s a message, it’s obscured beneath the sound effects — including, near the end, a sped‑up voice that sounds like a cartoon character. The score by Wynne Bennett, however, is genuinely good and elevates the romantic scenes with lyrics like, “I was on the edge of something greater than before.”
CONCLUSION
Sexy, stylish, but saddled with an almost unlistenable sound design, the apocalyptic water‑crisis backdrop is oddly minimized, and the protagonist’s journey rarely makes much sense. Viewers who want more than the beautifully photographed sex scenes, including coherent storytelling or a satisfying ending, will need to look elsewhere.
The cast of “Drag” at its World Premiere on March 13, 2026 at SXSW.
‘Drag,” scripted and directed by Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitz, made its World Premiere as a Midnight entry at SXSW on March 13, 2026, with stars Lizzy Caplan (“Masters of Sex,” 2013-2016), John Stamos and Lucy DeVito onstage after the screening. Lucy DeVito, asked why the film succeeded, correctly analyzed the appeal: “It’s in the writing. It’s on the page.”
Danny DeVito at SXSW on March 13, 2026.
The DeVito family was there in force, with father Danny joining son Jake and daughter Lucy, its co-star, onstage. The plot involves “two sisters with a contentious relationship who decide to rob a rural home in upstate New York. The simple robbery turns into a nightmare when one of them throws out her back and becomes immobilized on the second floor. The night spirals out of control as they embark on a painful journey to make it out before the homeowner returns.”
Danny DeVito spoke to his desire to support new talent, saying, “We’ve always tried to support new filmmakers with passion. These guys are the best.” His first reaction to reading the script was “Holy shitballs.” He added, “The nail got me.”
GENESIS
Writer/Directors Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitz of “Drag” at SXSW.
The writer/directors, Raviv Ullman and Greg Yagolnitz shared, during the Q&A following the screening that the idea of a would-be robber being immobilized by back pain sprang from their own back ailments. They also admitted that having television pilots that were stalled in development hell gave them time to think about writing, preparing and shooting a low-budget indie film. So, they did. The film succeeded where many others have failed.
LIZZY CAPLAN
Lizzy Caplan was asked about how she prepared to believably portray a woman with severe back pain, who is dragged around inside a serial killer’s mansion for hours. Her answer? “Show up and pretend your back hurts.” She answered the question straightforwardly, but even the answer was funny.
Caplan is a veteran actress (73 roles) with comedic and horror chops. I enjoyed Caplan in “Masters of Sex” for 46 episodes from 2013-2016. She also appeared in 2018’s “Cloverfield.”
“Drag” was shot in Albany in the winter in 21 days but, as co-star Lucy Devito said, “The whole thing should have been a pain in the ass, but every moment was a delight. Playing Lizzie’s sister was the best Everyone believed in the film.”
SOUND
Lucy DeVito, co-star of “Drag.”
The sound design (Patrick Stump) was great at helping build tension. Make-up, special effects and stunts—all story-boarded—worked well. This low budget indie film more than held its own in the laughs department. The acting by Lizzy Caplan and Lucy DeVito was top-notch. Ben Goodman, the Director of Photography, did a creative job. The physical side of staging all the mayhem was choreographed, storyboarded and successful.
“Drag” entertained and amused while also introducing a whole new side of John Stamos to the world, figuratively and literally. He plays a psychotic serial killer who fancies himself a pathological Picasso. I could see him moving in that direction with snake-like smarminess, giving audiences another “American Psycho.”
CONCLUSION
As the only working critic who, somehow, managed to rip her right thumbnail off at the Austin airport while merely getting a luggage cart ( an “avulsion”) and a one-time active voting member of HWA, the movie amused me mightily. I think it will amuse you, as well. Plus, the ending is not predictable, which audiences appreciate.
On Saturday, February 28th, 2026, we journeyed to San Antonio to watch granddaughter Elise play in a volleyball tournament. The tournament featured the CTX (Central Texas) team, not the school team, but the short snip of Elise playing with her Valor School team at the bottom of the page will give you an idea of what the past three years have meant for her as volleyball player/Captain of her school team (and for us as spectators and fans). We really enjoy seeing her play. I’m so lucky that volleyball was the game of choice, as my enthusiasm for soccer, hockey, et. al., is not nearly as high.
As senior year approaches, we will miss watching Elise do so well as a team member of two volleyball teams. She played very well again on Feb. 28, 2026. I’m sure she will benefit from everything she has learned about teamwork during these last three years. Another tournament in Reno beckons in May.
View from our Mariott AC hotel in downtown San Antonio.
San Antonio is about an hour’s drive away. The location of the tournament was quite a long way from the downtown Alamo tourist spots. After the last two games ended, (which Elise’s team won), we checked into a Mariott downtown with the name AC (which instantly made me think of Air Conditioning).
As my husband went to check us in, he left me in the car with the window open. I was sitting there minding my own business on this balmy night when a woman with a group of passers-by began telling me “Jesus loves you.” I responded, “Good.”
A few more of the group began “chatting” (if that is the right term) with me through the open window ( I am IN the car, waiting forthe spouse to check in; the group of 10 is on the sidewalk). I was not in any way indicating that I wanted or needed a sermon right from the streets of San Antonio, but that is what I got.
After the religious talk ceased slightly, I suggested that the members of this random group vote in the March 3rd primary election (They seemed harmless, but later that night, in Austin, a gunman shot and killed 2 people on 6th Street and wounded 14 others, so...). James Talarico is squaring off against Jasmine Crockett to see who runs against a GOP opponent in November. The MAGA crowd is much more concerned about a male opponent than a Black female friend of Kamala Harris’s. Likely MAGA candidate will be incumbent John Cornyn, so we may be witnessing another Beto O’Rourke moment. Or not. Who knows?
Dining along the Riverwalk.
If Texas continues to attract voters from other states because of its beautiful winter weather and its reasonable cost of living, could it represent ALL Texans, including new ones from other states? [Assuming we have fair elections that aren’t rigged and that aren’t called off because of apower grab from the top.]
Maybe some day we could have a few Democrats in office other than just GOP Trump-friendly folk? Is it time to loosen the GOP stranglehold on this very red state? Maybe we could have a different governor than Abbott, who has been in a wheelchair for years from a long-ago accident when a tree fell on him while he was jogging.
Abbott brags about how he went to work every day with the sole purpose of lodging lawsuits against Barack Obama during Obama’s two terms. There seems to be a lot of anger that we elected a Black President who did a good job, tried to help the average citizen with a Healthcare program, and whom most people liked. A God-fearing happily married husband and father who represented us articulately abroad, but was castigated for not wearing a flag pin on a tan suit, as though that were grounds for impeachment. And please get rid of Texas’s Kenneth Paxton. His own party seems to have disowned him. His whistleblower staff outed him. His wife divorced him. (Etc., etc., etc.)
Riverwalk.
Maybe don’t vote for the guy who brags that he has voted with DJT “99% of the time.” (Cornyn) Maybe don’t vote for the guy who puts MAGA in the middle of his campaign slogan (Middleton) and is totally down with things going on in places like Minneapolis or Venezuela. (I did not say “Or Iran” because we can debate Iran’s nuclear ambitions and their stated national goals, but now we’ve martyred their 37-year leader at a time when the experts say there was no “imminent” danger of nuclear weapons being feasible. How popular will we be with Iran’s devoutly religious average citizen whose cities we are busy blowing up?)
It seems that the goal for the incumbent 47th President is to leave a huge mark on the U.S.—and an equally huge mark on the world scene— by throwing U.S. military weight around as bullies and barbarians at the gate, an image that we spent over 60 years trying to undo. ($20 million a day just to float around off the coast of Iran; the need for an excuse to cancel elections and distract from the Epstein files really loomed large.) Plus, there’s the tacky gold redecorating and the proposed Arch de Triomphe that would dwarf the Lincoln Monument (not to mention the embarrassing pleas for trophies and the Nobel Peace Prize and that FIFA monstrosity.)
DJT seems to be arbitrarily instigating decades of war to re-emerge, despite such world wars in Europe involving the U.S. being dormant (because of NATO and negotiating and diplomacy) since 1945 (Remember: Now it’s not the Secretary of DEFENSE; it’s the Secretary of WAR. And it’s not the Gulf of Mexico, either, if you want to rewrite history. Which seems like the goal here.) Putin is pleased that, as a nation, we are repeatedly shooting ourselves in the feet.
Tearing everything down was always the goal of the corrupt Steve Bannon (guilty of fraud) and his interview with Errol Morris should be required viewing if you love our democratic norms and the Constitution that DJT tramples on daily. [2018 Steve Bannon interview “American Dharma”] It’s the blueprint of Project 2025, which DJT always claimed he knew nothing about—until he began following it to the letter.
A good Christian candidate in the Democratic primary March 3rd for Senator is Democrat James Talarico, who is studying to be a Presbyterian minister. His grandfather was a Baptist minister. If Jesus/God loves us (me, anyway, according to the woman on thesidewalk) why did She let the current occupant of the White House wrest power back in 2024? [THAT was a bad move!] Why select a convicted malignant narcissist racist misogynistic felon with pedophile tendencies who has appointed only incompetents and enriches his friends and family while doing little for the rest of us? As another huckster (P.T. Barnum) once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
DJT has appointed Cabinet members like Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce. Lutnick was also linked to Jeffrey Epstein and admitted to having lunch with Epstein on his island (and he took his wife and kids!). And THAT guy is still around and showing up in international negotiations, sadly. Or RFK, Jr., who is bringing back measles and whooping cough and shutting down research on mrNA vaccines and childhood cancer. Or the woman who shot her dog (Ice Barbie, Krsti Noem, former Governor of South Dakota) who is now supervising the group (ICE) that is shooting citizens in places like Minneapolis. Or Crazy Eyes Kash Patel, widely considered an incompetent buffoon within the FBI/CIA ranks–with good reason. The list goes on and on.
Trump’s kakistocracy (look it up) doesn’t inspire confidence. Makes me less positive about the Deity’s judgment, but nevermind. Talarico believes in the separation of church and state and so do I. I also believe in the Constitution, which is being completely trampled on at the moment on so many levels.
I’m not cool with alienating all of our allies and bombing boats and countries, even if the countries, themselves, as Lindsey Graham has long believed, needed a good old-fashioned bombing. Cutting off the oil to Cuba and China sounds good until you realize that China, if it seizes Taiwan, will be controlling all of the high-end computer chips that our technology must have to function. (We have ignored thiswarning for years about Taiwan making 90% of the high end computer chips.) And what if the Chinese were to start in on our currency situation, as Michael Moore warned about in his 2009 documentary “Capitalism: A Love Story.” I suggest you watch it, too. (Too many documentaries; too little time.)
Downtown San Antonio from our hotel.
The bombing of Iran will not only keep MAGA from continuing to ask those pesky questions about DJT’s best friend, Jeffrey Epstein (orso he hopes) but will probably cause Trump to try to suspend mid-terms for a “national emergency” that he totally created, since there is data to support the position that Iran was already tottering on its damaged feet and incapable of using nukes against us (too far away). I’m okay with bombing the nuclear sites, but didn’t DJT tell us they were “completely obliterated” quite a while ago? Apparently not, if you need a distraction from the Epstein files.
And let’s not forget: anything to seize power and install friends and family in positions of leadership if you’re Donald John Trump. You want a pardon? Hit him up—for a fee. How about the money Melania pocketed for her quasi-fashion-documentary? (No corruption here—right? And I haven’t even mentioned the Qatar jet plane.) And now the GOP faithful, falling into line behind DJT and spending pots of money, has set their sights on buying up media (CBS, etc.) and distorting our ability to receive real news, just like in Russia, where Putin set about putting the media under his thumb to seize and keep power. (*Note to Fox fans: when lawsuits were underway recently, Fox News claimed to be an entertainment channel, not a news channel, as a defense.) We have already seen Stephen Colbert bite the dust and the Washington Post is dying in broad daylight, rather than in darkness. Can Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyer be far behind?
Soon we may have WWF wrestling on the lawn of the White House to celebrate the years since 1976 to 2026, our Semiquincentennial (250th birthday). Trump’s already ruined the Kennedy Center, so there goes any U.S. claim to culture [with more downgrades to come.] Remember when Pablo Casals played at the White House, November 13, 1961? No? Well, I do. Casals played in the East wing (now torn down by Trump without any permission and with LOTS of money pouring into Trump’s hands from “donors” to build—the wall?). I was 16 years old and JFK’s time in office was the epitome of class and culture for the Presidents I have known, which go back to Truman. And Donald James Trump represents the tackiest and least competent President—even eclipsing “W” of all time. (Which is going some!)
Under Trump, for culture, you have to content yourself with a third-rate country singer or Kid Rock or KISS–except that one of them recently died and KISS retired but got the Medal of Honor along with hate-monger Rush Limbaugh— so, yes, DJT is old, as well, and hardly “cutting edge” regarding culture in the U.S.
We may well have Vince McMahon of the WWE putting on a wrestling tournament on the White House lawn, instead. After all, Trump has already appointed McMahon’s wife, Linda, to be in charge of the SBA (Small Business Administration.) Linda McMahon: another member of the kakistocracy. (How very presidential of DJT.)
Netanyahu and Trump are a lot alike in continued clinging to power and favoritism (and pardons) for their cronies. Yes, the avowed Iranian post-Shah mantras were (1) Death to America (2) Death to Israel (3) Women must wear head garb and never have a say in government. So, not waiting until the already 86-year old died of natural causes probably looked like a good idea (especially since there were many more like him to come), but will the Iranian people agree? It isn’t as though this administration, which unleashed DOGE on us, surgically figured out a way, Maduro-like, to off the Ayatollah. Not at all–thanks to the influence of the Lindsey Grahams and the Benjamin Netanyahus, we are still bombing Iran.
Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran’s oldest son, in 2025.
It appears that the Shah’s son—long gone from Iran after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s overthrow in 1979—may be being groomed to return to Iran and rule. In a “60 Minutes” interview tonight the Shah’s son denied any desire to be a King or a President. He just wants to be a “transitional leader,”since 48 Iranian leaders were killed in the very recent bombing. Of course, the Shah’s now-grown son also admits to consulting with the White House and being in touch with Congress. Hmmmmm…
Meanwhile, San Antonio beckoned. Good idea to get away.
We had a lovely meal at an outdoor venue, enjoying the eighty-degree weather. It’s hard to believe that we are going to have weather this warm for the next two weeks with nothing lower than seventy degrees. And yet when I turn on my television, I see blizzards in the Northeast, temperatures in the single digits in places like Minneapolis (the “nice” neighbors in Minnesota who are standing up for their Constitutional rights while they still have them), and not-very-warm readings in cities and towns like Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, and Independence (Iowa). But the worst of the weather has been the massive amount of snow in places like Central Park (NYC) and Massachusetts and even the cold temperatures in Florida. (“But there’s no global warming,and all of the brakes on carbon emissions have been kicked to the curb.”)
So, enjoy volleyball while we all wait for the other shoe (or bomb) to drop. Here are my two lovely 17-year-old twin granddaughters, Elise (blonde, left) and Ava (brunette, right) eating ice cream on the Riverwalk.
A still from Seized by Sharon Liese, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jackson Montemayor.)
The 94-minute documentary “Seized,” directed by Sharon Liese, which screened at Sundance, is a timely story out of Marion, Kansas (population 1,890). On August 11, 2023, local police chief Gideon Cody raided the offices of the Marion County Record, demanding all electronic devices be handed over. The police chief and several other officers also went to the home of the publishers of the paper, Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother Joan.
Eric Meyer is an exceptionally well-spoken former journalism professor and the publisher of the MarionCounty Record. Eric said, “I knew it was going to make news.” When his 98-year-old mother died the next day, Eric knew that “a really good story just became a great story.” Eric’s Mom says of the men in her house, “Do you understand how big a shit-storm you guys are in? Newspapers have got power, too.”
Do they, any more?
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
This story of the abuse of the 1st amendment freedom of speech, the 4th amendment and a possible conspiracy was cited recently in a similar case, where Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home was raided and her laptops and mobile phones were seized. The Washington Post commented that Trump’s FBI had “stomped on a once-inviolable right,” making this documentary about a successful defense of Constitutional rights both a legal precedent and, hopefully, cause for hope in the ongoing fight against encroaching totalitarianism.
As the 98-year-old Joan Meyer said (on videotape) to the men in her home, “Nazi stuff. The worst I’ve ever seen. You’re nothing but a bunch of bullies.” As we all wait out the assault on Minneapolis, those observations ring truer than ever.
PUBLISHER ERIC MEYER
Seventy-two year old publisher Eric Meyer of the Marion,, Kansas, Marion County Record.
Eric Meyer already was on bad terms with Marion’s Mayor Mike Powers. That hostility comes through loud and clear, from the moment that the mayor showed no interest in meeting new reporter Finn Hartnett right through to the final sit-down interview.
Eric said, “I’m a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. If you back me into a corner, I’m not going to back down.” Finn Hartnett, the new kid on the block agrees, saying, “Eric is a stoic, proud man and he is very committed. He is committed to leading this kind of life as a pariah.” Finn jokingly tells Eric that “the highest award in journalism is getting shot by the CIA.” The joke falls flat in 2026 Minneapolis, where two citizens were recently shot by federal ICE troops while exercising their right(s) to protest peacefully.
RAMIFICATIONS
In Trump’s America, it has been made clear that the owners of large media firms should expect much friendlier regulatory treatment if they bring their journalists to heel. Paramount’s CBS News has already stifled a story on “Sixty Minutes” about the inhumane El Salvador prison where Trump is fond of sending illegals. CBS has canceled Stephen Colbert’s Late Night Show. ABC removed Jimmy Kimmel from the air briefly. (CBS: Channel Bull Shit was heard used during one late night program.)
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos replaced that newspaper’s opinion columnists with right-leaning columnists and editors. Bezos’ Amazon (and Blue Origin) takes in billions of dollars in federal space and defense contracts. Bezos is concerned that Trump could cut off access if displeased. Amazon rolled out the movie “Melania” recently, a glossy $40 million dollar documentary focusing on our Russian-born First Lady. The film had ten times the budget of most documentaries and lists Melania Trump as Producer. It also is directed by Brett Ratner, recently charged with sexual harassment and pictured in a just-released Epstein document, seated next to Epstein and two unidentified women.
Bezos has not made any comment about the illegal raid on his own Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson‘s home, which may indicate who’s winning the war on journalism. Keep in mind that Eric Meyer’s raid on his newspaper took place in 2023; the court case and eventual victory dragged on for two years into 2025. Would Eric Meyer prevail, as he ultimately does, in today’s climate?
Much depends on the courts doing their job and not being bullied into doing the bidding of those in power. Recently, the FBI raided a Georgia election headquarters and seized voter records from 2020. Where are they now? Why aren’t the courts demanding their return? What is being done with those confidential voter records? Why was Tulsi Gabbard spotted loitering in the area when and where the records were seized? Is history going to be rewritten, as it has been in Russia? All valid questions when the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts skews conservative and seems to believe in the concept of giving the executive branch much more power than it previously possessed in our democracy.
Shark investor Mark Cuban just put out a warning to legacy media, noting that today’s youth are more likely to get their “news” from websites like YouTube or podcasts, many of which are often slanted. The traditional journalism of my day ( I was a Ferner/Hearst Journalism Scholarship recipient), which is the journalism of Eric Meyer, has given way to slanted news from a variety of sources. Add to that the streaming of movies undercutting theater audience attendance and those who report news or make movies may be in trouble (especially if they attempt to really investigate the truth of a situation involving powerful people.)
THE CAUSE OF THE MARION, KANSAS NEWSPAPER SEIZURE
You have to pay close attention to find out what, exactly, was the cause of the raid on Eric Meyer’s newspaper. There’s no doubt that Eric Meyer’s frosty relationship with the mayor played into the situation. There was, also, the expressed opinion from the mayor that newspaper journalists who are simply trying to do their job are “the enemy.” The Fourth Estate, as journalists have long been known, can ruffle feathers when they disclose truths that others would like kept private. Certainly the Epstein files are a good example.
In the case of Marion, Kansas, there was a feeling that Eric Meyer might write an editorial. “There are forces at play that are diametrically opposed here. People are afraid to speak out because they are afraid that he will write an editorial and come after them if they speak out.”
Eric Meyer’s response was, “You don’t get into this business to be loved. It’s just part of the game. You feel a little isolated.” Nate, Eric’s son, noted, “They (the town fathers) picked the wrong people to go against. My grandmother was absolutely not going to back down.” Said Eric : “It’s a taboo in American democracy to raid a newsroom. We’re going to sue the living daylights out of this.”
ERIC’S STATEMENT
Sharon Liese, director of Seized, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
“What Marion’s got to hope for, at this point, is that we were the place where someone attempted to abuse its power, and we were the place where it stopped.” He added, “It’s about a system that didn’t function right because someone felt it was time to be the bully.”
LAWSUITS
The raid on Eric’s newspaper apparently arose from a romance between Police Chief Gideon Cody and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. Kari Newell wanted to secure a liquor license for one of her establishments, but her former best friend Pam Maag (a Linda Tripp if there ever was one) sent a record of Newell’s drunk driving arrests to the newspaper and the police and alleged that local law enforcement was turning a blind eye. Kari Newell’s ex-husband also claimed to have told the police that Kari was driving without a valid driver’s license, but claimed the authorities said they were not going to do anything about it. Upon verification of the information, the Marion CountyRecord did run the story, which caused Sheriff Cody to get a warrant signed by the Honorable Laura Viar, a judge who did not live in Marion and did not read the document before signing it. Text messages (“What’s up, Buttercup?”) between the two indicate that Chief Cody may have decided to extract retribution, which we’ve seen at the highest level of government lately.
OUTCOME
At the end of this interesting and timely documentary both Eric Meyer, Director Sharon Liese and Finn Hartnett (who now writes for New York’s The New Republic) were asked about the outcome.
With Bernie Rhodes as attorney for the Marion County Record, a state judicial panel heard the case twice and advised the judge that she should read what she signs before she signs it. The Honorable Laura Viar was removed from Marion County. The newspaper sued for $10 million in damages, knowing that the town only had about $2 million in insurance. Meyer said, “We went to some pains to make sure that the amount would be there and also to secure the little statement that admitted wrongdoing on the part of the Sheriff’s department…The maximum of this charge is going to be probation for Gideon Cody. It will just take longer to get it done. He’s not going to get a job as a police officer, anyway, The biggest disappointment was the number of places where this could have been stopped.”
Added Eric Meyer, “It’s convenient to say that it was all Gideon’s fault. He was rightfully run out of town. But so many groups that were there to protect our rights were so blasé about the whole thing. It’s a story about the abuse of power against Americans.”
The insurance company paid $3,050,000 to the newspaper, $50,000 more than the town’s insurance covered. The $600,000 that Phyllis Zorn received from the settlement allowed her to retire. Nicholas Semrad’s charming music adds to the already excellent storytelling, and the final outcome might give all of us in America a small measure of hope, when it comes to standing up for what is right against allowing what is wrong to continue to dominate.
CONCLUSION
Said Eric Meyer at Sundance, “I would hope that people would think that I believed in something and I didn’t give up on it.”
A still from Nuisance Bear by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Gabriela Osio Vanden.)
In 2021 Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman made a short about polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, which is known as the Polar Bear Capitol of the World. The remote and frigid area first caught the attention of the filmmakers in 2015 and their 2021 short has now become a 90-minute documentary. I remembered enjoying the short, and I enjoyed the 90-minute documentary version, as did the jury at Sundance, which proclaimed it the documentary winner on January 30th.
SOUND
The sound design by David Rose and the original music by Cristoabl Tapia de Veer helped the overall impact of the film, with Andres Landau editing film shot by six different cinematographers. Two of those shooting the bears up close and personal were the directors, but they were also aided by Michael Code, Jack Gawthrop, Samuel Holling and Ian Kerr, who got shots of the bears from unnervingly close range. (Code is also listed as one of the producers.)
Voice-over narration in the Inuit language is from Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons, to whom the film is dedicated (1943-2025). The Indian narrator tells us, “This story about a bear is a story about us.” He goes on to say that no story is ever simple, but stories are like mazes. They lead us where we least expect to go.
TOURISM
Gabriela Osio Vanden, director of Nuisance Bear, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Gabriela Osio Vanden.)
This Inuit native of the area explains that the polar bears stay on land looking for food until the ice freezes. The longer they stay on land, the more powerful and dangerous the situation becomes for humans. A polar bear is described as “ a visitor from the past navigating the maze of the present.” We learn that polar bears are gradually losing their hearing because loud noises are frequently used to scare them away. We also are told that caribou have very poor eyesight. The tourists that are aboard the Lazy Bear Expeditions buses (I saw 8 fullbuses in one shot) are encouraged to wave their gloved hands in the air like antlers, as the caribou might even join them, thinking they are fellow caribou.
We see a bear trap (and watch a polar bear outwit the trap to succeed in eating the fish used as a lure) and learn that the southern town of Churchill is more welcoming to polar bears. They often trap them and relocate them to the wilderness—or what’s left of it— after tagging them. If you head further north, northern hunters live in fear of the bears. We hear one Inuit hunter say, to applause at a town hall meeting, that if a nuisance bear bothers him “I will put it down.”
DANGERS
Among other problems the bears pose, there are government regulations about hunting. Halloween night is the night that has been given over to hunting for polar bears. One wonders if this is to protect the small ghosts and goblins out trick-or-treating. Indeed, one of my favorite images among so many gorgeous ones of the bears in nature was a shot of children in Halloween costumes, silhouetted in the headlights of an automobile on the night that the polar bear draw leads to the killing of a bear we saw being relocated to the wilderness, tagged, and left with a distinctive green paint mark. The northern hunters do not cater to tourists and prefer a more hard-line approach to controlling the bears.
TWIST
Jack Weisman, director of Nuisance Bear, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jack Weisman.)
Quite far into the documentary we get a surprise twist when the narrator says: “Not long ago, a man was attacked by a polar bear. He sacrificed himself to save his children. That man was my son.”
CONCLUSION
I liked “Nuisance Bear,” but it was not my favorite of the documentaries I saw this year. However, it is worth mentioning that every single Oscar-nominated documentary for this year’s Oscar race came through Sundance (my favorite: “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”) and, in the past decade, six of the winners have been Sundance projects.
A still from Hanging by a Wire by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
“Hanging by a Wire,” a 77‑minute documentary by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, follows the terrifying ordeal of eight passengers—six of them teenagers—left suspended in a cable car after one of two supporting cables snapped. What began as an ordinary school commute across the mountains of northern Pakistan on the morning of August 22, 2023, became a day-long fight for survival. The boys were left dangling 900 feet in the air, 5,250 feet from their destination, with the world watching and praying that rescue crews could reach them in time.
Like other disaster documentaries involving trapped miners or the Thai boys’ cave rescue, this story carries the same desperate plea: “Tell the world we want help.” What unfolds is a series of competing rescue attempts—some heroic, some chaotic, and all marked by the urgency of lives literally hanging in the balance.
SKY PIRATE
The first rescuer to reach the site was Sahib Khan, a self-styled “sky pirate,” who arrived around eleven in the morning. He successfully rescued one boy before being ordered to stop. As he explains it, “After I rescued the boy, I got a call telling me to shut the operation down.” Sahib was disturbed by this and said the reason was “ because I am poor.” Despite that, he later shares that people in Pakistan now recognize him and thank him for his bravery.
HELICOPTER RESCUE
Sonia Shamroz Khan, the district police commander, called in an experienced helicopter pilot, Lt. Col. Zain Ali, after four and a half hours. One of the boys, Irfan, was the only passenger eventually lifted out by helicopter. Unable to secure the harness that was passed down to him, he held onto the rope with his hands alone. Before attempting it, he told his father, “Dad, whether I live or die today, I’m going to jump.”Irfan’s father said, “When they told me he had made it to the helicopter, that’s when I opened my eyes.” A second helicopter arrived later, but the downdraft from the rotors violently shook the cable car, nearly flipping it. Another boy, Niaz, told his father, “I might die today.” Once rescued, Niaz said simply, “There was pure joy when my feet finally hit the ground.”
A still from Hanging by a Wire by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
ZIP-LINE RESCUE
Next came Ali Swati, a gym owner and zip‑line operator whose father once scolded him for not joining the Army. Determined to redeem himself in his family’s eyes and save the boys, he made a dangerous attempt shortly after dark. Ali was selected as the third rescuer because of his experience with his zip-line business, money and the equipment he already possessed.
The initial efforts by Ali were challenging. The wire shook under his weight; the car shook. Terrified, the boys screamed, “Why do you want to kill us? Why are you putting more weight on the cable car?” Tensions flared between Swati and the sky pirate perched on top of the car, but ultimately the priority became getting the boys out alive.
RESCUE TIME-LINE
A real‑time timeline heightens the film’s tension. Brendan McGinty’s aerial cinematography captures both the beauty and danger of the remote terrain and there was ample film footage of the crisis taken that day, which is used.
The boys were eventually saved, but their trauma lingers. One says, “We feel like we’ve been given a second chance to live.” Rizwan shared that he still relives the incident in nightmares and added, “I still feel scared whever I pass by the cable car.” Irfan continues to avoid the site, saying “There is a fear in my heart.”
Most remarkably, the ruined cable car still remains suspended from the damaged cable today, a grim monument to the day eight lives were left hanging by a wire.
