The Filmic 5: Not Leaving The Car Here Edition

Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley

I. Upcoming Film Most Exciting Me This Week

I ADORE the films of the "New Georgian Wave"...Georgian cinema—rich, elliptical, and profoundly regional—is one of the most idiosyncratic film traditions to emerge from the post-Soviet landscape. Though geographically diminutive, Georgia looms large on the cinematic landscape through quietly radical cinema marked by mythic storytelling, absurdism, folk realism, and defiant lyricism.

I am therefore terribly excited to experience the terrible beauty that is Dea Kulumbegashvili’s sophomore feature, APRIL. (The Georgian filmmaker embedded in a birthing clinic for a full year to make this abortion drama that is tearing up the European Festival circuit.) View the trailer here:

Per our friends at Movie Brief: "If it isn’t already clear, this movie isn’t for the squeamish or the faint of heart. Though a hit on the festival circuit — it won a special jury prize in Venice, where it premiered, before going on to screen at the New York, Toronto, and Sundance film festivals — it’s likely to be a niche title now that it’s in theaters. Even horror fiends who delight in sensationalized blood and guts will have their sensibilities tested by Kulumbegashvili’s unnerving mix of documentary realism and surrealist interludes. But it’s such a bravura display of filmmaking that you’ll keep your eyes on the screen even when you want to look away, with Kulumbegashvili more than fulfilling the potential she showed in 2020’s Beginning. April cements her status as a major cinematic talent, one who’s made a statement without delivering a preachy message movie."

Click here for a lovely interview with the director via our friends at NPR. Enjoy and look out for APRIL.

II. Cultural Zeitgeist Moment I'm Loving This Week

For someone who once recreated FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF shot-for-shot in a single day with his best friends, this past week of Ferris nostalgia has been nothing short of brilliant. From reissues in theaters to the announcement that our beloved duo are reuniting for an American remake of the French hit THE BEST IS YET TO COME, it is clear that we are in a bit of a Ferris Moment.

You can imagine how delighted I was to discover this brilliantly seamed little homage released by Formula One legend Lewis Hamilton to celebrate his first year racing with the Ferrari team. And you GOTTA love that cameo!

Enjoy- and remember, life moves pretty fast...if you don't stop and take a look around once in a while, you could miss it.

III. New Book I'm Starting This Week

"Hard to Watch" by Matthew Strohl, described as a “guide to expanding your cinematic horizons,” has just arrived and I am LOVING IT. Strohl richly details the pleasures gained from watching “difficult” cinema. He also reminds us that revisiting movies can be a game-changer: “The last time I watched Jeanne Dielman, I wasn’t bored for a second. That was not at all the case the first time I watched it, two decades ago. The movie hasn’t changed; I have.” No lies detected Matthew. Get this book.

IV. Film I Didn't Know Existed- And Am Now Obsessed By

An 87 year old Mae West playing camp as a 28 year old "Sextette" in a musical? TAKE MY MONEY. I'll let the legendary Natasha Lyonne explain why YOU need this film in your life too. You're welcome.

V. Commercial Making Me Happy This Week

Having lived and researched in Poland for so many years, it was so lovely to come across this commercial for the world renown Łódź Film School. From producing some of the world's greatest filmmakers to awarding honorary doctorates to even more of the world's greatest filmmakers, the Łódź Film School may just be one of our most important films schools on the planet. As a crucible of postwar cinematic resistance and poetic realism, the Łódź Film School didn’t just train auteurs—it midwifed cinematic obsessions. From Polanski’s prowling cameras to Kieślowski’s metaphysical montage, it remains Eastern Europe’s most vital answer to the question: what if cinema could think for itself? I dare you to watch this commercial and not be applying today. Enjoy.

Jack Hanley is a Boulder-based film scholar, podcaster, and critic. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and Flicker with Jack and Scott on YouTube. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com