THE WEEKEND WARRIOR PRINT EDITION - April 17, 2026
LORNE, AMRUM, MAD BILLS TO PAY, MILE END KICKS, Repertory Roundup
Hopefully, you’ve already watched and/or read this week’s The Weekend Warrior Show, which also included my reviews of Mother Mary and The Christophers, but you can also watch that below. I was hoping to review Bob Odenkirk’s Normal, and I still might, but it might end up being a video review, plus I’ll also have a review of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy later this week on Thursday when the embargo breaks.
Because the Print Edition has been rather touch-and-go over the past couple months, I’ll begin this week’s installment with not one, not two, but THREE fantastic films!
I probably shouldn’t give Morgan Neville’s new doc, LORNE (Focus Features) the time of day. “His people” have been turning me down for an interview for years now, although I’ve been a booster of his work for many, many years, I’ve met him at least once, and I have a good friend who has worked with him on a few of his movies. But hey, it’s a doc about “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, so it’s probably interesting enough for Focus Features to put it into 400 theaters rather than dumping it onto Peacock like all those other “SNL” docs celebrating the show’s 50th Anniversary a few years back.
I’m glad I gave it a chance, because like many of Neville’s other docs, this one is fantastic, right up there with 20 Feet from Stardom (for which he won his Oscar) and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (which shockingly, wasn’t even nominated!) I guess my first big issue was that there have been so many great docs about “Saturday Night Live,” including James Franco’s never-released Saturday Night, which took the viewer behind the scenes of making the show each week. Lorne does cover some of that same territory, but it goes far more in-depth into what makes Michaels tick, including his sticking to the same weekly routine, eating the same meals at the same restaurants, even inviting writers who need to stay up all night writing the show.
As far as his credentials, Neville had already directed a two-part doc about Michael’s bestie, Steve Martin, a recent movie about Paul McCartney post-Beatles, and even a doc specifically covering the year 1975, so he certainly seemed like the perfect candidate to tackle such a lofty and enigmatic subject.
Although Neville may have not gotten that much time to sit down with Michaels himself, the access he gets to the show itself, various cast members from over the years (including Chevy Chase!), and to Michael’s closest friends – Martin, Paul Simon, and Alec Baldwin notably – gives him so much material from which to work. Some of this is standard talking heads, but then there’s the ingenious idea of bringing together John Mulaney, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Fred Armisen for a roundtable where they’re sharing funny stories about Lorne. While much of the history and lore of “Saturday Night Live” is fairly well-documented, it’s great to hear how and why Michaels left in 1980, only to return five years later, as well as some of the problems with NBC executives that led to the firing of Adam Sandler (arguably one of the biggest stars to ever come out of the show) and Chris Farley in 1995.
There’s just so much information, but it’s parsed in such an entertaining and amusing way, including animated bits depicting Michaels, who is clearly such a distinct character whose involvement in making the show over 50 years since its inception is so important.
Listen, I feel like “Saturday Night Live” as a show and institution has faltered in recent years – this season might be one of the worst seasons to date – but there’s no denying that at 79, Lorne Michaels has created quite a legacy for himself, and Morgan Neville has created a comprehensive biographical spotlight that covers so much ground, even going back pre-”SNL.” Honestly, Lorne could very well end up being the best documentary I’ve seen all year. Go figure.
Rating: 10/10
Opening at the Quad Cinema in New York on Friday and at the Laemlle Royal in L.A. is Faith Akin’s latest film, AMRUM (Kino Lorber), which is set in the German island whaling community of the film’s title towards the tail-end of WWII. It focuses around a young lad named Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck), who has moved to the rural island from Hamburg with his absent father, his grandmother, young pregnant mother Hille (Laura Tonke), and younger brother. Like most of the country, it’s fairly divided between those that support Hitler and those that don’t. As the film opens, we see the British bombers flying over Amrum to signify that the war may be ending soon, but Nanning is more concerned with making sure his family can eat, particularly his mother, who craves the simple meal of white bread with butter and honey. Nanning learns that it’s a much more difficult task than expected. Diane Kruger (who starred in Akin’s Golden Globe-winning film In the Fade) has a small role as Tessa, a potato farmer that Nanning works for, until he accidentally narcs on her and is given the sack, cutting off his family’s resource supply for milk and butter.
I’ve been a fan of Akin’s films for quite some time, but this film was of particular interest to me, since both my parents were German Jews, and I’d heard stories about Germany before they left for greener South American pastures in the mid-to-late ‘30s. I’ve always been particularly curious about the Germans of that era and the decades that followed, who either lived through Hitler’s tyrannical and genocidal reign or the time that followed where they had to figure out how to make amends. Around 2000, I actually travelled with my father to Hamburg, Germany (where I believe Akin is from), got to see his house (which had been razed by British bombs and rebuilt after WWII), and learned how the government there was inviting Jews back home to see how things have changed.
That’s very much one of the running themes in Amrum, but it’s exploring this internal conflict as it takes place with Nanning and his family being seen more as the enemy than the invading Allied forces. Even the refugees who arrive at Amrum after losing their homes in the city look down on Nanning, as do the local kids, except for his best friend. The film begins innocently enough with the two of them walking back from a day working for Tessa in the fields, but Nanning shares something that was said about the war ending soon, which gets back to the Nazis who directly blame Tessa.
The film follows this boy’s quest to get his pregnant mother’s food request, while also having to navigate the politics that have permeated this rural community, despite being far outside the bigger German cities like Berlin. The movie takes on an almost Aesop level (or even some of the Coen Brothers films) of this lad constantly trying to do the right thing, but often having to reach out to the likes of his stalwart Hitler-supporting uncle Theo, who may have more food than others in the village. The film gets even more interesting once word gets to Amrum that the Fuhrer has died, as some of the villagers rejoice, but others, like Nanning’s mother, fall into a deep funk.
Amrum is such a powerful and beautifully-realized film with everything from capturing the gorgeous vistas of the locale, and how one can walk to the mainland during low tide, but also, how Akin’s great cast brings this community and the circle of people around Nanning to life. I honestly think this might be Fatih Akin’s best movie to date, and it left me wanting to know more about from whence this story came.
Rating: 9/10
Amrum opens at the Quad Cinema in New York City on Friday, as well as a few other theaters.
I was excited to finally see Joel Vargas’ MAD BILLS TO PAY (Oscilloscope Labs), which will play at the Film Forum starting on Friday, it having been recommended to me by my pal Scott “Smile” Dupray after he saw it at a festival last year. It actually premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 as part of the NEXT section, and I somehow missed it, even though it was available on the virtual platform.
The film revolves around Juan Collado’s Rico, a young hustler from the Bronx, who makes his living selling “nutties” (essentially cocktails made with fruit juice) on the beach. He’s dealing with a dysfunctional family, between his single mother (Yohanna Florentino) and regellious younger teen sister Sally (Nathaly Navarro). When Rico learns that his 15-year-old girlfriend Destiny (Destiny Checo) is pregnant, it’s decided she should move in with Rico’s family after her own family rejects her.
That’s the basic set-up for this fine indie drama that has far more comedic value than one might expect, mostly from the personality Collado brings to every scene, watching him bringing his game to everyone encounters. The film is very much about him growing up and trying to take responsibility for his pregnant girlfriend, but it’s not an immediate thing by any means.
There are a few scenes later in the film that involves a lot of yelling, mostly between Destiny and Rico, but when Rico’s mother joined in, it got a bit too loud for my tastes, but that’s a very small part of an overall movie that’s mostly enjoyable.
Mad Bills to Pay is a fantastic, mature feature debut from Vargas that’s on par with the early films of Sean Baker, so obviously, we’ll want to see what he does next. It’s a film that has to be seen, due to the way it pulls you into the lives of people, who few outside the Bronx will ever have a chance to experience.
Rating: 8/10
You can watch my interview with Joel Vargas below:
Just one week after starring in Faces of Death, Barbie Ferrera is back in Chandler Levack’s indie MILE END KICKS (Sumerian), playing Grace Pine, a 24-year-oldmusic critic who gets romantically involved with various members of a Montreal indie band after moving to the city in 2011. Jay Baruchel plays her former music editor in Toronto, a fairly small role.
I was definitely interested in this film due to it taking place in the music biz and a scene I didn’t really know – though I do love Montreal!-- but I had a tough time getting into this movie, because it’s just so
I think I’ve been deciding recently that I’m not really a fan of Barbie Ferrera. Maybe I liked her on the first season of “Euphoria” (it’s all I’ve watched so far), but I didn’t like that movie Bob Trevino Likes It, which so many people were gaga about, and I didn’t think she was great in Faces of Death either. That’s a big problem right there.
Once she arrives in Montreal, Grace moves in with Juliette Gariépy’s Madeline, whose boyfriend plays drums in a band called Bone Patrol. Grace pretty quickly falls for the asshole lead singer Chevy (Stanley Simons), while also palling around with the band’s far nicer and quite celibate guitarist Archie (Devon Bostick).
My first big problem with the movie is that’s quite pretentious, right down to Grace being hired to write a 33 ⅓ book on Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” which I didn’t find believable at all. She’s kind of a mess, never paying her rent, and constantly fucking up, and the main band Bone Patrol just isn’t very good at all, so having so much of it revolve around them just doesn’t make much sense. If Grace Pine is a music critic, shouldn’t she have better taste in bands?
The movie mostly follows Grace’s travails with love and sex, often being used by others, but also taking advantage of others, including her very patient roommate, who Grace often takes for granted. But there’s just a lot of ideas in here that never fully coalesce. I mean, oral herpes is a recurring plot device… but this is supposed to be romantic?
Mile End Kicks is a twee Canadian indie that might appeal to a very certain and specific audience. I had a hard time figuring out why anyone might care about Ferreira’s character or her plight, because most of it she seems to bring on herself.
Rating: 6/10
David Jonsson from Alien: Romulus and The Long Walk and Tom Blyth from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes co-star in Cal McMau’s WASTEMAN (Sunrise Films) as cellmates from different worlds who become fast friends while in prison with Blyth’s Dee trying to help Jonsson’s Taylor reconnect with his young son while also trying to become top dog in the tough prison. This is also opening at the Quad Cinema on Friday.
I wrote a few words about Pete Oh’s ERUPCJA (1-2 Special) from out of its debut at New Directors/New Films, which is still going on at Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art through Sunday, but this will open in New York and L.A. on Friday. Charli XCX stars as one half of a British couple on vacation in Warsaw, Poland who revives her relationship with a Polish florist (Lena Góra), much to the consternation of her husband (Will Madden). I wasn’t really a fan, but it will open at the Angelika in New York City on Friday.
Rachel House, the hilarious New Zealand actor I first discovered in Taika Waiti’s The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, makes her feature directorial debut with THE MOUNTAIN (Hope Runs High Films), opening in New York on Friday and then more theaters across the country on April 24. Apparently, it premiered at TIFF back in 2024. It’s about a girl named Sam, who has been raised outside the Māori culture, who has been battling cancer, who meets a group of misfit kids on her journey to return to her mountain home.
Another New Zealand-tangential film, Taratoa Stappard’s MĀRAMA (Dark Sky Films/Watermelon Pictures), will be opening at the IFC Center on Friday, a movie set in 19th Century North Yorkshire about a young Māori woman who takes a job as a governess to a wealthy whaler’s grand daughter, discovering many stolen artifacts from her ancestors. Of course, she seeks revenge using her “Matakite powers.”
Prime Video chose not to provide advance screeners for review for Peter Farrelly’s new comedy BALLS UP, starring Mark Wahlberg, Paul Walter Hauser, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Daniela Melchior, but it’s written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick from Zombieland and Deadpool fame, so I’m not sure if the Oscar-nominated director is just back to making low-brow schlock or Prime Video thinks it better to avoid reviews. I hope it’s neither, and Prime Video is just being overly cautious before the movie hits the streamer on Wednesday.
Also out this weekend…
BLUE HERON (Janus Films)
MABEL (Tribeca Films)
PANDA PLAN 2: THE MAGICAL TRIBE (Go West)
ROOMMATES (Netflix)
THE REPERTORY ROUNDUP
On Saturday, you should try to get to Tommy Stathes’ semi-monthly “Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: Sweet Treats,” a great collection of animated shorts from the ‘20s through the ‘50s, including many familiar toons but also some more esoteric stuff. This is something I regularly attend whenever I can. Related to this is that Disney’s Bambi from 1942 will screen on Sunday morning, and I’ll be there for sure!
“Tahar Cheriaa: Chronicles of a Pan-African Pioneer” continues this weekend with single screenings of many of the films that had been championed by the founder of Tunisia’s Carthage Film Festival, including a shorts program. I’ll freely admit that African cinema is outside my wheelshouse, so you’re on your own there.
“Moral Mazes of Krzysztof Kieślowski” has a pretty robust schedule that includes 1991’s The Double Life of Veronique, A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love from 1988, 1985’s No End, and then next Thursday, you can watch all three Three Colors movies back-to-back between 4pm and 10pm.
“After the Case” screens Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) a few times this weekend, but that’s about it. “Empress Li” will screen Wong Karwai’s The Hand (2004), Chen Kaige’s The Emperor and the Assassin (1988), and Zhang Yimou’s 1990 film Ju Dou on Monday. On Monday, you can finally see Kim Jee-won’s The Good, The Bad, and The Weirde as part of “Sukiyaki Bebop.”
“Holy Trips” will screenTerry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Fassbinder’s In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), and a bunch of repeat screenings into next week.
“What Price Hollywood?” will be screening David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) a few times this weekend, and Robert Altman’s excellent The Player (1992) one more time on Monday.
Over at FILM FORUM, my pal Phil Hartman’s early 1986 film No Picnic will be getting a one-week release, featuring early roles by Luis Guzmán and Steve Buscemi, as well as punk rocker Richard Hell. Phil will be there for intros on Friday and a QnA on Sunday (I’ll be there), so I’m excited to finally see this movie in a new 4k restoration. (Oh, and you can get a free slice of cheese pizza at Phil’s pizzeria Two Boots with your ticket!) Film Forum is also starting a series showing movies by filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, which includes Crumb, Ghost World, Art School Confidential, Bad Santa: The Director’s Cut and more. Jerry Schatzberg’s Reunion will continue to run through April 23, although Satyajit Ray’s Days and Nights in the Forest has to end today. Sunday’s “Film Forum Jr” offering is Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service (offered in English dubbed and with subtitles), and then, next week’s “The Lubitch Touch” on Tuesday is The Shop Around the Corner (1940), starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan.
Down the street at IFC CENTER, they’re screening Midnight Cowboy in 35mm on Friday. They’re also screening a 40th Anniversary 40k restoration of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet a few times a day over the next week. Some of the Friday/Saturday midnight movies include American Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover… oh, and Midnight Cowboy.
If you catch one movie-related thing this weekend, make sure to check out my pal Grady’s “Sundays on Fire” at NITEHAWK CINEMA PROSPECT PARK, which sadly I’ll be missing this weekend, but every month, he shows a secret Hong Kong screening on 35mm, and there’s been some fun stuff. This weekend’s “We’re Making a Movie!” offering (sponsored by Mubi) include John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented on Saturday and Sunday and then, Robinson Devor’s 1999 film The Woman Chaser on Monday night. Next Tuesday’s “Anime After Dark” is Kôichi Mashimo’s 1986 Dirty Pair: Project Eden. On Wednesday night, you can see Brett Ratner’s original Rush Hour (1998) as part of “Adventures in Black Cinema.”
Tom DiCillo’s excellent Living in Oblivion with a cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, and Peter Dinklage in his very first film role will play at the Williamsburg Nitehawk on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Cary Graver’s X-rated The Ecstasy Girls (1979) will play there on Tuesday night as part of “Skin Deep.”
There are other repertory theaters around town listed below, and I apologize that I haven’t been able to stay on top of everything going on in this realm due to my lack of bandwidth.
BAM (BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC)
The big movie next week is Lionsgate’s biopic Michael (as in Jackson), although David Lowery’s Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, will expand wider, and there are new movies from Jorma Taccone (Over Your Dead Body) and David Mackenzie (FUZE) – I actually might have another interview with Mackezie, too.