Why I'm (not) leaving New York

Now playing: "Trouble" by TV on the Radio, because maybe everything's gonna be OK. I tried to tell myself that, but I'm not sure if I believed it.

This is a tale of two emails, and the life lived in the months between them. In May of 2024, one email led to a meeting that made me think I was going to be pushed out of the New York City neighborhood I've called home for the vast majority of my life. Claims and allegations were made about my right to stay here. I sat there, not agreeing to anything. Later, in September of 2025, I got an email that announced otherwise.

During the 16 months between those two dates, I constantly sweated a potential I'd never thought about until then. I started to think I was going to have that "pushed out of New York City" moment that I saw countless bloggers and many more friends describe in my lifetime. It was such a pattern that "Why I left New York" essays became a cliche. 

During those 16 months, I sprinkled various conversations with opaque teases that I'd been haunted by a fear and a concern. The possibility of my world crumbling around me. That I'd explain it all in due time. This isn't the hyper-detailed post-mortem I thought I'd give, because I don't think there's a point to a play-by-play. There were too many video conference calls to remember, and I wish I could just leave it all buried in the past. But something compels me to write this and share it. The notion that my despair from those months is not unique to me.

Oh, and don't let me be misunderstood. I came up with the title of this piece months before it became the topic of headlines. I'm not wading into the "who's more on the side of tenants" conversation that happened during the sprint to the finish line. Instead, I want to focus on the first word of the title of this piece: Why. Here are the things that kept me here. They are not sorted in any hierarchy.

I had my parents supporting me, and I don’t think I clear this chaos without them. I am extremely fortunate in this regard. Their calmness steadied the ship when I was too nervous to believe we had as much of a chance as we did.

Then, I have to give credit to Valerie who talked me through my thoughts during my particularly manic Black Friday 2024 evening. Likewise, my thanks to the friends who counseled me throughout. I also have to credit starting talk therapy, one of my best decisions of the whole year. If you’ve never been, or haven’t been in a while, there’s no better time than now.

Then, the fact that rationality and reason were on our side. This isn't something I ever had the power to accept in those 16 months, because confidence can lead to heartbreak. And it's one of the things I want to make sure you know. Just because you feel bleak, doesn't mean you don't have a case. 

Of course, you need a good legal representative, a good lawyer. We had a great one, Jesse Gribben of Himmelstein Gribben & Joseph LLP. He's a smart, frank and hard-working guy who instantly gives off "real New Yorker" vibes. I hope you can afford a good lawyer, because every good cause is worth fighting for.

Lastly, and most importantly, New York City and my own neighborhood repeatedly remind me that I shouldn't ever leave. Moneyed interests and tons of boutique stores continue to make life harder on all of us, but the more I wandered around the streets of the city, the more I realized this is the place.

If you want to know more, and I trust you, reach out. I'll tell you all about it. 

Go see these movies in theaters if you can

I know, I'm probably too late with some of these, but I decided to put this edition out with an abridged list of my favorite movies I saw in theaters that you might have a chance of seeing soon. 

Sinners (2025)

If you somehow missed it during its first releases, Ryan Coogler's vampiric period piece is coming back for one more IMAX run (and so is "One Battle After Another." As you may remember, I didn't exactly love "Sinners" the first time. Hilariously, a mix of the IMAX presentation and recalibrated expectations helped this one truly rock me. A delight. I need it to get many Oscar nominations, and I'd love to see Delroy Lindo included in that.

Seen in 70mm  IMAX at AMC Lincoln Square

Bugonia (2025)

Instantly jumped to the top of the pack when I saw it, Yorgos Lanthimos' "Bugonia" is a fantastic exclamation mark in the current run of star Jesse Plemons' career. Here, the guy who started out in a Coca-Cola commercial and "Varsity Blues" takes center stage as a conspiracy-brained guy who is doing everything he can to try and prove a point. Early on, the film recalls the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading," but it takes a series of dark turns after the sillier stuff happens. That's all centered around Emma Stone's girlboss exec, who gave me brief shades of Nicole Kidman's character from "Babygirl."

But while this is a fantastic film where the director, his two leads and its cinematography get a lot of worthy applause, I need to put a spotlight on Aidan Delbis, the supporting actor whose character Don is crucial to the film's most-powerful moments. 

Seen at Village East 

Train Dreams (2025)

There's a major emphasis on the word "dreams" here, in director Clint Bentley's adaptation of Denis Johnson's novella of the same name, as we follow Joel Edgerton's protagonist through a single lifetime spent in early 20th century America. 

I went to see this movie primarily because of Bentley's story and screenplay credits for Greg Kwedar's "Sing Sing," the prison drama about the power of the performing arts. But unlike that dialogue-driven film, "Train Dreams" won me over with its vistas and silences as well as its depressing traumas and moments of hope. In ways, it touches back to "La Chimera" and "Personal Shopper," as a story where people tend to be floating through life, as all three proved affecting. 

Seen at The Paris Theater, in 35mm

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Rian Johnson's third Benoit Blanc murder mystery sees the Daniel Craig detective turn his focus to a death in a church. But unlike the previous chapters, a co-star basically takes over. Yes, Janelle Monáe proved capable in "Glass Onion," but rising star Josh O'Connor basically steals the movie, playing a young man of the cloth whose penchant for fistfights has gotten him in trouble.

"Dead Man" thrives in part because of the supporting cast, which is the Knives Out way. You get Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Andrew Scott and Cailee Spaeny, and even Jeremy Renner showed up to remind us he's a better actor than the MCU allowed him to be (much like Brolin in "Weapons" and Chris Evans in "Honey, Don't!"). Unfortunately, there is a glaringly weird weak link: Mila Kunis shows her acting defects as a deadpan detective who just functions as plot device. 

Still, O'Connor delivers so well and makes this movie far more than it could have been, and the mystery at the root of it all ends in a good twist that's a far better surprise than "Glass Onion" gave us. 

Seen at The Paris Theater

Hamnet (2025)

This one is confusing, so I'll just explain a little in short bursts. 

Yes, "Hamnet" is spelled like Hamlet, the famous Shakespeare play.

Why is it called "Hamnet?" Because in the bard's era, Hamlet and Hamnet were interchangeable. 

Is it a version of the play? No, but it has some of the play in it.

What the heck is this movie about? "Hamnet" is an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's fictional book about Shakespeare's life and how it led to the play in question.

In it, Jessie Buckley plays Agnes, a woman who develops deep bonds with Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), who's a bit of a mess. Their story is about love, the family they make, and the tragedies that haunt both of them.

And director Chloé Zhao (another MCU refugee) presents their story with a perfectly slight touch, to the point where Buckley's agony is palpable in ways that will break your heart and want to shake Mescal by the shoulders. It's as gorgeously shot as anything else I've seen in these last months, and just as compelling. But I give it points for being one of those amazing movies where you want to watch it again despite how much it broke your heart. 

Seen at the AMC Lincoln Square at a preview screening. Thank you, Ken

Hedda (2025)

Yes, this really is the autumn of the MCU survivors, as Nia DaCosta bounced back from The Marvels in fine form with this electric and saucy sapphic take on Ibsen's play about a dead-on-arrival marriage between Hedda (Tessa Thompson) and Tessman (Tom Bateman). He doesn't matter at all, though, once his new wife's former lover Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss) takes to the scene.

The betrayals that follow will be shocking to those new to this story, but everyone who can enjoy a bit of mess should be able to find fun in this chaos. Thompson is terrific here, especially if you're watching to see the gears turn as Hedda figures out her machinations.

Seen at the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse

Queens of the Dead (2025)  

If you think you need a queer zombie movie, this is the film you need to watch. Director Tina Romero waited good and long before she traded on her heritage, and she's cashed her chips in perfectly with this zany night at a drag show put on by a group of misfits who can barely get along much less have a shot at getting their deposit back once the brains-hungry horde hit.

A really fun time that was made all the better because I saw it in a packed theater. I really hope you get a chance to catch this one in theaters, but you shouldn't even need the Romero name on this. It's a zombie movie starring Katy O'Brian, who makes everything she's in better.

Seen at the IFC Center

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)

One of the most depressing movies things right now is how Rose Byrne's performance as a mother at the end of her wits is all-but-already forgotten about when it comes to the awards chatter. She's been pushed off stage by some performances I liked, and two I'll probably never see. But enough about Wicked and Neil Diamond.

"If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" is a deeply uncomfortable movie about Linda (Byrne), whose life is torn apart by a leak in her ceiling that forces her and the daughter we do not see to move into the worst motel this side of the Bates family. If that wasn't bad enough, her young daughter has a condition that makes her never eat and rely on a feeding tube. And she has to take care of this situation on her own because her ineffective husband is only heard over the phone thanks to his job taking him off the chessboard. Making matters worse, Conan O'Brien is here playing a very unhelpful therapist.

Byrne's phenomenal performance sits in perfect contrast with the hall of fame of cinematic mothers who are screwed by those around them. As phenomenal as watch as it is difficult, which is probably part of why this one's getting slowly forgotten about. 

Seen at The Angelika

The Mastermind (2025) 

There is nothing funnier than when a confident guy is revealed to have no actual plan, and while Kelly Reichardt's new film delivers amusement as we watch things fall apart for the hapless James (Josh O'Connor), there's something else happening here that's more powerful.

Taking place with the Vietnam war happening in the background, and the disillusion of a family in the foreground, "The Mastermind" is about that moment when you lose any semblance of a role model in your life. But it goes down smooth, because Josh O'Connor is the most watchable actor this side of the screen.

Seen at BAM Rose

Angel’s Egg (1985)

What the hell do I say about this one? Absolutely gorgeous animation. Totally trippy, and minimal dialogue. If you’re into weird animation, see if they’re showing this restoration near you. It begs for the big screen.

Seen at The Metrograph

Die My Love (2025)

There was a lot of conversation about this movie being too over-the-top with its story. Stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson play a young couple dealing with the troubles of parenting and a listless marriage, and those difficulties catch fire in Lawrence's Grace. She's pissed about her lot in life, and letting the world know with tremendous amounts of not giving a damn.

As you might imagine, this leads to behavior that unsettled audiences, especially when it took place nearby a baby. Regardless of those reactions, I absolutely loved this one. There's only one scene that really didn't stick the landing, and it's far enough to the ending where it didn't really hamper my overall enjoyment. 

Seen at BAM Rose KBH

It Was Just an Accident (2025)

An absolutely gem of a movie, Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" is his latest film that had to be shot in secrecy because it was filmed in Iran. The plot is practically perfect and important, as we follow Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), who had survived kidnapping and imprisonment, who happens upon a man who he believes had tortured him.

What happens next is tense, unnerving and (at times) surprisingly funny. I've not seen much of Panahi's work, and I'm to believe this is his most-mainstream work, and I hope to watch more soon. 

Seen at Film Forum

Sentimental Value (2025)

Whether you've seen director Joachim Trier's "The Worst Person In The World," I need you to make a point of seeing his new film "Sentimental Value" where Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) are handling the return of their absentee father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a successful film director.

This family drama is all about the similarities we don't want to admit exist and the depressions that stagnate our lives. Reinsve turns in an excellent performance that picks up where "Worst Person" left off, Skarsgård continues to be a gem and Lilleaas impresses with a great turn that could easily be overlooked because of the aforementioned costars. 

Oh, and Elle Fanning showed up here to play a sort-of thankless role as a young actress who's looking for more rewarding work. For this movie to come out in the same weekend as her turn in "Predator: Badlands" was a hilarious moment in cinema. As I said on Letterboxd, "I Owe You an Apology Elle Fanning. I Wasn't Really Familiar With Your Game."

Seen at The Angelika and again at BAM Rose

Predator: Badlands (2025)

Listen, I'm as surprised as you are to see this in my list. I've never been a fan of the Predator movies, much to the chagrin of at least one college friend who was morally offended. But god damn this was a fun action ride at the multiplex, tracking a younger Predator who's the runt of the litter and has been trying to prove himself to his tribal leader father.

Unlike Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein," this movie doesn't waste much time with the overdone sentiment we didn't need more of after Austin Powers sang "Daddy wasn't there!" Instead, our hero crash lands on a planet on a quest to bring down a beast, and runs into a character played by Elle Fanning. And the two begin a fantastic storyline that felt like a video game — and that’s a compliment.

On top of that, "Badlands' is basically a blueprint for how any studio worth their salt can and should expand their existing sci-fi or fantasy worlds. More directly: hello Star Wars and Lord of the Rings executives, you know all those terrible TV shows you made recently? This movie is so much better than those. it has life, ffs. I don't want this to be an industry advice column to executives that don't deserve it, but I'm still sharpening Gimli's axe over how bad "The Rings of Power" was.

Seen at the Brooklyn Alamo Drafthouse

Frankenstein (2025)

Normally, these mini reviews were sorted in order of worst movie to best. This time, it’s not that case, which is sad considering this movie is Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, and it stars Oscar Isaac. But god damn this movie’s first half is bloated and bad and features ugly CGI explosions. Things get more interesting in the second half, once we get away from the daddy issues of it all. Yes, hurt people hurt people, I’ve heard.

I doubt anyone can see this in theaters anyway, but I feel a need to calibrate your expectations about this movie if you stream it at home.

The Running Man (2025)

Possibly your lowest priority, but I will admit I had a good time. It just doesn’t feel as urgent for some reason. If you’re curious about Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” see that in theaters instead. “The Running Man” doesn’t disappoint like the GdT film did, but I didn’t have much in the way of expectations. There’s not much to say about this, but it will be fun if you calibrate properly.

Seen at the lower Manhattan Alamo Drafthouse

Yes, that list is missing many titles

So, I left some movies out. That was in order to pub by this time. This is also my way of saying you can probably skip “Jay Kelly,” “The Smashing Machine,” and “Nouvelle Vague.” More about those and many other movies in future editions.

Thank you for reading this far.

Next time, we’re going into AI-infused despair.

And some point down the road, my love of teasing out a topic.

Wait, did I just… how meta.