Hammer to Nail
LightNews LightNews
hammertonail.bsky.social
Hammer to Nail
@hammertonail.bsky.social
69 followers 21 following 270 posts
The home for ambitious film. The only site online dedicated to TRUE INDIE FILM!
Posts Replies Media Videos
hammertonail.bsky.social
M.J. O'Toole says "With RESURRECTION, the 35-year-old Bi Gan has achieved something unique, ambitious, and visionary that most filmmakers wouldn’t pull off until decades into their career."
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/resu...
RESURRECTION
(The 63rd New York Film Festival (NYFF) ran September 26-October 13 via Film at Lincoln Center. Check out M.J. O’Toole’s Resurrection movie review, fresh from the fest! Seen it? Join the conversation ...
www.hammertonail.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Lotfy Nathan makes the story of Jesus, Mary and Joseph a supernatural horror one in THE CARPENTER’S SON. The film stars Nic Cage & FKA Twigs and is now on VOD just in time for Christmas. Jack Schenker spoke with Nathan about the film
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/l...
A Conversation with Lotfy Nathan (THE CARPENTER'S SON)
The Carpenter’s Son reimagines the untold adolescence of Jesus in Roman-era Egypt through the lens of supernatural horror. Writer-director Lotfy Nathan draws from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thom...
www.hammertonail.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Yesterday, the nominations for the #GoldenGlobes dropped and the HtN staff went above and beyond covering them! Check out our hard work and excellent writing here:
www.hammertonail.com/features/202...
HtN's Coverage of the Golden Globe-Nominated Films of 2026
Late last week, the 2025 (technically the 2026) Awards Season started heating up in earnest but it’s typically the nominees for Golden Globes that signify the full season kick-off. While snubs and sur...
www.hammertonail.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
An antique doorway featuring two carved lions that survived the bombing of Mosul binds two men for very different reasons in Zaradasht Ahmed's doc THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS. Kaitlyn hardy spoke to Ahmed at #DOCNYC
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/z...
A Conversation with Zaradasht Ahmed (THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS)
In 2017, after three years under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), the people of Mosul, Iraq fought to reclaim their city. The nine-month battle to liberate Mosul was marked by catastrophic vio...
www.hammertonail.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG continues to defy the odds of successfully filming a live performance and Jonathan Marlow has thoughts on this and more....
www.hammertonail.com/editorial/me...
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG: STAGE TO SCREEN
[Assorted quotes included herein, below, from teenage actor Kaison Marlow Eaves. Beyond the nepotism, a talented thespian in his own right (recently, Orpheus in HADESTOWN and Hamlet in, well, HAMLET)....
www.hammertonail.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:34 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Since 2001, actor Toni Servillo has served as Paolo Sorrentino's muse. Their collaboration continues with the reflective LA GRAZIA, in theaters now. Jack Schenker spoke with Servillo about it and more...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/t...
A Conversation with Toni Servillo (LA GRAZIA)
Few actor-director partnerships in contemporary cinema have proven as fruitful, or as essential as the collaboration between Toni Servillo and Paolo Sorrentino. Since their first meeting on the set of...
www.hammertonail.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:06 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Filmmakers Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani pay tribute to the 60s spy thriller in REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND, streaming now on Shudder. Chris Reed takes aim in this review...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/refl...
@chrisreedfilm.bsky.social
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND
(Check out Chris Reed’s Reflection in a Dead Diamond movie review, it’s in theaters now and hits Netflix November 21! Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) The 1960s were th...
www.hammertonail.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:39 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
The term "filmed theater" strikes fear into the hearts of cinephiles but Brandon Wilson has much to say about that in his review of Maria Friedman's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG which stars Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff & Lindsay Mendez. It opens tomorrow...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/merr...
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
(Check out Brandon Wilson’s Benita movie review, it opens Friday, November 5. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) There are few words in all of filmdom that strike fear in...
www.hammertonail.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:18 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Filmmaker Colette Ghunim dug into her recent family history of forced migration, combing through hours of camcorder footage, to create the deeply personal yet of-the-moment doc TRACES OF HOME. Kaitlyn Hardy spoke to Ghunim at #DOCNYC...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/c...
A Conversation with Colette Ghunim (TRACES OF HOME)
In Traces of Home, filmmaker Colette Ghunim takes her parents back to the homes they were forced to leave as children. Her mother returns to her childhood home in Mexico City, and her father finds the...
www.hammertonail.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
We may have lost the great John Prine in 2020 but the music lives forever. Michael John Warren’s doc/tribute concert YOU GOT GOLD: A CELEBRATION OF JOHN PRINE shows the love. Don R. Lewis reviews the film which is In theaters now via Abramorama Films
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/you-...
YOU GOT GOLD: A CELEBRATION OF JOHN PRINE
(Check out HtN Editor Don R. Lewis’s You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine movie review, it’s rolling out across theaters now. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) For ...
www.hammertonail.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:18 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Billed as "Errol Morris‘s MR. DEATH meets Coppola’s THE CONVERSATION," Robinson Devor’s long gestating doc SUBURBAN FURY hit theaters this weekend. Truth is stranger than fiction, says Lauren Wissot...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/subu...
SUBURBAN FURY
(Check out Lauren Wissot’s Suburban Fury movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Robinson Devor’s Suburban Fury has been in the works for some time. In fact, the...
www.hammertonail.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:00 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Clint Bentley's adaptation of Denis Johnson's TRAIN DREAMS is having a moment on #Netflix. Jack Schenker spoke with him about the film which stars Joel Edgerton and Kerry Condon...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/c...
#TrainDreams
A Conversation with Clint Bentley (TRAIN DREAMS)
Writer and director Clint Bentley doesn’t make films about the exceptional. He finds the exceptional in the ordinary. Stories about jockeys past their prime, incarcerated men staging plays, and now, w...
www.hammertonail.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:49 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
When filmmaker Katie Jacobs moved back to NYC, she found herself living between legendary artists Eleanor Magid & Lois Dodd. The result is #DOCNYC premiering ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE. Kaitlyn Hardy spoke to Jacobs about the film...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/k...
A Conversation with Katie Jacobs (ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE)
When producer and director Katie Jacobs moved into a second-floor unit on East 2nd Street in New York City she didn’t know what she was getting into. Finding herself sandwiched between two legendary a...
www.hammertonail.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:20 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Alan Berliner’s BENITA transforms the tragic death of filmmaker Benita Raphan into a meditation on mental health and the enduring power of art and creative expression. Brandon Wilson has this review...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/beni...
@geniusbastard.bsky.social
BENITA
(Check out Brandon Wilson’s Benita movie review, it opens today for a week-long release at Firehouse: DCTV’s Cinema for Documentary Film, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4 before a wider rollout. Seen it? Join t...
www.hammertonail.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Looking to liven up that Thanksgiving family gathering? The buzzy horror film SHELBY OAKS is out on VOD for the perfect dessert! Jack Schenker spoke with film critic turned filmmaker Chris Stuckmann about how it came together...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/c...
A Conversation with Chris Stuckmann (SHELBY OAKS)
Shelby Oaks marks the feature directorial debut of Chris Stuckmann, the YouTube film critic whose YouTube channel has amassed over 2 million subscribers. The film, which became the highest-funded horr...
www.hammertonail.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:31 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
After causing a ruckus and a buzz at several 2024 film fests, Elina Psykou's STRAY BODIES has yet to find distribution. Lauren Wissot might know why....
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/stra...
STRAY BODIES
(Check out Lauren Wissot’s Stray Bodies movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Though Elina Psykou’s Son of Sofia took top honors in the International Narrative...
www.hammertonail.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
HtN Editor Don R. Lewis is a big Marc Maron fan but, does the Maron doc ARE WE GOOD? do him justice? The film is now on VOD...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/are-...
@thatdonlewis.bsky.social
ARE WE GOOD?
(Check out HtN Editor Don R. Lewis’s Are We Good? movie review, it’s now available on VOD. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Marc Maron doth protest too much. Or, doth h...
www.hammertonail.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Hammer to Nail
chrisreedfilm.bsky.social
TRAIN DREAMS drops on Netflix tomorrow. My @hammertonail.bsky.social reviews is now up. #filmsky
November 20, 2025 at 7:57 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Max Walker-Silverman returns with REBUILDING which explores displacement, community, and resilience in the aftermath of a wildfire. Jack Schenker spoke to Walker-Silverman and the film is in theaters now via Bleeker Street...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/w...
A Conversation with Max Walker-Silverman (REBUILDING)
Max Walker-Silverman returns with Rebuilding, a tender follow-up to his 2022 debut A Love Song that explores displacement, community, and resilience in the aftermath of a wildfire. Starring Josh O’Con...
www.hammertonail.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
#DOCNYC rolls on as Isa Willinger’s latest documentary NO MERCY asks the question, "do women make harsher films?" Kaitlyn Hardy spoke with Isa Willinger about the film....
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/i...
A Conversation with Isa Willinger (NO MERCY)
“Do women make harsher films?” This is the question driving filmmaker Isa Willinger’s latest documentary, No Mercy. The film is an electrifying cinematic essay investigating women’s roles on and behin...
www.hammertonail.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:06 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han's animated gem LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN gives a nod to Studio Ghibli classics but is much more. Jack Schenker spoke to them about the film which is in theaters now...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/v...
A Conversation with Maïlys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han (LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN)
Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han’s Little Amélie or the Character of Rain is a 71-minute animated wonder that captures the world through the eyes of a two-year-old girl who believes she’s God. Adapted...
www.hammertonail.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
SING SING writing/directing duo Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar's latest film TRAIN DREAMS stars Joel Edgerton & Felicity Jones. It's in theaters now and hits #Netflix tomorrow. Chris Reed has this review...
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/trai...
@chrisreedfilm.bsky.social
TRAIN DREAMS
(Check out Chris Reed’s Train Dreams movie review, it’s in theaters now and hits Netflix November 21! Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) With Trains Dreams, the writing/d...
www.hammertonail.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Marialuisa Ernst's A PLACE OF ABSENCE details the disappearances of up to 30,000 people during Argentina’s Dirty War between 1976 and 1983. Kaitlyn Hardy spoke with Ernst at DOC NYC
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/m...
#docnycfest
A Conversation with Marialuisa Ernst (A PLACE OF ABSENCE)
During Argentina’s Dirty War between 1976 and 1983, up to 30,000 people disappeared. Many were dissidents and activists publicly opposing the military dictatorship, Proceso de Reorganización Nacional ...
www.hammertonail.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Nathan Sartain is still out at the London Korean Film Festival and has this review of director Lee Joon-ik’s DONGJU: THE PORTRAIT OF A POET calling it "quietly affecting biopic packed full of tender emotion."
www.hammertonail.com/reviews/dong...
DONGJU: THE PORTRAIT OF A POET
(The 2025 London Korean Film Festival runs November 5-18 and Hammer to Nail is excited to welcome writer Nathan Sartain to the team providing boots on the ground coverage. Check out his Dongju: The Po...
www.hammertonail.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:55 PM
hammertonail.bsky.social
Impish provocateur Radu Jude's DRACULA is still sneaking around theaters and Jack Schenker spoke to the filmmaker about using AI, iPhone footage and absurdity for the film...
www.hammertonail.com/interviews/r...
A Conversation with Radu Jude (DRACULA)
Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude has built a reputation for making films confronting history, technology, and national mythology. His latest film, Dracula, is perhaps his most audacious provocation yet: a...
www.hammertonail.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM