Unfortunately—or fortunately but with a minor asterisk—I am in Rhode Island this weekend enjoying the refreshingly low-key Newport International Film Festival, so I am going to miss another weekend of cinematic deliciousness in New York City (not to mention that other, perhaps more major, non-NYC movie event). In the interest of time, this week we will simply give a mention to a few of this weekend’s highlights:

***NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK***

Herb and Dorothy (Cinema Village and Beekman Theatre) — Herbert and Dorothy Vogel are just about the cutest couple you’ve ever seen. But that’s not what makes Megumi Sasaki’s portrait of these art aficionados who, on a meager working class income, quietly amassed the world’s largest private collection, so inspiring. It’s their complete and utter humility, their inability to be anything but sweet and sincere. More than that, it is their love for, and commitment to, one another. This film is dripping with love, so much so that it made me shed tears of appreciation as opposed to merely joy or sadness. Herb and Dorothy is an absolute delight. I dare anyone not to fall in love with it.

***BEST NEW OLD RELEASE OF THE WEEK***

The Moon and the Sledgehammer (Anthology Film Archives) — This lost gem from the early 1970s casts quite a hypnotizing spell as it profiles a truly eccentric English family living on an estate in the country. The Pages are about as removed from society (some might say reality?) as a family can be. Director Philip Trevelyan presents their quirky lifestyle with a quiet cinematic charm, capturing the sharp contrast between the quiet, woodsy nature of their surroundings with their loud work on old tractors and machines. The Moon and the Sledgehammer is a lovely lesson in how to turn a potentially exploitative subject into something much more tender and poetic.

***MOST DIFFICULT NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK***

Downloading Nancy (Angelika) — There can be no debating the issue: Johan Renck’s debut feature leaves a seriously disturbing aftertaste. What can be debated is whether or not this wretched story is in the service of a noble cause. I confess to still not being all the way sure how I feel, though I do think an outright dismissal is inappropriate. At Spout, HTN contributor Michael Lerman gave an interesting defense for the film, but it’s his mention of United 93 that struck a particularly memorable chord for me. All of Renck’s choices have the superficial glaze of sensationalism: Christopher Doyle’s voyeuristic cinematography, Krister Linder’s synthetically haunting score, Henrik Hanson and Johan Soderberg’s elliptical editing. This might not be an accurate representation of the real world, but it rings more dirtily true as a vision of the sick virtual world that so many twisted, damaged souls get trapped inside.

— Michael Tully

Tags: Christopher Doyle, Dorothy Vogel, Downloading Nancy, Henrik Hanson, Herb and Dorothy, Herb Vogel, Johan Renck, Johan Soderberg, Krister Linder, Megumi Sasaki, Michael Lerman, Newport International Film Festival, Philip Trevelyan, The Moon and the Sledgehammer, United 93