Lois Alter Mark – Page 2 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

STEVE SCHAPIRO: BEING EVERYWHERE – Review by Lois Alter Mark

November 4, 2025November 7, 2025 Lois Alter Mark biodoc, Maura Smith, photographer, Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but, ironically, what makes Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere a must-see are the intimate behind-the-scenes stories the award-winning photographer shares about some of his most iconic images. Director Maura Smith beautifully captures Schapiro’s spirit in this documentary, much like he did the subjects of his photographs. She gives him space to be himself, to tell his life story his own way in his own words, and she effectively intersperses his memories with dozens of the photos he’s taken.

Reviews

LOST & FOUND IN CLEVELAND – Review by Lois Alter Mark

October 28, 2025October 31, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Dennis Haysbert, Jeff Hiller, Jon Lovitz, june squibb, Keith Gerchak, Liza Weil, Lost & Found in Cleveland, Marisa Guterman, Martin Sheen, Stacy Keach

Lost & Found in Cleveland is the kind of movie that makes you think to yourself, “They don’t make movies like that anymore” without really knowing whether that’s good or bad. The film, like so many slice of Americana films, takes place around the holidays and has that old-timey, small town vibe that makes you nostalgic for a past we’re supposed to yearn for even though it almost certainly wasn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

Reviews

ELEANOR THE GREAT – Review by Lois Alter Mark

October 28, 2025October 31, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Chiwetel Ejiofor, Eleanor the Great , Erin Kellyman, Hélène Louvart, Jessica Hecht, june squibb, Rita Zohar, scarlett johansson, Tory Kamen, Will Price

June Squibb is a national treasure. At the age of 95, the actress is still full of surprises – as well as award-worthy performances like the one she gives in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great. Eleanor the Great is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Tory Kamen’s screenplay is a fresh take on a Holocaust story, with plenty of laughs, care of Eleanor’s unfiltered mouth. Although there are moments in the film that require some suspension of disbelief, the characters (and the actors portraying them) are so engaging, it’s easy to just go along for the ride.

Reviews

THE LIBRARIANS – Review by Lois Alter Mark

September 17, 2025September 18, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Amanda Jones, documentary, First Amendment, Kim A. Snyder, Librarian of the Year, Martha Hickson, Suzette Baker, The Librarians

“This is the civil rights movement of our time,” one of the librarians emphasizes. The Librarians will infuriate you and motivate you to get involved in whatever way you can. Attend school board meetings, call your elected officials, run for local office or simply buy, read and share targeted books because, according to the librarians, “They’re banning the best books.”

Reviews

BAD SHABBOS – Review by Lois Alter Mark

September 15, 2025September 14, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Bad Shabbos, Daniel Robbins, David Paymer, Jon Bass, Kyra Sedgwick, Meghan Leathers

You don’t have to be Jewish to love Bad Shabbos but, if you are, get ready to laugh your tuchus off. The winner of the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, Bad Shabbos is a surprisingly smart and taut dark comedy that deftly manages to transcend its somewhat silly sounding, Weekend at Bernie’s-ish premise.

Reviews

REBEL WITH A CLAUSE – Review by Lois Alter Mark

September 9, 2025September 9, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Brandt Johnson, documentary, Ellen Jovin, Grammar Table, Rebel With a Clause

If you cringe every time someone says they’re going to “lay” down instead of “lie” down or thanks you for the gift you gave “my spouse and I,” Rebel With a Clause is the most fun movie you’ll see all year. This delightful documentary follows grammarian Ellen Jovin as she sets up her Grammar Table in cities across the country and invites passersby to ask questions or lodge complaints about everything from apostrophes to past participles.

Reviews

AMERICAN DELIVERY – Review by Lois Alter Mark

April 24, 2025 Lois Alter Mark American Delivery, carolyn jones, childbirth, documentary, health care, midwives, pregnancy

In case you weren’t already outraged about the state of women’s healthcare, along comes American Delivery, a powerhouse documentary that reminds you that the United States is the most dangerous place in the affluent world to give birth. Pregnancy and childbirth kill two women a day in the US, the only country where the maternal mortality rate is rising rather than falling. In fact, it’s 10 times higher here than in Europe, with one third of American counties considered maternity care deserts. Anyone who has the power to make decisions about women’s healthcare should be required to watch American Delivery first. Childbirth is supposed to be a celebration of new life, not a high-stakes game of life and death.

Reviews

NEIL YOUNG: COASTAL – Review by Lois Alter Mark

April 15, 2025April 15, 2025 Lois Alter Mark Coastal, Daryl Hannah, documentary, Jerry Don Burden, Neil Young

“Music is a gift,” says Neil Young in Coastal – and, for his biggest fans, so is this documentary about the rock star’s recent West Coast tour. Daryl Hannah, who has been married to Young since 2018, directed this piece of cinema verité, adding it to her impressive body of work about the iconic musician. Because their relationship gives her unparalleled access to her subject, it also adds a unique intimacy to the film. In Coastal, the music generously shares the spotlight with the man who makes it. Some of the best, most moving moments are the quietly human ones when, before a show, Young admits, “I’m petrified,” when he lovingly talks to his son, Ben, and when he tells Hannah how much he missed her while she was away.

Reviews

THE PENGUIN LESSONS – Review by Lois Alter Mark

April 15, 2025April 20, 2025 Lois Alter Mark 1976 coup d’etat, Alfonsina Carrocio, Argentina, Björn Gustafsson, jonathan pryce, Magellanic penguin, peter cattaneo, Steve Coogan, The Penguin Lessons, tom michell, truth-based, Vivian El Jaber

A penguin may not be the obvious choice to lead a story about the 1976 coup in Argentina but, after laughing and occasionally tearing up watching The Penguin Lessons, you’ll agree it just may be the best one. Loosely based on the memoir by Tom Michell (Steve Coogan), an English teacher who arrives at a prestigious academy for boys in Buenos Aires just as the country is heading into political turmoil, the film is a delightful surprise.

Reviews

EMERGENT CITY – Review by Lois Alter Mark

April 12, 2025April 13, 2025 Lois Alter Mark brooklyn, documentary, Emergent City, gentrification, Industry City, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Kelly Anderson, Sunset Park

Covering the decade plus-long fight between Sunset Park residents and a giant real estate conglomerate for control of the Brooklyn waterfront, Emergent City is a must-see documentary that’s as riveting and compelling as Norma Rae or Erin Brockovich and is timely as, well — just turn on the news. The film starts out with a little history about Industry City, a 16-building warehousing and manufacturing complex housed on 35 acres of Sunset Park in Brooklyn. It was built to be the largest multi-tenant industrial property in the country and, back in 1931, “’Made in Brooklyn’ was known in every corner of the civilized world.”
Eighty years later, much of that has been phased out and Industry City has been purchased by a consortium of developers who want to re-zone the area because they have big plans for it: A luxury hotel! A food hall! 900,000 square feet of retail!