Some director–I think it was Leo McCarey–was asked if he had a favorite movie of his own. His answer was that if he could cut together the best parts of all his movies, that would be his own favorite movie. Ask me the same question and you’ll get a different answer: my favorite movie of my own is ‘Rob The Mob’, which I directed in 2012. It was released the following year to a mostly non-reaction, thanks to the listless work on the part of the distributor Millennium Pictures, and it quickly vanished. But not so fast! It turns out the on-line world has taken this true-crime caper to its heart and it’s had a long and happy life in the place where movies are seen but not heard–the internet. As this is the tenth anniversary of the movie–and my affection for it remains undimmed–I decided to reach out to a few theaters and get it screened publicly again. This Sunday, July 9th, is the first of these screenings. Upstate Films, a wonderful cineastes haven in beautiful Rhinebeck New York, will be showing the film at 7PM. On the off chance that any reader of this blog is within reach of the area, I’d love to see you there. I’ll be there, along with co-star Griffin Dunne and producer William Teitler to do a Q&A. The moderator will be the fine director Allen Coulter, who directed one of my favorite films of the last twenty years ‘Hollywoodland’ as well as numerous episodes of ‘The Sopranos’.

‘Rob The Mob’ was written by Jonathan Fernandez and is based on a true story about a madly-in-love Queens couple who decided to rob Mafia social clubs in the early 1990s while John Gotti was on trial. The film belongs to a genre that I’ve always loved, one which is sometimes called a ‘Fiasco Flick’. This refers to a story that you know from the beginning is going to go very wrong but which one delights in watching unfold in all its tragically stupid glory. My favorites in this genre are ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, ‘Fargo’ and the hilariously painful ‘I, Tonya’. We had a blast making ‘Rob The Mob’–it was a highly collaborative and fluid shooting experience, with much improv and fresh ideas being thrown around every day. The leads, Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda, were fabulously talented and big pains in the asses which made me love them all the more…for the most part. Above is the trailer for the movie. Here’s a link to The Hollywood Reporter’s review of the film. If you can’t make the screening and have never seen the movie search it out online. Buy a pizza and a couple of six-packs. Crank up your soundbar and Bon appetite! (as we say in the oft overlooked borough of Queens, New York).