Press
Smoking Cat Films’ renowned film Nine Good Teeth has been recognized in news outlets coast to coast, from the New York Times to LA Weekly. Alex Halpern’s story about his grandmother gained international recognition in Time Out London and at international film festivals.
“A docu in the tradition of Martin Scorsese’s “Italianamerican,” “Nine Good Teeth” has a lot going for it, including a great subject.” —
Variety
“Don’t mess with Mary Cavaliere. At 102, this Sicilian American matriarch is still “the Rock of Gibraltar, the steady one, the consigliere” of her family.”
—
San Francisco Chronicle
“Their Spirited journey-at times painful and often hilarious — celebrates life, love, and family in all its rich contradictions.”
— New York News
“Born nearly 104 years ago in Brooklyn, Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere has led a tempestuous life that seemed made for TV.”
— Newsday New York City
“Director Alex Halpern documents the life of his centenarian grandmother, Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere, whose dark eyes and gravel voice recall Nancy Marchand’s Livia Soprano.”
— LA Weekly
“The film uses a collage of home movies, historical footage, old family photographs and interviews with family members to portray the story of Nana’s life.”
— Patent Trader
“Emotional ambivalence is not a deviant condition to be corrected, but rather the normal psychological state to be embraced.”
“Family resentments are newly aired, dark secrets are dragged into the light of day, and things you could never imagine talking about with your own parents or grandparents are discussed.” — The Oregonian
“Halpern’s intimate, irreverent, and often hilarious portrait of his beloved, fiercely independent “Nana” and her extended clan.”
— NIAF News
“Halpern’s embracing yet penetrating film, with its lyrical collages of archival footage giving it a vibrant flow, is above all a celebration of a life that has been lived to the fullest.”
— The Los Angeles Times
“Nana’s got more teeth than me!”
— Danny DeVito
“Teeth is a feature-length film, produced by Halpern’s Pickled Punk Productions, that chronicles the colorful life of Maria Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere, the filmmaker’s charismatic 103-year-old grandmother.”
— Realscreen
“Halpern calls his atmospheric, affectionate portrait a ‘meditative love story’. It certainly has a dream poignancy as home movie clips and photographs drift along to the sound of vintage music.“
— Time Out London
