Very Semi-Serious

Released Nov 20, 2015

1h 23m

Documentary

List

88%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Filmmaker Leah Wolchok witnesses the creative process of cartoonists working for the New Yorker.

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Audience Member

Marc Bilgrey is not credited for this film, but he does have a credit for doing the animated credits of a porn film from the 70's called Slip Up. He inherited his soft porn importer father's money and now doesnt do much of anything

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I watched this at six in the morning. I loved it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

suprisingly beautiful cinematography paired with a stirring score. Could have been another forgettable doc, but execution is extraordinary.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Stumbled upon this last night, and it was fascinating!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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Leah Wolchok

Director

Roz Chast

Actor

Liana Finck

Actor

Emily Flake

Actor

Bruce Eric Kaplan

Actor

Leah Wolchok

Producer

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Matthew Gilbert

Boston Globe

Some of the best material in the film takes us out of the New Yorker offices and into the lives of the old-timers and the newcomers.

Dec 10, 2015

Full Review

Glenn Kenny

New York Times

Bouncing briskly between an intimate look at the magazine's cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff, and profiles of prominent cartoonists (Roz Chast is the first woman to show up, 20 minutes in), the movie covers a lot.

Nov 19, 2015

Full Review

Jordan Hoffman

Guardian

It's a minor work that knows its place in the margins, but is thought-provoking and surreptitiously insightful - and very funny.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 19, 2015

Full Review

Stephen Saito

Moveable Fest

An alternate history with humor that is bound to outlast even their latest digs, but still change is difficult and keeping vital remains a constant struggle. By capturing that in such an eloquent way, the film proves to be something else likely to endure.

Nov 13, 2018

Full Review

Alejandro Alemán

El Universal

Very Semi-Serious is an extremely interesting, jolly, hilarious, almost nostalgic x-ray image of a medium that refuses to die (print), which may be the reason it's still being done with rigorous professionalism. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 8, 2016

Full Review

Gonzalo Lira Galván

Cinema Movil

The film is a reminder of the valuable work cartoons have made for the way it captures the daily life of the people living in New York. [Full review in Spanish]

Apr 7, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Leah Wolchok witnesses the creative process of cartoonists working for the New Yorker.

Director: Leah Wolchok
Producer: Regina K. Scully, Deborah Shaffer, Bruce Sinofsky
Distributor: HBO
Production Co: American Ninth Art Studios
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 20, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Runtime: 1h 23m

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