We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Two Fugazi allies—Dutch punk quintet the Ex and Instrument director Jem Cohen—rendezvous at New York’s Knitting ­Factory for this concert-film-plus. Divided roughly in half between color and black-and-white, the movie presents an hour-length Ex set, interspersed with Cohen’s trademark shots of street scenes and vapor trails. It’s September 2004, and the Republicans are having their national convention in midtown, which gives a certain pertinence to such scratchy-funk Ex rants as “Henry K.” Still, this is mostly a record of a performance, and as such is designed only for Ex (and Cohen) fans. Mousetrap shows with two Cohen shorts, NYC Weights and Measures and Blessed Are the Dreams of Men; the first provides more impressionistic glimpses of Manhattan, while the latter, shot from inside a bus, could be described as a “music video”—albeit one without a promotional agenda.