70
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMs. Danhier manages to conjure a glorious and grungy bygone past without fetishizing it as a golden age. A bunch of people got together and did some stuff, and this is what it looked like.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayIn the end, Blank City becomes not just a salute to the artistic adventurousness of a bygone New York, but a reminder that new strains of creativity keep emerging, just when the scene looks stalest.
- 80Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearNames get checked, baby-faced future celebrities like Vincent Gallo and Steve Buscemi make cameos, and various cross-pollinations between below–14th Street mavericks are clarified.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoDoes a first-rate job of remembering.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenBlank City may not be groundbreaking, but it's vibrant and well researched.
- 70Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThe doc flags toward the end, but it remains an absorbing snapshot of a daring time.
- 60MovielineMichelle OrangeMovielineMichelle OrangeThough the film concerns events contained within the roughly 50 square blocks of the East Village, it suffers from the narrative equivalent of urban sprawl.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDanhier backs all the memories with a collection of great clips, and it's extra fun to spot familiar faces (hi, Steve Buscemi!).
- 50VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibThe major draw of Blank City lies in its generous glimpses of rare, virtually lost Super-8 and 16mm films.
- 50Village VoiceNick PinkertonVillage VoiceNick PinkertonDanhier has made a lifestyle-nostalgia oral history after the popular "Please Kill Me" model, but gets none of the tall tales and internecine grudging that made that tome so entertaining.