Watch it now! – ‘California Typewriter’, ‘Lemon’, ‘The Ice Cream Truck’
California Typewriter still lands as a polished tribute to people who choose the click and clack of an older machine over the glow of a screen. Doug Nichol keeps the camera on the physical beauty of these devices while the California Typewriter shop in Berkeley tries to stay afloat through sales and repairs. The film balances celebrity collectors with the day-to-day grind of keeping the machines alive, and its strongest moments remain the simple shots of ink, metal, and paper rather than any finger-wagging about modern habits.
Typewriter Culture Revival Since 2017
Interest in typewriters never really faded after the documentary aired. Shops like Berkeley Typewriter kept seeing customers, and 2024 brought fresh PBS coverage that framed the machines as part of a continuing renaissance. Younger writers and collectors have joined the scene through 2025 and into 2026, drawn to the tactile feedback and the way a finished page feels different from a printout. The revival shows that the analog preference the film celebrated has found new audiences even as some original repair businesses faced closure.
The Berkeley location itself closed around 2020 after the film gave sales a temporary lift. Seventy years of service ended, yet demand for repairs and parts has surfaced at other shops, proving the machines still need upkeep. That persistence adds a quiet footnote to Nichol’s portrait of a shop under pressure.
Janicza Bravo's Career Trajectory
Lemon marked Janicza Bravo’s first feature, and the director has kept building on the same sharp, uncomfortable register. She followed with Zola in 2021, another comedy that refuses to smooth over its characters’ worst impulses. The through-line stays consistent: stories centered on messy people whose behavior reveals larger social patterns without turning the joke on the people they harm.
Reception and Legacy of Lemon
The film earned a 55 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, a number that reflects how divisive its abrasive tone can feel. Viewers who connect with it often cite the cast, including Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, and Michael Cera, and the way the story keeps the discomfort pointed at the men who create it. Critics have noted the intentional social commentary layered into the cringe, and the movie still circulates in conversations about indie comedies that refuse to soften their edges for comfort.
The Ice Cream Truck's Cult Appeal
The Ice Cream Truck continues to float around streaming platforms and YouTube years later, exactly the kind of odd artifact that can pick up a small but loyal following. Megan Freels Johnston has moved on to later shorts and projects, yet the 2017 feature’s mix of suburban satire, King-style menace, and a Harold and Maude-tinged subplot with Deanna Russo and John Redlinger still feels singular. The tonal whiplash that once read as confusion now reads as the reason some viewers return.
Lemon Logline: A cringecore masterpiece – when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Verdict: Is this yet another quirky indie comedy about some sad sack (Brett Gelman) losing it after his girlfriend (Judy Greer) dumps him, featuring the usual suspects? (Why yes, Michael Cera does indeed have a part!) Actually, it’s not. Janicza Bravo’s film is a subtle but mesmerizing exploration of white privilege and the awkwardness and humiliation of constant microaggressions. But don’t let that politically correct description scare you off. Lemon is still a hilarious cringe comedy, and Gelman turns in the performance of his career – it’s just that unlike say, Vice Principals, the joke is actually on the cringe-inducing white men instead of their victims. This year has been crowded with fearless comedies with unique perspectives, but even within that packed arena, Lemon is a standout.
The Ice Cream Truck Logline: Sometimes home is where the horror is. Verdict: A perplexing horror flick that seeks to do for ice cream men what It did for clowns, The Ice Cream Truck stands a good chance of becoming a future cult sensation purely due to how baffling and tonally confused it is. Megan Freels Johnston seems desperate to work in all her favorite influences, so you get a Harold and Maude-esque subplot with Deanna Russo (Being Human) & local hot teen John Redlinger (The Young Kieslowski), Kingesque elements with the titular sinister ice cream peddler, and enough suburban pastel satire to make peak-era Tim Burton jealous. Ultimately the Truck doesn’t really hold together, but there’s no denying it’s a stupidly fun mess of a film that may or may not give you a tummyache after consuming.
