Mark Lewis' new film, STRIDER makes debut via the St. Louis International Film Festival

Having just remarked in my last post how I prefer not to cover film festivals, here I go again -- because yet another film I wanted to see is making its debut via one of those fests. The venue this time is the St. Louis International Film Festival, while the movie in question is a new one entitled STRIDER by a filmmaker named Mark Lewis. If that name does not ring an immediate bell, it's only because you have not yet seen Mr. Lewis' earlier, groundbreaking movie about sex and connection,   Enthusiastic Sinners. His latest is not a groundbreaker, but it is an enjoyable tale of, again, connection, this time between two women -- one a teenager, the other well into her middle age -- and the sport that helps join these two.

Strider also demonstrates what TrustMovies suspects is one of Mr. Lewis' (the writer/director, who also made the delightful Wild Girl Waltz, is shown at left) movie-making concerns. He seems to prefer to begin -- and to end -- in the middle of things, not tying up too neatly all the loose ends, while allowing his characters to develop naturally and believably.

As sexual as was Enthusiastic Sinners and to a lesser extent Wild Girl Waltz, his new film seems almost equally chaste. Sex is certainly mentioned -- particularly as possible motive for the actions here. But, no: While sex is certainly not frowned upon, neither does it seem to be chief in the mind of any of the film's characters. This alone makes Strider rather unusual for this day and age.

Another thing that marks Lewis' three films is how genuinely non-judgmental they are. Sure, characters make their decisions, act on them and accept the consequences, but you get no sense whatsoever that the filmmaker is in any way standing by and wagging his finger in negative fashion at their behavior. This in itself is pretty damned liberating because it forces us to examine more deeply and from non-standard angles subjects like sex, love, commitment and even recreational drug use.

Strider's "take" on competition and the importance of winning is worth watching and considering, too. The movie does not go where many audiences will expect it to, and yet, overall, I doubt they will be disappointed in its outcome. 

In addition to the training and running, we meet the interesting family of our pretty teenager (nicely played by Yelena Friedman, above), as well as a maybe boyfriend (Josiah Schneider, shown in photo at bottom) who appears on the scene and contributes his own likable sensibility to the proceedings. Our coach (Maggie Alexander, below, co-star of Enthusiastic Sinners) is a loner with her own checkered history. Yet the connection between the two women is made real and strong enough to push the film to its conclusion.

Both in style and content, Strider is certainly Lewis' closest-to-mainstream movie yet. This may disappoint some of his fans who prefer his more unusual, boundary-jumping approach. But I'm glad to see him at work, making a good movie of any sort.

You can find out more about the St. Louis International Film Festival by clicking the link, and learn how to view Strider via virtually streaming here.

Sex as an agent of discovery and hope: Mark Lewis & Ryan Balas' ENTHUSIASTIC SINNERS

Can a really good fuck -- no, no: I mean a really good fuck -- lead to discovery, growth and change for the two parties involved? Good question, and it is one that quite a number of movies have asked us viewers over the years, in their own special ways, of course -- from 1933's very interesting  Ecstasy to more relatively recent schlock like 9-1/2 Weeks and Fatal Attraction.

In their new and (it seems to TrustMovies) genuinely ground-breaking film, ENTHUSIASTIC SINNERS, writer/producer/ director Mark Lewis (shown at right) and cinematographer/editor Ryan Balas have given us a movie that answers that question in -- god bless us! -- a positive way by making the sex both believable and hot as hell (full-frontal for both the man and the woman) and the two characters interesting and worthwhile as human beings, but without making their situation in any way too easy or by tying up loose ends that need to be left untied in order for the film to be truthful about its central situation.

That situation is this: When a young, on-duty policeman (Christopher Heard, above) gets a call to investigate gunshots in a home nearby, he finds a widowed mother (Maggie Alexander, below), whose teenage son (along with his friends) have been up to dumb things that boys sometimes do. The cop and the woman talk a bit, she spilling out too-much-information at times, he listening with kindness, interest and a growing attraction. She's attracted, too.

The sex comes hot, hard, heavy -- and very believable. These two people talk to each other during sex, tell each other what they want or need, sometimes in a funny way that makes their union all the more real, moving and sometimes clearly fun, as well as often orgasmic.

In less than a 24-hour time period, it becomes clear, then clearer, that our protagonists, Bruce and Shelby, are a fine mix in terms of sexual compatibility, communication (both verbal and not), honesty, caring and neediness. Except that he is married-with-children, a fact that they and we both know almost from the start. Hence the film's on-the-mark title.

And while neither of our love-makers is all that religious, it is clear that they are, or try to be, genuinely moral, caring people. So where does that leave his wife, whom we never see, though he makes one phone call to her in the course of these proceedings?

Questions like this crop up during the course of the film, which is given over mostly to bouts of hot and heavy sex. Yet because Bruce and Shelby, their sexuality and their personae, are brought to life so remarkably fully, we must and do engage with them, their connection and even, to an extent, their lives prior to each other.

This is thanks to Lewis' writing and direction, both of which could hardly be more intimate and real, and to photographer/editor Balas' contributions, which manage to put us right there, amidst the lovemaking, without making us seem voyeurs. (I was surprised that my spouse, who is a good deal more prudish than I, had no problems whatsoever with any of the sex scenes.)

The performances of Mr. Heard and Ms Alexander are about as close to perfect as you could ask. They capture the most intimate moments, as well as all the heat, with utter specificity and truth. Both actors are attractive without being "model" pretty. Her body is actually a bit more "toned" than his, though his is certainly attractive, while his ample cock, which I believe we sometimes see in a slightly semi-erect state, is a nice turn-on, too.

Even with all the nudity on view, I don't see how you could call the film in any way pornographic. It's too real and honest, and its intent is to strip these two people down to, not mere nakedness, but to their very character and soul. The film also tells us that sex can be genuinely liberating and positive -- rather than something violent or power-hungry or stupidly comedic, which is what we get much more often in movies.

Instead we witness this unusual day and night, and when we leave Bruce and Shelby, though much has changed for them, we simply do not know what the result of this will be. I would love to see Netflix or Amazon take a real chance and give us an ongoing series. If these two are the soulmates they seem to be, what will this mean to his wife and kids, to her son, to his job and all the rest? What an amazing meaningful journey -- for everyone involved -- this could be. (And not something tiresomely second-rate, as that cable series The Affair turned out).

Meanwhile, Enthusiastic Sinners, running just 85 minutes, is available now to rent or buy via iTunes, with a DVD release to come on October 8. If you have any interest in discovering what an exploration of honest-to-goodness, active-positive sexuality can offer, here's your chance. 

An "original" seeks distribution: Mark Lewis' funny, sweet and crazy WILD GIRL WALTZ

Every once-in-a-while a movie comes along that seems so quirky and odd, yet genuinely its-own-thing, that you're certain it's a shoo-in for festivals who claim to appreciate new approaches to film-making. When it's passed by, you find yourself thinking, "What were they thinking?" So it is with WILD GIRL WALTZ, a true original about a threesome of friends, two of whom are romantically connected, with the third still looking.

The perpetrator of this little gem of situation, characterization and (I'd call it) semi-improvisational style is a fellow named Mark Lewis (above), who has made but two films so far, including Baystate Blues back in 2009). In the first couple of minutes of his new movie, we get a surprise -- just as does one of our main characters -- that pulls us (and her) up short with a shock and then a laugh (from us, anyway; she's not too thrilled).

We notice very soon the natural flow of some very good dialog. "I feel like the floor of a movie theater," notes our girl, who gets a laugh from her friend. 

"Not funny," she frowns. 

"It is if you're me," says the friend. From funny, we quickly go to dirty, sexy, silly, and sweet, as the two girls decide to ingest a couple of "good time" pills one of them has been given by a co-worker, after which they go a little sweetly berserk and must be babysat by the third party (the boyfriend of one of the girls) until they come down.

That is pretty much the whole movie, which is all of 82 minutes long and a very easy sit. The goofy dialog, as any good dialog should, unveils a lot about character, situation and place. We stop for a drink, served by an old friend, above, and the discussion turns to Redskins and Redhawks, and then we have a moment and situation that is fairly old-hat (it was used, as I recall, as the punch-line ending of one of the better episodes of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series) but  here it is played for comedy/surprise. 

Mr. Lewis has nailed a certain odd portion of American demographic in this movie and made it seem about as charming and real as you could want. And he's given us -- together with the help of his ensemble -- two wonderfully rich roles for women, which his two leading ladies, Christina Shipp (above) and Samantha Steinmetz (below), carry off with... I'd love to say "aplomb" but they're just too weird and crazy for that, so let's make it "utter credibility and fractured charm." As the babysitter, Brian, Jared Stern, shown one photo below, makes a smart, funny, even kind of sexy (because he's so confident and non-pushy) male overseer.

There's a scene here involving the recently baked pies of a friend of one of the girls' mothers that is hilarious and suspenseful, and there are a few other interesting ones, too, but mostly it's just the threesome, hanging in and out of a car and interfacing to beat the band. In his own special way, Mr. Lewis has nailed how men and women act -- together and apart, high and sober, mostly happy and occasionally sad. Wild Girl Waltz is a movie you will not mistake for any other.

So how do you view this little treat? Lewis says he's still hoping to get into a festival or two, and TrustMovies is hoping his film will, as well.  Meanwhile, since this blog doesn't like to cover movies that readers cannot actually see, the filmmaker has very generously agreed to send a DVD out to anyone who requests a copy. Simply go to the film's web site, click on CONTACT at the bottom, and send an email requesting your copy to the address on the screen. Be sure to include your snail mail address, and tell Mr. Lewis that TrustMovies sent you.