Todd Haynes' WONDERSTRUCK may leave you (and your kids) in that special state. I hope so.

Finally: A children's movie that really is for children. And for their parents. And maybe especially for their grandparents. (WONDERSTRUCK is set back in time in both the 1920s and the 1970s.) Best of all, this is not one of those Marvel or DC "stupid-hero" films, of which we've seen far too many of late. At the press screening I attended a month back, here in Fort Lauderdale, as the end credits rolled, there was a burst of spontaneous applause the likes of which I've not heard in all my two years down here in Florida. There were only maybe a dozen of us critics at the screening, but that applause sounded like it was coming from a hundred or more.

As much as TrustMovies has enjoyed and appreciated the films of Todd Haynes (shown at left: Carol, I'm Not There, Far From Heaven), he would not have guessed this guy capable of directing a movie for children that worked this well. (But, then, he was equally surprised by the success of David Lowery in directing the Pete's Dragon remake.)

Mr. Haynes' use of everything from the terrifically talented young actors involved to some fine, collage-like animation, an amazing diorama and New York City's American Museum of Natural History, in combination with the increasingly lost art of genuinely imaginative storytelling (the screenplay is by Brian Selznick, from his book of the same title) joins to make Wonderstruck a wonderment indeed.

Haynes and Selznick have divided their film into two stories that eventually connect. One is that of the young girl, Rose, played with wondrous openness and grit by newcomer Millicent Simmons (above), who leaves her comfortable New Jersey home to journey to New York City back in the 1920s to find and meet her idol and famous actress (brought to life by Julianne Moore). The other story, set in the 1970s, follows Ben (Oakes Fegley, shown below, the fine young actor who also played Pete in that Dragon movie), who comes to New York City to find the father he has never known, after his mother (Michelle Williams) has died in an accident.

How these stories weave together so beautifully and delightfully -- using New York's American Museum of Natural History in perhaps the most thrilling and meaningful manner I've yet seen on film (one that puts those Night at the Museum movies rather in the shade) -- is as wondrous as all else in the film, and the scenes involving the children at play (and learning) are so filled with energy, believability and sheer joy that they take their place among the great "kid" scenes movies have given us.

Ms Moore (above) plays yet another dual role (as she does in the better-than-you've-heard and under-appreciated Suburbicon), and she is alternately hard and soft, caring and not-so, and of course aces at both.

How Haynes' and Selznick's movie works itself out is less surprising than it is a kind of consistently visual (while mostly non-verbal) amazement. The movie deals in large part with deafness, and the way it handles this -- via conception, execution and especially performances -- is, I think, exceptional, original and quite moving without ever needing to jerk those tears.

How Mr. Haynes achieves this, with the help of Mr. Selzlnick, of course, is what makes him such a singular and thrilling filmmaker. Do stay through the end credits, which are joyful, explosive, colorful and finally meaningful, too. A word must be said, too, for the other and already quite seasoned young actor in the film, Jaden Michael (above, right, and below, left), who plays Jamie, the kid who encounters Ben on the city's street and befriends him. Young Master Michael is certainly the equal of his two fine co-stars. Mr. Haynes has managed to encourage (or maybe simply allow) three indelible child performances to burgeon here, and great thanks are in order. This is magical movie-making.

One of the year's best films, Wonderstruck -- from Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions and running a just-right 115 minutes -- after opening last week on the coasts, will hit South Florida this Friday, November 3. In Miami, it plays the AMC's Aventura Mall and Sunset Place, the Cinepolis Grove 15, and Regal's South Beach 18; in Fort Lauderdale at the Gateway 4; in Boca Raton at the Regal Shadowood 16, in Boynton Beach at the Cinemark 14, and at The Movies of Delray. On the following Friday, November 10, it will opens throughout the country. Click here to find the theater(s) nearest you.

Todd Haynes' superlative, exquisite CAROL comes to Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and Digital HD

So much has already been written about Todd Haynes' latest outpouring of nostalgia, beauty and closeted "forbidden" love that TrustMovies, finally catching up with this multi-Oscar-nominated film (that ended up winning nothing), can only second most of the praise he's already read and heard. Watching the film unfurl in its fine Blu-ray transfer is such a visual pleasure that buffs are likely to have to view CAROL a second time to fully appreciate the remarkable performances from lead actresses Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.

Mr. Haynes (shown at left), in bringing to the screen Phyllis Nagy's adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith tale of a lesbian love affair and its consequences, is in territory he loves best, including the 1950s time period. And he has brought all this to such fine fruition that the viewer can simply relax and, as it were, go with the flow. It seems to this critic, at least, that with each new work, Haynes grows more confident and secure in his craft. Here he allows the subtleties of the story, characteri-zations and performances to carry the day. And, my god, do they.

By now we know all too well how great an actress is Ms Blanchett (above); the surprise here is how perfectly Ms Mara (below) complements her co-star, while proving every bit as glamorous and talented. Above all, Carol proves a splendid, rich and deep love story about coming to terms with so much -- back when handling this kind of situation was nothing like as easy as it is today.

As fine as were the winners of this year's actress and supporting actress prize (Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander), no one, I think, can deny that Carol's co-stars are every bit as good. Ms Larson's role in Room is such a great one, as well as a great opportunity (think Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve), that it would be difficult to deny any actress who played the role properly this prize. Ms Vikander is always good; the Oscar here seems as much deserved for her better role in Ex Machina, which, being a genre movie, not so many of the Academy voters probably saw.

Carol's lack of "wins" can also be attributed to its being a lesbian film. The Academy might gives prizes now and again to a tear-jerker, triumph-of-the-human-spirit movie like Philadelphia (which is about men, after all, even if some of them are gay), but a quiet, strong and subtle one about women such as this? Not likely.

No worries. The nominations were enough to honor the amazing contributions here. And Carol will continue to find its audience, now and in perpetuity. With its theatrical release via The Weinstein Company and its video release from Anchor Bay Entertainment, the movie hits Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD this coming Tuesday, March 15 (it has been available via Digital HD since March 4) -- for purchase and/or rental.

DVDebut -- Todd Haynes' MILDRED PIERCE proves mostly drama in place of melodrama

Money talks, walks & squawks throughout the new-on-DVD HBO miniseries MILDRED PIERCE. They could have called it Mildred Purse. For those of us (most of us, I suspect) who know the work via the 1945 Curtiz/Crawford movie, rather than the original James M. Cain novel, the biggest surprise may be that the damn thing registers more as drama than the melodrama (a delicious one) that the highly telescoped movie provided.

In the hands of Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), as director and co-writer, we would expect the right look for the time and place, as well a smart approach to a movie so centered on a woman and her travails (Safe), and one in which the social milieu (Velvet Goldmine) and the mysterious shards of character (I'm Not There) count for so much. Haynes, pictured at right, does not disappoint. Neither does his star Kate Winslett, who makes Mildred a full-bodied (and -brained) woman of her time whose solution to her money problems (the story takes place during the years of the Great Depression) catapults her and her family and friends into tasty success (this series will make you crave pie).

One of the keenest pleasures to be found is derived from the fact that Haynes (and maybe Caine, too) sees no villains here. Even Mildred's daughter Veda, certainly the least likable of the pack (even her musical mentor calls her a snake), is simply behaving true to form and to what she perceives are her own best interests. Everyone here does this, including Monty Beragon, played with a relaxed grace and built-in hauteur, in what is his best performance in years, by Guy Pearce (above).

In addition to Monty's character being much more fleshed out and believably human, the biggest surprise to me in the film is the handling of Mildred's first husband, given decency and strength by Brian F. O'Byrne (above, center), a fine actor who registers extremely strongly in this role.

The more than five-and-one-half hours of running time enables Haynes and Winslett to to explore character and motivation more deeply than the 111-minute earlier film, and we we're treated to a better understanding Mildred's difficulties in first finding a job then rising to the top via her own skills and the help of others.

Those others include a starry supporting cast of well-chosen actors, all of whom deliver -- from Melissa Leo as Mildren's best friend and neighbor, Mare Winningham as her mentor in waitressing, a newly rotund James LeGros helping out her business interests, and Hope Davis (above) as the rich-bitch director's wife who comes into Mildred's life early on and then again a decade later.

A word must be said, too, for the actresses who essay the role of Veda: Morgan Turner (at left, three photos above) as the younger version and Evan Rachel Wood (above with Winslett) as the older. Both are exceptionally fine, turning what could easily become a caricature into, granted, a very odd but quite sadly believable young girl and young woman.

This Mildred Pierce is so spot-on regarding period and place, and so full of fine acting and writing, that you come away from the series -- we watched the five episodes over three evenings, as the last (at 82 minutes) is nearly a full-length film -- with renewed respect for these very interesting characters, what they go through and what they learn. We might have wished that Mildred did not need to be punished for her night of unbridled passion -- by god? misogyny? Cain's 1930-era morality? -- with the loss of something irreplace-able. But that was the woman's role back then.  Back then, right?