Better-than-average giallo arrives on Blu-ray: the 1974 Massimo Dallamano/Etore Sanzò WHAT HAVE THEY DONE to your DAUGHTERS?

Italian filmmaker Massimo Dallamano was a B-movie writer/director who came to prominence in the 1970s. Up until then he was a good cinema-tographer whose career spanned the mid-1940s through the mid 60s. His film WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS?, made just two years prior to his death, is a smart little mash-up that conflates the giallo/thriller/police procedural genres, while giving fans of all three a pretty good run for their money.

Well cast using some of Italy's popular actors of the era and written (by Dallamano, shown at left, and co-writer Etore Sanzò) with a good deal more intelligence than many of the then-popular giallo movies, Done/Daughters begins with the discovery of a nude teenager whose death appears to have been a suicide, but of course we suspect it may be a murder. From there the film tackles everything from a teen prostitution ring servicing the rich and powerful (who else?) to government corruption and a very nasty serial killer in a motorcycle helmet who sports a bloody machete. Yes: yikes!

What's going on here, and how the the pair of investigators on the case -- an female assistant D.A. (unusual for the era in which the film was made) and a local police inspector -- discover this is handled with savvy and enough filmmaking skill to keep  the viewer alert and interested.

As suspects emerge (and are sometimes murdered in the graphic, bloody giallo manner), the depth of and disgust we feel for the corruption at hand makes itself keenly felt.

In the role of the female D.A., the beautiful Giovanna Ralli (above, of Deadfall) brings a quiet seriousness to the proceedings that proves a big help in countering some of the sleazier aspects of the film, while Claudio Cassinelli (below, of The Suspicious Death of a Minor) offers the usual solid-if-stolid leading man machismo that's required in this sort of endeavor.

There are a couple of good chase scenes, smart stalking via hand-held camera, and some especially interesting Italian police procedural tactics that keep us interested. Less a who-dunnit? than a who'-s behind-it? scenario, the movie wraps up with multiple resignations borne out of frustration and anger. Well, as the French say (and the Italians certainly understand at this point), plus ça change.....

From that by-now giallo specialist, Arrow Video, the new Blu-ray -- distributed here in the USA by MVD Entertainment Group -- hit the streets yesterday, for purchase and (I would hope somewhere) for rental. As with all of Arrow's product that I've seen, the Bonus Features alone are worth the purchase price. In addition to the excellent Blu-ray transfer, there are some fascinating interviews with the film's composer and editor, a grand new video essay from Kat Ellinger, and even some harcore footage shot for (but never used in) the film by its director.

Crime REALLY does not pay in Frédéric Schoendoerffer's road thriller, FAST CONVOY

The first thing we see on-screen is the Paramount logo, and so we immediately assume that this (at least partially) financed by Paramount-in-France crime thriller is going to reside pretty much in the realm of mainstream movies. As directed and co-written by French filmmaker Frédéric Schoendoerffer and acted very well by a cast who would seem to have some Moroccan/Algerian roots and led by popular French star Benoît Magimel (shown at left, and two photos below), FAST CONVOY (Le convoi) turns out to be that rare crime movie that turns a cliche on its ear, places character above explosion, and subtlety over the obvious. If its pacing is too slow for typical mainstream, that very dawdling produces the kind of depth and richness of character we expect independent cinema to provide. Above all else, the movie is -- remarkable in a crime thriller -- quietly but exquisitely humane.

M. Schoendoerffer, shown at right, has a resume filled with crime films, none of which, save this one, has been seen by TrustMovies. Judging on the basis of Fast Convoy,  I wouldn't mind taking a look at the others, each of which at least offers a stellar cast.

Here, the plot deals with a group of lower-echelon criminals, spread amongst four automobiles, transporting a shipment of illegal drugs along a highway in southern Spain. We soon learn that to the original haul has been added another shipment of cocaine, the prison-time penalty for which, if our boys are caught, is much longer than is that of their expected shipment. Questions are asked, tempers flare, mistakes are made, and soon one of the fellows is dead, another wounded, and a hostage kidnapped who must then become the driver of one of the cars.

Schoendoerffer and his oft-time co-writer Yann Brion have provided near-constant dialog between the guys in the cars that slowly reveals character while offering clues to what is to come. One of these clues eventually comes home to roost in a betrayal that seems all the more sad and awful because it is, on one level, so very necessary.

That kidnapped driver, a young woman about whom we learn very little (played by Rheem Kherici, above), is still brought to life quite well. The relationship that develops between her and Magimel's character -- more kindly than romantic --  takes a number of nice turns, surprising and finally generous on both sides.

Each of the young criminals is given his due, too, from the worry-wart family-man, Majid (Foëd Amara, above) to the close-to-the-vest Imad (Tewfik Jallab, below, left) who, along with Magimel, appears to be "in charge" of this operation.

Of all these guys, perhaps the most touching is Yacine (Amir El Kacem, above, right), who may have a "needle dick," as his car-mate jokes, but also possesses a poetic, romantic sensibility which is captured quite beautifully in his final few moments.

Yes, these are all criminals, and we do see them as such, but thanks to the filmmaker's sensibility, they are never less than human, and we come to care about them at the finale more than you could possibly have imagined at the film's beginning.

Part of the surprise and the skill of Fast Convoy lies in how nicely "un-slick" the movie is. This is no Fast & Furious franchise imitation. Instead, as the film progresses, it becomes clear how "amateur" these guys actually are. Oh, they've done this sort of drug trafficking before, but they are mostly untutored in everything from dealing with the police to handling bullet wounds or heavy-duty stress.

All this is captured best in the film's climatic shoot-out, in which one thing after another seems to happen as much by accident as on purpose. There's a kind of "realism" here than most action films don't even attempt, much less succeed at.

Schoendoerffer's is one of those rare modern movies in which crime not only does not pay, but is shown to sadly snuff out the lives of young men who might have made something more of their time here on earth.

Distributed digitally in the U.S. via Under the Milky Way, in French with English subtitles and running 102 minutes, Fast Convoy opens on VOD throughout the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, December 5, on all major platforms including iTunes, Sony, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators. 

DVDebut: Three knockout actors highlight Jason Lew's moving/flawed THE FREE W0RLD

There is so much that is so good about THE FREE WORLD, last year's film from writer/director Jason Lew making its DVDebut tomorrow, that it is too bad the movie doesn't quite hold up overall. Yet what's good here is good enough to warrant a watch. Mr. Lew, shown below, is interested in themes like justice, retribution, guilt and the demands of necessity, and for much of the film, he handles these with intelligence and skill, and his terrific cast puts it over with feeling and aplomb.

The movie begins with a man's voice speaking to what we might assume is some kind of support group -- maybe of parolees or soon-to-be ex-prisoners -- leading to the first of the film's pleasant (sometimes not so) surprises in this tale of an ex-con, the woman he becomes involved with, and his place of employment, which figures prominently in the plot.

Ms. Lew has cast his movie about as well as could be imagined, with every role -- the leads to the supporting parts -- written and played fully and exactingly.

In the role of that ex-con is an actor -- Boyd Holbrook (shown above and below) --that TrustMovies has now seen several times and found exceptionally good in quite a range of roles. Just the other night we saw him play the charming, good-looking "chef" in the better-than-you've-heard sci-fi thriller Morgan, and he was also excellent in, among other films, Little Accidents, Gone Girl and Run All Night.

The Free World proves his best film yet, and were the movie seen by more of our "cultural guardians," as well as by the public, it would have put him firmly on the map. As it is, it will stand as testament to what Holbrook is capable of, should he not finally get the kind of major roles he ought to be playing. As the woman who slowly becomes his "significant other," Elizabeth Moss (above, left, and below) adds yet another feather to her very densely populated cap.

Moss is particularly adept -- from Mad Men through Top of the Lake to the recent Queen of Earth -- at playing semi-losers, letting us experience the emotional states of these women while refusing to play for unearned sympathy yet never allowing us to lose our concern for them.

The third major performance is not a lead, but as it is played by the always wonderful Octavia Spencer (shown on poster, top), it becomes another reason the see the movie. Ms Spencer takes the role of Holbrook's employer, and she brings her usual charismatic warmth and engulfing love to the proceedings.

Around two-thirds of the way through, the film turns into a violent, action/chase thriller. This is certainly believable enough, given the set of circumstances we've already been shown. But Lew neglects to give us certain information that would be nice to know: Were the couple deliberately betrayed by their friend?  If so, why? And what the hell were the bad guys here going to do with the pair, and again, why?

These are not deal-breakers, for the movie still works on a certain level of excitement and adrenaline, and Holbrook clearly can play the heavy-duty macho hero with the best of them. But the abrupt change, together with the lack of context, flaws the film. Nonetheless, it offers a final scene that stays true to what I think Lew is trying to tell us about "the free world."

The movie, from IFC Films and running a well-paced and involving 102 minutes, arrives on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Blu-ray/DVDebut: Peter Billingsley's smart, enjoyable TERM LIFE gives Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld a chance to shine

And shine they do, as a troubled, estranged father and daughter who reunite out of necessity, and then bond as he teaches her the tricks of his criminal trade. You may question the morality going on here, but you will have enough fun along the way that you'll probably be willing to let that pass and enjoy TERM LIFE on it own movie-movie terms. As directed by Peter Billingsley (below) and written by Andy Lieberman (from Nick Thornborrow's graphic novel), the film is fleet and often funny, without ever crossing over into "cute."

It's violent, too, but less so than many R-rated movies. Performances are fine down the line, with Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld (below) particularly effective as the father/daughter combo. Mr. Vaughn has had some ups and downs (more downs of late) in his career, but this film might have set him back on track, had it been given a legitimate theatrical release. But his smart, no-nonsense and very appealing performance should make fans realize anew why they've enjoyed him over the two decades since Swingers.

Speaking of, Jon Favreau makes an appearance here and does well as a sleazy cohort of Vaughn's, while no less than Terrence Howard (below) and Taraji P. Henson (further below) show up smartly in supporting roles.

Basically a heist-gone-south movie coupled to a chase film connected to a parenting tale, the movie's many jolts of humor and its consistently believable and often quite clever dialog carry it along and over very few rough patches.

The villains are played, and well, by Bill Paxton (below) as a really dirty police officer and Spain's Jordi Mollà, shown at bottom, who essays a Mexican drug lord, the death of whose son sets in motion much of the clever plotting.

Taking place in Atlanta, this is the second movie in as many weeks to show us a whole bunch of crazy, crappy Atlanta cops. (Triple 9 was the other one, which is a lot darker but also a good film.) OK, Hollywood: We get your point.

Considering the dreck that makes it into our theaters (often for weeks on end), Term Life (the title refers to the insurance policy the Vaughn character takes out on his own life in order to provide for his daughter) proves a lot more fun and lasts but a swift and engrossing 93 minutes.

From FocusWorld, the movie hit DVD and Blu-ray this past week -- for purchase and/or rental.

SPIRAL fans, rejoice: Season 5 -- the best yet -- is out now on DVD via MHz Network

As ever, the French cops/lawyers/judges/justice series SPIRAL (Engrenages) resonates darkly like little else you'll find on television anywhere. Season 5 of this remarkable show offers up children as its central theme -- one barely conceived, another dead, and the rest in various and tricky places on the spectrum in between. Parenting, too, comes in for a licking, as we see some truly shocking instances of the very bad sort and what this can lead to in the later lives of the participants.

The same six lead characters are back again and in their usual fine form. One of the things that makes the series resonate so strongly is how these characters continue to grow and change -- with their strong and weak points both contributing to this growth and change -- while engaging us with remarkable strength and force. The other thing is that makes Season 5 so compelling lies in the surprises that await us. These come both from the exquisite plotting and the fine characterization by the series creator, Alexandra Clert (shown above), the currents writers and the lead performers, each of whom gets better with each new season.

What we have this time begins with the murder of a mother and her child, and the surprise pregnancy of one of our "heroes." There is also a series of robberies going on in which young hoodlums on motorcycles and thieves in stolen cars wreak their havoc on the citizenry. A "snitch" turns out to be an unlikely if self-serving ally, and the initial suspect in the murder case appears to be possibly innocent.

Judge Roban (the marvelous Philippe Duclos, two photos up) has grown hardened in surprising ways, while lawyer Joséphine Karlsson (everyone's favorite French redhead, Audrey Fleurot) has both softened and strengthened. (The latter is shown above with that fine actor Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, here in an ace supporting role.)

That pug-ugly and extraordinarily sexy actor Thierry Godard (above, right) deepens and broadens as the cop, Gilou, while Captain Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust, below, left) must deal with her usual work-related business while deciding how and even if to welcome a newcomer to her life. (The French -- and perhaps still too Catholic -- attitude toward pregnancy and abortion is given a very interesting workout here.)

Tintin (Fred Bianconi, above) is having his usual family problems, and that other lawyer, Pierre Clement (stalwart hero Grégory Fitoussi)  has gone from prosecutor to the defense side and is handling the case of the prime suspect. It is via Pierre's character that the series offers one of its biggest surprises to date. M. Fitoussi, below, left, is shown with Olivier Chantreau, who brings a nice combination of outsized anger and bleak confusion to the role of of the prime suspect.)

As ever, the insistence on the inclusion both good and bad in our six lead characters and most of the major supporting ones makes the series infinitely more complex and believable than many others of this genre. And the addition this time of actress Shirley Souagnon in the role of a character named Karen Hoarau, aka Oz, proves a terrific piece of casting and acting. Ms Souagnon, below, makes a memorable impression indeed.

For anyone new to this fine series, begin with the first through fourth seasons, all of which are available via Netflix and Hulu. Season 5, however, is available on DVD only from MHz Networks, and for anyone who can't wait, that would be the place to order it -- for sale or streaming (soon) via the new MHz Choice option. 

Jay Martin's 7 MINUTES slices a heist into stylish, suspenseful, character-driven chapters

The heist movie is a cinema staple, but we haven't seen too many good ones of late. So even a pretty good one like 7 MINUTES, out on Blu-ray and DVD this coming week, may be be worth the time of those of you aficionados who appreciate this genre. Its writer/director Jay Martin, whom I think is shown below (Mr. Martin is hard one to find a photo of), has taken the heist theme, plunked it down amongst a group of real amateurs who imagine that it'll prove a piece of cake that takes only those titular seven minutes to accomplish, and then watches, dry-eyed, humanely and quite stylishly, as the whole thing goes very far south.

Style, in fact, is the saving grace of this fast-paced, 92-minute thriller in which the way the filmmaker chooses to tell his story is every bit as important as the story itself -- which is, of course, pretty typical of the genre. And while there is little doubt where the whole story is headed and how badly things will turn out, thanks to the fragmented storytelling skills of Mr. Martin, there is still plenty of surprise and suspense along the way. The filmmaker has divided his story into sections devoted to the various characters: a group of friends, acquaintances and relations who interact with each other and the event in question for both good and (mostly) bad. This fracturing allows us to see things from different perspectives and time periods until the entire picture finally comes together and makes sense.

The characters involved, as do so many in this genre, see a way out of their financial straits via robbery. They are not too bright, but they are also not evil. Unfortunately, others connected to them are.

The good cast includes  Luke Mitchell, Leven Rambin, Jason Ritter and Brandon Hardesty, with fine support from the likes of Kris Kristofferson and especially Kevin Gage (shown above, center).

It can be levelled against films of this sort that if the writer/director had told the story plainly and simply, start to finish, it would have been nothing special. Maybe. But Mr. Martin hasn't done this, and his fractured storytelling style, together with some good performances, has made all the difference. 7 Minutes, from Anchor Bay Entertainment, hits the streets on DVD and Blu-ray this coming Tuesday, September 1, for sale or rental.

The French Connection, as seen from the French view, in Cédric Jimenez's THE CONNECTION

Same decade, same drugs, but mostly a different location (though we do get one scene that takes place in New York City), THE CONNECTION (called La French in its home country) takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear (Marseilles, 1975) as a single French police magistrate (played by Jean Dujardin) attempts to get the goods on a prime drug trafficker (Gilles Lellouche). Messieurs Dujardin and Lellouche have worked together several times now -- most uproariously and cleverly in The Players, which can be streamed digitally via Netflix and elsewhere -- and they make quite a team: French hunks who also possess a load of talent, with the former here portraying the good hunk, and the latter the bad.

As co-written (with Audrey Diwan) and directed by Cédric Jimenez (shown at left), this 135-minute movie does not exactly speed along but neither does it lag. The Connection simply lays out its tale, stringing together incident after connected incident, until at last the payoff arrives. If it is much less gritty (though a half-hour longer) than its American counter-part, The French Connection (the new film is said to be telling a similar tale from the European viewpoint), it is also much less flashy, though full of more beautiful scenery. Both films are fairly "surface" -- a necessity, I think, when dealing with this particular sub-genre (drugs) of the crime movie.

In between the various set-ups and "hits," we get an occasional few moments of "feeling" -- as when our magistrate (Dujardin, above) tries to get one of his drug-fueled informants to go straight and later pays his respects to her family, post-overdose. For his part, Mr. Drug King (Lellouche, below) has a few thoughtful moments, too, though not enough nor as deep to make him actually question his life-style or from where and how he obtains same.

There's a scene -- not particularly believable, but fun -- midway along in which our twosome face each other down only to bid each other adieu until a later day. The fact that these two actors look look so similar -- in body type, hair and skin coloring, even somewhat facially -- makes their pairing much the more interesting, and they and their director use this similarity quietly but effectively.

While this is, of course, mostly a man's movie -- that's Guillaume Gouix, above, as the clever law-enforcement rookie -- the females are given their minor moments, with Céline Sallette (below), as Dujardin's long-suffering wife (as usual in this genre) and Mélanie Doutey as the barely-seen spouse of our drug lord.

Prominent in the cast is another French notable, Benoît Magimel (below), who seems to have gone from a hot and sexy, young leading man to a first-class character actor in what looks (to us in America, at least) like the blink of an eye. Here, Magimel plays "The Wolf," whose unrestrained libido and violence, not to mention his surprisingly bullet-resistant body and head, helps bring things to a boil.

As I say, if you appreciate a decent policier/thriller, by all means take a look at The Connection. Full of lovely scenery, interesting architecture and camera angles, crack performances and enough violence to sate the current mainstream art crowd, it'll get you where you want to go.

The film's handling of its time-frame -- the 1970s -- is very well-done, too. Most everything, from the cars to the clothes to the large and clunky mobile phones with the long antennae (below), seems correct without having to scream "nostalgia!", as certain movies prefer to do it.

One thing you may wonder throughout, however -- particularly if you've watched as many Italian Mafia/drug movies as I -- is why, since we are dealing with some Italian mobsters here, they have not simply and more promptly wiped out their law enforcement antagonists. Well, this movie takes place mostly in France, where this is not, perhaps, quite so easily done. Never fear: By the end of our journey, France has become much closer to Italy in ways we might prefer were otherwise.

The Connection -- from Drafthouse Films, in French with English subtitles -- makes its American theatrical debut in Santa Barbara at the Plaza d'Oro this Wednesday, May 13, then opens in New York City and Los Angeles at, respectively Landmark's Sunshine Cinema and The Landmark on Friday, May 15. Over the weeks to come it will open all across the country. Click here and scroll down to see currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.