Amazon Prime must-watch: Victor Levin's smart and hilarious DESTINATION WEDDING

What a treat it is to see two notable, long-time actors like Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder rip into dialog that's smart, sophisticated and most of all bracingly negative -- about everything -- and keep you smiling, chuckling and outright guffawing for an entire 90 minutes. How the succulent-if-nasty delights of DESTINATION WEDDING managed to elude so many of our supposed cultural guardians (only 42% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes,  though 63% of audiences liked it) surprises me, all right, but don't allow these goodies to bypass you. Grab this unusual movie while it streams via Amazon Prime, and let the luscious, hilarious mega-negativity wash over you. Really: You will not have heard dialog like this for, ummmm, quite some time. If ever.

The product of writer/director Victor Levin who, back in 2015, gave us the wonderfully smart, sophisticated, funny and moving love story, 5 to 7 (which remains among my favorites of all time), the movie and Mr. Levin (shown at left) have gone out on a limb and taken some really surprising chances.

First of all, the film is a two-hander. Oh, we see a bunch of other characters, but we never hear a word they say. Instead, all of the lip-smacking bile that constitutes the dialog here emanates only from the mouths of Frank (Mr. Reeves, below, left) and Lindsay (Ms Ryder, below, right), as they meet and almost immediately take a total dislike to each other.

How this comes about (in a tiny airport waiting area below) and continues through the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself and even the after-party serve up a nonstop disgorging of some of the funniest and angriest logorrhea imaginable. But it is not simply unpleasant. These two people are smart, educated and very well-spoken, hence their ravings are usually as witty and on-point as they are angry and rude.

And, yes, it is clear before very long that the two are also hurt and frightened children who are of course destined for each other.  But the getting to that destination -- oh, my: the double meaning of the movie's title has only just occurred to me now -- is what provides all the fun.

That dialog also gives us some history and reams of exposition (as the two get to know each other, nastily) as well as a slow, bit-by-bit puncturing of some very well-armed defense systems. What a joy it is to see Ryder and especially Reeves tackling dialog this good and making the very most of it. Each actor also sees to it that his and her character's humanity never goes missing, no matter how bilious and accusatory are their rants.

Writer/director Levin is also wise enough not to allow sentimentality to mar things, even as our couple begins to grow bizarrely closer. Whether via surprise encounter with a wild animal or a hilarious fuck scene in which the dialog never stops, right through to the only somewhat hopeful finale, our protagonists keeping sparring and warring.

The arid, vast Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo California scenery (above) is enjoyable to see, and so are the nods/digs at all those things -- typical and atypical -- that make weddings such crazy, ridiculous fun. By the end of this oddball journey, if Reeves and Ryder and their unusual characters have not proven pretty close to indelible, I shall be very surprised.

Released in theaters last month via Regatta, the movie is now streaming on Amazon (and maybe elsewhere). Don't let this one get by you.

Stephen Cone's PRINCESS CYD is joyful, genuine and, oh, so un-movie-like...

..and if that seems odd for TrustMovies to be congratulating a film for its un-movie-like appearance, so be it. There are times when you want the magic of movie-making (Wonderstruck is one such) and others when capturing characters of unusual reality and grace seems like the kind of miracle that you almost never see. So it is with PRINCESS CYD, the latest from writer/director Stephen Cone, who has already given us worthwhile films such as The Wise Kids and Henry Gamble's Birthday Party.

That latter movie had much of the good stuff that Cone's new one possesses -- the filmmaker is shown at left -- but toward its end it piled up incident so heavily that it suddenly descended into melodrama. There is none of that here, and his latest is all the better for that lack.

Instead we get a cast of characters who think, speak and act in ways that seem remarkably honest and real -- and yet at the same time so unaffected and unusually thoughtful that it is almost shocking to see them on the same movie screen that most often offers us stupid superheroes, over-the-top violence, and thoughtless, by-the-numbers action. Oh, and there's one more thing, too. We get some sex.

In Mr. Cone's world, however, sex is a fine, good thing, especially when it's accompanied by caring and thoughtful questioning about its importance and place in one's life.

The movie opens on a black screen, as we hear a 911 call being made. This lasts only moments, but it is enough to put us in a very dark place. But then we cut to a pretty young girl on a soccer field and a title card that reads "Nine Years Later." This quick, rather quiet set-up introduces us to the title character, played by a stunning and incandescent young actress named Jessie Pinnick, above, who is every bit as believable, if unusually poised, as she is beautiful.

Cyd has come to the Chicago area to escape a depressed dad and visit her aunt, played by another talented and beautiful (and a generation older) actress, Rebecca Spence (shown above), whom she has not seen for some years. The two bond a bit warily but hopefully, as they begin to simply "talk about" things. Mr. Cone's particular skill, I think, comes in writing dialog that flows naturally, even as it probes so many interesting areas and raises questions that linger in our (and his characters') minds and gently push us (and them) into further thinking and questioning.

Cone is never judgmental, nor are most of his people. His characters love reading, and in fact get together for occasional evenings at which they simply read to each other from their favorite texts. They're nicely diverse, too, without pushing the point. In fact, you'll wish you had more people like them in your own life.

When sexual desire and lust raise their attractive heads -- both straight and gay -- you'll root for the participants and enjoy their time together without ever feeling like you've leered or intruded. This is another of Cone's accomplishments. And this time, when the chance for melodrama and a heavy hand appears, he wisely and believably circumvents it. The fellow can tackle religion, too, and make even an agnostic reprobate like me listen and ponder a bit.

America -- hell, the world -- needs more of this kind of thing, but there are damned few filmmakers able or willing to create it. Mr. Cone is clearly stretching and growing. I hope we'll see a lot more of him and his work.

Meanwhile, Princess Cyd -- from Wolfe Releasing and running 96 minutes -- opens this Friday, November 3, in New York and Chicago, and then in Los Angeles on December 1. For those who want to get better acquainted with this filmmaker, from November 3-12, The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens will present "Talk About the Passion: Stephen Cone's First Act," which doubles as the NYC debut of his new film and an early career retrospective of his work (click here for the schedule). In Chicago, his new film will play the Gene Siskel Film Center, and in Los Angeles, it will open at Laemmle's Music Hall 3. More cities around the country? Not sure, but as Wolfe is releasing, a DVD debut is scheduled for early December. And maybe there'll be some streaming soon, as well.

Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy--MARIUS, FANNY & CESAR--returns in beautiful new 4K transfers

For those who found themselves less than thrilled with Daniel Auteuil's semi-recent remake of Fanny and Marius (his César was announced but never seems to have made it to production), the newly restored, splendid 4K transfer of the original Marseille Trilogy by Marcel Pagnol from Janus Films should prove eye- and heart-opening. TrustMovies enjoyed Auteuil's work, while finding his adaptation of The Well-Digger's Daughter far superior to either his Fanny or Marius) but TM did wonder, post-viewing, why this "classic" trilogy was so highly revered.
Now, he knows.

For a whole lot of reasons, this original appears to be pretty much irreplaceable. And the truly gorgeous restoration it has now received should result in a slew of new fans. Though Pagnol directed only César, the final of the three films, he adapted all of them from his original plays, and he probably learned a lot by watching his other two directors at work (Alexander Korda on Marius and Marc Allégret on Fanny). The attribution of Pagnol (shown above) as the auteur here is not in the least misplaced, however, because it is his screenplays, specifically his amazing dialog (of which there is a ton) that account for what a knockout these three films are: individually, and even more so in their entirety.

Pagnol was a supreme humanist, and the skill with which he has created his dialog uncovers, time after time, the viewpoints of all his characters. These viewpoints conflict, which makes for the drama, but the author allows us to see each differing one so clearly that we identify with all his people. (Pagnol allows us to take sides, of course, but he doesn't unduly push us into one or the other.)

In the first of the three films, Marius, we meet all the many characters who inhabit this little seaside corner of Marseille, especially bar owner César, his son Marius, and the young woman the latter is in love with, Fanny. Marius is also in love with the sea and longs to sail off on it, and this tug-of-war between his two loves finally results in his sailing away and leaving Fanny pregnant -- though neither of them realizes this at the time.

The remaining two films, Fanny and César, let us see what happens over the next 20 years involving these main characters, as well as their relatives and friends, with special emphasis on an older gentleman named Honoré Panisse, a successful tradesman in town who also loves Fanny and proves pivotal to all that plays out.

In addition to being smitten with humanity in its many specifics, Pagnol was interested in how our needs and desires play with and against the rules of society. He wanted justice, all right, but only so far as it genuinely served the people. His take on everything -- from religion to sexuality, parenting to criminality, hypocrisy to doing-the-right-thing-for-the-right-reason -- is bracing, and the manner in which he tracks all this via his wonderful conversations between characters is among the most assured and entertaining in cinema history.

All this is evident in incident after incident: from stopping a public streetcar so that the players in a game of boules can take proper measurements to the nasty old joke of placing a hat over a rock in the street and watching what happens. Among the many delights is one of the great end-of-life "confession" scenes in which a dying man tells his priest that his greatest sin was how much he enjoyed indulging in that sin. This leads to one of Pagnol's many super-quotable lines, as the priest responds quite properly, "If sinning made us suffer, we'd all be saints,"

Pagnol is so full of rich scenes featuring wonderful dialog that you'll long to remember each and every one. And if these films sometimes grow operatic, not to worry. This is great opera. It's soap opera, too -- but raised to such high level that you won't mind one bit. Again and again, as you're listening intently to that dialog (or, more probably unless you speak French, reading those English subtitles), you'll be continually amazed by the fact that all these conflicting viewpoints are somehow correct -- as is true of all great tales that traffic in genuine humanity.

From Janus Films and running a total of nearly seven hours, the Marseille Trilogy makes its 4K, hi-def debut this Wednesday, January 4, at New York City's Film Forum for a nine-day run. Each film has a separate admission, but all three can often be seen on the same day. Click here to view the schedule and/or purchase tickets. Will Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy be shown elsewhere? Yes! On January 27, it will open in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal; on February 11 at the Cleveland Cinematheque in Ohio; on March 10 in both Cambridge, Massachusetts (at the Landmark Kendall Square), and Washington, D.C. (at the Landmark E Street Cinema); and on March 24 in Houston, Texas, at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Full-bodied characters, brilliant/beautiful cinema from Turkey: Nuri Bilge Ceylan's WINTER SLEEP

I usually don't read reviews of films I'm about to cover, but in the case of WINTER SLEEP -- the new Palme d'Or-winning film from Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan -- once I finished reading Stuart Klawans' review in The Nation of The Imitation Game (a film I had already covered), I found myself continuing to read his thoughts on Ceylan's film. Why didn't I stop and put it aside to finish later? Well, Klawans is a very good writer, and once I'd begun, I didn't want to stop. So rapturous was his notice (you can read it here: click and keep scrolling down) that I immediately gave it to my spouse and asked if the film interested him. It did, despite its rather unusual length (three hours and 16 minutes: and spouse is not a fan of lengthy movies).

Although Mr. Klawans recommends seeing Winter Sleep in a theater, we were sent a DVD screener to watch. As shown on our large, widescreen TV, the quality was, in a word, sensational. Visually, this is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. While Ceylan's work (the filmmaker is shown at left) is often quite lovely to view, his latest outdoes any of his earlier films. From the incredible vistas that open the movie -- huge rocks sprouting from the mountain soil and homes that seem to emerge literally from the hills -- to the many interior shots, with lighting and color unlike anything I've seen, the movie is visual splendor. Still, visuals can only go so far. Incredibly, Mr. Ceylan also offers us a situation and characters as precise and special as those visuals, and then tops it all with some of the finest dialog -- also precise (in a manner that is able to gracefully unfurl character) and deep, sometimes profound -- that you're likely to hear in any film this year.

The movie is a wonder, a marvel. And while those three-plus hours don't exactly speed by, the material here -- characters and situation -- grabs us so strongly that we're not for a moment disengaged from this film. The situation blooms out of character, chiefly that of Aydin (Haluk Bilginer, below), our "hero," a wealthy man who owns the hotel that lies at the center of the film.

Around this cold sun circle the rest of the characters, including his young wife, Nihal (Melisa Sözen, shown below), and his sister, Necla (Demet Akbag, above, right). There is a scene midway in the movie between sister and brother that is one of the strongest (and longest) sections of dialog I think I've ever heard in a movie, unveiling character, philosophy, desire and fear, batting back and forth like a great tennis match of intellect and hubris that will have you on tenterhooks, trying to take it all in.

A subplot involving tenants of our wealthy fellow, a family quite down on its luck, further unveils the character of Aydin, as well as of the tenant family members themselves. A scene involving money changing hands toward the finale is one of the most quietly explosive and frustrating ever committed to film.

Ceylan's movie probes everything from class and religion to feminism, the male prerogative (in a culture such as Turkey's), and much more. There's even a reference to Hitler and the Jewish Holocaust that might tilt Turkish heads in the direction of their country's own Holocaust against Armenians, the responsibility for which -- unlike the Germans for their own, dreadful piece of history -- Turks have yet to accept. (I would like to think that Ceylan intends this "thought process," though being any more direct about it could probably end his career, at least in his home country.)

If I have given you any sense at all of how rich this movie is -- in so many ways -- then I'll consider this post a success. Winter Sleep has been selected by Turkey as its submission for Best Foreign Language Film. As crowded with quality as this year's selections surely are -- Force Majeure, The Circle, Ida, Rocks in My Pockets and Two Days, One Night (I'll cover that last one next week and haven't yet seen Beloved Sisters, Leviathan or Human Capital) to name but a few -- it strikes me at this point that Ceylan's film outshines all of what I have viewed.

Winter Sleep -- from Adopt Films and running 196 minutes -- opens this Friday, December 19, in New York City exclusively at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema, and in Los Angeles on January 23 at Laemmle's Royal, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5. To see all currently scheduled playdates, click here, and then scroll down and click on View Theaters and Showtimes.

On the heels of its U.S. theatrical debut, a hi-def DVD release of Eric Rohmer's A SUMMER'S TALE

What a joy for Eric Rohmer fans here in the USA to finally be able to see one of the loveliest of his several "tales," some 18 years after its original release throughout the rest of the world. Why A SUMMER'S TALE never made it here in any kind of theatrical release is a mystery to me, as his films have proven perennially popular on the U.S. arthouse circuit. No matter, since Big World Pictures, a relatively new distributor, has seen to it that the film had its belated theatrical release this past summer and now arrives on DVD.

Another surprise: the movie stars the popular French actor Mevil Poupaud as a young man named Gaspard who begins the film semi-love-sick over one girl and eventually finds himself saddled -- due to his own hesitation, naivete, hypocrisy and sheer fear -- with two more. As usual, with Rohmer (the late filmmaker is shown at right), character is all, and I mean this is both senses of the word. Rohmer's movies are always character, rather than plot, driven. And it is the character of those characters that is most important. What kind of people are these, and how does this reflect on their actions and the consequences of same?

What a treat it is to see the handsome M. Poupaud (above, left, and below, right) at such a young age, as well as meeting the three attractive, intelligent and spunky young women with whom his character becomes involved. The first is a waitress (Amanda Langlet, above, right, whom many of us may have originally met as the youngster in Rohmer's earlier Pauline at the Beach). The scenes of dialog these two characters share are memorable indeed: witty, off-the-cuff, quite real and yet like little we've seen or heard elsewhere (except maybe in another Rohmer film).

The second young woman, Solene -- a knockout job by the beautiful Gwenaëlle Simon, above, left -- is immediately attracted to our boy, though he insists that girls this hot never are. They make a fine couple, never more so than when she is singing one of the songs he has recently composed (a rather nice one, too).

Ah, but then his supposed true lady love shows up (Aurelia Nolin, above, left) and proves to be... ah, but little surprises like this are part of what make Rohmer's films such fun. Again, character is all. And what interesting, well differentiated and thoroughly frustrating/captivating people this foursome proves to be.

As usual, morality -- not so much in terms of what the common populous might judge it, but how our ideas and behavior impact on those closest to us -- comes into question, and the filmmaker, via his terrific dialog and situations, lets us make our own judgments on characters and outcome.

The DVD of A Summer's Tale -- running 114 minutes -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, November 18, and is of course a don't-miss for Rohmer fans and probably an excellent place to begin for those who've yet to know his work. 

Volker Schlöndorff's smooth-as-silk DIPLOMACY opens at NYC's Film Forum

A feast for folk who appreciate fine acting, writing and directing rolled into one smart art/mainstream movie, DIPLOMACY (Diplomatie) -- adapted by director Volker Schlöndorff and co-writer Cyril Gely (from the latter's stage play) -- gives us a fictionalized answer to why, toward the end of WWII in August of 1944, Paris wasn't burning. Adolf Hitler had planned the entire destruction of this glorious city if it appeared that Germany, whose troops still controlled Paris, was not after all going to win the war. (Back in 1966 French director René Clément gave us an all-star cast, both French and American, in a so-so documentary-style rendition of this famous non-event entitled Is Paris Burning?, but Schlöndorff's nifty, smaller-scale endeavor turns out to be the much better film.)

Schlöndorff's career as a long-active writer/director (he's pictured at left) goes back 54 years, during which he has made various kinds of movies (though not any rom-coms that I recall) -- from Young Torless through The Tin Drum to his marvelous documentary Billy Wilder Speaks -- most of them quite serious and more than a few of them damned good. Diplomacy is no exception, though to my mind it is one of his most simple, accessible and moving films -- one that is almost certain to appeal hugely to seniors and film buffs, as well as anyone who loves Paris and/or those more-or-less true tales that have come out of World War II.

While it is true that the Wehrmacht commander of Greater Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz (above), and Swedish Consul General Raoul Nordling (below) did indeed meet, what we get here in a completely fictionalized account of what might have happened between them. That said, what Gely and Schlöndorff have come up with is delectable indeed.

From the manner in which Nordling arrives in von Choltitz's hotel suite (how this figures into French history, as well as the modern-day goings-on, is appropriately pointed and juicy) to the wonderful conversation that ensues between these two very smart and driven men keep the movie on point for its swift, 88-minute running time.

Both actors -- André Dussollier as the Consul and Niels Arestrup as the General -- could hardly be better (both performed the play on-stage, as well) and they light into the dialog with relish and aplomb, capturing the smallest nuances beautifully. Some of this dialog, as the Consul pleads with the General to think of what he will be destroying, is simply so glorious, so beautiful, that it will have you close to, even not in, tears for the love for the Paris that so many of us hold dear.

All this is intercut with scenes taking place at the site of what will be the destructive explosions to come as, first, the French resistance sabotages the plan, and then the Nazis rush to reset the charges and carry out the destruction. Of course, we know what happens (or does not), yet the suspense is surprisingly tight. Just hearing demolitions expert Jacques Lanvin (a very fine Jean Marc Roulot. shown center, above) explain what is going to happen and how Paris will be utterly destroyed is so convincing that we're shaken up simply by the verbal description.  Also grandly staged are the beginning scenes at the hotel in which the German General is housed, and what happens when word of its evacuation runs rampant.

Just about everything, in fact, works well in this exemplary movie that takes you from fear and loathing to sadness and joy, with stops for a few surprises along the way. This is classy filmmaking in all regards; Diplomacy is highly recommended. (That's Robert Stadlober, above, who plays a younger German Lieutenant.)

The movie, from Zeitgeist Films, opens this coming Wednesday, October 15, in New York City exclusively at Film Forum, an in the Los Angele area on November 7 at Laemmle's Royal, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5. Over the weeks and months to come, the film will play cities across the country. To see all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters, click here, and then scroll down to WHERE TO SEE DIPLOMACY, and then use the right-hand scroll bar to view all showings, organized by state.

Note: Volker Schlöndorff will appear in person 

at Film Forum at the 7 pm screenings on 

Wednesday and Thursday, October 15 and 16.

DVDebut: Sebastian Gutierrez's latest catnip delight, GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR

Have you discovered what TrustMovies calls the peculiar universe of filmmaker Sebastian Gutierrez? It's a place where awful things threaten to happen -- after all, we're in the land of porn stars, unfaithful husbands or wives, dirty cops and contract killers -- but they never do. People connect sweetly, sadly, delectably, in the oddest ways, producing smiles, chuckles and sometimes outright belly laughs. Folk have called this writer/director's dialog deadpan, but it's much livelier than that; you strain so as not to miss a single word. No one else these days is doing anything like this, and I rather think that, were Noel Coward still alive, he'd appreciate Gutierrez's abilities -- if not his sometimes inelegant but very clever, humorous style.

Gutierrez's latest (the director is shown at right) --GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR-- which very well may be his best yet, is full of much of the above and seems even lighter on its feet (if this is possible) than his earlier work like Women in Trouble and Elektra Luxx. Each set of characters registers as specific, quirky and readily understandable, and what they all want pushes the plot, such as it is, speedily along. These characters connect -- sometime slightly, but always importantly -- and they are so much fun to be with (another hallmark of Gutierrez) that you really don't want to them to leave. Like all of his work, this film, quite short, lasts just 80 minutes.

This writer/director understands the old saw about the importance of leaving your audience wanting more. He does, and consequently so do we. As usual, too, he has cast his movie ideally, and the performers all rise to his sweet nonsense like hummingbirds to honey-water. His regular leading lady (and if I am not mistaken his significant other) Carla Gugino (below, left), along with Emmanelle Chriqui (below, right), are abetted by Sebastian newcomers like Zachary Quinto, Josh Hartnett (above, right), Rosario Dawson (above, left), Robert Forster (two photos below, at right, with Amber Valletta), Danny DeVito (at bottom) and Alexis Bledel -- with everyone rising to the occasion.

There are plenty more good people on view, too, but listing them all would take longer than watching this film. (Consult the movie's IMDB page if you want to note the entire cast.)

The film is connected via the connections of its bizarre characters, and as it tumbles merrily along its one-night-stand, it takes us into one interesting bar after another (nude ping-pong, anyone?) until dawn has almost broken and all is well.

Mr. Gutierrez's finale is as off-the-cuff charming and wonderful as any you could ask for. More please, Sebastian!

Girl Walks into a Bar is available now, for sale or rental, from the usual suspects.  If you're already a Gutierrez devotee, you're be lining up now. If you're a newcomer to filmmaker, it's perfectly OK -- maybe ever preferable -- to begin with this funny, feisty little film.

The photos above are from the film itself, 

with the exception of that of Gutierrez, 

which is by Frazer Harrison, courtesy of Getty Images.