Blu-ray/DVD debut for the Jean Cocteau classic, LES PARENTS TERRIBLES

First released in 1948, LES PARENTS TERRIBLES (aka The Storm Within) celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. This is -- here in the USA, at least -- a lesser-known film by French icon Jean Cocteau, and the reasons for this will become readily apparent upon viewing.

In the course of his 74-year life, Cocteau achieved great success as a poet, writer, designer, playwright, fine artist and filmmaker (Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus and Blood of a Poet among others), and Les Parents Terribles was adapted by Cocteau from his own very successful play of the same name. But instead of "opening out" the tale in its transition to film (as so many plays-become-movies insist upon doing), the author kept its theatrical roots stage-bound and ever apparent.

In fact, Cocteau, shown at left, makes witty good fun of his film's theatricality in a manner that is both sophisticated and charming. His dialog and mise en scène may bring to mind both Sacha Guitry and Oscar Wilde.

The plot involves a French bourgeois family in which narcissism, hypocrisy, sacrifice and basic human need gone awry keep coming into amusing conflict, as the family's overgrown child/man son begins to spread his wings, causing his mom, dad and aunt to have to re-jigger their own.

In the pivotal role of that son, appears Cocteau's favorite actor and long-time lover, Jean Marais (above), very probably France's most beautiful male actor until Alain Delon hit the screen. M. Marais was a well-seasoned 35 at the time of the shooting, so playing a naive 22-year-old is a bit of a stretch. It shows. (The actor overdoes the naivete and youthful enthusiasm.) Yet Marais is so gorgeous of face and body that many viewers won't mind in the least.

His new love is played by a popular actress of the time, Josette Day (above), and she is indeed lovely. But the performers who really grease the wheels here are that older generation: mother (played by Yvonne de Bray, below, right),

father (Marcel André, below, left), and especially Aunt Léo, given a lip-smackingly great performance by Gabrielle Dorziat, shown below, center. It is Léo, finally, who becomes the real pivotal character here, as well as the one we root for most, as it is she who has given up the most.

Most interesting of all may be how little Cocteau uses his usual and plenteous bag of film tricks. Instead he simply gives us a plethora of smart dialog, offered up by his trio of veteran performers. It is more than enough.

An oddball cross between a boulevard comedy and a knife to the heart of conventional morality (even -- nay, especially -- that of the sophisticated French variety), Les Parents Terribles deserves its "classic" status, though it may take some time and effort for the film to again reach those heights, audience-wise.

Among the new Blu-ray/DVD's bonus features is a lovely five-minute introduction by Columbia University professor and ex-FSLC stalwart, Richard Peña, plus a nice interview with assistant director Claude Pinoteau, a few "camera tests," and the film's trailers -- the original and that of the recent theatrical re-release.

From the Cohen Film Collection, the new Blu-ray and DVD of Les Parents Terribles hit the street this coming Tuesday, October 30 -- for purchase and (I hope) rental. The film will also simultaneously be available for digital streaming.

Mackenzie Davis shines in Christian Papierniak's offbeat knockout of a film

It should be clear by now to anyone who has seen her performance in either Tully or IZZY GETS THE FUCK ACROSS TOWN that the young actress Mackenzie Davis is quite a find. What she needs (as do so many actors), however, is a role strong enough to allow her talent and range to be properly displayed. TrustMovies must admit that, though he 'd seen Ms Davis in a number of earlier films, she'd never really stood out in his memory. Well, she's on his radar now.

Writer/director Christian Papierniak 
(shown at left), whose first full-length film this is, has given the actress a no-holds-barred role that she embraces with just about every ounce of energy and versatility that I have seen displayed in quite awhile. By turns angry, kind, caring and crazy, Ms Davis is so focused and frenetic that, were she not so believable and oddly endearing, she would tire you out within moments. But she doesn't. Nor does this strange film. Oh, it'll have you holding on for dear life at times. But pay proper attention -- the seeds that later bloom are all planted early on -- and I think you'll be very glad you went along for the ride.

Davis, above, plays the title role of Izzy, a young woman whose reputation seems to precede her at all times. At film's start she learns a bit of information about her ex-boyfriend and best girlfriend, and so must somehow -- in Los Angeles, with no car or money at hand -- get far across town to a necessary destination.

From the film's opening -- a nice dream sequence featuring Davis and Dolly Wells, above, right, in which some of those seeds first appear ("It's about a boy? It's always about a boy.") straight through to its low-key but very "earned" conclusion, the movie -- despite all its bizarre riffs and delightful detours -- knows where it's going and why.

Davis' talent and energy holds the film together without a single hitch, but it is also the lovely, surprising, and equally oddball turns from the ensemble supporting-cast that makes it such wonderful, additional fun. Players include the likes of Lakeith Stanfield (above, left) and Alia Shawkat (below, left), both of whom are as fine as always, with Ms Shawkat managing a fine philosophical scene that detonates just about perfectly.

Haley Joel Osment (below, right) and Ms Davis do wonders with another scene that's as sweet and finally funny as you could want, while Carrie Coon (further below), as Davis' sister, brings a fine ferocity, as well as a great singing voice to the proceedings.

The movie is full of fun, surprise and idiosyncrasy as it builds toward its real theme: modern love/relationships and the necessaity of growing up to accept what, yes, we already know and understand but maybe do not want to admit.

It's clear from the outset that Izzy knows exactly who and what her would-be boyfriend (played with just the right amount of sex appeal and emptiness by Alex Russell, below) really is. But it takes some maturation (and repetition) on her part to own up to this.

Annie Potts gets a lovely scene midway along that adds to the both the sweetness and the depth of the film, and for those of us who know L.A. and its environs, Izzy's journey will take on added familiarity and zest.

Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town is definitely a one-of-a-kind movie, but for those of you who appreciate something different, alive and hugely kicking, this one's a must-see. From Shout! Studios  and running 86 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, June 22, in New York City at the Village East Cinema and in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Monica Film Center and the Playhouse 7.                                   

NOBODY'S WATCHING: In Julia Solomonoff's unusual immigrant saga, an actor prepares -- but for what?

Via NOBODY'S WATCHING (Nadie nos mira), the new Latin American co-production directed and co-written by Argentine filmmaker Julia Solomonoff, audiences are going to see one of the year's best performances so far by a male actor. This would be Guillermo Pfening, another Argentine who has already amassed some 67 credits at this point in his nearly 40-year life. Mr. Pfening, shown at right and below, fully and richly embodies his central character, Nico -- a relatively successful actor in his home country, who has come to New York City to both further his career and get away from his controlling lover, who happens to also be the director/producer of the successful television series in which Nico plays a role. (Nico's character has been put into a coma, while the actor decides what to do next.)

Señor Pfening (The German Doctor) gives the kind of performance that ought to win a bunch of awards for the depth, clarity and warts-and-all reality the actor brings to it. It won't, of course, because it's not "showy" enough or full of chances for over-the-top (melo)drama. Folk who appreciate a genuine, full-out performance, however, will be glad they went out of their way to catch this one.

For her part Ms Solomonoff (shown at left), along with her co-writer, Christina Lazaridi, brings an unhurried, loose and naturalistic style to the film, working the exposition into the situation, while bringing character to the forefront and thus avoiding the kind of melodrama that often accompanies some of the situations shown here. The filmmaker allows us to slowly but surely understand the kind of man our Nico is, along with the characteristics that alternately control him: pride, insecurity, kindness, love, desire, ambition and lots more. Via particularly well-chosen situations involving everything from employment to friendship, auditions to sexual encounters, baby-sitting to simple relaxation (in which the director and her star make us privy even to thought processes), a full-bodied character and the movie that surrounds him come to life.

To make ends meet, as he waits for the film to begin production for which he has been hired, Nico takes odd jobs -- from bus boy to taking care of a good friend's infant (above and below), the latter being a job for which he is not well-equipped but which, because he's a decent and caring guy, he manages to quickly learn.

The bond that forms between Nico and his little "charge," as well as between him and the Hispanic nannies he meets in the park, are just two of the many surprises and pleasures offered in Nobody's Watching.

The supporting cast is well-chosen and appealing (that's Elena Roger, above, as Nico's best friend in the big city), with each actor finding the truth of his/her character quickly and effectively. Nico's peculiar combination of ambition and self-reliance coupled to a nearly equal dose of self-destructiveness makes this character oddly appealing and very believable.

The movie's interesting "take" on its immigrant story also makes it timely yet unusual in its choice of the type of immigrant we see -- his "class," level of education and the like -- even as he, like so many others, sees America as a stepping stone to a better life. (At least our Nico has a country he can return to without the possibility of being tortured and/or killed because of that return.)

One of the movie's most interesting sections involves a reunion between Nico and his friend (played by Marco Antonio Caponi, above, left) who stars in that popular TV soap opera in which Nico also appeared. Both men want to impress each other, but Nico goes far beyond what's necessary. How his friend responds, once he discovers Nico's ruse, provides one of the film's more tender and appealing moments.

When we finally meet Nico's ex-lover, Martín (Rafael Ferro, above, left) and begin to understand the control coupled to sexual appeal the latter offers, more puzzle pieces fall into place. By its conclusion, the film has grown both broader and deeper than we expected going in, even as we feel that Nico may have finally -- if just barely -- turned the corner into "growing up."

From FiGa Films and Cinema Tropical, Nobody's Watching opens tomorrow, Friday, September 8, in New York City at Film Forum. Elsewhere? Nothing is scheduled just now, but if I learn of further openings, I will post them here. Or, if you're not in NYC, maybe wait for the eventual DVD/streaming options.

Note: Director Julia Solomonoff will appear 

in person at NYC's Film Forum 

at the 7pm show on both September 8 and 9.

Woody Harrelson is brilliant in the under-rated/under-seen character comedy, WILSON

Having now seen two Oscar-caliber performances from male actors in the space of two days -- yesterday's post on Wakefield via Bryan Cranston and today's on WILSON, featuring a simply wonderful turn by Woody Harrelson -- I must say that I am now looking forward to seeing just who the Academy might deign to nominate for 2017's Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. Mr Harrelson is always good and sometimes infinitely better than that (have you seen his performance in Rampart?), and here he is given the chance to play one of the more unusual characters in his already bursting-at-the-seams repertoire of versatility. The actor comes through with one of his best-ever performances.

What makes Wilson -- the character and to a large extent the movie itself -- so memorable is that what this character says is often dead-on in terms of being truthful. And yet the guy is so weak in the social graces department that what he says ends up not mattering so very much. As directed by Craig Johnson (shown at right, of True Adolescents and The Skeleton Twins) and written by Daniel Clowes (of Ghost World and Art School Confidential) from his own graphic novel, the movie hits us full-out with this truly bizarre fellow and doesn't let us escape from him for more than a minute of its just-over-an-hour-and-a-half running time. And yet so thoroughly real, if strange, is Wilson, and so funny/sad/embarrassing/kind/angry and above all compelling is Harrelson's ability to bring him to grand and oddball life, that by the end of the movie we're rooting for the guy like you wouldn't have believed possible going in.

Wilson is full of other smart, deft performances, too -- particularly from Laura Dern (above, with Harrelson), who plays our hero's ex; Judy Greer (below) as his dog-sitting friend; and especially Isabella Amara, as the young woman who comes into his life as quite a surprise.

Ms Amara (shown at center, below) captures incredibly well that teenage surfeit of worry masked by a don't-give-a-shit attitude, from which little moments of genuineness now-and-then emerge. She's quite a find. The movie also manages to balance its view of modern technology as something tiresome and problematic with one that admits its usefulness and sharing abilities. Mr. Clowes also brings us a full-bodied, wart-and-all hero who must navigate his way around things that many of us simply take for granted.

As director Mr. Johnson wisely steps out of the way of his talented cast, allowing them to pull out the stops whenever needed.  He also keeps his tone light and jocular enough to carry us over the movie's several surprising turns. Prison, it seems, can sometimes even build character.

By the end of Wilson, most of its characters have managed to stay true to themselves, even as they make the concessions and compromises that go into somehow living in our very problemed world, while our hero has managed to finally, quite believably grow up.

From Fox Searchlight and running 94 minutes, after a disappointingly meager theatrical run, the movie may finally find an audience and success via home video (it's out now on DVD and Blu-ray), on VOD and via streaming facilities.

Logan Sandler's LIVE CARGO: the non-touristy Bahamas as we've seldom seen them on film

A side of the Caribbean moviegoers don't often see -- that of the lives of the natives who permanently live and work on the islands -- is brought to minor life and interest by co-writer (with Thymaya Payne) and director Logan Sandler (shown below). On the plus side is the film's lovely black-and-white cinematography (by Daniella Nowitz) that takes us from gorgeous seaside and underwater scenes to grungy bars and homes that seem to lack indoor plumbing. Also worth considering is the chance to see this location from a different and decidedly non-touristy angle.

Another plus is the professional cast rounded up by the filmmaker, the performances of which are all as good as the material the actors were given to work with. Which brings us to LIVE CARGO's major problems, which include just about everything else the movie has to offer. Said to be based upon the filmmaker's own experience as he grew up in and around The Bahamas, the film's would-be "hero" -- Sam Dillon, as the oddball, mother-problemed man named Myron (shown below) -- even looks a good deal like director Sandler. 

The filmmaker has divided his movies into a quartet of people, beginning with our aging boy Myron. We also have a couple, Nadine and Lewis, played by Dree Hemingway (below, left) and Keith Stanfield, (below, right), the latter of whom, under the name Lakeith Stanfield, just made a bit of a stir in Get Out. (Mr. Stanfield has also worked under the name, Lakeith Lee Stanfield, so I hope by now he has decided upon his permanent moniker.) Nadine and Lewis have come to the island, to a home her family has long owned, to grieve over the death of their child.

We also have two native families, those of patresfamilias, Roy (Robert Wisdom, below) and Doughboy (Leonard Earl Howze), both of whom exert a certain control on the island, the former for mostly good, while the latter deals in human trafficking via Haiti.

Unfortunately, Mr. Sandler is unable to develop any of these characters past the point of one-note cliche, and the movie's 88-minute running time is too often devoted to individual moments the director has chosen that simply don't add up to much in terms of either deepening his characters or advancing the plot. In addition, his pacing is glacial,  

Overall, Sandler and Payne have provided very little dialog, which may be just as well, since what there is they mostly devote to either exposition or needless repetition. The bereft couple grieves (over and over), Myron waffles and makes a bunch of wrong decisions, the two islanders do exactly what you'd expect of them, and it all comes together in a burst of silly-but-expected melodrama that uses so much coincidence that it becomes instead coinci-dunce.

But that, of course, provides the happy ending all these poor characters need (except the naughty one, who gets his comeuppance). The final shot is of our hero, butt-naked and about to either baptize himself, bathe away those recent sins, or maybe just drown his poor ass. By this time, if you give a shit, you clearly have more patience and/or goodwill than I.

From Gunpowder & Sky Distribution, Live Cargo opens this Friday, March 31, in New York (at the Cinema Village) and Los Angeles (at the Arena Cinema). and will probably soon enough make its way to DVD and VOD, as well.

Dutch deadpan in Alex van Warmerdam's very dry hit-man comedy, SCHNEIDER VS BAX

Remember Borgman -- that dark, Dutch, sort-of-variation on Boudu Saved from Drowning (and other what-to-do-about-the-trashy-tramp movies)? Alex van Warmerdam, the writer/director of that strange, cunning little film is back again with another bizarre, deadpan, dark comedy-of-menace titled SCHNEIDER VS BAX. It arrives this coming week on DVD, and if your taste runs to this sort of thing, the movie is a good example of this sub-genre.

Mr. van Warmerdam (shown above, right, and at left) also co-stars in the film, as he did in Borgman, and his gruff, low-key, macho presence is quite right for both his role and the film. He handles the screenplay and dialog with ease, and his direction ropes his entire cast onto the same page and style, making the most of this kind of deadpan, at which you often don't know whether to laugh or wince. (You'll probably do both at once.) The filmmaker has created a cast of characters that you may find it hard to warm up to, but this is fine, since some of them will not survive the trip.

The tale here is of a pair of hit men, evidently quite good at their jobs, who -- for some reason which we never really learn -- have been pitted against each other by the fellow who gives them their assignments. Van Warmerdam plays Bax, and another actor from Borgman, Tom Dewispelaere  (below), plays Schneider. Neither character knows the other, and though they fairly quickly learn that their boss is playing them against each other, they still evidently feel they must kill that other in order to survive.

Bax gets a surprise visit from his grown daughter (Maria Kraakman, shown below and further below, who is very good in this role) and then from his father -- both of whom complicate his life and reactions -- while Schneider becomes involved with a pimp and whore who equally complicate his assignment. How this all works out managers to be very dark, often funny, and even surprising. You will imagine that you know what is going to happen here, but I can tell you with some certainty that you will be wrong -- in at least a couple of important instances.

Coincidence does occur, and certain scenes seem a tad incredible, and yet so bleak, bizarre and weirdly funny is it all that, somehow, credibility is maintained -- if barely. Simply for the scenes between Bax, his father and daughter, the movie manages to rivet you in its own, special, this-can't-be-happening-but-oh-my-goodness-it-is manner.

In its odd way Schneider vs Bax turns out to be a kind of very late coming-of-age tale -- and a pretty good one, at that -- even though it is not clear for quite some time just who it is that's doing the coming.

From Film Movement and running a fairly sleek 96 minutes, the movie arrives on DVD this Tuesday, October 25 -- for purchase or rental.