Isaac Ezban's THE SIMILARS takes smart, low-budget sci-fi to a new high-water mark

It is so rare to encounter a genuine original, especially in the realm of science fiction/horror, that when a movie like THE SIMILARS (Los parecidos) arrives, one is quite heavily tempted to stand up and cheer. This new movie from Mexican filmmaker Isaac Ezban is so immediately engrossing and unusual that you'll hooked within a minute or two. Then it simply gets better and better until... oh, my god.

And while it is vastly amusing in a manner than becomes darker and darker, it is also so rich and strange that its humor -- which is completely organic and never slick or precious -- is as pivotal and important to the film as are its scares and surprises, of which there are many. Señor Ezban, pictured at right, has taken a great idea and run with it so far, fast and completely that its ramifications keep unfurling as his film moves along until they reach a brilliant ending that in no way disappoints.

This in itself is pretty spectacular. That the filmmaker keep you gasping and smiling in equal proportion every step of the way is even more amazing. The plot? Let's just say that a group of disparate people have been forced to gather at a small, out-of-the-way bus station due to a staggering rainstorm that seems to be hitting the entire world simultaneously. Impossible? Quite.

Ezban sets his movie back in 1968, and this makes it even more intriguing because it can then incorporate much that was going on at the time -- from student unrest and the music of the era to the effects of acid rain -- and it does this is an equally unsettling manner, leaving things open to further discussion, except that everything moves so fast that discussion (or even much thought) is the last thing these characters, along with their audience, have time for.

The filmmaker has assembled a crack cast to do his bizarre bidding -- he both wrote and directed the movie -- beginning with an fine actor you may have seen in another unusual Mexican film called Leap Year: Gustavo Sánchez Parra (above, left), who plays the first arrival at this nearly deserted bus station. There is also a pretty and very pregnant young woman (Cassandra Ciangherotti, above, right, and below). Both are trying to get to Mexico City, which seems to be blocked off due to the rain.

A very odd indigenous woman who does not speak Spanish is also present, along with the ticket seller named Martin, and a young female friend of his, as well. Soon will arrive a woman and her young son (below) who is clearly in need of medical help, along with a young man who may just be one of those student revolutionaries we keep hearing about on the bus station radio, the reception for which repeatedly goes in and out.

Once this group has arrived, the plot unfurls. From here it is mostly a matter of what is happening -- I'll tell you right now that it's a lulu -- and then why this is happening (which turns out to be even more bizarre). There's some blood and gore, all right, but mostly, there is amazement coupled to odd, dark humor at the very weird situation here.

Comparison has been made to the old TV series, The Twilight Zone, but I'll tell you right now that this film is better, richer, more thoroughly thought out than any Twilight Zone I ever saw. Ezban's filming technique is to drain almost all color so that, initially, the movie looks like it was filmed in black and white. But then we catch sight of a little light blue, or yellow. Or, ummm...yes, red.

So much depends on what is happening visually here that for awhile I wondered why the print looked like something redolent of an old (and not that hot) videotape. There is a reason for this, too: In order to show us what he wants us to see, the moviemaker must ensure that his film always looks a little muddy so that the premier visual effect here -- and it's a knock-out -- will be believable. We see, but often not all that clearly. But we see enough to always understand what is happening.

OK: enough said. If you sci-fi/horror/mystery/creep-out aficionados aren't yet hooked enough to make sure you view this movie, then I give up. I've done my part without -- I hope -- delivering a single spoiler. God knows, Señor Ezban has done his part by making one of the finest, most assured and original genre films in the long and varied history of low-budget sci-fi.

From XLrator Media and running a sleek 89 minutes, the movie is said to have opened in theaters yesterday (I cannot find a single one of them, however). But its distributor promises that it will open on cable VOD this coming Tuesday, November 15, and then via iTunes and digital platforms the following Tuesday, November 22.  I urge you -- nay, I command you -- to seek it the fuck out. 

TRUE NEW YORK: a short-film anthology about the Big Apple by Jeremy Workman and others

The forever step-child of the movie world, the "short film," is so generally neglected (and, yes, he admits it, by TrustMovies, too) that the collection of shorts that makes its home video debut this coming week is at least some cause for celebration. Titled TRUE NEW YORK and featuring five documentary tales of people and life in the Big Apple, the total movie is definitely worth a watch -- if a bit uneven in terms of interest and success. The five shorts have all won awards at various fests, however, so chances are you'll find something worthwhile.

One of the five directors, Jeremy Workman (shown at right), also produced this anthology. Back in 2014, Mr. Workman made the year's best documentary, so far as I am concerned: a little amazement called Magical Universe. (The doc is now available to stream on Netflix, so if you have not seen it, consider it a "must.") Workman's contribution to this anthology -- One Track Mind, the third film of the five -- has, at its center another obsessive character similar to the one found in Magical Universe: a fellow named Philip Ashforth Coppola (below) who has dedicated most of his life to his self-financed study of the New York Subway system, with special attention to much of the architecture, art and history found in every single one of the system's many stations.

How he has managed this and what has resulted takes up the 22 minutes of the film -- the shortest but also the best of the group. Coppola is a man who clearly loves the subway, but he also possesses a nice ironic sense of humor, even about himself and his work (watch him pretend to fall asleep, as he views himself being interviewed on TV!).

Workman is, as you'll be, too, charmed by, interested in, and impressed by the man and his task. And the filmmaker brings it all to fine life with the help of his camera, Coppola, and a few talking head interviews that bolster the case.

C-ROCK, the short that opens this film, takes us to a certain spot in the Bronx (the title rock) overlooking the Harlem River, off of which (anywhere from 30 to 110 feet up) jump boys and young men as a kind of rite-of-passage. This has been going on for generations (we meet at least three of these in the film), as the youngster tell us, between their many jumps, what it all means to them, while the oldsters relive their youth.

At 29 minutes, the film seems over-extended (all that jumping proves finally a bit tiresome), but I must admit that the place is impressive, and the idea of jumping -- while maybe a tad dangerous (the movie's end credits go out of their way to mention that no encouragement was provided the jumpers by the filmmaker, Jordan Roth) -- certainly makes a spectacular visual.

The second film of the five -- Taxi Garage (originally titled Drivers Wanted) by Joshua Z. Weinstein -- is the kind of movie that might give Donald Trump heart failure (gosh, could someone show it to him soon, please?), it's such a paean to what so many of us love about the wonderful diversity of New York City and its boroughs. From the humorous old Jewish guy -- kindly but street-smart to the max -- who runs the place to his hugely diverse cab drivers (mostly recent immigrants), everyone we meet here seems like the salt-of-the-earth and then some.

In heat and snowstorm we watch them at work and learn a little of their lives and their desires. Made four years ago, before the onset and co-opting of Uber, the movie will make you wonder if the NYC Taxi company remains in business. (I just now tried the phone number we so often see throughout this little movie -- 718-786-5811 -- and sure enough, the company seems to be up and running.

New York's Muslim community is given a look in the fourth short doc, A Son's Sacrifice by Yoni Brook, that details how and why a young man named Imran (above) decides to take over his aging father's halal slaughterhouse in Queens. We meet that father, and get a short glimpse of the mother, but mostly concentrate on the son.

The movie allows us to see some interesting prejudice from Muslims themselves (when they suspect someone is not a Muslim) and also view various slaughterhouse practices. By the time we finally arrive at exactly what the sacrifice in question will be, we've learned enough about these people and their work that we can better understand and appreciate just how great this sacrifice both is and -- after all that Imran has now learned and experienced -- maybe is not.

The final film of the five -- Black Cherokee by Sam Cullman and Benjamin Rosen -- is in some ways the most bizarre, as it shows us a father (Otis Houston, Sr., who is failing via Alzheimer's) and his caretaker son (Otis Houston, Jr., an artist and performance artist), shown above and below, who sells his wares on the streets.

In its short 23 minutes, the movie tackles everything from art and freedom to caretaking and providing for family. As odd and oddly appealing is the younger Houston, there is so much more we might like to learn about this man and his beliefs that I wish the movie has spent a little less time simply watching him and more time asking him some questions. But that perhaps was not the moviemakers' intentions.

More to the point, however, is another question: In a movie entitled True New York, how "true" is it if a full 50 per cent of the population has been left out? I am talking about New York women, whom we barely see in any of these films. (Workman does interview a couple of them for his film; we catch a glimpse of one lone female taxi driver; and Imran's mom makes an appearance cooking in the kitchen, whis his dad manages to insult a woman at the family's slaughterhouse.) Granted, each film here was made in its own time and for its own purpose, but I would think that, in choosing the films to be included here, at least one of these ought to have concentrated on a female. Or is it possible that no female filmmakers or female subjects of short films actually exist? So much for diversity. (The fellow shown above, now deceased, is one of the most interesting of all Taxi Garage's drivers.)

This five-part documentary anthology, from First Run Features and running 131 minutes, hits the street on DVD this coming Tuesday, November 15, for purchase and/or rental.

VAMP: Richard Wenk's cult classic horror-comedy hits Blu-ray; Grace Jones: Yikes!

When the surprise scares-with-laughs movie, VAMP, first opened in theaters -- in the summer of 1986 -- audiences were taken with its original combination of vampire horror and charming college-kids-in-danger plot. TrustMovies had not seen it since its theatrical release (and then again when it hit videotape not long after), so he was primed to take another look, 30 years later, via the new Blu-ray release of the film from Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment. It does not disappoint.

As written and directed by Richard Wenk, shown at left (this was his first foray into full-length filmmaking), the movie has a funny, bouncy sense of humor coupled to a wealth of scares, little and large.

Many of these creepy moments come from the film's star, musical performer Grace Jones -- shown below and further below -- who was then at her peak and has the perfect role here: one that calls for no dialog, but offers a terrific dance number/performance art piece, followed by some spectacular vampire make-up. Ms Jones delivers every bit as well as does the movie itself.

The plot has to do with a couple of friends -- the sweet and silly Chris Makepeace and the uber sexy Robert Rusler -- who, in order to get into the fraternity of their choice, must arrange for some good-time girls to perform for the upper classmen. They manage to borrow the car of the class nerd, a rich kid longing for acceptance and played to goofy perfection by Gedde Watanabe, who comes along as part of the deal.

One of the great charms of this film is how it uses its tiny budget so smartly and gets much of its ambience from, of all things, colored lights and gels. It one major special effect -- other than the terrific vampire make-up -- is the way in which the little group manages to enter the netherworld. This occurs via the sudden spinning around of a car gone out of control. The effect produced is original, simple and smart.

Once in this very weird "other" place, the group encounters an adorable young woman (Dedee Pfeiffer) who seems to know the character played by Makepeace. Ms Pfeiffer turns what could be silly or too cute into something original, sassy, and very sweet. Along the way we get a rogue elevator, a family of nasty albinos (led by Billy Drago), a sad little girl with her doll (below), an ultra-skeevey club manager (Sandy Baron), some attractive strippers (the film may put you in mind of From Dusk til Dawn, though it got there a full decade before Mr. Tarantino).

The consistent alternating of laughs and scares works quite well, and the movie builds nicely to a tingly climax, with its last laugh providing a low-key but very funny moment. How sweet it is to see a film one remembers so fondly that actually holds up decades later.

From the ever-productive British firm of Arrow Video and released here in the USA via MVD Entertainment, Vamp's beautifully transferred Blu-ray disc, available now, is awash in fabulous extras, my favorite of which is a present-day interview with the film's director, Mr .Wenk, and three of its stars: Mr. Rusler, Mr. Watanabe and Ms Pfeiffer. There's also a blooper reel, image gallery, subtitles for the hard-of-hearing, plus Mr Wenk's earlier short film, Dracula Bites the Big Apple, which helped lead the filmmaker into Vamp.

Long lost love reappears -- and reignites -- in Tim Kirkman's smart rom-dram, LAZY EYE

There are certain eye exercises one can do to help correct the medical condition known as lazy eye. As one of the two protagonists in Tim Kirkman's eponymously titled new movie is quick to admit, he did not do these exercises when he ought to have and so is now paying the price by having to wear trifocal glasses. There are some other important things that neither of our protagonists did when they ought to have, and these, too, will come back to haunt them in the course of this short love-affair-weekend that Mr. Kirkman, shown below, has devised.

The filmmaker, who a decade ago made one of my all-time favorite gay films, Loggerheads, tends, I think, to build his movies around life lessons. Fortunately, he is good enough at making those films entertaining, thoughtful and moving that we don't feel terribly "preached at."  Loggerheads was about parentage and commitment, among other things, while LAZY EYE offers up the idea of how important it is to be honest with oneself, as well as with others, especially concerning life's "big" questions.

The movie begins in an optometrist's office, where Dean (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, below) is asked by his doctor exactly when his symptoms seemed to worsen and if he was viewing some kind of "screen" at the time. As he considers the answer, we quickly and briefly flash back to an out-of-the-blue email Dean had received from his ex-lover, Alex (Aaron Costa Ganis, above), a fellow who disappeared from his life years before, leaving neither a reason nor even a goodbye.

Now Alex is back, and the two men, via email exchanges, decide to spend some time together at Dean's desert retreat in Joshua Tree. They fuck immediately, but that, it turns out, is the least of it. Who they were, who they are, and what they now want come quickly to the fore, and Mr. Kirkman proves very good at free-flowing dialog that quite believably gives us exposition, humor and surprise, along with a good deal of wit and charm.

Initially we spend a tad's worth of time in Deans office (he's a very successful graphic designer) and meet his best friend, Mel, played by Michaela Watkins, above, whose throw-away role could have been left out entirely, for all the space and importance it receives. It's only our twosome that counts, and the remainder of the movie revolves closely around these attractive, needy guys.

They bed, they swim, they explore the surrounding territory. But mostly they talk, and that talk unveils their needs and desires. In a way, the movie is a kind of fantasy of what if? followed by and then what? We learn a lot more about Dean than we do about Alex, who is proves little more than the fleshed-out hunk that we let get away and now suddenly have the opportunity to maybe get back. Or get back at.

Yet the performances of the two actors are so good that we willingly follow along, enjoying the visuals and the verbiage and the all-round situation. If Lazy Eye is not finally as moving and engulfing as was Loggerheads, it is certainly one of the better gay movies to hit screens this year.

From Breaking Glass Pictures and running just 87 minutes, Lazy Eye opens this Friday, November 11, in New York City at the Cinema Village and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3.  Not near either location? Not to worry. The DVD hits the street this coming Tuesday, November 15 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Protest that comes from an unusual place in Apkon/Young's doc, DISTURBING THE PEACE

Of all the many documentaries we've seen regarding the ongoing Israeli/ Palestinian conflict, DISTURBING THE PEACE, the new one from filmmakers Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young, is certainly among the most unusual and important. This is because the film details the coming together of a group of Israeli military and former Palestinian fighters who have joined forces to challenge the seats of power on both sides by insisting, Enough! Really now: Doesn't "Give peace a chance" resonate a lot more strongly when it comes from those who have served in the military and/or devoted so much of their former life to war?

Filmmakers Apkon (shown at left) and Young (below) certainly see it that way, and so, I think, will you, once you've witnessed their thoughtful and moving documentary with its rather ironic title: "Peace," after all, is what the folk we meet here are looking for. Yet the "peace" they are disturbing is actually the status quo found in both a majority of Palestinians and Israelis who would rather go on fighting forever than join forces to find some way out of the death

and destruction that keep raining down upon them. To counter this seemingly endless trend, Apkon and Young offer up first a history of the principals involved in this joint effort. They show us the background of these people, embedded of course, in the history of their cultures: How the Jews lost entire families to the Holocaust, and how the Palestinians lost their land, homes and sometimes family members, as Israel took over their former homeland. This is history, writ both large and small, and once we learn where these Israeli military and Palestinian fighters came from, we also begin to learn, understand and appreciate how and why their attitudes slowly evolved and changed.

Most of this history has been "re-created" for the documentary, but once we get into present-day affairs, the film relies on real footage. While TrustMovies is growing somewhat tired of these re-creations, he admits that they do make for a more engaging entry into the tale being told. Otherwise, this documentary might be little more than talking heads reminiscing for maybe half the running time of the film. Here, the re-creations are bolstered by historical footage (one shocking scene shows workers cleaning up literally buckets of blood in a disco after a bombing) that helps keep the movie on track.

One of the most surprising and deepest moments arrives when a Palestinian fighter sees his own mother crying for the dead children on a recently bombed bus. "But they weren't Palestinian, they were Israeli," he tells her. She sets him straight with an answer that resonates and burns into him. And then there is the case of the Palestinian mother (below), planning on becoming a suicide bomber, and how she handles the explanation of this to her young daughter. Because this movie first builds up a very good case for how angry the men and women on both sides really are, it can then build an even better case for peaceful resolution by showing how change did come. For them, at least.

Some of the Israelis shown screaming "Traitors!" at members of this coalition at various rallies show the state of that nation and may remind you of similar happenings when Rabin was still alive. These "traitors" are people who believe so strongly in working for peace that they have been put in prison for years for their beliefs. The world needs more of this kind of "traitor." In one surprising scene, we're made privy to a family in which the father wants his daughters to join in a protest march for peace. Notes his wife: "You've gone to the other side, and it makes me crazy."

The film provides some good history, too, taking us back to the letter signed by these Israeli military men refusing to fight any longer in the occupied territories. "We are not against serving in the army but we refuse to turn that army into a mechanism of repression." At the first meeting of the two sides, tensions are shown to be high ("I wanted to kill them. To eat them!" one person recalls). Over time this tension lessens and major progress is made.

The 2015 uprising proved a real setback to the cause, but by the finale of the film, we see both sides taking to the public platform and engaging their audience with the idea of peace. "Don't listen to your leaders!" they exhort the crowd. "Challenge them!" And that, of course, would be leaders on both sides of the equation. Disturbing the Peace left me in tears -- for all that could be done but has not been. Yet.

The documentary -- from Abramorama, in Hebrew, Arabic and often in English (with English subtitles used when needed) and running 87 minutes -- opens this Friday, November 11, in New York City at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema and the Landmark Sunshine, and on November 18 in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Music Hall 3. Elsewhere? Yes, Click here to view all currently scheduled screenings, along with special screenings (with free admission, or for veterans) and to see the schedule for the many personal appearances by the directors.

Anna Biller's THE LOVE WITCH: a bizarre original that takes us back a half-century

What an amazing "look" has the new indie pic, THE LOVE WITCH, written, directed and just-about-everything-elsed by Anna Biller. From the first frame onwards, we're transported back into the 1960s and 70s via the appearance of the men and women here -- their hair styles, make-up, beards, cars, clothing and more -- it is all so redolent of that creamy, voluptuous time period, right down to the copious full-frontal on display. The acting especially, seems to come right out of of the glossy, soft-core porn films of the day. Radley Metzger would plotz, then kvell!

Over the past couple of decades, Ms Biller (shown at right) has been building a reputation, though this is the first of her films that TrustMovies has actually seen. It's bizarre but also, in its way, memorable, so it may be a good place to begin. Set a half-century ago, it details the connivings of a young woman who doubles as a "witch" (this sort of thing was a tad more de rigeur back in that day) and is moving from one California town to another, after the demise of her unfaithful hubby. Our gal, it seems, has major love problems.

From the movie's outset, as its "heroine," Elaine (a knockout non-performance from the gorgeous Samantha Robinson, above), unveils to us via voiceover her recent love history, this character comes across as somewhat narcissistic and irresponsible. You think so? Just wait. The dialog, plotting and performances all seem equally strange and "off," and yet so often drop-dead-gorgeous is the movie -- that Victorian era tea room (shown above) is just one of the visual wonders here -- that any real film buff won't want to look away.

From man (Jeffrey Vincent Parisse, above) to man (a very funny Robert Seeley) to man (the fellow who seems to be most perfect, played by Gian Keys, shown below, leading that horse), our Elaine hypnotizes, seduces and then disposes of the poor guys who cross her path and always fail to deliver on her expectations. How and why this keeps happening provide the meat of the movie.

The film is full of philosophizing, and if most of the philosophy here struck me as second-hand, at best, it is often accompanied by visuals that are either ravishing or hilarious. This is most apparent in a scene in a burlesque night club in which a warlock and his witches, below, sit at a table having a "deep" discussion about men and their needs, as the burlesque dancer simultaneous struts her stuff, serving the men in the audience with their immediate needs. My spouse and I have not laughed this hard or this long in some time.

The movie takes us back to a time of modern-day apothecaries and Renaissance Fairs and to a world of unhappy husbands and wives and police departments in which cops get into fist fights over a snide remark about a girlfriend. Everyone plays it absolutely straight, with no hint of camp or condescension. Which of course turns the whole thing into a kind of wonderfully high-toned camp.

The movie runs two full hours and yet -- shockingly enough -- it does not seems a minute too long. It is too much oddball fun: If, that is, you can manage to get onto its wave-length.

I do have one big quibble. Toward the end of the film, we're see a cell phone in use, and then suddenly a modern-day automobile. This cannot be an unintentional continuity problem, as Ms Biller has exercised way too much control over everything for that to happen. Is the filmmaker trying to bring us into the present day in order to show us that nothing much has changed over time? If so, this was probably not the best way to do it.

Otherwise, The Love Witch is an unusual treat for those of us old enough to remember the good old movie-going days -- or young enough to want to know what they might have been like. After viewing the movie, I went to the press kit provided and eagerly perused it all. Turns out that Ms Biller really did have a huge amount of control, extending to everything from writing and direction to performances, sets, costumes and more. She tells us that she worked with her lead actress for a full year to nail down character and such.

This surely has to do with the unusual performance given by Ms Robinson, which may remind you, in its almost complete lack of anything approaching real "behavior," of the films of Robert Bresson. Here -- and in certain other performances, too -- behavior seems to have been trounced in favor of the kind of non-acting that will better get across the points Biller want to make. This ends up being something of a trade-off, really. But it does result in a movie that rather stands alone. Think of it as Besson meets Metzger.

The Love Witch, from Oscilloscope Films, opens this Friday, November 11, in California (in Los Angeles you can see it at Landmark's NuArt and elsewhere around the state) and in Texas (at the Drafthouse in Austin). Next Friday, October 18, it will expand all around the country. In New York, see it at the new Drafthouse in Brooklyn; here in South Florida it will play the Bill Cosford Cinema in Miami. Click here and scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.