Death in the mountains: one great, one good streaming title -- A LONELY PLACE TO DIE and DEVIL'S PASS -- are more than worth a look

Mountain climbing movies have their own special appeal -- built-in suspense and fear-of-falling top the list -- so fans of this genre should be aware of two films currently available on Netflix streaming that ought to please lovers of this sub-genre, even as each succeeds quite nicely as a

"scare" movie. DEVIL'S PASS combines the climb (or at least the trudge, as there is no particular mountain involved here) with aliens, the supernatural and teleportation all jumbled up into the currently fashionable found-footage genre, with the result (if you stay the course, that is) surprisingly effective. A LONELY PLACE TO DIE -- combines some real and very exciting mountain climbing with the thriller genre (kidnap/chase variety) and comes up with one of the best and most satisfying thrillers of our new millennium.

In fact, thinking back on all the "thrillers" TrustMovies has encountered over the past few decades, A Lonely Place to Die proves the most surprising, tension-filled and entertaining since a little out-of-nowhere film called Mute Witness hit the screen back in 1995. The movie shows, in spades, what real creativity in terms of concept and execution, dialog and cinematography can bring to a genre in which, these days, many examples hit the screen practically DOA.

As usual, the less you know about plot details going-in, the more enjoyment you're bound to get from the many surprises along the way -- all of which make absolute sense (these are not twists on top of twists for the sake of effect). Director and co-writer/producer/editor Julian Gilbey gets the lion's share of praise for creating such a perfectly-paced, nail-biter of a movie, the suspense and forward thrust of which keeps increasing until the films' final couple of minutes.

While it takes maybe twenty of the 99-minute running time to kick into action, even this initial section, which sets up the mountain-climbing, as well as the characters, is very well done. Once the real plot gets under way, the suspense never lets up. The movie is well-cast, too, with every performer registering strongly and Melissa George (above) especially convincing in the lead role.

Despite a body count shockingly high, even in a genre like this one, perhaps the movie's finest touch is its introduction of the question of empathy and concern, and what caring about people, in the words of the nastiest villain, "gets you." These small moments keep the film grounded in humanity and help us watch even during some pretty grueling scenes.

Streamable (and looking quite terrific) in wide-screen high-definition via Netflix, A Lonely Way to Die is, for a number of reasons, a must-see.

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Devil's Pass, on the other hand, is more like a could-see -- maybe a should-see, if you especially enjoy this sort of shoot-as-you-go-becomes-found-footage horror movie. As directed by journeyman filmmaker Renny Harlin, it's better than most of the other near-crap in this particular and increasingly overcrowded genre due to the workmanlike professionalism present throughout.

Its story is that of a group of college kids who are intent, due to the pushing of their leader (Holly Goss, above), on replicating the climb of a group of Russian mountaineers some fifty years previous. Just why it is so important to the young woman will finally become clear -- in one doozy of an explanation -- at film's finale. If you've been paying good attention, you'll figure it all out, but probably only moments before the movie-maker himself lets his several cats out of their bag.

With the crew's video camera always on, we get much of the usual hand-held jerky camera movement and back-and-forth nattering from our group of campers, along with a very cleverly "contained" avalanche, some sex-in-the-tent, possible aliens, murder most foul, and finally teleportation and a reference to the Philadelphia Experiment.

Harlin, his writer Vikram Weet, and his capable cast make the 100 minutes (a little long for this genre) move quickly enough, and as I say, if you stick with the movie, which gets better as it moves along, you'll probably be glad you did. It's currently streamable via Netflix -- and elsewhere, too, I believe.

Don't-stream-it tip: Rachid Bouchareb 's JUST LIKE A WOMAN is a good opportunity missed

Having now seen three films from Rachid Bouchareb (shown immediately below), a Parisian-born filmmaker of (I am guessing) Algerian ancestry -- Days of Glory, the Oscar-nominated Outside the Law and now JUST LIKE A WOMAN -- I am also guessing that this director doesn't care to go very deeply into character. He's best when he can spin events and action into quite watchable, if somewhat predictable, movies. He also may be a bit more comfortable in the company of men, as the first two films mentioned above are a lot better than his latest endeavor -- even if that film was written by two women: Joelle Touma and Marion Doussot. Supposedly the first film in a planned Arab-American trilogy, this movie has us dearly hoping that the next two are better.

Just Like a Woman certainly is not awful. It features two good actresses, both of whom are very attractive -- Sienna Miller and Golshifteh Farahani (of Chicken With Plums and The Patience Stone) as put-upon wives. Miller's hubby's an unemployed adulterer, while Farahani's is a decent man unfortunately in thrall to his abusive mother. That he's played by the crack French actor Roschdy Zem (shown in photo at bottom) helps tilt the movie back toward an intelligent balance rather than what it most appears to be: simple-minded feminism-lite. When events get out of hand for our two gals -- how and why make up the most interes-ting part of the film -- they leave Chicago to go on the road together.

Miller's character, you see, is taking belly-dancing lessons (at which Farahani's, being from the middle east, is of course already adept). The former has an upcoming audition in Santa Fe, after which she hopes to be chosen for a dance company. On this extended road trip, our ladies stop along the way to do a few belly dancing gigs (one of which is shown above and has Miller donning a black wig). Though they earn some money for this, they may also be expected to provide a bit more than mere dancing.

Ms Miller (above) is ballsy and competent, as ever, but it takes a more richly conceived, written and directed movie (Factory Girl or Interview) for her to shine a bit. Ms Farahani (below) seems mostly sweet and unaffected in the more passive role.

Along their way they encounter sexism and racism, have some fun and frolic, and -- uh, yes -- bond. There is nothing that proves the least surprising, unusual or even very specific in any of this. (Except perhaps the two Native Americans who aid the pair toward the end of the journey.) And the dialog is of the standard, write-me-as-you-go-along variety.

Meanwhile, our gals have learned a little and we've learned zilch. Even about belly-dancing. From Cohen Media Group, Just Like a Woman -- a title as generic and marketing-oriented as you could want -- is available now on Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video & on Blu-ray/DVD.

Jehane Noujaim's Oscar-shortlisted The SQUARE: the need for conscience-- & leadership --in Eqypt

While it's hard to fault the Academy's choices for Best Documentary film this year (well, how Cutie and the Boxer beat out Stories We Tell is a bit of an embarrass-ment), I am sorry to see THE SQUARE -- from Jehane Noujaim, the filmmaker who earlier gave us Startup.com and Control Room --left out of the final five. Although we've already seen two excellent documentaries that dealt with the so-called Arab spring in Egypt (which we dearly hope does not end up more like a nuclear winter) -- Uprising and Tahrir: Liberation Square, not to mention the so-so-to-crappy and generally uninformed media coverage that occurred at the time and after --- The Square proves to be the best and most inclusive of the lot.

This is because Ms. Noujaim, shown at left, manages to let us in to the real conflict that's going on here -- the dismal choice between, as one person puts it, the "killer" (a continuation of the Mubarek regime) and the "traitor" to the revolution (The Muslim Brotherhood). The film-maker does this by concen-trating mainly on three men and a few more peripheral women (well, this is Islamic territory, right) heavily involved in helping this revolution onwards. In one of the film's most shocking moments, the wife of one of these men (he's a member of The Muslim Brotherhood whose "faith" has begun to waver) says that she would not care if a Jew was running this country, so long as justice is finally provided.

The need for "justice" -- for Egypt to finally understand and accept that all its citizens are worthy of this gift -- comes up time and again during the documentary's 104-minute length. This is not sledge-hammered home by any means; it simply arises over and over via both the stupidity and horror of the Mubarek regime, the military who enabled this (along with the United States and other western powers), and the thuggish and fundamentalist-fueled Brotherhood who betrayed the revolutionary cause in order to be able to take power -- and then just as stupidly refused to share that power with the people.

The three important men we get to know here are Ahmed (above, center: a young fellow mostly seen organizing and then fighting on the front lines), Khalil (below: an actor born of Egyptian parents and rasied in England, it seems, who has now come back to Egypt to see this revolution through) and Magdy (two photos below: the married man with family who is best friends with Ahmed, even though the two disagree about the benefits of the Brotherhood).

Ms Noujaim begins with the first major uprising when the populace took to Tahrir Square (of the title) and then shows us the various points along the way, as time and again the people had to go back to that Square -- often at the cost of their health or life -- to make first the Mubarek regime, later the military and finally the Muslim Brotherhood understand that what was happening was NOT  the hoped-for revolution. As one woman points out: While plenty of the revolutionaries have gone on trial, none of the corrupt and terrorizing regime has yet been tried.

We also hear arguments that get to the core of the difference between a religious and a secular state -- and not the kind of secular rule that countenances constant surveillance and torture. As Ahmed tries to point out to Brotherhood members, "You don't need your religion to be written into the Constitution. Don't you know in your heart that you're Muslim?"

Like our own "Occupy" movements, these revolutionaries literally have no person to get behind, no leader to follow or help elect. (This may be wise in one regard, for that leader would probably soon find himself "disappeared.") Instead, they pride themselves on following a kind of "collective" conscience. Only trouble is -- this is why I do not foresee the Arab spring leading to Arab summer -- when you step up to that ballot box, just how do you vote for a "conscience"?

The Square -- a gift from the Netflix organization -- opened this past Friday around the country in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC (click here for theaters) and can concurrently be seen via Netflix streaming.

Shawn Piller & Scott Lew's SEXY EVIL GENIUS -- a well-written/-directed/-acted hoot-and-a-half

One of those little movies that go straight-to-DVD (in April 2013) and that consequently rush right by you, SEXY EVIL GENIUS (and who can resist finding out a little more about a title this upfront?) may just be the oddball streaming evening you've been craving. It's alternately funny, creepy, silly and surprising, written and directed with skill and just the right amount of reticence to keep you watching, and then cast and acted with equal aplomb.And now it's yours to peruse via Netflix streaming.

As directed by Shawn Piller (shown at right and new to me) and written by Scott Lew (who earlier gave us a hugely under-rated delight called Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (find it and watch!), the movie, because it is mostly set in a single location (a little dive bar in L.A.) looks like it might have been based on a stage play. But, no -- evidently not. In any case, it is not stage bound. It works just fine as a sharp, funny comedy about.... what? The poster notes that "Revenge is a bitch," but that's not nearly the whole of it. Within the first few minutes, the plot begins to come clear: A young woman named Nikki (no, not Finke) has invited several of her former lovers -- men and a woman -- to this little get-together, though she herself has yet to put in an appearance.

The build-up is very nice. We first meet the slightly nebbishy  Zachary (Seth Green) and then very hot Miranda (Michelle Trachtendberg). They are soon joined by jazz band man Marvin (Harold Perrineau), and finally by Nikki and her latest boyfriend, a somewhat sleazy lawyer named Bert (William Baldwin).

Nikki herself, a very long-time coming, is played by Katee Sackhoff (above, right, and below), whom I have seen a few times, I guess, but never really noticed before. Ms Sackhoff co-produced the movie -- a smart move, considering that it gives her quite the plum role, which she handle well enough. However, because Nikki takes such a long time to appear here, and as described by the other characters sounds like an incredible and beautiful femme fatale, we're maybe expecting someone like a 1940s "noir" anti-heroine possessed of the beauty of a young Elizabeth Taylor.

That's a lot to live up to, and Ms Sackhoff doesn't quite make it (who could?), though she is, as they say, close enough for jazz. She make Nikki strong, smart, pretty and just a little crazy, too. No wonder her exes (and we, as well) are ever on guard. Try as you might to guess what's going on, you probably won't figure out all of it. Which should just add to your fun.

The movie is available now via Netflix streaming, Amazon Instant Video and on DVD.-- for purchase or rental.

Silvio Soldini's GARIBALDI'S LOVERS juggles a heap of stuff to get a look at modern-day Italy

The new movie from popular Italian master Silvio Soldini (Bread and Tulips, Agata and the Storm, Days and Clouds and Come Undone) finds the filmmaker in a more playful and magical mood than we've heretofore observed. GARIBAL-DI'S LOVERS -- rotten title, this! The original Italian (Il comandante e la cicogna) translates as The Commandant and the Stork, so maybe, as Garibaldi was indeed a fighter and military man, The Soldier and the Stork might have made better sense, while following the alliterative style of the original -- juggles so many themes, ideas and stories that you often fear for its (and your own) ability to keep them straight. It's a credit to the skill of Soldini that he not only does this but offers quite a bit of fun and thought in the process.

In this film, Signore Soldini (shown at left) gives us everything from a modern-day Italian family, struggling to get by, to sleazy lawyers and their clients, an artist trying to get the back pay owed her on a project, online bullying and pornography, talking statues, a ghost, and -- yes -- that stork (who proves quite the odd charmer).

The filmmaker begins with two of those statues, Garibaldi, from his high post above the crowd, to the more modern and on-the-ground Cazzaniga (I am guessing this is Gian Mario Cazzaniga, the still-living Socialist philosopher/politician/labor movement leader), who argue and quip. Garibaldi (and the film) looks at modern-day Italy and finds it grossly wanting -- "Maybe," the leader laments, "I should never have joined north and south" -- and we viewers see a few examples of exactly why.

Then we get to the actual story -- or stories: there are a lot of them -- which takes in all (and more) of what I mentioned above. These tales are certainly worthwhile, and the various actors who portray the characters are in fine form. The only trouble is that these maybe half dozen stories, even though they are all or mostly connected, are given such short shrift that they don't accrue much weight. Any one of them could have been used as the basis for an entire movie.

And yet, so generally clever is the writing (the excellent Marco Pettenello contributed to the screenplay) the give-and-take between the statues, the artist and her landlord, the lawyer and his client, the young man and the stork, and particularly the family's father and the ghost) that we tag along happily. If you're going to do a ghost these days, then it needs to offer something a little different, and this one certainly does (the ghost's description of "class" differences in heaven is hilarious!). Most of these stories add a twist to the expected (even the cyber-bullying/porn goes into areas that are a tad unusual).

The film does keep its pulse on Italy's own economic/social/political pulse, so if you've at all followed that country's situation over the past few years, you'll find a lot to think about (and fret over). Though the film itself, as an entertainment and a pretty good one, uses most of this as fodder for charm and laughter.

The excellent cast helps, too. Look for Alba Rohrwacher (above, right, and four photos up, and as usual, different enough to be nearly unrecognizable) as the artist; Giuseppe Battiston (two photos up) as the landlord; Valerio Mastandrea (at left, three photos up) as the put-upon dad; Claudia Gerini (three photos up) as a particularly gorgeous ghost; and Luca Zingaretti (above, left) as the shady lawyer. The kids (that's Luca Dirodi, making his film debut, below, with a special friend), as well as the rest of the supporting cast, are fine, too.

From Film Movement and running a healthy 108 minutes (though it might have been even longer to incorporate more ooomph into things), Garibaldi's Lovers hits the street on DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, January 21-- for rental and/or purchase.

Celebrating STRANGER BY THE LAKE's opening, the FSLC offers an Alain Guiraudie retrospective

Now that TrustMovies has seen four of the very unusual films of Alain Guiraudie (two of them twice, and one of them, a short, mostly without its English subtitles), I'm on board with the notion that this non-mainstream French movie-maker is a force with which to reckon. (The director, with the sun clearly in his eyes, is shown at left during the most recent Cannes film fest.) Though I don't know quite what to make of a couple of his earlier films, it seems to me pretty clear that with each new one, he grows more comprehen-sible and enjoyable -- unless you're the type of film-goer who demands inscrutability.

This is not to say that M. Guiraudie is anywhere near "obvious." Hardly. Instead, his movies draw you in while making you puzzle things out. But of late, he is giving his audience a bit more terra firma on which to stand while doing that puzzling. His latest film, STRANGER BY THE LAKE, (L'inconnu du lac), which I covered briefly when it played the New York Film Festival last fall (that post is here), finally opens this coming Friday, January 24, in New York (at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and the IFC Center) and in Los Angeles on January 31 (Laemmle's Playhouse 7).

In telling its tale of a young man who goes to a gay cruising area to get his rocks off, as well to a to visit friends, Guiraudie broadens his canvas and deepens his themes. Our "hero" Franck (Pierre Delladonchamps, above, left, and below, right) meets a couple of unusual fellows -- one an overweight but interesting and presumably straight man (Patrick D'Assumçao, above, right) who may be looking for something more; 

another a hot-looking hunk (Christophe Paou, above, left) who definitely wants something more -- and so comes face to face with a creepy and hugely unsettling death wish. The result is a movie that quietly takes hold of your throat and begins ever-so-slightly to squeeze.

Interestingly, Stranger by the Lake picks up on themes and places seen earlier in M. Guiraudie's very unusual movie The King of Escape (Le roi de l'évasion): all kinds of sexuality (particularly homo- and bi-), the working class' need to offset their work with relaxation, and locations set in the glorious and sparsely populated French countryside. But as relatively lighthearted as is King of Escape, Stranger/Lake is every bit as dark, exploring our entwined needs for the fulfillment of life, love, sex and death.

Both films are quite enjoyable to watch and very well-made, with Stranger an improvement even over King -- which proved an even bigger improvement over two of Guiraudie's earlier works that I also watched in preparation for the upcoming series, titled Alain Guiraudie: King of Escape, from the Film Society of Lincoln Center which opens Friday at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, concurrent with the debut of the filmmaker's latest work.

I covered King of Escape (stills from the film are shown above and below) when it played NYC as part of the 2010 Rendez-vous with French Cinema and found it an unusually enticing and surprising work, with a wonderfully inclusive sense of the amazements that sex of all kinds can bring. In one of its best scenes, an 80-year-old man, hung like a horse and still randy as hell (played by Jean Toscan, shown below, center), explains to his new half-his-age love, how he spent the first several decades of his marriage dutifully fucking his wife each day (along with several other ladies), never realizing till now that there was a whole regiment of men out there, just waiting to be explored and pleased.

In all, this series unleashes nine of Guiraudie's films (missing is only the movie he made for French television in 2008, On m'a volé mon adolescence). Each that I've seen seems to explore the human need for connection via the physical body. Guiraudie's 1998 short La force des chose finds that connection via physical abuse and kidnapping (not to worry: this is all on a lighter comic/philosophical plane). Although --since this was the one film, 15 minutes in length, 11 of which were shown without English subtitles, that I couldn't fully understand -- you'll have to take my ideas with a grain of salt. (What's that? Ah, I see: You do this as a matter of course.)

More interesting -- as well as, at 107 minutes, the lengthiest of Guiraudie's films I've seen -- is his 2003 NO REST FOR THE BRAVE (Pas de repos pour les braves). In some ways this is the most challenging of the four films, if also the least accessible. In it, the filmmaker tackles our fear of death (maybe also our even deeper fear of life), as his hero, Basile (played by Thomas Suire, in his film debut), plays a kid who refuses to sleep because he's afraid he'll never again awaken.

The movie itself is often like a dream: People -- the working class, as in all of his films -- come and go bizarrely; our hero moves from the City of the Living to Deadville; and there is one simply gorgeous, mystical, chilling special effect in which an old man disappears under a wave.

There is also, being French, a whole lot of philosophical... well, drivel is maybe too strong a word, but the film does veer toward pretension now and again. But it is also, from time to time, quite a lot of fun, as we engage in everything from car chases (with the villains on foot) to loveplay and hair-breath escapes. In a way this movie is a genre-jumper -- except that Guiraudie, here testing the waters with his first full-length endeavor, doesn't always seem sure which genre he's actually in.

The film is also a coming-of-age/coming-of-intelligence movie, as well as sci-fi/fantasy. So gear up for a trip and a half. If you miss it during the FSLC's retrospective, never fear. It is actually available in the USA via TLA Video where you can stream it at a reasonable price. There are five more films, full-length and short, to be seen in the series. Click here to see the entire Guiraudie schedule.

The photo of M. Guiraudie, at top, is by

Gareth Cattermole, courtesy of Getty Images.