Amazon streaming tip: Mark Pellington/Alex Ross Perry's poetic and moving NOSTALGIA

Yes, Mark Pellington (shown at left, director) and Alex Ross Perry (shown below, co-writer) do seem an odd combination, but in this particular case the combo works better for TrustMovies than either writer/director's work has managed to do individually.

Granted the title NOSTALGIA is a tad overused (95 exact title matches on the IMDB!), but it does indeed apply to this movie, whose themes are grief, loss, and the importance in one's life of both objects and memories. The film begins with a lovely scene in a diner between a waitress and a quiet, contemplative man (played

quite memorably by John Ortiz) who is an insurance assessor. We then move to one of his clients (Bruce Dern) and then to another (Ellen Burstyn), with various family members and friends involved, and from there to a dealer in sports memorabilia (Jon Hamm, shown in bottom photo) and then to this man's sister (Catherine Keener), her family and a sudden bereavement.

That's it, so far as plot goes. What holds the movie together and makes it often so beautiful and moving is its combination of themes, visuals and dialog, all brought to thoughtful, specific life by an array of first-rate actors, led by Mr. Ortiz who is a good here as I've yet seen him. He brings the kind of grace and understanding to the proceedings that help lead us into this unusual, artful look at the "whole" (or maybe the "hole") of our lives.

Criticism has been leveled at the film due to its supposed repetitiveness, yet each episode has its own special tale brought to life by top-notch performers. Supporting roles are cast with such a roster of talent -- Beth Grant to James Le Gros -- that each small performance rings  true and special.

The question of what the objects we collect during our lives mean -- to us, as well as to others -- is given a most interesting workout here, and the result is worth experiencing and thinking about.

Yes, the movie is slow-paced (and the final section goes on a bit too long), but it is so beautifully filmed that some of you, at least, will be pleased to have viewed it. Do give this film a try. Nostalgia is streaming now via Amazon, where Prime members can see it free of charge.

Betrayal, trust, scares & death enliven Colin Minihan's thriller, WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE

What if the person closest to us -- our spouse, say -- turns out to be a raging-and-very-good-at-it psychopath bent on killing us? Not a pleasant thought, and in the new horror/slasher/ psychological minder-bender, WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE, writer/director Colin Minihan brings this concept to searing and most unpleasant life. Except, of course, that it will prove creepily diverting for those of us who enjoy an unusually good scare.

Much of the movie's power comes from the fact that one of its protagonists really does care for the other and, even as she tries to stay alive, keeps attempting to piece together why her spouse, suddenly deranged as hell, keeps insisting on her demise.

Mr. Minihan (shown at right), whose addition to the zombie genre, It Stains the Sands Red, I have not seen (being awfully tired of zombies), allows enough psychological material, along with some depth to enter the picture that, for a time, we keep hoping there will be more.

There is, but it turns out to come only via the character of the betrayed wife (and the full-bodied performance from Brittany Allen, below), who is not simply physically abused to the max but also seems to have had her entire persona beaten out of her. She's barely a shell who can no longer, perhaps does not even want to, fight back.
But of course she tries.

Her spouse -- played by Hannah Emily Anderson (below), an actress beautiful of both face and figure -- whether by the performer's choice or maybe having been directed to do this, plays her role much more by rote. Initially the couple seems happy and in love/lust, but as soon as the trouble begins, the need to kill comes barreling down the track like a runaway train, complete with our antagonist taking moments to rehearse her upcoming "grief" scene or turning on a dime from nasty to nice to coax our protagonist out of hiding.

The movie is wisely and economically a two-hander -- save for the pair of husband/wife neighbors, whom you hope will survive the onslaught. As such it relies on its two leading ladies, who come through, one in OK form, the other pretty terrifically. You may be angry at our good girl for not fighting harder, but her performance is such that you will easily buy into her grief and then her diminution.

Minihan has tricks up his sleeve; some are the usual, others genuinely surprising. Pay attention to the small details; as ever with these genre movies, there is some reason for most of them.

The Canadian location is a humdinger: lake, forest, cabin in the woods, and of course a very high cliff -- with everything as real as you could ask for.

The pacing is fine, the dialog decent enough, and the payoff is oddly satisfying. Not perhaps quite what you might have wanted, but acceptable and even more important, given what we know, believable, too.

From IFC Midnight and running maybe just a tad too long at 98 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, August 24, in New York City at the IFC Center (midnight screening only!) and in Los Angeles at the Arena Cinelounge. Simultaneously, it becomes available nationwide via VOD.

Weird, wild (and sometimes bloody) fun: Hadi Hajaig's nutty caper comedy, BLUE IGUANA

At the beginning of TrustMovies' viewing experience of BLUE IGUANA, the new humorous heist film from British writer/director Hadi Hajaig, he thought, Oh, god -- this is going to be just too cute, ridiculous and heavy-handed to even finish: a clashing combo of American and British accents and humor so off-the-wall, it's practically out the window. But then -- and faster than he would ever have expected -- the movie began to win him over. Completely. By the end he and his spouse were treasuring every moment. What a pleasure it can be when a film starts so "iffily" and then seduces you utterly.

If you appreciate bizarre and over-the-top performances, nicely completed by quieter, more grounding ones from the two romantic leads, along with a set design and "look" that are sometimes knock-your-socks-off spectacular, this may be the entertainment you crave. And on the big screen, too: art direction like this deserves to be seen in large proportion.

This kind of film is very difficult to pull off, but Mr. Hajaig (shown at left) has certainly managed it.  Here is crazy, gorgeous, blood-spattered hilarity -- with terrific performances from an entire cast.

Blue Iguana is the sort of movie in which, I kid you not, matricide will have never seemed so funny. Nor deserved.

The plot, which, to go too far into would simply confuse the reader, involves a couple of American pals -- Sam Rockwell and Ben Schwartz (above, right and left, respectively) recently released from prison, who are asked (in a kind of combo of plea and blackmail) by a prim and mousy little British girl (Phoebe Fox, below, in what - were this not a small indie film -- would be a breakout performance) to assist her in an illegal money-making project back in England.

They do and, in the process, get involved with an array of bizarre and very funny characters and situations, the likes of which neither they nor we have much seen. Even in crazy caper comedies like this one.

There is plenty of violence and bloodshed, but this is all done with such over-the-top humor and disarray, that you will most likely find your self laughing instead of averting your eyes. Really: you won't want to miss all the fun.

That fun includes a character actor I've often seen but until this

memorable role not really been able to recall: Peter Ferdinando (above), who plays a nutjob named Deacon Bradshaw, whose mother (a grand turn by Amanda Donohoe) proves even nuttier and nastier. Roles like this don't come around all that often for most actors, and Mr. Ferndinando gives it all that it deserves and then a bit more.

Lovely supporting turns come from everyone from Simon Callow to Frances Barber, Peter Polycarpou and Al Weaver, and the movie simply grows crazier and funnier as it moves along.

Ms Fox gets one of those ugly-duckling-to-swan moments that will give you a nice gasp, while Mr. Rockwell, in only his second screen appearance since his "Oscar" win, is reliably terrific. Using his intuitive knack for a combo of humor and gravitas, he keeps the film somehow grounded, while all around him (except the lovely Ms Fox) are going bananas.

Mr. Schwartz (above) turns weird into something kind of wonderful, and the movie's playful nods to so many other movies register as sweet fun instead of seeming merely aren't-we-clever. Mr. Hajaig's understanding of how nearly everyone wants to be, see or know an actor is put to delightful use, too, in a finale that could hardly be cuter or more on the nose.

 If I'm over-praising this little trifle, it's only because I had such a good time. Give Blue Iguana even half a chance, and I think you will, too.

From Screen Media Films and running 100 minutes, the movie opens this Friday, August 24, in New York City at the Village East Cinema and in Los Angeles at Laememle's Monica Film Center. To see all  currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and scroll down. Simultaneously with the theatrical release, the film will also hit VOD.

Unnecessary and so-so remake of the year: Michael Noer/Aaron Guzikowski's PAPILLON

TrustMovies does not in any way want to demean or make seem less awful the experiences of those poor prisoners condemned to life (and often death) in the penal colony of French Guiana, which was composed of several prison "camps," one worse than the next. The common name given for this multi-prison was Devil's Island, any escape from which was thought impossible.

Still, it must be said that sitting through this oft-times interminable two-hours-and-seventeen-minute, "Let's- keep-trying-to-escape-from-this-hell-hole-until-we-go-nuts!" remake of PAPILLON felt like a prison sentence in itself for this particular viewer.

The original Papillon, which arrived on screen back in 1973 -- directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and offering the stunt-casting pairing of that golden boy narcissist Steve McQueen and Oscar-winner/scene stealer, Dustin Hoffman -- was no great shakes in itself, clocking in even longer at two hours and thirty-one minutes.

In the new version , directed by Danish filmmaker Michael Noer (shown at right), with a screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski, which he adapted from both the memoirs by Devil's Island prisoner Henri Charrière and the original screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. the shakes are a good deal less. Just about everything concerning this latest Papillon seems adequate but little more.

This adequacy begins with the film's two stars, both of whom I have greatly enjoyed elsewhere -- Charlie Hunnam (above) in just about everything in which he has ever appeared, and Rami Malek (below), whom I know best from cable TV's fun and fierce Mr. Robot series.

Mr. Hunnam spends his time either playing action hero or showing us his soulful/dour side, while Mr. Maleck handles his weak-little-nerd-with-glasses role as, well, a weak little nerd with glasses. Neither actor has much of a chance to do more, given the one-dimensional screenplay which gets the story told but not much else. (The occasionally soaring musical score, by David Buckley, seems to take the place of acting or writing in terms of pointing up the important moments here.)

The scenery is pretty enough -- seaside, island, jungle stuff -- and the director and screenwriter cram in as much glamour, sex and sin as possible in the first few minutes. Because, after that, it's all prison-plus-escape-attempts, all the time.

The tale itself is indeed one of the greatest "great escape" stories ever told, even in this not-so-hot version. Perhaps the 45 years between the release of the original film and this remake will introduce a bunch more movie-goers to M. Charrière and his semi-fictional story.

Papillon, released by Bleecker Street, opens nationwide this Friday, August 24. I'll post South Florida theaters once they're sent to me. Meanwhile, you can click here and then scroll down and click on FIND THEATERS & TICKETS to view the screening locations nearest you.

Same-sex, competitive ballroom dancing fills Gail Freedman's documentary, HOT TO TROT

If you are already interested in competitive ballroom dancing, particularly via the documentary format, you may very well love HOT TO TROT, a new movie from filmmaker Gail Freedman. If you don't have much interest in this, a word of caution may be in order. Even the gay hook the doc provides for those of us in the GLBT community may not be enough to make a "watch" worthwhile. The movie is certainly pleasant enough, as it skims the surface of the lives and interests of a half dozen competitive ballroom dancers, three male and three female. As the end credits roll, and we get some information on what has happened to these people, questions arise that suggest what the film might have achieved with more exploration and added depth.

Ms Freedman offers up dance partners Ernesto Palma (above, left), of Costa Rico, and Nikolai Shpakov (above, right), of Russia, and later Robbie Tristan (below, right), a former partner of Ernesto, who, due to health issues, must return to his home in Hungary.

On the distaff side, we meet Emily Coles (below, left), a diabetic who must wear an insulin pump 24/7, and her partner, Kieren Jameson (below, right) of New Zealand.

Later Emily adds a new female partner to the mix, Katerina Blinova (below, right). Along the way, we meet and/or learn about the families of some of these folk, and eventually of the dancers' life partners, as well. Nikolai misses his family in Russia, who he hopes will someday accept his being gay; Kieren's mom and dad come from New Zealand to see her dance.
And so forth.

Marriage eventually occurs, even a set of twin babies for which Ernesto and his mate arrange. We also view a couple of dance competitions, which generate a modicum of suspense and hope. But we never learn much about how all this works. Clearly the dancers must know a number of different dances -- rhumba to samba to whatever -- but as to what the judges look for or why one couple is held in higher esteem than another, go figure.

Ms Freedland, shown at right, has produced a pleasant, feel-good film with some fairly interesting characters on view. But it is all so surface and expected that I, at least, grew mostly bored.  And then, at the finale, with that end credit information regarding where these people are now and with whom, I couldn't help but think, "Boy, I'd like to know more about that!"

From First Run Features and lasting just 88 minutes, the documentary opens in New York City this Friday, August 24, at the Quad Cinema, and in Los Angeles on September 14 at Laemmle's Music Hall. For other upcoming playdates, cities and theaters, click here.

Catching up with one of 2017's best films: Cristian Mungiu's quietly riveting GRADUATION

Out now on Blu-ray/DVD from The Criterion Collection and brimming with first-rate Special Edition Features, GRADUATION, the latest film from terrifically talented Romanian writer/director Cristian Mungiu, was first seen theatrically in the USA back in April of 2017. It is by far the best of the four of his films I've so far seen -- which also include Beyond the Hills, Four Months Three Weeks and Two Days, and the smart, ironic and underseen Tales From the Golden Age -- and it is a major leap forward for the amazing Mr. Mungiu, shown below.

Graduation is all about connections and their usage. So many of the movies that have come out of the Eastern Bloc over the past decade -- since the fall of that wall and the splitting off of the Soviet empire -- have dealt with this idea of how all-important were/are  "connections" during and since the end of Communist rule.

Once again the Romanian writer/director bears out this idea in his story of a family soon-to-be in crisis, due to its use of connections, together with a very slippery morality amongst just about everyone involved in this sad, gray tale.

A bricked tossed through an apartment window begins the film. Why? And by whom? We wonder, as does the family at the center of the film: a father (Adrian Ttitieni, above) and mother (Lia Bugnar, below) intent of having their only daughter graduate with honors so that she can attend a university and then a medical school in the west. Present-day Romania, it seems, is nowhere in which you'd want to your beloved offspring to grow into adulthood.

The daughter herself (Maria Dragus, below), as we learn from the outset, seems not so keen on this idea, having grown a little too close to her boyfriend and not wanting to leave behind her other friends. When the girl appears to have been attacked on her way to school and may not be able to take the tests she'll need to graduate, Dad goes into immediate action, using every connection he has and calling in every debt he is owed (or imagines that he is owed) to ensure his daughter's welfare/endeavor.

Then morality of all this is suspect from the outset and simply grows worse as the movie moves along. How everyone involved proves so easily corruptible, together with the lengths to which most of them will go to ensure their own welfare, is handled just about perfectly: neither too heavy-handedly nor too easily. We see each person's problems, as well as the "bigger picture," and so we understand how this is all happening, even as we also wonder how we would react in such a situation.

Mungiu is by now a master at this kind of dark social satire. He is also uber-competent at finding just the right situation -- important yet nothing too awful or life-threatening -- to bring out the kind of behavior he wants to point up. Yet he is also a grand entertainer with an ability, via exceptional casting, writing and directing, to bring out the worst in the best way.

The film fairly drips with irony, though the drips are so light and frequent that you barely notice some of them. Eventually, they're a flood. TrustMovies is sorry he did not see this film sooner, for it would have made his 2017 Best List for certain (he'll place it there now, in any case). From Criterion, in Romanian with English subtitles and running a lengthy but consistently engrossing 127 minutes, it is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

Among the grand Special Features included on the disc is a terrific new interview with filmmaker Mungiu, and wonderfully informative video of the Cannes Film Festival press conference from 2016 featuring a Q&A with the director and several of his actors, including the very hot-looking young man (Rares Andrici, below) who plays the daughter's interesting but quite unsettling boyfriend.

Art, astronomy and even some anthropology blend in Alison McAlpine's heavenly CIELO

What a lovely and impressive mix we have here! Filmmaker Alison McAlpine has given us something unusual, beautiful and even revelatory in her new documentary, CIELO -- the word which, in Spanish, can signify either heaven or simply the sky. Chile's Atacama Desert has been used effectively in a number of documentary and narrative films, most impressively, I think, in Patricio Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light, in which Guzmán showed us this singular location as both a haven and laboratory for astronomers and a hiding place for the remains of many of those "disappeared" under the cruel, murderous dictatorship of Chile's Augusto Pinochet.

Ms McAlpine, shown at left, does not go into Pinochet's use of this locale but sticks to astronomy, as well as anthropology, as she offers us a look at some of the folk who live and work in the desert and who prove to be every bit as interesting and worth seeing as that fabled desert and its amazing night sky (shown above and below).

These would include those astronomers, both French- and Spanish-speaking, and the local natives, some of whom who gather up kelp from the sea for their livelihood.

The filmmaker's narration is in English, but most of the rest of the dialog (from the astronomers and the native workers) is in either Spanish or French. The astronomers in particular are quite funny and charming, and their interaction is mostly delightful and occasionally profound.

We also meet an older couple of who live in the desert, and they, too, are delightful, especially when she must explain to her husband how the earth moves, along with the concept of gravity. Another younger man, above, tells us, as he prepares a meal, of his experiences in the desert, including an apparition of a young girl that appeared to him numerous times. An angel, he wonders?

Another fine fellow (above and below) dances and flies along merrily; later we see him teaching the local kids fables and myths: how a dog might help his master in the afterlife. Living in the Atacama must make one a bit crazy, at least by what most of us would consider "normal" standards. But there is no denying the joy found here. The movie is full of marvelous anthropology that seems to TrustMovies as strong as that of its astronomy.

We view some fascinating cave/rock drawings, learn about the discovery (by the Swiss) of a new planet called WASP 50, and sit in with another group of astronomers as they laugh and chat. Our filmmaker finally asks them a question: What is your true connection with the sky? The response:
"The sky nourishes us. In the sky, our imagination takes flight -- and anything is possible."

There are many questions here, but few definitive answers. No matter. For those who want to ponder ideas on life, death, connection and the universe, Cielo may be the movie for you. A Juno Films release running just 77 minutes, the film opened this past Wednesday, August 15 for only a one-week run in New York City at Film Forum, and will hit Los Angeles at Laemmle's Ahrya Fine Arts on Friday, August 24. To view other currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and scroll down.