Amy Nicholson's short, sweet PICKLE opens theatrically with Myers/Whittet's GIRL ASLEEP

Excuse me if I am putting the cart before the horse here, but PICKLE -- the delightful and profound little 16-minute short by Amy Nicholson (shown below) starring her fascinating parents, Tom and Debbie Nicholson -- is such a must-see that it rather puts in the shade the perfectly OK feature film, GIRL ASLEEP, with which it shares the bill. What a blessing that the U.S. distributor of both, Oscilloscope Laboratories, saw fit to place both on the same bill -- which, together, adds up to 93 minutes of fun, frolic and food for thought.

While it obviously comes as no surprise to Ms Nicholson that her parents are people who can't seem to help but come to the aid of the other species on our planet who need their help, we are introduced to this couple as Tom asks us, "How interesting can a fish be when he's standing up in a sponge because he can't swim?" You'd be surprised. By the time we return to Pickle at film's end, you'll have been regaled with tales of animals, fish and fowl that will blow your mind & heart.

Don't mistake my words here; there's not a trace of terk-jerking or pushing buttons. Just tales of animal rescue that are bizarre, funny, appealing and rather amazing, too -- beginning with a Perdue chicken (no doubt going off to slaughter) who falls off the back of a truck and becomes Debbie's first rescue. As these tales pile up, they become a kind of pet lover's dream (or worst nightmare).

Yet Ms Nicholson's dry, inquiring tone, coupled to her very charming parents and some delightful animation as needed (since most of these pets have long since departed this vale of tears), makes for a one-of-a-kind movie experience that I suspect you will treasure.

Look for Peanut, the cat with a bad heart; Ginger, a chicken who must undergo amputation; Pogo, the paraplegic opossum; and finally that stump-bodied little title fish. How this black and hilarious movie that is all about sickness and death can keep you giggling throughout is just one of the mysteries here. Look for some sudden and amazing topiary from Tom, too. And finally, we get a quiet, thoughtful finale that will knock your socks off. Pickle is a 16-minute don't-miss -- and one I want to share will everyone I know and love.

And now for the main attraction: GIRL ASLEEP, a coming-of-age tale about a misfit high-school girl, Greta (Bethany Whitmore, at right and below), who is just about to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. Her family is concerned but not very helpful (in fact, by arranging a birthday party for their daughter to which they invite her entire class, they just about do her in). She has no friends except for one dorky boy, Eliott (Harrison Feldman, below, left)  who maybe has a crush on her -- or perhaps simply knows when he sees another nerd in need.

As written (from his own play) by Matthew Whittet and directed by Rosemary Myers (shown below), the movie is written and filmed with a kind of clever, deadpan stylization that takes things into a slightly surreal realm -- but not so far that reality topples.

Girl Asleep treads a rather fine line rather successfully for its first half, as our Greta is set up for one problem after another, as one embarrassment follows the next. But this is nothing like the WeinerDog, Dawn, of Todd Solondz fame. Greta, despite her wanderings into fantasyland, is a good deal more centered and strong. Even if she does not yet realize that fact. (Those are her three biggest school nemeses, below.)

How she comes to the necessary realization involves a very long fall-asleep/fantasy sequence in which, I must admit, the symbolism and metaphor become way too much. S&M (symbolism & metaphor, in this case), works best when it is not terribly obvious, which unfortunately it is here. And the sequence goes on and on and on. (Perhaps this fantasy sequence worked better as "theater," because it is so very theatrical.)

Then, just as we've pretty much given up, the movie redeems itself completely with a wonderful and surprising finale, in which what happens is unexpected but just about perfect, leading us into a place and position that were always there but have only now revealed themselves. On balance, Girl Asleep is worth the watch. And coupled as it is to Pickle, the experience proves more than worthwhile.

From Oscilloscope Laboratories, this smart double bill opens this Friday, September 23, in Los Angeles at the Landmark NuArt, and the following Friday, September 30, in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine. Over the weeks to come, the two films will play all across the country. Here in South Florida, you can see them in Miami at the Bill Cosford Cinema, beginning October 7. To view all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters listed, click here and then click on SCREENINGS.

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American documentaries, Amy Nicholson, Australian film, coming-of age movies, Fantasy, GIRL ASLEEP, Matthew Whittet, pet rescue, PICKLE, profundity, Rosemary Myers, theatricality,

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Fashion, Hollywood and Homosexuality in Gillian Armstong's WOMEN HE'S UNDRESSED

If the name Orry-Kelly means nothing to you, you're either young, straight, or simply uninterested in the heyday of Hollywood and its famous fashion designers. TrustMovies has never been all that interested in fashion (he often quite literally loathes it), but he is bi- and has had a hard-on for Hollywood since around the age of two (when he ran away from home and off to a "picture show," as he then called the movies). Although he didn't realize it until he saw the film under consideration here, he's also been a huge fan of Orry-Kelly's work. Those memorable gowns from Les Girls, above, are in fact long-time favorites of his (the movie may be second-rate, but its fashions are absolutely first-).

The new documentary about Orry-Kelly, WOMEN HE'S UNDRESSED has been directed by Gillian Armstrong (shown above, at right, with multi-Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin) and written by Katherine Thomson, both of them Australian, as was Orry-Kelly himself (who, for purposes of space and repetition, will henceforth be referred to as O-K). What these two have given us is really a kind of celebration of O-K: his life, work, sexuality and in particular his ability to live a relatively uncloseted life in tinseltown long before many other gay men cared to and/or were able to do anything like this.

Incredible as it seems, O-K costumed some 301 movies between the years of 1930 and 1963. And many of these were amazing, pivotal works whose costumes were vital to the films, and, as one of the many fascinating interviewees points out, they look as good, and almost as "modern," today as they did back then. O-K clothed some of Hollywood biggest stars -- from Bette Davis and Rosalind Russell to Marilyn Monroe and Shirley MacLaine -- and most of them loved him and his work. One of the joys of this lovely documentary is how well it makes us understand what and how the designer was doing, why it was important and especially why it worked so well. You'll come away from the movie with a new (maybe renewed) sense of the importance of fashion to films.

The movie also captures this Hollywood era in spades, with particular emphasis on what it was like to be gay in Hollywood from the 30s into the 50s and early 60s (O-K died in 1964). We get a good sense of the man's history, and the filmmakers choose to do this via some charming and intelligent re-enactments using actors in the roles of O-K (a sly, sweet job by Darren Gilshenan, above, as the adult O-K, and Louis Alexander, below, as the younger version),  his mother (Deborah Kennedy), and even briefly his first and perhaps greatest love, a fellow named Archie Leach (known to you all as Cary Grant and played in this film by Nathaniel Middleton).

Based in good part on O-K's unpublished memoirs -- which, according to Wikipedia, were discovered in the care of a relative after the man's death -- the film does full justice to the designer's humor, panache, style and wit, regarding both his work and his attitudes. I suspect he would be pretty damned pleased with this funny and charming documentary -- in which some very good and still-living costume designers, along with actors like Jane Fonda, who worked with the man a few times in her early career, talk about him fondly and with great appreciation.

Ms Armstrong, whom many of you still remember for My Brilliant Career) does a fine job of keeping all this moving and snappy so that interest does not lag for a moment. And her interweaving of the reenactments with historical footage and scenes from various film makes her documentary non-stop eye-opening and appealing.

The movie is a fine appreciation of a man and his time in a town that was anything but welcoming of his kind -- and yet in which he managed to make a place and a name for himself. This is a wonderful story, and -- despite a couple of odd fact mistakes -- I am so glad we are now able to see it. (That's a photo of the real Orry-Kelly, at left.)

From Wolf Releasing and running 99 minutes, Women He's Undressed opens tomorrow, Friday, July 29, in Los Angeles at the Arena Cinema for a week's run, after which it hits home video on Tuesday, August 9 -- for purchase or rental.

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Australian film, costume design, documentaries, GLBT films, Hollywood, Hollywood nostalgia, Homosexuality, Orry-Kelly, WOMEN HE'S UNDRESSED,

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We are all one: another early "best" for 2015 -- on Blu-ray/DVD/digital -- the Spierig brothers' profound and nifty sci-fi, PREDESTINATION

Here's a movie that joins all of society -- men & women, young & old, good & bad -- in a manner that seems, on film at least, to be original. The new work from Australia's Spierig brothers, Peter and Michael (shown below, left to right, respectively), is their third full-lengther, after Undead (all about zombies) and then Day-breakers (all about vampires). PREDESTINATION (all about time-travel, and by far the brothers' best) touches the profound, then actually seems to go a bit beyond that into the mind-bending.

With a screenplay adapted (by the Spierigs) from a story by master sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein, the film features a cast of three lead actors who together manage almost all of the story between them. The remainder of the cast is just fine, but it is rare to see a movie with this big a budget (for an independent film, of course) that relies so heavily on the acting skills of just three people.

The threesome -- Ethan Hawke, above; Sarah Snook, at left; and Noah Taylor, below -- comes through on all counts.

Mr. Hawke keeps quietly growing as an actor from film to film; Ms Snook has what may be the role of her lifetime, and she runs with it all the way; and Mr. Taylor uses his dour face and thin body  to maximum effect, as the more-or-less leader of the pack.

All three performers, in fact, are so right for their roles that it is difficult to imagine other actors taking their place.

The story, at its beginning and well into things, seems like simplicity itself. Easy to follow yet constantly intriguing, it grows more and more complex as the elements of identity and time travel come to the fore.

Though the movie butts up against everything from a mad bomber and his relentless tracker to orphaned children and sex change, the less said about plot, the better -- for in its unravelling, Predestination appears to embrace the We-are-all-one theory, among other mind expansions.

Although there are action scenes and special effects, certainly, the movie's real pleasure derives from the quiet, thoughtful, almost tender and affecting tone with which it views its threesome. Going out of this movie, you'll have been taken places you could hardly have imagined going in.

Predestination -- released theatrically from Arclight Films, with DVD and Blu-ray via Sony, and running a just-right 97 minutes -- is available now. For genre fans, and even those who think they're not, this one constitutes a must-see.

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Australian film, identity, PREDESTINATION, profound movies, sci-fi and fantasy, the Spierig Brothers, time-travel,

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Horror and parenting combine in Jennifer Kent's classy, psychologically riveting THE BABADOOK

If you're a fan of talented Australian actress Essie Davis, particularly of her hit TV series, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, stick her new film, in which she is unrecognizable (so far as "Miss Fisher" is concerned) -- the first full-length endeavor from writer/director Jennifer Kent -- on your must-see list. Davis is simply amazing in this role of a hugely put-upon mother, trying to keep her body and soul (as well as her son's) together in the wake of an otherworldly intruder known as THE BABADOOK.

As writer/director, Ms Kent (shown at left) is onto something important and rather fierce: the idea that what we repress can take a physical form that might be our undoing. Now, you can approach this from platforms supernatural or psychological. Kent makes both work quite well, vying, as the film unspools, for our attention and decision. How we are pulled one way, then another, by the shocks and scares -- visual and audial (the exceptional sound design is by Frank Lipson) keep us off balance and forever questioning what is really going on here.

Visually the film is quite elegant, beautifully designed and a pleasure to observe. Ms Kent's command of character and her ability to keep us off-balance in this, too, is pretty remarkable. In the leading roles of mother and her son, Samuel, Ms Davis and a young actor named Noah Wiseman (in his film debut) are exceptional. Initially, we see Samuel as an adorable little boy who's also a handful -- but then we're soon ready to throttle the kid, given his manners and what he gets up to.

As the film rolls on, however, it's Momma who begins to worry us more. Yet as we also slowly learn the facts of the history of this sad family, nothing at all seems simple or easily judged. And Ms Davis is so good at keeping us in that fraught state between fear and hope that we eventually become about as shaken up as do the characters she and young Master Wiseman (above and below) bring to such moving, frightening life.

What, finally, is the titular Babadook? Primal fears, the nastier side of us, repressed anger we've never handled, or a full-fledged, never-to-be-destroyed monster man? You decide -- between your bouts of fright, fun and, yes, sadness. Because some things go beyond any possible repair.

The Babadook -- from IFC Midnight and running 94 minutes -- opens this Friday, November 28, in New York City at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and the IFC Center. In the Los Angeles area, look for it at The Cinefamily at Silent Movie Theatre, beginning tomorrow, November 26, at midnight, and then continuing from Friday, Nov. 28 through Tuesday., Dec 2. Simultaneously, the film will open via VOD, so consult your local cable carrier for specifics.

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Australian film, children in trouble, Horror, Jennifer Kent, parenting, psychological thrillers, THE BABADOOK,

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