Cowboys & Aliens, The Trip, Project Nim, The Smurfs, Werner Herzog in a cave in 3D, and more

TRUST: Here’s a film worth your attention as a cautionary tale in these days of the internet and social media. Despite lots of publicity, it never made it to Vancouver and has just come out on DVD and BluRay. It’s an intense drama about internet stalking and, judging by some recent news items, it’s dreadfully timely. A 14-year-old in Chicago, played by a terrific newcomer Liana Liberato, is charmed by a teenage boy she met on line in a chat room and agrees to meet him at a mall. He turns out to be over 30 but sweet talks her anyway, into his car and his hotel room where he rapes her. There’s no violence involved and the incident is portrayed by suggestion, not graphically. The film is more concerned with what happens then, to her at school, with her friends and most of all within her family. Clive Owen plays her father, in one his best performances ever, moving easily from concerned to feeling powerless to blustering angry.

The film is directed by David Schwimmer. Yes, Ross from TV’s Friends, but also a supporter of a California rape treatment centre. His film is authentic because everything in it is based on interviews with victims. The pedophile carefully ingratiates himself with the girl, playing on her insecurities with flattery and understanding, all seen in texting printed on screen. She is so charmed she actually takes his side when the police investigate and her father rages. She even denies there was a rape. There are some slips in logic and the father’s outburst at a volleyball game is excessive but they only cause a few dents in this strong film.  3 ½  out of 5 

The PACIFIC CINEMATHEQUE is showing three films about artists who died young. 

PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE: The “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore” singer gets an admiring biography with lots of praise from the likes of Joan Baez, Peter Yarrow and Tom Hayden, but not a word from Bob Dylan who was a friend early on but all but snubbed him when he gained fame. I got to know Ochs in Toronto where he often played the Yorkville clubs and know how much he ached to get Dylan’s respect. I’m also impressed how good a portrait this is, covering his political intensity, his desire to grow as a songwriter and his humor. There’s stuff missing, of course, and it’s sad to hear his later decline and eventual suicide described, but with many film clips and bits from some 35 of his songs, this is a first-rate portrait of an activist artist. 4 out of

BEAUTIFUL DARLING: This bio gives us another look inside the self-obsessed world of Andy Warhol. Candy Darling, actually James Slattery of Long Island, wanted to be a movie star like in the fan magazines. Andy let her hang out with his crowd, put her into a couple of films and then dumped her. She appeared in a few others and once, at a Hollywood premiere, actually imagined she was a star. It was all a delusion, though, because she only played and looked the part.

She was a transgender person who never had the operation but took estrogen and dressed as a blonde bombshell. She made little money, slept on people's couches and may have turned tricks now and then. But she was indulged the cool people and was immortalized by Lou Reid in a couple of songs. That's her in Walk on the Wild Side. Her photo is on an album by The Smiths. Among the many folks who appear to tell her story, Jeremy Newton, a long-time friend and acolyte, is the most intimate and writer Fran Lebowitz is the most direct. "Candy was a fantasy," she says. "She played herself." She died of cancer at age 29 possibly brought on by the very means she used to live her fantasy. Quite a touching film and a Vancouver premiere. 3 out of 5 

I AM SECRETLY AN IMPORTANT MAN: And actually the most tragic of these three entertainers. Jesse Bernstein was one of those guys who appear on the fringes of the avant-garde and parlay personal problems into an artistic niche. He had mental, medical and drug problems when he deserted California for Seattle and was adopted by the hangers on around the grunge music scene as a guy who knew what the tough life was all about because he had already lived it. He wrote about it in gritty poems which he recited in a raspy voice, sometimes opening for bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden. There’s even a clip of him yelling at a heckler that “this IS music.” In another clip, he’s got a live mouse in his mouth. A brother says he loved to push things just to “kick up a fuss.”  He was voted Seattle’s best poet but succumbed to his demons with drugs, drinks and eventually suicide. A grim and grungy bio and again a Vancouver premiere. 2 1/2 out of 5 

For times, dates and other info on these three films go to www.cinematheque.bc.ca/ and while you’re there also check out the summer film noir series which starts Thursday with two classics, The Killers and The Lady from Shanghai. I’ll write about a few others next week.

Also now playing … 

CRAZY, STUPID LOVE: Because of a scheduling conflict I haven’t seen this one yet, but I hear good things about it. Odd that, because the idea doesn’t sound that promising. Steve Carell plays a man dumped by his wife (Julianne Moore) and re-introduced to the dating scene by a proficient skirt chaser (Ryan Gosling). His mentoring involves a hair and clothes tune-up and a lot of hitting on women in bars. But the teacher has some lessons of his own to learn. (The Ridge and several suburban theatres)

THE DRUMMOND WILL: This low-budget black comedy from England, made by and starring a bunch of unknowns, has been popular at festivals although it’s hard to imagine why from some of the reviews I’ve read. “Uneven but diverting” and veering towards slapstick, says one; “Hammy” and “not original” says another. Two brother return home when their father dies and discover a suspiciously large amount of money, a colleague who almost immediately dies and an ethical dilemma that leads to more deaths and that slapstick. (Granville Theatre)

NOTE: The images are supplied by the movie studios and are therefore the exclusive property of their copyright owners.