09th May2021

Cowboys (Film)

by timbaros
Sasha Knight and Steve Zahn in Cowboys (Blue Finch Film Releasing) (1)The must see film of the month is a small film called ‘Cowboys.’ 

It’s small because it doesn’t have huge stars in it and also it’s small in length – 85 minutes – but it packs an important and timely punch into a heartwarming and memorable film.
Sally (Jillian Bell) and rebel bad boy hippie Troy (Steve Zahn) used to be married but are proud parents of their daughter Joe (Sasha Knight). However, Joe doesn’t feel right in a girls body – Joe insists, firstly to Troy, the she’s a boy who prefers to wear button down shirts and trousers with a big belt buckle. Her mom Sally would prefer Joe to wear little girl dresses with her hair styled very feminine. To say that Sally doesn’t approve of Joe being transgender at such a young age is an understatement. Troy, who has always been very close to Joe, tells Joe that it’s no big deal snd they will work around it. But Sally is still not on board with the idea, and after a bust bust up between her and Joe, Troy and Joe hatch a rescue plan that will enable them to escape and do their own thing. But Troy does not have full custody of Joe, and once they sneak off into the night Sally claims her daughter has been kidnapped, so the the local police and the local townspeople start looking for them. But they’ve escaped into the mountains and are hoping to cross the border into Canada where they’ll hope Joe can have a shot at a normal life.

The performances in this small film are superb. Zahn, who has previously been seen in ‘Captain Fantastic,’ has never been better – unshaven and in full daddy care mode. Comedian Bell is fine as the mom who doesn’t quite get what her daughter is going through, while Knight is simply amazing as the conflicted Joe – Knight gives a sensitive and memorable performance. Director and Writer Anna Kerrigan surely got this film right – exploring a timely topic that is presented beautifully. A must watch. 
‘Cowboys’ is now available on Curzon Home Cinema and Digital Download
Category : Film
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08th May2021

Wild Mountain Thyme (Film)

by timbaros
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John Patrick Shanley, director and writer of the memorable ’Moonstruck’ bring us ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ – memorable in a different way. It’s a romantic comedy set in the Irish countryside with two main characters who don’t realize they are meant to be together. Rosemary Muldoon (Emily Blunt) has been in love with her neighbour Anthony Reilly (Jamie Dornan) since they were 10 years old. Rosemary is aggressive and brash and dedicated to her farm, Anthony is shy and appears to have no clue that Rosemary has liked him all these years. Everyone in their farming community know they are meant for each other — except Anthony. Of course by just reading this you know how this film will end, but you have to sit through a lot of manure before.

Anthony has spent his entire life working on the family farm alongside his father Tony (Christopher Walken). The ageing Tony blindsides Anthony with his plan to sell the farm to Adam (Jon Hamm), his wealthy handsome successful nephew from New York City because Tony doubts Anthony has what it takes to run it. But when Adam comes to visit, his obvious interest in Rosemary complicates the situation further (what, there are no available women to date in NYC?). And when Rosemary goes to NYC for one day (yes, one day) to visit Adam it looks like Anthony might have missed out.

With everything that’s important to him about to slip through his fingers, Anthony has to move quickly to move in and sweep Rosemary off her feet (though he can barely put two words together in the meantime). But a series of losses and his own certainty that he is unlovable leaves his future with Rosemary in doubt. Drivel such as this should’ve been made into a television movie. ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ has no drama or suspense, especially in the last ten minutes of the film – a rain-soaked over-dramatic and over-the-top scene that cements (unfortunately does not drown) Anthony and Rosemary’s relationship. There’s so much rain I was kinda hoping they would wash away. Now that would’ve been a suspenseful and dramatic film!

WILD MOUNTAIN THYME is available to rent on all major digital retailers NOW.
#WildMountainThyme 

Category : Film
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08th May2021

Tu Me Manque (I Miss You) (Film)

by timbaros
TMM-D06_0238A father takes a trip to New York City to understand the life his son led in the new film ’Tu Me Manques’ (I Miss You).
 
Argentine Actor and Theatre Director Oscar Martínez is brilliant as the father – Jorge – a Bolivian businessman who appears to never have really known his only son, Gabriel.
 
In New York City, Jorge confronts Sebastian (Fernando Barbosa) – Gabriel’s boyfriend. While Jorge struggles to accept the life of his son, Sebastian channels his grief into a bold play honoring his lost love.
What makes this film so different and unique, besides that it is based on a true story, is that the Director and Writer Rodrigo Bellott, who adapted the story from his play of the same name, uses 30 actors to perform the role of Gabriel, a gimmick that is mimicked in the film’s flashback sequences, which rotate in different performers as Gabriel. It’s a gimmick that doesn’t quite work, but this does not lesson the powerful storyline and the amazing performances. 
 
Sebastian and Jorge warm up to each after after a very bumpy introduction when Jorge arrived in New York City unannounced. Sebastian proceeds to tells the tender love story, in flashbacks, of how he initially met Gabriel, who initially said he was straight, and how they fell in love and moved in with each other. What ‘Tu Me Manques’ does not quite convince us is why Gabriel took his own life – by jumping off a building in Miami to visit his sister on his way back home to lead a life his parents wanted him to lead, and not the life he wanted for himself.  Sebastian continues to blame Jorge for his sons death as it was Jorge, and his wife, who would not accept Gabriel’s sexuality. The film culminates in scenes from the play that pay honor to Gabriel’s memory. It packs an emotion wallop. 
 
 
‘Tu Me Manques’ selected as the Bolivian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominate
 
Rodrigo Bellott’s Tu Me Manques, (I MIss You) Official Selection of Bolivia for the Oscars, releases in theaters and on DVD and Digital this Spring.
 
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02nd May2021

Into the Labyrinth (Film)

by timbaros

DSC01937_1Double Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman is back in the new mystery thriller ‘Into the Labyrinth.’

‘Into the Labyrinth’ is a film with a very strange, and at times confusing plot. A young woman is kidnapped by a rabbit in a van on a road that leads into a very large city. What has happened to her? Who is this rabbit that kidnapped her? These are the questions that are raised in the beginning of the film. But then the young woman – Samantha is in a hospital, bruised and battered, physically but also emotionally and mentally battered. Samantha (played by Valentina Belle) is being overseen and counselled by Doctor Green (Hoffman). He is very concerned about her well-being, and wants to better understand the horrific ordeal she experienced at the hands of an unknown captor (the rabbit?). Samantha was locked up in a labyrinth where she experienced all sorts of emotions, mostly fear and hunger, in an underground bunker with no way out. Samantha was teased, taunted, punished and more in the labyrinth. Also investigating Samantha’s case is Detective Bruno Genko (Toni Servillo), who is a debt collector but takes on the case of the missing Samantha where he  has nothing left to lose. But as the drama and mystery ramps up, Bruno’s investigation takes one too many twists and turns that it gets to be a bit too much to follow, while Doctor Green may or may not be the man he says he is. As the thriller intensifies, it leads to a conclusion that may or may not make a whole lot of sense.
Into the Labyrinth, written and directed by Donato Carrisi. Now available on DVD and Digital download.
Category : Film
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