What to Watch This Weekend: Blue Bayou, Prisoners of the Ghostland, Copshop, Last Matinee, Riders of Justice, Jamie, Simon, Jaws

For An Oscar-Worthy Drama: Blue Bayou (Theaters) 
Blue Bayou is a powerful drama that looks at race, family, love, and life through understated cinematography, complicated characters, beautiful music, and a gut-wrenching, uniquely American story.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Stylish And Violent Dose of Nic Cage Craziness: Prisoners of the Ghostland (Theaters and Digital)

Prisoners of the Ghostland is pure insanity, with a cinema blend of Japanese, spaghetti western, and apocalyptic influences into a Nic Cage fever dream of violence and style.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Suspenseful And Funny Action Film: CopShop (Theaters)

Copshop is a wild ride, with a wonderfully insane cast of characters and a mysterious story that is mixed with stylish touches and equal parts tension, action, and humor.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Musical Journey Of Self Discovery: Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Amazon Prime)

Everybody's Talking About Jamie and rightly so; the movie adaptation of the musical has entertaining and impactful songs, a vibrant cast, and an emotional story about finding yourself.   For more information, check out the review!

For A Killer Movie Theater Experience: The Last Matinee (Digital)

The Last Matinee has a throwback slasher feel with its wonderful classic theater setting, grisly effects and deaths, and quirky cast of theater patrons.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Charming LGBTQ Drama: Love, Simon (Hulu)

The heartfelt and heart warming coming of age story of a young teenager struggling with his own feelings while trying to maintain the status quo in his final year of high school.  It just got added to Hulu so make make sure to check it out!

For An Unconventional Revenge Thriller: Riders of Justice (Hulu)

Riders of Justice tells an unconventional revenge thriller with a misfit gang of mercenaries and plenty of action, humor, and heart.  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Missing Summer: Jaws (Netflix)
The entire Jaws Franchise just got added to Netflix, so those of you missing some of those summer vibes and get over that by watching the original summer ruiner, Jaws.  

What to Watch This Weekend: Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Martyrs Lane, Final Set, Malignant, Worth, 12 Mighty Orphans, Hood River, Killing of Two Lovers

For A Musical Journey Of Self Discovery: Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Theaters)

Everybody's Talking About Jamie and rightly so; the movie adaptation of the musical has entertaining and impactful songs, a vibrant cast, and an emotional story about finding yourself.   For more information, check out the review!

For A Subtle Unconventional Haunting: Martyrs Lane (Shudder) 
Martyrs Lane is a sumptuously subtle tale about grief, love, and religion that has a slow burning story and a softer, but no less horrifying, supernatural experience for the viewers.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Drama About Sports And Life: Final Set (Virtual Cinema)

Final Set is a masterful sports drama, that focuses as much on life as it does on the sport through its fantastic characters, dramatic music, and exciting and intense finale.  For more information, check out the review!

For An Inspirational Sports Drama: 12 Mighty Orphans (Amazon)

12 Mighty Orphans scores with its blend of comedy and drama, interesting characters, and truly inspirational story of sports and life.  For more information, check out the review!

For A James Wan Throwback Horror: Malignant (Theaters and HBO Max)

James Wan's new horror film has hints of 80s horror and a lot of big ideas.  It is mixed, but generally positive reviews.

For A Drama Worth Your Time: Worth (Netflix)

Michael Keaton has come back to films with a vengeance and Worth is his latest film, which is getting great praise for its gripping and thoughtful nature.

For A Simmering Family Drama: The Killing of Two Lovers (Hulu)

The Killing of Two Lovers is a powder keg of emotion that follows a stressful family situation with great dialogue, cinematography, acting, and a compact story.  For more information, check out our review!

For A Sports Drama That Looks At Race And Class: Hood River (Digital)
Hood River looks at race and class through the lens of small town soccer, with good lessons in hard work, empathy, perseverance, and leadership.  For more information, check out the review!

Everybody's Talking About Jamie Review: An Emotional And Enjoyable Journey of Self Discovery

Release date: September 10, 2021
Running time: 115 minutes
Starring: Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan and Richard E. Grant
Screenplay and Lyrics by Tom MacRae, Songs by Dan Gillespie Sells and a Score Composed by Sells and Anne Dudley
Directed By: Jonathan Butterell

Inspired by true events, Everybody's Talking About Jamie is the film adaptation of the award-winning hit musical from London’s West End, about Jamie New (newcomer Max Harwood), a teenager in a blue-collar English town with a dream of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after graduation, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition as a fierce and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel) and his loving mom (Sarah Lancashire) shower him with endless support while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But it’s not all rainbows for Jamie as his unsupportive dad (Ralph Ineson), an uninspired career advisor (Sharon Horgan), and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations. In rousing and colorful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to be more accepting, and to see the value in facing adversity stepping out of the darkness into the spotlight.

Everything's Talking About Jamie, as you would expect from an adaptation from a hit musical, has a wonderful soundtrack.  The film's songs are catchy and full of meaning as this young man tries to figure out what he wants with life and how to get there.  It's a great combination of enjoyable beats and meaningful lyrics that will have you smiling and crying along with the plight of the characters.  And these songs are set up with some amazingly elaborate set pieces.  I don't know how the stage play was, but they went all out for the movie adaptation.  They are colorful and entertaining and because lots of these sequences take place in people's imagination, the resulting set pieces are quite imaginative.  

And in between the songs there is a meaningful story about a young person's journey to discover themselves in a town where that shouldn't be as difficult as it is.  And Jamie is portrayed by a fiery, confident, and vulnerable performance by Max Harwood, who is captivating on screen.  He is supported by his wonderful mother (Lancashire) and best friend (Patel) who help to encourage his journey and pick him up when it gets too tough.  And his unlikely and fabulous mentor in Richard E. Grant was another shining character in this enjoyable cast. 

But this film isn't just about Jamie's personal journey; it works in the greater conversation of LGBTQ rights, the HIV epidemic, and the larger movement that Jamie is both benefiting from and hoping to carry the torch for.  But what I also loved about this film is that Jamie is such a confident, charismatic character, yet even he is still unsure about his dreams and coming out to his school classmates.  He is still ridiculed, as you would expect from high school kids, and still has personal dilemmas to deal with.  It was good to see this young, confident soul deal with his own insecurities and finding his place in the overall world.  Jamie's journey is not an easy one, and there are plenty of obstacles along the way where there shouldn't have been, but he perseveres.  And the other wonderful message about this film is that maybe the next generation is ready to carry that torch and will make the world a better, more tolerant place for everyone to be who they want to be. 

Everybody's Talking About Jamie and rightly so; the movie adaptation of the musical has entertaining and impactful songs, a vibrant cast, and an emotional story about finding yourself. 

Watch it.

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Everybody's Talking About Jamie is in theaters on September 10, 2021 and on Amazon Prime on September 17, 2021.  For showtimes, click here.

Screening: See Everybody's Talking About Jamie Early And Free

We have partnered with Amazon for an early screening of Everybody's Talking About Jamie!  The film is coming to Amazon Prime Video on September 17, 2021, but you can check it out early and free, no Amazon Prime membership required!  Details and entry form are below!

Worth

Director:
Jonathan Butterell

Screenplay and Lyrics:
Tom MacRae 

Songs:
Dan Gillespie Sells 

Score Composed by:
Sells and Anne Dudley.

Starring:
Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan and Richard E. Grant

Synopsis:

Inspired by true events, Everybody's Talking About Jamie is the film adaptation of the award-winning hit musical from London’s West End, about Jamie New (newcomer Max Harwood), a teenager in a blue-collar English town with a dream of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after graduation, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition as a fierce and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel) and his loving mom (Sarah Lancashire) shower him with endless support while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But it’s not all rainbows for Jamie as his unsupportive dad (Ralph Ineson), an uninspired career advisor (Sharon Horgan), and some ignorant school kids attempt to rain on his sensational aspirations. In rousing and colorful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to be more accepting, and to see the value in facing adversity stepping out of the darkness into the spotlight.

 Screening Info:

EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE

September 08, 2021

Wednesday 

7:00pm

Bethesda Row Cinema

7235 Woodmont Ave.

Bethesda, MD 20814

Screening Link!