MacArthur Park

Starring:Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Brandon Quintin Adams, Tami Roman, Louis Freese, Bad Azz, Ellen Cleghorne, Keno K. Deary, Julie Delpy, David Faustino, Balthazar Getty, Rachel Hunter, Miguel A. NÃºÃ±ez Jr., Lori Petty, Glenn Plummer, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Alexia Robinson, Sticky Fingaz, William DaRuffa, Kirk Taylor, Carlton Wilborn
Director: Billy Wirth
Studio: Sundance Channel Home Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Despite its grim milieu--a Los Angeles park that is home to cocaine addicts, gangsters, and hustlers--MacArthur Park explodes with energy and humanity. The ensemble drama's compressed setting is like a small sea in which one denizen's misdeed or scam-gone-wrong creates currents of violence swallowing everyone else. In the 48 hours or so of the story's action, one low-level coke dealer rips off a fading television star, whose revenge involves a would-be rapper, who in turn is trying to escape the park's culture with the help of a cop who was part of a raid during which another dealer stole drugs from a dangerous Latino gang, etc. Trying to stay alive and hopeful in this endless, cyclical mayhem is Cody (an outstanding performance by Thomas Jefferson Byrd), a musician and drug casualty whose abandoned son (Brandon Quintin Adams) is reaching out to him. With Julie Delpy, Ellen Cleghorne, and Balthazar Getty. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

The most riveting,gritty movie of 2001!.......2004-07-13

At least in my opinion. I saw this amazing film in November of 2001 at the St.Louis Film Festival with 2 friends that ran a fan group for Billy at the time. We saw the movie on Friday evening and the next afternoon and I have to say that it was just as facinating both days. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for a second. Billy did an outstanding job for this being his debut as director. I highly recommend this movie, I think it's worth every cent, though it can be hard to watch at times.

MACARTHUR PARK: The Best Film of 2001 noone saw!.......2004-06-21

I saw this at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival for my birthday. It was there along with Grand Prize winner "The Believer" (the first film I saw), "Scotland, PA" and "Julie Johnson" (a still to be released small masterpiece with Lili Taylor and Courtney Love - yes, that courtney love - in a tale of self-discovery, redirection and newly born lesbianism).

But Billy Wirth's "MacArthur Park" has an amazing ensemble led by underrated and underused Thomas Jefferson Byrd (good cineasts will recognize him from several Spike Lee joints, such as "Clockers", "Get on the Bus", "He Got Game" and his best role yet, prior to this film, in the overlooked and oft-misunderstood "Bamboozled").

It also has ex SNL alum Ellen Cleghorn (of WB sitcom fame), Lori Petty, Balthazar Getty (from Lynch's "Lost Highway"), and others.

The story is a disturbing but documentary like account of 48 hours in the life of homeless drug addicts and dealers and the people who float in and out of their orbit in LA's MacArthur Park.

It's an exhilirating, powerful and astonishing directorial debut that began as a documentary and took on actors to dramatize director-writer-actor Wirth's notes, fleshing out reality into a more palatable format (if you like your harsh truths and gritty reality in glossy, well-made fiction form).

Either way you take it, "MacArthur Park" is a diamond in the rough, an overlooked gem which is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

Billy Wirth's Unflinching Look Inside MacArthur Park.......2004-05-19

I saw this film in April 2001 after waiting over two years for it to get made. On May 18th 2004 the DVD is available for the public and fans to enjoy.

Billy Wirth gives an unflinching look at the underside of life. As a take it or leave it Hip Hop - Rap fan, I was blown away by the soundtrack. I felt the music blended and pulled the movie together, it set the pace and took the viewer on a roller coaster ride.

The ensemble cast was extraordinary, I was truly amazed to see the performances that Billy got the cast to reveal. It is an intense film and subject matter but with a sense of family, for not giving up on family, or yourself. To see pass the weaknesses that we all share, that with love and faith in each other you can triumph.

The performances of Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Carlton Wilborn, Keno Deary, Ellen Cleghorn were special to me. I look forward to more work from these gifted actors.

Amazon.com

Description

Life in the park is daily warfare with rival gangs, police raids, the wealthy decadents who now come for drugs and the ongoing demons of addiction. This is where we meet Cody, once a dedicated family man whose addiction to crack cocaine met no criticism and was welcomed by others like him. The harder Cody tries to escape the parameters of the park, the more it seems to close in on him. Finally, Cody surrenders his pipe to reclaim a relationship with this son and a life outside MacArthur Park.

Customer Reviews:

The most riveting,gritty movie of 2001!.......2004-07-13

MACARTHUR PARK: The Best Film of 2001 noone saw!.......2004-06-21

It also has ex SNL alum Ellen Cleghorn (of WB sitcom fame), Lori Petty, Balthazar Getty (from Lynch's "Lost Highway"), and others.

The story is a disturbing but documentary like account of 48 hours in the life of homeless drug addicts and dealers and the people who float in and out of their orbit in LA's MacArthur Park.

Either way you take it, "MacArthur Park" is a diamond in the rough, an overlooked gem which is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!

Billy Wirth's Unflinching Look Inside MacArthur Park.......2004-05-19

I saw this film in April 2001 after waiting over two years for it to get made. On May 18th 2004 the DVD is available for the public and fans to enjoy.

The performances of Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Carlton Wilborn, Keno Deary, Ellen Cleghorn were special to me. I look forward to more work from these gifted actors.

Description

This sharply etched tale of paranoia and guilt was one of the first films to feature a Native American in the lead role. A moving portrayal of a Mojave Indian displaced in the skid row section of downtown Los Angeles, IN MACARTHUR PARK follows him as he turns to a life of crime to in order to support his family. After inadvertently murdering someone, he has to face racist police and his own guilt before he can return to his reservation in Arizona.

Beyond the Edge (1987) / Condition Red (1995)

Average customer rating:

Beyond the Edge (1987) / Condition Red (1995)

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Description

As a Young man, John(Brian Boone) is a member of generation x; a youth tribe with an uncertain future. He is alone in the world of turbulence and abandon. He searches for semblence of meaning in his chaotic life with his girlfriend Alice (Daisy Hall). Their only expression of affection is lovemaking but that can only last so long. Glen Plummer, star of "Showgirls", "Speed", and "Trtespass" masterfully plays Henry, John's only true friend and the only one who understands him. John's search finds Michael Green ("To live and die in LA", "Moon over Parador") who plays Digger, a crazed menace. Digger is homeless and wants to exact revenge on all those who have what he himself does not. John becomes Digger's victim and in his capacity finds himself. An emotional journey into the dark side of today's youth. Beyond the Edge is a powerful film that will captivate you with its depth and drama. ..... Dan is a prison guard on the edge of breaking. Demoted to the women's section of a maximum security prison, he is seduced by a streetwise female prisoner(Cynda Williams). 1995

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