Fans, I want to introduce everyone coming by to a great new site and to three very cool "chicks", we have been talking and they have given us permission to print Cheryl's Taos review of MacArthur Park. There is a direct link to their movie site so everyone can check out their other reviews and find out a little about them and why they have a site.

Maxine, I'm honored that you liked the review for MacArthur Park and want to add a link to it from your website - you certainly have our permission to do so. That movie had a very strong impact on me personally and I certainly hope Mr. Wirth gets a distributor for the film, so that more people than just the film festival goers can get a chance to see this powerful movie. I did get a chance to go out and take a look at your website and I will be going back out there to check for news of a National release date. Thank you for request, Cherryl Dawson "Movie Chick" Cherryl www.themoviechicks.com

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MacArthur Park / Taos Talking Picture Festival
RATING 4
Taos Land Grant Finalist
(Director: Billy Wirth, 85 min)

This film tells three separate, but connected, stories of crack cocaine addicts living in MacArthur Park. Cody (Thomas Jefferson Byrd) is the “father figure” of the group, trying to hold them all together. One day a young man comes to the park looking for Cody and it turns out to be his long lost son, Terry (Brandon Adams). Cody wants to get clean and have a relationship with his son, but there is always one more thing he has to do, one more score he has to make to get some money, one more excuse to not get clean. Hoover Blue (Ellen Cleghorne) has been living in the park for years and tries to convince the new girl, Linda (Sydney Tamia Poitier) that this path is not the one she wants to travel. A young celebrity (Balthazar Getty) falls into the clutches of crack cocaine and ends up dealing with the local drug dealers, gets robbed and seeks revenge, another "True Hollywood Story".

Thomas Jefferson Byrd led an incredible cast that all gave performances from the heart. This was a demanding shoot (20 days in the actual park in the winter), but every single person shines here.

First time feature director, Billy Wirth, deserves a lot of credit for this amazing film and the story of how he got involved in the movie is as interesting as the movie itself.

Wirth was filming a documentary about the homeless people in New York and LA when a woman approached him with an autobiographical script written by Tyrone Atkins (while he was in jail). Wirth talked with Atkins and decided to take on the project. During the filming of the movie, Atkins was in and out of jail three times. In the end, Wirth arranged to have the father and son reunited for the first time in 12 years, "that was the most rewarding part of making this film".

The audience response for this movie was huge!

Movie Chick Cheryl's Personal Thoughts

"What a powerful film! As hard as it is to watch, this deserves to be seen by audiences everywhere. It is so real and you care for the characters so much, it hurts when they cannot escape the clutches of drugs. But, there is also hope within that utterly hopeless environment.

I was especially moved at the actions Blue took to keep the young girl Linda from becoming a carbon copy of her. It's a 4."

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