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Associated Press
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Movie Review: A lyrical ode to the real cowgirls of the new West in ‘East of Wall'
Filmmaker Kate Beecroft points her lens toward the real cowgirls of the Badlands in the lyrical new film 'East of Wall.' The film blends fact and fiction to tell a story about the working women of South Dakota, skilled riders and trainers with ranching and rodeo in their blood who also can't seem to catch a break. There are a few Hollywood actors in the mix, including Jennifer Ehle as a hard living grandmother with a lifetime of regrets as well as some nuggets of wisdom and Scoot McNairy as an out-of-towner who wants to acquire the land, but most of the cast are non-actors playing themselves. The film won an audience award earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. At the heart of 'East of Wall,' now playing in select theaters, is Tabatha Zimiga, a South Dakota native whose ability to tame wild horses is the stuff of legend in the area. In the film, the horses she rescues and rehabilitates are sold at auctions and often accepted for far less than what they're worth. She needs the money. There are bills to pay on the ranch and many mouths to feed (not just her own kids, but others from around the town who come to her for safety and shelter when their own caretakers stop providing). Tabatha is also living with new and old traumas, from the generational agony of abuse to the more recent death of her husband, the shocking circumstances of which are withheld for some time. But the effects of the loss are still felt, especially for their daughter Porshia (played by her real-life daughter Porshia Zimiga), whose grief is threatening to turn into hate of her mother. Teenage Porshia provides the poetic voiceovers, in which she talks about riding, her mother and, most effectively, the land. It's reminiscent of Linda Manz's narration in 'Days of Heaven.' 'East of Wall' is best when it's capturing the landscapes and the girls in action, riding and filming energetic TikToks of their friends racing cars on horseback. Some have suggested that 'East of Wall' might have been stronger as a documentary. These women are vibrant and authentic and don't look like anyone we see in the movies these days, with real bodies and imperfect skin, heads half-shaved, tattoos everywhere and the ability to really, really ride — no stunt team required. And they have stories to tell, many of them unhappy, as we see in one of the most moving non-action scenes involving a group of mothers speaking candidly about their lives and their regrets. The real-life drama of financial instability is compelling and likely rooted in truth; however, the introduction of McNairy's suspect Texan feels like a narrative contrivance and drama for drama's sake. He offers to buy the ranch and let them live and work as usual, just for him now instead of themselves. These are the kind of scenes that remind you that the filmmakers, despite all their best intentions and care, are, in essence, also interlopers in this world. Beecroft's story of how she stumbled upon Tabatha and her cowgirls sounds like something out of a folk song. A native of Los Angeles who'd worked as an actress and production designer, Beecroft felt stalled and hopped in a truck with her friend and cinematographer Austin Shelton to find the stories of everyday Americans. A wrong turn, she said, led her to these women. 'East of Wall' is a promising start for a burgeoning filmmaker and a worthy portrait of an insular world that many of us will never know. 'East of Wall,' a Sony Pictures Classics release now in select theaters, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for 'language throughout.' Running time: 97 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Fairyland' Trailer: Scoot McNairy and Emilia Jones Lead Father-Daughter Drama Based on True Story (Exclusive)
NEED TO KNOW PEOPLE has the exclusive first look at the official trailer for Fairyland, in theaters Oct. 10 An adaptation of Alysia Abbott's memoir, it follows a single father raising his daughter in bohemian San Francisco and the AIDS crisis The Andrew Durham-directed film stars Scoot McNairy, Emilia Jones, Geena Davis, Cody Fern, Maria Bakalova, Bella Murphy, Adam Lambert and Nessa Dougherty Scoot McNairy and Emilia Jones are charting a complicated father-daughter journey against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis in their new movie. Fairyland (in theaters Oct. 10), directed by Andrew Durham, is based on the acclaimed 2013 memoir of the same name by Alysia Abbott. As a new trailer shared exclusively with PEOPLE shows, the page-to-screen adaptation captures young Alysia's coming of age in San Francisco with her father's bohemian friends in the 1970s and '80s. McNairy, 47, plays Steve Abbott, a poet and activist who comes out as gay following the death of Alysia's mother. Played by Nessa Dougherty as a child and Jones, 23, as an adult, Alysia is brought up with more than her share of independence, it appears. 'When I was your age, I couldn't be the person that I wanted to be,' McNairy's Steve can be heard telling his daughter in the trailer. 'And that kind of thing can really eat you up as a kid. I just didn't want you to be raised the way that I was raised.' Alysia appears to prefer being what Steve playfully calls 'such a normal girl.' But later in the trailer, Jones can be seen confiding in a friend, tears in her eyes: 'When you keep a secret about something for so long, it becomes a part of you.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Sofia Coppola is among the producers of Fairyland, which premiered to rave reviews at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It costars Geena Davis as Alysia's grandmother Munca, as well as Cody Fern, Maria Bakalova, Bella Murphy and Adam Lambert. Durham, who filmed Fairyland in 21 days, called it 'a parallel coming-of-age story' in a 2023 interview with Collider. 'This is a story of a daughter, or a young girl, raised by her gay father. If you know anything about that sort of community back then, a lot of those men that came out of the closet in the 1970s during the gay lib movement were going through a second adolescence because they had suppressed that initial adolescence.' Alysia, he continued, 'is coming of age as [Steve] is coming of age again. So we're watching these two worlds collide and also connect.' Lambert, 43, read Abbott's memoir and 'thought it was beautiful,' he recalled, revealing a personal connection to her story. 'I've always loved San Francisco in the '70s, particularly in the Castro, the gay liberation movement. My mom's side of the family, they lived there in the Castro during that time. It hits home for me.' Lionsgate and Willa will distribute Fairyland in theaters Oct. 10. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Amanda Seyfried and Scoot McNairy to star in The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd
Amanda Seyfried and Scoot McNairy are to star in prison break thriller 'The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd', which will be written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson.
