Looking for something to watch this weekend? Here are two cool movies that were released for streaming and download this month.
PAPI CHULO
This is a cute comedy-drama from writer/director John Butler, starring Matt Bomer and Alejandro Patiño. Bomer plays a weatherman that is put on leave from his job after an on-air meltdown. With time on his hands, he directs his energy into home improvement and hires Ernesto, a middle-aged Latino day laborer, to help him. There is a language barrier between them (which provides lots of the humor), plus they have very little in common; i.e. Matt is gay, Ernesto is heterosexual and married. Lots of funny things happen in this film, although, at one point, it also manages to break your heart. And, even though we Latinos are rather tired of seeing ourselves in movies as the underdog non-citizens that must be hired from a corner, I must admit this film also gives Ernesto dignity, wit, and plenty of scenes to shine. The story is set in Los Angeles, particularly Eagle Rock and Echo Park. It is available for streaming now on Amazon.com.
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SAVING ATLANTIS
SAVING ATLANTIS is a feature documentary narrated by Peter Coyote, directed by Justin Smith and David Baker, and produced by Oregon State University. It focuses on the dramatic loss of coral reef ecosystems around the world, the impact of this decline on the human communities that depend on them, and some of the efforts being made to save them.
The film follows several story threads, including renowned scientists looking to unlock the microbial secrets to coral survival; a mysterious coral reef in Colombia that has withstood over five hundred years of human pressures but now faces its greatest threat; and a group of young aboriginal students in Australia working to restore the ancient connections of their people to a marine habitat just as it could disappear forever.
Filmed in Australia, the South Pacific, Hawai’i, the Caribbean, and the Red Sea, SAVING ATLANTIS is a worldwide tour of an important issue of our time. Did you know that there are gorgeous corals in South Arabia? Perhaps some of the best out there!
Gravitas Ventures released SAVING ATLANTIS on VOD on November 12 on numerous platforms including Comcast, Dish Network, Spectrum, Verizon Fios, iTunes, Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play, Vimeo, and on Amazon.com here.
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