It's Just Movies

A three-movie film series — featuring “Just Say Love,” “Dream Boy” and “Manuela & Manuel” — starts today at Clearview’s Chelsea Cinemas.

Clearview’s Chelsea Cinemas is located at 260 W. 23rd St (between 7th and 8th avenues) in New York.

“Just Say Love” — Stars Matthew Jaeger and Robert Mammana. Directed by Bill Humphreys. Written by David J. Mauriello.

A stage play adapted into a feature-length film that explores whether physical attractions appear to be the obvious explanation for two people to become a pair. But are they really the reflection of something sublime, everlasting or dare we say, spiritual? Do relationships start in the bedroom or in the heart? In this male love story, the bliss described by Joseph Campbell and sages throughout the millennia is a practical option for finding happiness. As the camera delves into the characters’ minds and actions, we find fulfillment on both a physical and spiritual level. An Official Selection in Philadelphia Q Fest and the ImageOut Festival, Rochester.

RT: 75 min., color, in English, Not Rated.

* Join the filmmakers and cast of “Just Say Love” for a Q&A following the 7:30 p.m. show on March 26 and March 27. *

“Dream Boy” — Stars Stephan Bender, Max Roeg, Diana Scarwid, Thomas Jay Ryan, Randy Wayne, Owen Beckman and Rickie Lee Jones. Written and directed by James Bolton. Based on Jim Grimsley’s novel.

Shy teenager Nathan and his family have moved from one town to another trying to escape the domestic disintegration within their own home. Roy and his family live a quiet life on a farm. When Nathan moves in next door to charismatic Roy, the boys strike up a friendship as high school study partners. Their strong emotional bond soon takes a natural turn toward physical passion, a secret they must hide from those around them in the backwoods rural community. A haunting and mythical tale of first love, “Dream Boy” is adapted from Jim Grimsley’s heartbreaking novel.

RT: 90 min., color, in English, Rated R.

“Manuela & Manuel” — Stars Humberto Busto and Elena Iguina. Written by Jose Ignacio Valenzuela. Directed by Raúl Marchand.

Deep inside, Manuel has always been Manuela. Amidst her worst love crisis, Manuela reinvents herself as Manuel in order to pass as the fiancée of her best friend Coca — who is pregnant from a one-night stand and must face her conservative family. Hidden identities, misunderstandings, and the tension between two friends pretending to be what they are not, stage a colorful and up-beat story. “Manuela & Manuel” is a visually captivating comedy about two friends performing in the melodrama of Latin America life.

RT: 94 min., in Spanish with English subtitles, Rated PG-13.

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