7 Minutes

Action, Thriller

Available on VOD: 14 september 2015

Director: Jay Martin

Cast: Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Kris Kristofferson (Blade, Blade II, Blade Trinity), Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters), Zane Holtz (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Vampires Suck), Luke Mitchell (Home and Away)

After becoming indebted to a psychopathic drug lord, three desperate young men are forced to commit a brazen robbery. What begins as a simple plan - "in and out in seven minutes" - quickly becomes a dangerous game of life and death. As each minute of the robbery unfolds, another twist is unveiled and the stakes are pushed higher and higher. In the final act, Sam's pregnant girlfriend Kate is kidnapped, escalating the situation even further and pressing our heroes to do whatever they can to make it out alive.

Reviews

• Hollywoodreporter.com: Veteran music video director Jay Martin makes a highly impressive feature debut with his engrossing crime drama about a trio of desperate young men committing an ill-fated robbery. Featuring intricate, non-linear storytelling and an uncommon emotional pungency, 7 Minutes is a taut, tightly controlled exercise that should spell bigger and better things for its tyro director/screenwriter. 7 Minutes is gripping from start to finish.
• Nytimes.com: 7 Minutes knows exactly what it is: a directorial calling card to the Quentin Tarantino school of blood-bath cinema. Colorful peripheral characters include Brandi (Mariel Neto), a promiscuous barfly who seduces Mike, and Jerome (Brandon Hardesty), a blubbery policeman who pines for her. In one of the movie's meanest touches, Jerome takes off his shirt, inspects his torso in a mirror, and screams in horrified despair. This film is a nasty piece of work.
• Pastemagazine.com: Martin's attention to visuals comes from his years as a storyboarder and music video director (Death Cab for Cutie, Nas, Colbie Caillat). He knows his strengths, and his derivative debut is crafted with the methodical finesse and sophisticated composition of someone who prays at the style altars of Derek Cianfrance and Cary Fukunaga. 7 Minutes is a slick ride through a sexy cultural wasteland.
• LATimes.com: Martin keeps the action, which includes bits of bone-crunching violence, moving apace with solid atmospherics and credible tough-guy dialogue and attitude.
  Flyckeringmyth.com: A strong début feature from writer/director Martin, 7 Minutes goes beyond the conventional bank heist drama to provide a provocative and memorable visual experience. 4*.
• Thestar.com: Writer-director Jay Martin's 7 Minutes puts an entertaining spin on the heist movie with a fast-moving drama that flits from past to present during a bank job. A solid score and tight camerawork shows Martin's background as a music video director translates well to big-screen work.
• Awardscircuit.com: A solid calling card for writer/director Jay Martin.
  Wearemoviegeeks.com: From the moment the three amateur crooks come busting through the door wearing blank, white Halloween masks (which may or may not be a nod to Eyes Without a Face) waving guns they have no intention of using to the final showdown, 7 MINUTES is a remarkable piece of work. I am impressed; I have to give 7 MINUTES at least 4 stars out of 5.
• Forcesofgeek.com: A surprisingly tight, entertaining heist film.
• Waytooindie.com: A fun romp for film fans who just can't get enough of watching bumbling criminals struggle to successfully commit a crime.
• Moviebuzzers.com: Regardless of what your feelings on the ending might be, the road to get there is thrilling and makes 7 Minutes definitely worth a watch. You might think you've seen all that can be done with a heist film already, but you haven't seen something quite like this yet.
• Shuffleonline.net: 7 Minutes is not so much a whodunnit as it is a "whydunnit." It is stylish, intelligent and entertaining.

There's Always Woodstock

Comedy, Romantic Comedy

Available on VOD: 17 augustus 2015

Director: Rita Merson

Cast: Ryan Guzman (Step Up 4 Miami Heat, Pretty Little Liars), Katey Sagal (Married With Children, Sons of Anarchy), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, John Tucker Must Die), Allison Miller (17 Again, Terra Nova), Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Rumer Willis (90210)

There's Always Woodstock is a music infused romantic comedy about a frustrated musician, Catherine Brown who finds herself living a life she never imagined. Stuck at a dead end job in New York City at Abundant Records, a mega music record label with no soul. When Catherine is fired from her job and finds her fiancé in the shower with another women she decides she is going to sell her engagement ring and move back into her family home in Woodstock, reinvent herself and get back to what she has always wanted to do, write music and perform.

Returning to Woodstock for Catherine is bitter sweet. She hadn't been back since the death of her parents when she was only 4 years old. Catherine quickly finds herself in a rut and unable to write music. While exploring the town she meets and befriends a bartender and barista, Emily. After a drunken karaoke performance, Catherine stumbles out of the bar only to have a chance encounter with Noah, the resident town Doctor. There is an immediate attraction but Catherine is in no position to start dating. Little by little, Catherine starts to find herself, write music, and fall in love with Noah.

Just as it all seems to be coming together for her, everything begins to unravel once her fiancé comes back into her life and Abundant Records makes an offer to sign her as an artist. As Catherine struggles to reconcile her two vastly different worlds she ends up not only finding herself but also "true love."

Reviews

• Village Voice: The rom-com elements don't always work, and the conclusion is a bit pat, but Always Woodstock is never less than charming and funny along the way.