Our Friend, Review: Cancer kills, friendship lives Several things are going right for this American true story. Slice of life characters, casting, a lead actress who looks really beautiful enough to justify the lead actor calling her the ‘most beautiful he has ever seen’, credible performances, locales shot from all angles, having its heart in the right place, generating heart-wrenching emotions, just that touch of humour, portraying an almost perfect marriage, as against divorced...

By Maria Esteves The 54th New York Film Festival 2016 (NYFF54) NY Premiere of MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, press conference with writer and director Kenneth Lonergan, moderated by festival director Kent Jones, NYFF, was held at the Walter Reade Theater Friday, September 30, 2016. Discussions with director Lonergan included film location scouts, casting process, music moments in the film, special scenes, and the film's flashback structure. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, now in theaters. Watch trailer &n...

Triple 9, Review: 9 pins If bodies count in a crime drama, the body count in Triple 9 is very high. In fact, hardly anybody is left alive in the end. So that makes it morbid. Decapitation and gore galore make it really blood-curdling. Cops and criminals mixing and mingling, while betraying and killing each other, make it confusing. High-profile robberies, blackmail, drug dealers, buddy-buddy cops, uncle-nephew, brother-brother, alcoholic cop, titillation (if the censors have let it pass), bet...

  I'M STILL HERE, the not-very-flattering documentary by actor-turned-director Casey Affleck of his brother-in-law and best friend Joaquin Phoenix has been provoking controversy since it world premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Is the film, which had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this week, a true portrait of the actor's rejection of movie stardom or is it a cleverly planned hoax? The "documentary" of the tumultuous y...

In past years, the SBIFF has shown a midweek movie, with varying degrees of success. In 2007, it was Amazing Grace, with director Michael Apted in the audience (and also serving a role as a special curator/director). The film went on to garner critical acclaim. In 2006, Dave Barry’s Guide to Guys featured the stars and John Cleese in attendance.   This year, the fest has gone the route of adding yet another award ceremony, complete with a red carpet, star wattage and on-stage interviews and v...