The U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Vision and Craft winner, Honey Boy was the true winner of Sundance. No movie will come out of the festival with more hype than Honey Boy. This heart wrenching, semi-biographical account of fatherly abuse touched the hearts of many. It screened to multiple standing ovations and was nearly impossible to watch with packed tents full of eager cinephiles lined up in hopes of seeing Shia LaBeouf’s latest masterpiece. Personally, I tried a total of four ...

Ben is Back, Review: Super Mom’s benediction v/s Son’s drug addiction Ben, the titular character, is a nineteen year-old boy who’s come back home for a Christmas visit from his rehabilitation centre. A hardcore drug addict, he has been clean for long enough to earn his holiday. Yet, his visit is going to hurtle his family into a crisis they could never have imagined. Ben is Back is not the routine drug-mafia/gang-war film. Instead, it is a thoroughly watchable hearts and min...

Boy Erased, Review: Let the gay have their way Homosexuality is not a state of mind, a disease or a matter of choice. While we are getting increasingly aware of these facts in many parts of the world, there are at least 35 states in the USA where gay conversion centres try to rid the inmates of this ‘abnormality’ through therapy and methods that are both conventional and unconventional. The memoirs of one boy who was sent to such a home form the basis of Boy Erased, directed by ac...

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...