Based on the memoir by Garrard Conley and set in rural Arkansas, Australian director Joel Edgerton`s (“The Gift”) Boy Erased tells the moving story of Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges, “Lady Bird”), an 18-year-old gay college student and his struggle for self-acceptance in the face of rejection by those whose support he desperately needs. Raised in…
Film critic and current director of the New York Film Festival, Kent Jones’ first feature, Diane, offers a psychological portrait of a woman whose attempts to reach out to others hides her own inability to forgive herself for her past misdeeds. A 70-year-old divorced woman living in rural Massachusetts, Diane (Mary Kay Place, “Downsizing”) fills…
The Nun, the fifth film in “The Conjuring” Universe, is a hugely flawed and underwhelming horror film that’s both plodding and formulaic. While the film, Corin Hardy’s sophomore directorial effort following 2015’s “The Hallow,” boasts convincing performances from scream queen Taissa Farmiga (“The Final Girls”) and Demián Bichir (“Alien: Covenant”), it fails to leverage its…
In a day where some churches feel that the larger donation you make, the closer you will be to God, and where the biggest donors are the ones despoiling the planet, there are several choices you can make: Blow yourself up and take some transgressors with you, accept it and internalize your despair, or find…
The desire to transcend the environment in which you were raised and choose your own direction in life is central to Disobedience, a clash between religious orthodoxy and the desire for sexual freedom. Adapted from Naomi Alderman’s novel of the same name, it is the first English-language effort for Chilean director Sebastian Lelio whose critically…
“When you can hold the pain of the world in your heart without losing sight of the vastness of the Great Eastern Sun, then you will be able to make a proper cup of tea” — Chogyam Trungpa Chinese Zen master Wumen Huikai said “You do not define the truth, you simply enter into it.”…
Inspired by true events, Bilal: A New Breed of Hero tells the story of a real hero who earned his place in history after liberating himself and inspiring others to do likewise. This Arabic animated feature is intoxicating and beautifully drawn. The animation is textured and multidimensional, almost reminiscent of cutting-edge video game graphics. There…
