Author: Mariana Sánchez Gaona

‘Beautiful Boy’: A true story of addiction and hope

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Looking for your teenage son on the streets when he doesn’t come home can be an excruciating experience. It’s a recurring one for David Sheff (Steve Carell). His son, Nic Sheff (Timothée Chalamet), tends to disappear when he is high.   The movie “Beautiful Boy” is the story of father and son, David and Nic Sheff, and their ongoing battle with Nic’s drug dependency. The script is based on two memoirs: “Beautiful Boy,” by David Sheff and “Tweak,” by Nic Sheff.   The movie tries to blend two perspectives of addiction: one from a father who is constantly trying to help his addicted son and the other from the son, who tries to stay sober only to relapse. The story is a reminder that when someone is addicted to a substance it affects their entire family.   From the first scene, David is trying to help Nic, who is doing crystal meth. He wants to know more about his son’s drug addiction, in an attempt to help him. We go back to the previous year …

‘A Star is Born’: A Heartfelt Remake

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Fame, talent and love are at the heart of the new reincarnation of “A Star is Born.” The film marks Bradley Cooper’s impressive directorial debut. He also co-wrote the screenplay, composed original songs for the film and produced it. His female counterpart is the pop superstar Lady Gaga. She fills in the shoes of previous divas who took on the role: Judy Garland in 1954 and Barbra Streisand in 1976. The story has been told previously in three movies but this version feels particularly personal and grand. The movie follows the love story between Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and Ally (Lady Gaga). They meet in a drag queen bar where she is the only performer singing live. Ally sings a cover of “La Vie en Rose.” Jackson is mesmerized by her performance and meets her backstage. While he is waiting for her, he sings to an audience of a few drag queens. Ally watches him from afar and an instant connection is made through their love of music. They go out into the night, get …

“The Tale” opens dialogue about sexual abuse for BU community

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Audience at Boston University College of Communication before a screening of “The Tale” on Friday, November 9, 2018. / Photo by Mariana Sánchez    BOSTON, November 10, 2018 – “This film was created to start a dialogue,” Jennifer Fox said before screening her movie “The Tale” at Boston University last night as part of the series Cinemathèque. The film, directed by Fox, is a fictionalized version of the sexual abuse she experienced at 13.   “People need to know that it happens, it’s real, and that woman just don’t imagine it”, Gerald Peary, curator of Cinemathèque, said on why he programmed the movie. Cinemathèque is a series of film screenings and conversations with their creators organized by the Department of Film and Television at BU opened to the general public.   “The Tale” narrates the story of how Fox, played by Laura Dern, in her forties reframed what she used to call her first relationship. Mrs. G (Elizabeth Debicki), her riding coach, groomed her into a relationship with Bill (Jason Ritter) a middle-aged former athlete …

‘All About Nina’: the movie that echoes a movement

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“All About Nina,” featured in the Spotlight Screening at the Boston Women’s Film Festival at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge during the last week of September, is the dramedy that reiterates the current #MeToo climate. The festival’s main goal is to highlight female-centric stories directed by women. This year, it offered 16 films made in 2017 and 2018 from China, New Zealand, Indonesia and the U.S. with two venues at the Boston Museum of Modern Arts and The Brattle Theatre. They also added two previously released films to the festival’s schedule. “All About Nina” tells the story of stand-up comedian Nina Geld, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Nina writes her set around her own bad decisions and performs it with coarse jokes. The director, Eva Vives, who also wrote the screenplay, based Nina’s struggles on her own life experience. Vives was not a stand-up comedian, but she was a regular audience member in New York stand-up shows when she was younger. She has previously said that attending these shows helped her come to grips to what happened to …

‘Blaze’: The Forgotten Troubadour

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Country music’s best kept secret might just be Blaze Foley. The singer-songwriter who died at 39 from a gunshot wound in 1989 is the topic of Ethan Hawke’s latest directorial cinematic work, Blaze. The movie is based on Blaze’s partner and muse Sybil Rosen’s memoir “Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley.” Hawke and Rosen co-wrote the screenplay. The movie diverges from the usual chronological structure of a biopic. Hawke took a chance in showing specific periods of Foley’s life that let the audience see a complex character. The narrative is divided in the past when Rosen, played by Alia Shawkat, and Foley, interpreted by newcomer Ben Dickey, lived in a tree house. The warm colors and idyllic montages show a dreamer in the cusp of looking for something bigger. When Blaze and Sybil leave their home to look for better opportunities, Blaze says to Sybil, “I don’t want to be a star, I want to be a legend.” The movie goes back and forth with Blaze’s performing his repertoire to an indifferent …

“One size fits all treatment doesn’t work,” said addiction specialist at HUBweek

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Dr. Martha Kane from Mass General Hospital and Dr. Scott Hadland from Boston Medical Center discuss addiction treatment and recovery for young adults in the Ideas Dome at HUBweek on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Boston, Mass. Photo credit: Mariana Sánchez Gaona   BOSTON, October 13, 2018 – “We now understand that addiction is a chronic relapsing disease”, said Dr. Martha Kane at a HUBweek event about addiction treatment and recovery for young adults. Dr. Kane, the clinical director of the Addiction Services Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, added, “everyone needs an individualized treatment plan.”   Dr. Scott Hadland, the second panelist, is a pediatrician and addiction specialist at Boston Medical Center. The two panelists discussed how they approached addiction in young adults with comprehensive treatments. Young adults are people between the ages of 18 to 25.   According to the 2014 national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “more than 1 in 5 young adults aged 18 to 25 were current users of illicit drugs in 2014.” The Boston …

Cuba para Turistas [2da. Parte]

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Cuba espera recibir más de 4 millones de turistas en el 2017 según el Ministerio de Turismo de Cuba (Mintur). Dentro de La Habana vieja, en la calle Obispo, los turistas se detienen a escuchar al hombre que crea un ambiente musical con su guitarra, armónica y animales de madera que mueve con un pie. En las calles aledañas las casas son verdes, amarillas o azules con balcones donde la ropa se seca al sol y el viento mueve las sábanas en cámara lenta. Dos mujeres están sentadas afuera de sus casas discutiendo sobre sus vecinos. Los jóvenes tratan de llamar la atención de las turistas con chiflidos. Las fachadas esconden ruinas entre sombras. El sol no toca las escaleras que sólo llegan al segundo piso de tres, se detienen frente a una ventana sin techo. Los turistas no se asoman, siguen caminando.   En la calle principal de Viñales sólo se pueden distinguir a los turistas. El pueblo se encuentra a 3 horas de La Habana y es conocido por sus campos de tabaco …

Cuba para Turistas [1era. Parte]

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La avioneta sobrevuela los edificios bajos de los suburbios en La Habana. El sol se refleja en el polvo hecho tierra de la ventana en el piso 14 del hotel Tritón. El biplano se asemeja a los aviones de combate de la Segunda Guerra Mundial con hélice en la trompa y alas rectas paralelas. La hélice calla al único elevador que servía para todos los huéspedes.   La mucama con el carro de limpieza y los turistas ven en números rojos pasar el piso 14 hasta el 22 dónde el elevador terminaba su recorrido y volvía a bajar. Las puertas se abren para revelar poco espacio. Los turistas entran al elevador, mientras la empleada cubana les da paso. Antes de que se cierren las puertas para bajar ellos la miran. Ella sólo les dice:   – Ya estoy acostumbrada.   El turismo ha tenido una relación complicada con Cuba. En los treintas, durante la prohibición en Estados Unidos, la isla tuvo un gran auge con turistas estadounidenses porque el alcohol era legal. Los estadounidenses siguieron …

Swiss Army Man

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The experience of watching Swiss Army Man can be summed up by the last quote of the movie, “What the fuck?” The movie that caused walkouts during its first screening at Sundance is pretty weird. However, a beautiful and well-soundtracked narrative drives its strangeness. The movie starts with garbage floating across the sea. Messages like “I’m so bored. I don’t want to die alone. Help me.” can be seen scribbled on juice boxes and a little boat made out of trash. Hank (Paul Dano), lost on a deserted island, is humming quietly while he adjusts the rope around his neck. But he sees someone (Daniel Radcliffe) wash ashore. Soon enough, Hank realizes the body is a flatulent corpse and returns to his suicidal start point. Before he gives the deadly step, the corpse farts its way into the sea. Hank runs while his joyous chants blend with the soundtrack. He mounts the corpse and uses his farts to propel him to safety. After, this first scene you know you have something special on your hands. …

Coraline

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Coraline is an unexpected, different and utterly beautiful, stop-motion animated movie. It’s based on the book with the same name written by Neil Gaiman. Henry Selick, who directed “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” headed this movie. Selick creates a magical world, which not only Coraline wants to get lost in but anyone who gets a peek will do too. The unlikely road of Coraline to the big screen starts with the book it’s based on. Coraline is a children’s book that many have found a bit disturbing. The story gets darker and more adventurous as you go along. It might be because it’s not all yellow brick roads or chocolate factories. Maybe is the lack of adult supervision that 80s kids enjoyed, or the other mother’s macabre plan. Neil Gaiman always thought of Coraline as a kids’ story, which he wrote for her daughters. However, his literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz, thought the book was too scary for kids. Gaiman suggested that she should read it to her daughters, aged eight and six at the time, and …