Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Anthony Scott Burns
Starring: Carlee Ryski | Christopher Heatherington | Julia Sarah Stone | Landon Liboiron | Tedra Rogers
Bob says: “Sarah is a high school student who’s been avoiding her family. The reason isn’t specified, but it feels safe to assume there’s been abuse going on. She only goes home when she knows the house is empty, so
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Maria Sødahl
Starring: Alfred Vatne | Andrea Bræin Hovig | Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye | Eirik Hallert | Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne | Steinar Klouman Hallert | Stellan Skarsgård
Diane says: “First, nobody warned me that my old heartthrob Stellan Skarsgård had aged so much. Second, I was put off by the elegant lifestyle of this Oslo Brady Bunch, but that’s just me. Director and writer Maria Sødahl draws from
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård | Brian Tyree Henry | Demián Bichir | Eiza González | Julian Dennison | Kyle Chandler | Lance Reddick | Millie Bobby Brown | Rebecca Hall | Shun Oguri
Michael says: “**SPOILERS if you care about who wins.** “What I learned form watching GODZILLA VS. KONG was that I am either a) further from the mainstream than I had already thought, or b) Mothra’s appearance in a monster movie
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Al Pacino | Anna Paquin | Bobby Cannavale | Harvey Keitel | Jack Huston | Jesse Plemons | Joe Pesci | Kathrine Narducci | Ray Romano | Robert De Niro | Stephen Graham | Steven Van Zandt
Thom says: “Let me be perfectly clear, director Scorsese has had a hugely successful career both financially & artistically and while I have highly admired a lot of his material, only 2 of his films received my highest rating: THE
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Sini Anderson
Beth says: “THE PUNK SINGER is a documentary that manages to be about three big topics, all of which could have stood alone as the film’s focus. Sometimes when this happens, the result is a meandering, unfocused film. Or it
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Carlo Buccirosso | Carlo Verdone | Iaia Forte | Sabrina Ferilli | Toni Servillo
Toni says: “THE GREAT BEAUTY in its cinematography captures the wild world of the nights and days of Rome in a love letter to the city from the world of its main character, former novelist and celebrated art critic, Jep
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Ulrich Seidl
Starring: Dieter Masur | Maria Hofstätter | Nabil Saleh | Natalya Baranova | René Rupnik | Trude Masur
Beth C. says: “PARADISE: FAITH, a film by Ulrich Seidl, is shocking in its authenticity. Seidl is a rare treasure of a director, chiefly because of his approach to narrative film. Many of the actors in the film were chosen,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Daniel Geller | Dayna Goldfine
Kim says: “To edit a film can be difficult enough – to edit one based on letters left behind by people from a past event can be even harder. If you’re editing a documentary you have to balance all sides
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Matthew Warchus
Starring: Andrew Scott | Ben Schnetzer | Bill Nighy | Dominic West | Faye Marsay | George MacKay | Imelda Staunton | Paddy Considine
Vicki says: “Based on true events, PRIDE tells the story of the improbable cooperation between striking Welsh miners and a group of London gay rights activists. At first the miners want nothing to do with the help being offered by
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Starring: Alejandro Goic | Diego Fontecilla | Fabiola Zamora | Liliana García | Luz Jiménez | Paulina Garcia | Sergio Hernández
Diane says: “Gloria is a divorced woman in her late 50s who will not accept a lonely life. Actress Garcia, in oversized glasses, brings a confident sexiness to this very physical role. The camera never leaves her, as she negotiates
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Daniel Ribeiro
Starring: Eucir de Souza | Fabio Audi | Ghilherme Lobo | Lúcia Romano | Selma Egrei | Tess Amorim
Beth says: “What makes THE WAY HE LOOKS a cut above the many other coming-of-age movies that are out there, is in its specificity. Set in a high school in Sao Paolo, the film follows shy, blind Leonardo as the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Gabe Polsky
Vicki says: “Although Gabe Polsky’s RED ARMY is a ‘sports’ documentary, it is really more than that. Its focus is the Soviet Union’s most successful Red Army ice hockey team and its controversial star, Viacheslav ‘Slava’ Fetisov, the former captain
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Morgan Neville | Robert Gordon
Beth C. says: “BEST OF ENEMIES is Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s documentary film on the subject of the 10 televised debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley during the 1968 presidential race. The archival footage, the structure of the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Ben Fransham | Cori Gonzalez-Macuer | Jackie Van Beek | Jemaine Clement | Jonny Brugh | Stu Rutherford | Taika Waititi
Kate says: “Written by (as well as directed by, and starring) Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, this ‘mockumentary’ gives us an hysterical glimpse into the inane, mundane, and blood-stained lifestyle of 21st Century Vampires. Four vampires sharing a house in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Starring: Ayberk Pekcan | Burak Yigit | Doga Zeynep Doguslu | Elit Iscan | Günes Sensoy | Ilayda Akdogan | Nihal G. Koldas | Tugba Sunguroglu
Bruce says: “First and foremost, the success of most films lies in the screenwriting. Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven and veteran writer Alice Winocour have crafted a fresh and moving story about five sisters whose lives take a jarring turn when
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Alfre Woodard | Angela Bassett | David Strathairn | Mary McDonnell | Nancy Mette | Nora Dunn | Sheila Kelley | Vondie Curtis-Hall
Michael says: “I can’t believe that it’s been nearly 30 years since John Sayles directed his eighth feature, the glorious PASSION FISH. Sayles was a top independent writer/director at the time, already having produced such work as MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Frank Hall Green
Starring: Ann Dowd | Brian Geraghty | Bruce Greenwood | Diane Farr | Ella Purnell | Joshua Leonard | Nolan Gerard Funk
Michael says: “Bruce Greenwood is one of those unique actors with leading man characteristics and character actor chops. Some of his most memorable roles are star turns in such top-notch films as THE SWEET HEREAFTER and MEEK’S CROSSING, but his
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Josh Mond
Starring: Christopher Abbott | Cynthia Nixon | David Call | Kid Cudi | Laura Johnston | Makenzie Leigh | Ron Livingston | Scott Cohen
Vicki says: “James White is not an easy character to portray. He is basically a self-destructive distraught train wreck of a young man who is called upon to take care of his dying mother, played wonderfully by Cynthia Nixon. As
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Rolf de Heer
Starring: Bobby Bunungurr | David Guptill | John Brumpton | Lizzie Durrurrnga | Luke Ford | Michael Dawa | Paul Blackwell | Peter Djigrr | Peter Minygululu
Ivy says: “Adeptly shot and directed, CHARLIE’S COUNTRY follows the daily life of Charlie as he tries to navigate the confusing and frustrating rules enforced on Australia’s aboriginal residents. David Gulpilil not only stars at Charlie but co-wrote the film
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Brandy Burre | Michael Tomlinson
Vicki says: “ACTRESS is the raw portrait of Brandy Burre who had a recurring role on ‘The Wire’ and then left acting to start a family. The documentary is about her attempt to reenter the acting world and it is
Read the review...