Teaching audiences to view films actively
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Director: Jennifer Phang
Starring: Freya Adams | Jacqueline Kim | James Urbaniak | Jennifer Ehle | Jennifer Ikeda | Ken Jeong | Olivia Horton | Samantha Kim | Troi Zee
Toni says: “Director Jennifer Phang describes ADVANTAGEOUS as ‘an anti-cynicism movie…an attempt to re-engage moviegoers who’ve lost hope.’ The film’s lead actress, Jacqueline Kim, co-wrote the film with Jennifer, based on the short by the same name about a middle-aged
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Director: Elyse Steinberg | Josh Kriegman
Bruce says: “WEINER profiles the former New York Congressman who resigned in the wake of a sex scandal involving his posting online pictures of his genitalia. His career sidelined, Anthony Weiner regrouped and promised his wife, an aide to Hillary
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Director: David Farrier | Dylan Reeve
Chris says: “TICKLED begins with a wink and a nod—a feature-length documentary about competitive tickling online? Still, few can fathom what its co-director, New Zealand-based pop culture journalist David Farrier uncovers as he investigates this initially innocuous-seeming niche/fetish subculture. He
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Director: Barbara Kopple
Vicki says: “It is inspiring to watch Barbara Kopple’s honest and intimate portrait of Miss Sharon Jones, the dynamo of a soul singer. The well-crafted documentary chronicles the singer’s brave fight against pancreatic cancer in a brilliant way that gives
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Director: Laura Gabbert
Kim says: “Focusing on Los Angeles food writer Jonathan Gold, this wonderful tour of the cuisine in the little hidden places in LA makes you hungry (ok, the hagfish almost make me yarp) and makes you wish you had a
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Director: Ava DuVernay
Kate says: “The facts delivered in the first few moments of the documentary are painful to accept — informing the audience that the US is home to 5% of the population of the globe, and American prisons hold 25% of
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Director: Mike Birbiglia
Starring: Brandon Scott Jones | Chris Gethard | Emily Skeggs | Gillian Jacobs | Kate Micucci | Keegan-Michael Key | Mike Birbiglia | Tami Sagher
Beth says: “Improv-comedy teams, in order to be successful, find the way to take a group of different individuals and create a cohesive story to tell. DON’T THINK TWICE, a film about such a team, had find that balance, twice.
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Director: Radu Jude
Starring: Alberto Dinache | Luminita Gheorghiu | Mihai Comanoiu | Teodor Corban | Toma Cuzinm Alexandru Dabija | Victor Rebengiuc
Kate says: “Marius Panduru’s high-contrast B&W photography provides the audience with a crisp and caustic lens through which to view the slapstick adventures of a bureaucratic flunky and his son, as they chase down a Romany slave running from his
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Director: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Agata Buzek | Agata Kulesza | Anna Próchniak | Eliza Rycembel | Joanna Kulig | Katarzyna Dabrowska | Lou de Laâge | Vincent Macaigne
Beth C. says: “The best films utilize cinematography for aesthetic value and to convey meaningful information about the film’s unexplored plot, themes, and moods. The outdoor scenes in The Innocents are stunning and demonstrate Champetier’s superior skills and perspective. It
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Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Adriana Ugarte | Daniel Grao | Dario Grandinetti | Emma Suárez | Inma Cuesta | Michelle Jenner | Nathalie Poza | Pilar Castrop | Rossy de Palma
Beth says: “The challenge for Jose Salcedo, Pedro Almodovar’s longtime editor, was how to harness two strong, distinct voices (Almodovar’s and writer Alice Munro, whose short stories were adapted for the screen) into a cohesive blend, while at the same
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Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Blake Jenner | Juston Street | Ryan Guzman | Temple Baker | Tyler Hoechlin | Wyatt Russellm Glen Powell
Hilary says: “The soundtrack of EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! ambles between genres as it follows the teammates of the 1980 Texas State University baseball team over the last long weekend before the Fall semester. Music blasts from car radios, nightclub sound
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Director: Andrea Arnold
Starring: Arielle Holmes | Crystal Ice | McCaul Lombardi | Riley Keough | Sasha Lane | Shia LaBeouf
Chris says: “The soundtrack to Andrea Arnold’s one-of-a-kind road trip film suitably plays like an eclectic but not random mixtape, even if its teenaged characters likely no longer make them. It features plenty of hip-hop that we often see the
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Director: Hannes Holm
Starring: Bahar Pars | Börje Lundberg | Chatarina Larsson | Filip Berg | Ida Engvoll | Klas Wiljergård | Rolf Lassgård | Tobias Almborg
Paul says: “A MAN CALLED OVE is the story of a lonely and curmudgeonly retiree who spends his time harassing his neighbors for petty HOA violations before ultimately planning to kill himself. However, Ove, who at the film’s beginning is
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