Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Lluís Quílez
Kyle says: “OUT OF THE DARK starts with a thunderstorm, as a man hurriedly packs a suitcase, interrupted on his way out first by a phone call instructing him to burn what look like medical files, then by persistent pounding
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Yu Shan Chen
Jasonvsays: “So, here’s a weird coincidence – two Mandarin-language moviesvreaching American cinemas a mere two days apart, both nostalgic romances that, at different points, involve the young characters needing to meet up at McDonald’s. They’re from different countries (China and
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Zhang Hao
Jason says: “As Fong Yang (Tang Wei) lays out the backstory for ONLY YOU in its opening fourth-wall-breaking minutes, I briefly wondered if it perhaps made a bit more sense with a Chinese background than in the original American movie
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Ed Pincus | Lucia Small
Thom says: “According to items I’ve been reading Ed Pincus is considered a seminal documentary film director, even so far as being called the Father of First-person Non-fiction Film. This biographical entry was made during the last period of Pincus’
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Rating: 2.25
Director: C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi
Jason says: “OJUJU is a zombie film from Nigeria, and there can be very little doubt that its place of origin is the most notable thing about it. Horror fans have seen this sort of movie a lot, usually done
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hong Won-chan
Jason says: “I don’t know if OFFICE ever really gets back around to the question that kicks it off in a definitive way, or if where it winds up going instead is really as fascinating as the filmmakers would have
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: K Youn
Kyle says: “ODE TO MY FATHER is a Korean film about family promises and preservation at all costs. It is melodramatic in various ways, which may render it unpalatable to some Western tastes, for example, gratuitously slamming the audience with
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ruba Nadda
Kyle says: “OCTOBER GALE is a cracking little drama with a perfect dramatic arc in both narrative and character development. It is confined to a tiny private island near Toronto owned by widow Helen (Patricia Clarkson), who travels alone to
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Joseph Sims Dennett
Jason says: “Writer/director Joseph Sims-Dennett initially seems to start out with a private eye story with the background redacted before quickly evolving into something more sinister. It’s an intense stakeout thriller, if one that leans more toward how this sort
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Jason says: “I enjoyed NOWHERE GIRL but I must admit to a sneaking suspicion that the filmmakers wind up saying less than they mean to even as they do so in singular, intriguing ways. Or is that simply criticizing the
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ken Ochiai
Jason says: “Director Ken Ochiai was unusually candid in his Q&A after this film, and one of the things he mentioned was that Japanese movies like NINJA THE MONSTER are made with more than an eye toward the foreign market,
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Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Ben Blaine | Chris Blaine
Jason says: “Ben & Chris Blaine have a heck of a great idea for a movie here – when Rob (Cian Barry), who tried to commit suicide after the death of his girlfriend but failed, starts seeing Holly (Abigail Hardingham),
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Francois Ozon
Starring: Anaïs Demoustier | Isild Le Besco | Raphaël Personnaz | Romain Duris
Bruce says: “What happens when your BFF dies unexpectedly? From the age of seven Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) and Lea (Isild le Besco) were close, bonded by blood ritual. When Lea dies six months after giving birth to a little boy,
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jason Crawczyk
Jason says: “Somehow, when I was looking at this movie’s description, the idea that it was a deadpan comedy (although the blackest you can imagine) never came through, which made it an extremely pleasant surprise. Or perhaps it’s not ‘a
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hal Hartley
Chris says: “Hal Hartley’s gotten the whole gang back together to complete a trilogy also comprised of HENRY FOOL (1997) and FAY GRIM (2006): Thomas Jay Ryan, Parker Posey and James Urbaniak all reprise their now iconic (in indie film
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Shunji Iwai
Jason says: “Eleven years ago, Shunji Iwai made HANA AND ALICE, a well-received movie about two high-school best friends smitten with the same boy, praised in large part for the performances by Anne Suzuki and Yu Aoi as the title
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Guan Hu
Jason says: “Although MR. SIX isn’t much different in substance to any number of ‘aging tough guy stands up to disrespectful young punks’ movies, it eases the audience into that story with a little more care than is typical, and
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bill Condon
Jaso says: “One of the interesting things about Sherlock Holmes is that, for as much as he is one of the most iconic and well-defined characters ever created, he rarely subsumes an actor playing the role – for as fine
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Albert Brooks | Alessandro Nivola | David Oyelowo | Jessica Chastain | Oscar Isaac
Jason says: “A MOST VIOLENT YEAR was shot from an original screenplay by director J.C. Chandor, but it feels like a highly successful adaptation of a great novel: Painted on a broad canvas, giving a feeling for the characters and
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Rating: 1.75
Director: Stephen S. Campanelli
Jason says: “The title of MOMENTUM is appropriate in a way the people behind the film probably don’t intend; momentum, after all, is a measure of the potential energy of an object that is moving but in a passive, unguided
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