Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jon Watts
Jason says: “COP CAR opens by dropping enough swearwords that even parents who missed the R rating might consider pulling their kids out, which is both necessary and a bit of a pity. A family-friendly take on the story could
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Cary Murnion | Jonathan Milott
Jason says: “Allison Pill is carving out a weird niche in terms of sweet elementary school teachers who turn oddly violent between this and SNOWPIERCER, isn’t she? Granted, she’s entirely justified here, as anybody in this movie describing kids as
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mike Scholotz
Jason says: “The comedic documentary is not exactly rare, but it is generally reserved for people famous for being funny – after all, if something is funny, it is seldom considered important enough for a film that gets any sort
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.6
Director: Zhang Yimou
Bruce says: “The opening scene of COMING HOME sets the tone. Pre-teen ballerinas are rehearsing – on point, pirouetting, and then crashing their rifles to the floor in unison. One of them is Dandan (Zhang Huiwen) who is suddenly called
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Adam Sandler | Dan Stevens | Kim Cloutier | Lynn Cohen | Melonie Diaz | Sondra James | Steve Buscemi
Kyle says: “Lower East Side New York cobbler Max Simkin (Adam Sandler) struggles to make ends meet, supporting himself and his aged mother. He rediscovers a stitching machine that has been in his family for many generations and starts using
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Brett Morgan
Kyle says: “This HBO documentary on 1980s Seattle indie music scene visionary and guiding artistic force behind Nirvana has much to recommend it: childhood videos and drawings that help to explain Cobain’s restless drive, his horror of humiliation and ridicule,
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Director: Olivier Assayas
Brett says: “It is evident by the first quarter of the film that CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA is intended for a specific audience. That fact becomes even more evident as the nowhere loops of dialogue progress (or rather, stand still)
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Eiichirô Hasumi
Jason says: “Next time I’m in the comic shop, I’m going to have to give the Assassination Classroom manga a look to see what the average chapter length is; even if it’s something like 16 pages, I’ll bet they’re decompressed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Thom says: “I knew exactly what I was getting and was genuinely amazed from start to finish. Gorgeous to look at like a Jacques Demy fever dream & if you are completely ready to fall sway to a most faithful
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.9
Director: Brett Sullivan | Grant Harvey | Steven Hoban
Starring: George Buza | Percy Hynes-White | Shannon Kook | William Shatner | Zoé de Grand Maison
Jason says: “Planning and constructing A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY must have been a heck of a thing, because despite the indefinite article in the title, it’s actually several stories, each handled by different directors and intercut rather than presented one
Read the review...Chi-Raq (USA; 127 min.) directed by: Spike Leestarring: Teyonah Parris; Nick Cannon; Wesley Snipes; Angela Bassett; Samuel L. Jackson; John Cusack Jason says: “Every once in a while, I’ll be watching a movie, think something clever, and then have the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hao Zhou
Jason says: “Here in Boston, we’ve recently been threatened with hosting the Olympics, and though the recent experience of the Big Dig should really have the whole city threatening to string up whoever first thought this was a good idea,
Read the review...Child 44 (Czech Republic/UK/Romania; 127 min.) directed by: Daniel Espinosastarring: Tom Hardy; Noomi Rapace; Fares Fares; Joel Kinnaman; Gary Oldman; Paddy Considine Jason says: “The name of CHILD 44 and the trailer that emphasizes the serial-killer aspects of the movie
Read the review...Chappie (USA/Mexico; 120 min.) directed by: Neil Blomkampstarring: Sharlto Copley; Dev Patel; Hugh Jackman; Sigourney Weaver; Ninja; Yo-Landi Visser Thom says: “Nearly all my friends had loved Blomkamp’s earlier South African Sci-fi blast DISTRICT 9 & ELYSIUM wasn’t half-bad, and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hyun-seok Kim
Starring: Hee-ae Kim | Hyo-joo Han | Hyun-Sung Jang | Jin Goo | oon-seok Kim | Woo Jung
Jason says: “There is a little bit of Korean text at the start and end of C’EST SI BON left untranslated (at least on the local theater’s DCP) that likely says something along the lines of it being based upon
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniel Wolfe
Jason says: “CATCH ME DADDY opens with a poem/folk tale about its Yorkshire setting, fitting enough but a bit surprising, as the story is driven by people and traditions that arrived in the UK from elsewhere. On the other hand,
Read the review...Cash Only (USA/Albania; 91 min.) directed by: Malik Baderstarring: Nickola Shreli ; Maia Noni; Stivi Paskoski; Danijela Stajnfeld Jason says: “There are a lot of actors where following the usual advice to ‘write what you know’ will not get them
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Todd Haynes
Bruce says: “CAROL, based on the autobiographically inspired Sapphic novel, The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith, is terrific. That said, it should be noted that here form triumphs magnificently over content, rarely the case for me. The story is
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait
Jason says: “It’s common to ask whether someone other than the person that wound up making a movie could have done so, but I think it’s a fair question with CALL ME LUCKY. Subject Barry Crimmins and director Bobcat Goldthwait
Read the review...Cake (USA; 102 min.) directed by: Daniel Barnzstarring: Jennifer Anniston; Adriana Barraza; Sam Worthington; Mamie Gummer; Felicity Huffman Kyle says: “There are way too many movies out there with little or no redeeming merit. Sitting down to watch a movie
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