Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hiroshi Shinagawa
Jason says: “Even the biggest zombie movies tend to be pretty simple things, and I wouldn’t necessarily say DEADMAN INFERNO (aka Z ISLAND) was exactly complicated. It does have a fair amount more going on than is typical for this
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Toa Fraser
Kyle says: “THE DEAD LANDS is a tale of an ancient Maori tribe which is virtually wiped out by a band of treacherous, lying, spiritually desolate villains who are pursued by the dead chief’s handsome teenage son seeking revenge. Hongi
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenne
Jason says: “I’m mildly curious how big a part a secondary character had in the original book; after an amusing introduction (and fairly high billing), he gets streamlined right in the background. It’s the right choice – this is a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Tom Hooper
Jason says: “There was talk fairly close to its release about THE DANISH GIRL being nearly three hours long, although that turned out to be a working print and the actual finished film is a more standard two. With the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Spike Lee
Kyle says: “I respectfully disagree with Spike Lee, who claims DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS is not a vampire movie. It may lack traditional traits such as fangs and claws, snarling and biting, garlic and mirrors, but Dr. Green subsists
Read the review...Cymbeline (USA; 98 min.) directed by: Michael Almereydastarring: Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, John Leguizamo, Penn Badgley, Dakota Johnson Kyle says: “This is a contemporary film adaptation of a play by William Shakespeare. Such versions are plentiful and often
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Miguel Llansó
Jason says: “Science fiction films about a man on a quest in a post-collapse wasteland are so far from uncommon that entries in the subgenre need something truly special in order to stand out from a low-budget haze of deserts,
Read the review...Cruel (France; 108 min.) directed by: Eric Cherrièrestarring: Jean-Jacques Lelté; Magali Moreau; Maurice Poli; Yves Afonso Jason says: “The almost-banal serial killer isn’t quite a staple of crime fiction but it’s not exactly uncommon, either, likely in part because the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Park Hye-mi
Jason says: “Two animated features from the Korean Academy of Film Arts played the festival this year, and there’s enough underlying similarities to make a viewer joke about them coming from the same class assignment or, more seriously, ponder how
Read the review...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
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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
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