Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Albert Serra
Kyle says: “STORY OF MY DEATH is the work of a true provocateur, and it is much easier to quote what Albert Serra says than to describe what he does. He gleefully quotes a friend saying that ‘this is a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Roberto Minervini
Starring: Colby Trichell | Grace Carlson | Katarina Carlson | LeeAnne Carlson | Sara Carlson | Tim Carlson
Kyle says: “I quote the first sentence of the New Directors/New Films program notes: ‘Sara (Sara Carlson, playing herself) is part of a devout Christian goat-farming family with 12 children, all home-schooled and raised with strict moral guidance from the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jin-sung Choi
Starring: Chang-gil Moon | King Kwab-sub | Oh Hee-Joon | Shi-hoo Kim | So-dam Park | Yun-hea Kim
Jason says: “Apparently the literal translation of this movie’s Korean title (‘SONYEO’) is simply ‘Girl’. Fair enough, and evocative in its own way; maybe in some ways a little better than the English-language title it’s been given for the festival
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Starring: Aidan Quinn | Barry Keoghan | Brian Gleeson | Carrie Crowley | Michael Ironside | Nika McGuigan | Taylor Schilling
Michael says: “STAY is the long-awaited second narrative feature from Chlotrudis winner and friend, Wiebke von Carolsfeld. It comes ten years after her powerful debut, MARION BRIDGE, and while STAY may not pack the emotional or dramatic punch as the
Read the review...Starry Eyes (USA; 98 min.) directed by: Dennis Widmyer & Kevin Kölsch starring: DAlex Essoe; Amanda Fuller; Noah Segan; Fabianne Therese; Shane Coffey; Pat Healy Jason says: “I am going to guess that the makers of STARRY EYES have not
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Fedor Bondarchuk
Starring: Aleksey Barabash | Andrey Smolyakov | Mariya Smoinikova | Thomas Kretschmann | Yanina Studilina
Jason says: “Columbia Pictures is releasing Russian blockbuster STALINGRAD almost entirely in 3D on Imax screens, and I only include that ‘almost’ just to cover all bases. This is not a bad strategy, as this is the sort of film
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Ben Rivers | Ben Russell
Kyle says: “A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS is an experimental documentary that centers on musician Robert A.A. Lowe of ‘Lichens’ and ‘Om’ but investigates in a three-part structure the idea of humanity’s search for utopia. The first section
Read the review...Soulmate (UK; 104 min.) directed by: Axelle Carolyn starring: Anna Walton; Tom Wisdom; Tanya Myers; Nick Brimble Jason says: “What is a ghost? Potentially anything a writer wants, but probably the strongest way to use this particular bit of supernatural
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Kris Elgstrand
Starring: Arabella Bushnell | Brad Dryborough | Ross Smith
Chris says: “BEGIN AGAIN, John Carney’s follow-up film to ONCE originally sported the far more on-the-nose title CAN A SONG SAVE YOUR LIFE? when it played the festival circuit. It’s a phrase Carol (Arabella Bushnell), the quietly acerbic lead of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tomm Moore
Starring: Brendan Gleeson | David Rawle | Fionnula Flanagan | Jon Kenny | Lisa Hannigan | Lucy O'Connell
Jason says: “There have generally been one or two movies like SONG OF THE SEA among the nominees every year since the Oscars started giving out an award for best animated feature, and they’re the best argument for the award’s
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.9
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Starring: Chris Evans | Jamie Bell | John Hurt | Ko Ah-sung | Octavia Spencer | Song Kang-ho | Tilda Swinton
Jason says: “A Korean director making an English-language movie from a French graphic novel may seem like a random combination, but it’s really not: Both Korean genre film and French bandes dessinées often blur genre lines and forms, while English
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Craig Johnston
Starring: Bill Hader | Boyd Holbrook | Joanna Gleason | Kristen Wiig | Luke Wilson | Ty Burrell
Jason says: “THE SKELETON TWINS refers to something which appears within the movie almost entirely so that the title will mean something, much like these indie family dramas with established actors themselves often seem to be in the same sort
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Rohit Shetty
Starring: Ajay Devgn | Amole Gupta | Anumpam Kher | Kareena Kapoor | Sharat Saxena | Zakir Hussain
Jason says: “Not having seen Ajay Devgn’s first go-round as Bajirao Singham, I have no idea of this sequel – which stands alone well enough – is an improvement or disappointment relatively speaking. There are elements that suggest it could
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bryan Reisberg
Starring: Harry Lloyd | James Ricker II | Krista Kosonen | Sylvia Grace Crim | Travis Koop
Jason says: “There are many ways to have a good road trip; you can do it by sticking close to a map and itinerary, let your whims guide you, or do something in between. There are many ways to mess
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: William Eubank
Starring: Beau Knap | Brenton Thwaites | Lawrence Fishburne | Olivia Cooke
Jason says: “Mystery is not enough. Don’t misunderstand, it’s terrific when a story gets one to lean closer, tantalized by what’s going on, and creating that feeling is a matter of much more than leaving some details out while hinting
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Esteban Roel | Juanfer Andrés
Starring: Carolina Bang | Jesús Ángel Castrodeza | Macarena Gómez | Silvia Alonso
Brett says: “For SHREW’S NEST’s lead character Montse, the Biblical consideration ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ is more of an emphatic statement rather than a question. And in this case, she is not a brother’s keeper, rather her sister’s. In
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Hajime Katoki | Hiroaki Ando | Katsuhiro Ohtomo | Shûhei Morita
Starring: Kôichi Yamadera | Midori Yûki | Saori Hayami | Seiichi Morita | Takeshi Kusao | Yu Kobayahi
Jason says: “Studios and exhibitors should find a way to get short films on movie screens more often. Individually, they’re often great, compact little stories, and a ticket that gets you a handful of them for ten bucks can come
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Anja Marquardt
Kyle says: “SHE’S LOST CONTROL, a feature film debut by director Anja Marquardt, tells a tale of sex surrogates within the psychotherapy community: the elusive goal is intimacy but the process involves sex with people who are essentially strangers, often
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Gilles Deroo | Marianne Pistone
Kyle says: “MOUTON is the nickname for the title character; the word means ‘Sheep.’ It could also be taken as a description of audience members (like me) who are willingly dragged to artistic slaughter. The members of the Selection Committee
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Jason says: “SEVENTH CODE is the sort of movie that can easily get lost in a career like Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s: It’s a short thing produced alongside two large projects that sure looks like a promotional tool for its pop-star lead
Read the review...