Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Arnaud Larrieu | Jean-Marie Larrieu
Bruce says: “LOVE IS THE PERFECT CRIME succeeds largely for two reasons: an excellent cast headed by the able Mathieu Amalric and a moody wintery backdrop of the French Alps exquisitely photographed by Guillaume Deffontaines. Amalric (THE DIVING BELL AND
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Richard Gray
Starring: Jerry O’Connell | John Corbett | John Savage | Justin Long | Luis Guzman | Scottie Thompson | Steven Bauer
Jason says: “To say that THE LOOKALIKE starts out kind of charming overlooks what happens in the first few minutes to set things in motion, but it still does well enough in introducing its cast of characters that it looks
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Andrew Scott | Ben Daniels | Olivia Colman | Ruth Wilson | Tom Hardy | Tom Holland
Jason says: “Steven Knight’s LOCKE does not take place entirely within the confines of the title character’s car as he makes the ninety-minute drive north to London, as there may in fact be an entire minute or two given to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Keita Ninomiya | Machiko Ono | Masaharu Fukuyama | Riri Furanki Kirin Kiki | Shogen Hwang | Yoko Maki
Jason says: “Those who have been following Hirokazu Kore-eda’s career for roughly the last decade may find it a little surprising that the two six-year-old boys at the center of LIKE FATHER LIKE SON (SOSHITE CHICI NI NARU in the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Steve James
Chris says: “From a contemporary viewpoint, it’s unexpected to discover that Roger Ebert had no academic background or concentrated expertise in film when he secured his post as The Chicago Sun-Times’ film critic in 1967. Of course, there were few
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Brian O'Malley
Jason says: “After seeing this, a festival buddy suggested that part of the reason this fell flat for her was that we’d just seen another over-the-top revenge piece in PUZZLE. I didn’t have quite the same reaction; where she was
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano
Starring: Ethan Embry | Lance Guest | Nick Damici | Rutanya Alda | Tina Louise | Tom Noonan
Jason says: “As soon as he or she sees Nick Damici in this movie, blind but still a gruff former soldier, about to be placed in a retirement community, even the jaded moviegoer may smile a bit. It’s not the
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Director: Àlex Pastor | David Pastor
Starring: Jose Coronado | Leticia Dolera | Marta Etura | Quim Gutiérrez
Jason says: “Earlier in this festival, I saw a post-apocalyptic movie where the nature of the end of civilization seemed particularly incidental, and where even though the stakes were high, the whole thing seemed quite inconsequential. THE LAST DAYS (LOS
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Aaron Katz | Martha Stephens
Starring: Earl Lynn Nelson | Paul Eenhoorn
Jason says: “There is something to be said for filmmakers (or anyone) getting out of their comfort zone. Both directors Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens are known for certain types of movies – Katz for some of the better youth-oriented
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Yoon Jong-bin
Starring: Cho Jin-woong | Gang Dong-won | Ha Jung-woo | Kim Jong-goo | Lee Sung-min | Yoon Ji-hye
Jason says: “Sometimes, a movie spends so long introducing itself that it barely has time to do anything, which feels like the case for KUNDO: AGE OF THE RAMPANT. I think it’s because this movie wants so badly to be
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Soundarya Rajnikanth Ashwin
Starring: Deepika Padukone | Nasser | Rajnikanth; Aadhi | Sarath Kumar
Jason says: “Aside from a cameo in the next year’s RA ONE, Rajnikanth’s last film was 2010’s bonkers but memorable ENDHIRAN, and it appears that the delay in his next starring role can be attributed to both health and script
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.75
Director: Ralph Ziman
Starring: Callan McAuliffe | Carl Beukus | Deon Lutz | India Eisley | Samuel L. Jackson
Jason says: “This live-action adaptation of Yasuomi Umetsu’s animated series has apparently been in development for fifteen years, and the end result is one to make you wonder why certain projects persist and eventually get made in some form while
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Mami Sunada
Jason says: “THE KINGDOM OF DREAMS AND MADNESS is sometimes described as ‘a year in the life of Studio Ghibli’, and one which is potentially its last year as an active production house. Many fans will likely be fascinated to
Read the review...To Kill a Man (Chile; 82 min.) directed by: Alejandro Fernández Almendrasstarring: Daniel Candia; Daniel Antivilo; Ariel Mateluna,; Alejandra Yañez Kyle says: “TO KILL A MAN sets up the conventions of a revenge thriller and takes us in an unexpected
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Robert May
Jason says: “‘Kids For Cash!’ makes a great tabloid headline – heck, it looks good on a broadsheet when something akin to the scandal that this movie documents is discovered. It may not be the best title for this particular
Read the review...Kept (Japan; 71 min.) directed by: Maki Mizuistarring: Momoha; Ken Koba; Kayano; Iona; Fuzuki Jason says: “The folks who made KEPT don’t usually do this sort of thing; their names usually show up on light-hearted but bloody genre movies. The
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Don Johnson | Michael C. Hall | Nick Damici | Sam Shepard | Vinessa Shaw | Wyatt Russell
Jason says: “Joe R. Lansdale is a writer much beloved by crime & horror fans but who has never really broken through to mainstream recognition the way contemporaries like Steven King and Clive Barker have; Jim Mickle is an independent
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton | Dax Shepard | Grace Zabriskie | Jeremy Strong | Robert Downey Jr | Robert Duvall | Vera Farmiga | Vincent D'Onofrio
Thom says: “This is a bulging, pompous, treacly mess of a film that has big bucks written all over it. Here Downey Jr. (he takes his A-List status very seriously these days) plays a Chicago defense lawyer of dubious moral
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Derek Kwok | Stephen Chow
Starring: Chen Bing Qiang | Huang Bo | Show Luo | Shu Qi | Wen Zhang
Kyle says: “JOURNEY TO THE WEST is a wild comedic fantasy based on a 16th century Chinese text that occupies a significant place in Chinese culture and has been adapted many times for many different media. In the New Directors/New
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: JB Sapienza | Phil Healy
Jason says: “I wonder where filmmakers start and wind up, in terms of motivation and attitude, when making something like MY NAME IS JONAH. It seems awfully cynical if the final product is what they envisioned, but if not… Well,
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