Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Don McKellar
Starring: Brendan Gleeson | Gordon Pinsent | Liane Balaban | Taylor Kitsch
Jason says: “The previous version of THE GRAND SEDUCTION, a French-Canadian film, SEDUCING DR. LEWIS, from about ten years ago, seems to have been fairly well regarded along with being popular enough to inspire a remake. That isn’t necessarily surprising;
Read the review...The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (South Korea; 81 min.) directed by: Chang Hyung-yun starring: Jung Yu-mi; Yoo Ah-in Jason says: “You can do absolutely anything with animation, so why not do a story about a satellite that falls to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Israel Cárdenas | Laura Amelia Guzmán
Starring: Geraldine Chaplin | Ricardo Ariel Toribio | Yanet Mojica
Bruce says: “First there was HEADING SOUTH, Laurent Cantet’s 2005 film that featured middle-aged women fighting for the affections of Haitian beach boys. Then came PARADISE: LOVE, Ulrich Seidl’s searing 2012 portrait of Austrian women who go to Kenya to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Antonio Piazza | Fabio Grassadonia
Starring: Giuditta Perriera | Jacopo Menicagli | Luigi Lo Cascio | Mario Pupella | Redouane Behache | Saleh Bakr | Sara Serraiocco
Kyle says: “SALVO is a rather remarkable feature film debut by writers and directors Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (although they have a substantial chronology together as writers and script consultants) — a Mafia thriller that is both mainstream and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Abdellah Taïa
Starring: Amine Ennaji | Frédéric Landenberg | Hamza Slaoui | Karim Ait M'Hand | Malika El Hamaoui | Said Mrini
Kyle says: “SALVATION ARMY is a re-working of the autobiographical novel also written by Abdellah Taïa, who is making his directorial debut with this film. The first mainstream gay Moroccan film, Taïa tells the story of growing up poor and
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ti West
Starring: AJ Bowen | Amy Seimetz | Gene Jones | Joe Swanberg | Kentucker Audley
Jason says: “The text at the beginning of THE SACRAMENT describes the journalistic style of its protagonists as ‘immersionism’, and I suspect that this is writer/director Ti West’s goal as well – getting the audience inside a situation that it
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Keishi Otomo
Jason says: “The first RURONI KENSHIN movie had the look of a franchise starter in the best sort of way, an introduction to an appealing setting and group of characters that leaves the door open for new adventures. The second
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: David Michôd
Starring: David Field | Gillian Green | Guy Pearce | Robert Pattinson | Scoot McNairy | Tawanda Manyimo
Jason says: “I went into THE ROVER already thinking about how Australia seems to churn out more than its share of post-apocalyptic movies (post-‘collapse’ in this case), at least among the ones worth remembering. It’s probably at least partially convenience
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jon Stewart
Starring: Amir El-Masry | Gael García Bernal | Kim Bodina | Shohreh Aghdashloo
Jason says: “I want more from ROSEWATER, but I’m not exactly sure what I want more of. More obvious suffering and torment on the part of its protagonist would certainly drive the point home better, but demanding that seems callous
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Signe Baumane
Jason says: “I want to champion ROCKS IN MY POCKETS; it is a striking animated film made with adults in mind, and one that tackles a difficult but important subject head-on. The world needs movies like that. The thing is,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Raymond De Felitta
Starring: Andy Garcia | Frank Whaley | Griffin Dunne | Michael Pitt | Nina Arianda | Ray Romano
Toni says: “The worst thing about a Buried Treasure eligible film ($208K made in the US) like ROB THE MOB is its title, directed by Raymond De Felitta who made CITY ISLAND. “While it does describe what the film is
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andrew Lau
Starring: Billy Magnussen | Harry Shum Jr. | Jin Auyuen | Justin Chon | Kevin Wu | Leonard Wu | Ray Liotta
Jason says: “Don’t let some of the pedigree that REVENGE OF THE GREEN DRAGONS can whip out fool you – executive producer/’presenter’ Martin Scorsese and co-director Andrew Lau have made some transcendent gangster movies, but this one is more or
Read the review...The Return to Homs (Syria/Germany; 94 min.) directed by: Talal Derki documentary Kyle says: “THE RETURN TO HOMS is one of the great documentaries on war — horrifying, infuriating, haunting. It takes place over a two-year period from August 2011
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lee Ju-hyoung
Starring: Jung Woo | Kim Yu-mi | Oh Jae-moo | Park Myung-shin | Park So-young | Son Byung-ho
Jason says: “There have been many, many films built around the twin premises that the family next door that’s too perfect to be true really isn’t, and that they have their own problems. RED FAMILY doesn’t go a completely new
Read the review...The Reconstruction of William Zero (USA; 98 min.) directed by: Dan Bushstarring: Conal Byrne; Amy Seimetz; Adam Fristoe; Tim Habeger; Melissa McBride Jason says: “As much as it’s fun to be one of the first people to see a movie,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Josh C. Waller
Starring: Bailey Anne Borders | Doug Jones | Rebecca Marshall | Sherilyn Fenn | Tracie Thoms | Zoe Bell
Jason says: “The problem with RAZE ultimately, is that it’s boring. It’s got a good cast that executes some good action, but this is a movie that lacks one single moment of surprise in its stupid story. And when a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jonathan Tiplitzky
Starring: Colin Firth | Hiroyuki Sanada | Jeremy Irvine | Nicole Kidman | Stellan Skarsgaard | Tanroh Ishida
Jason says: “This is a movie seemingly designed for awards consideration that the Weinstein Company released in April, and while that may just be an example of them deciding another horse was a safer bet… Well, PHILOMENA was the safer
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Andrei Gruzsniczki
Kyle says: “Students of Latin and mathematical and philosophical arguments will know QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM by its more familiar abbreviation QED, meaning ‘that which has been demonstrated.’ It is an essential journey into the Romanian New Wave by way of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Gregory Levasseur
Starring: Amir K | Ashley Hinshaw | Christa Nicola | Denis O’Hare | James Buckley
Jason says: “I can (and to a certain extent, will) rattle off the ways that THE PYRAMID is disappointing, subpar, and lucky to find a particularly barren release date in order to avoid a direct-to-VOD fate. But even though I
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Eisuke Naitô
Starring: Baku Ohwada | Kaho | Kazuya Takahashi | Kokone Sasaki | Ryuzo Tanaka | Shûhei Nomura
Jason says: “I’m sure that the title of PUZZLE was supposed to describe the sensation of watching it to a certain extent, although there were several times that I think filmmaker Eisuke Naito may not necessarily have meant to set
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