Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Pawel Pawlikoski
Starring: Adam Szyszkowski | Agata Kulesza | Agata Trzebuchowska | Dawid Ogrodnik | Jerzy Trela
Jason says: “Roughly three scenes into IDA, I figured that a good way to review this movie might be to simply list every scene – nay, every shot – and say why I loved it. Eighty minutes later, I was
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Anders Morgenthaler
Starring: Anouk Fischer | Jordan Prentice | Kim Basinger | Peter Stormare | Sebastian Schipper
Jason says: “I AM HERE is heart-and-gut-wrenching in its first act, taking horrific events and making them hurt more with things that would at first glance have the opposite effect. It’s not quite so sure-handed when it starts to actually
Read the review...The Hypnotist (Sweden; 122 min.) directed by: Lasse Hallströmstarring: Tobias Zilliacus; Mikael Persbrandt; Lena Olin; Jonatan Bökman; Oscar Pettersson; Anna Azcárate Bruce says: “Lasse Hallström has had a remarkable career albeit an unusual one. In 1985, twelve years into his
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jang Joon-hwan
Jason says: “A little over ten years ago, director Jang Joon-hwan made a good-sized splash with a film by the name of SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, but after that, barely a peep. He certainly seems to have come back to
Read the review...The Hundred Foot Journey (India/United Arab Emirates/USA; 122 min.) directed by: Lasse Hallström starring: Helen Mirren; Om Puri; Manish Dayal; Charlotte Le Bon; Amit Shah; Farzana Dua Elahe; Dillon Mitra Thom says: “Director Hallström was responsible for ONCE AROUND (1991)
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Nabil Ayouch
Starring: Abdelhakim Rachi | Abdelilah Rachid | Ahmed El Idrissi Amrani | Hamza Souidek
Lorraine says: “Keep an eye out for HORSES OF GOD. Beautifully made examination of fictional young men based on events leading up to the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca. Beautifully shot. Strong performances. Sure handed directing that does not take
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
Starring: David Dencik | Grace Gummer | Hailee Steinfeld | Hilary Swank | James Spader | John Lithgow | Meryl Streep | Miranda Otto | Sonja Richter | Tommy Lee Jones | William Ficthner
Jason says: “I can’t recall Tommy Lee Jones ever working with Werner Herzog at any point, and that’s probably for the best. THE HOMESMAN suggest they may be too much on the same page about how the untamed wilderness not
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: A.R. Murugadoss
Jason says: “I like to think I’m pretty generous to movies that aren’t very good, trying to be encouraging of what they do well and not allowing a bad two hours ofmake-believe to bring about real anger. I think I’ve
Read the review...History of Fear (Argentina/France/Germany/Uruguay/Qatar; 79 min) directed by: Benjamin Naishtatstarring: Jonathan Da Rosa; Tatiana Giménez; Mirella Pascual; Claudia Cantero; Francisco, Lumerman Kyle says: “HISTORY OF FEAR is a misleading title, as director Benjamin Naishtat pointed out before the screening commenced.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniel Patrick Carbone
Starring: Chris Kies | Christina Starbuck | Colm O'Leary | Nathan Varnson | Ryan Jones | Thomas Cruz
Jason says: “Dead things appear early on in HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES, as three kids poking around an abandoned building find a dead bird and do not exactly treat it with respect. It’s a good starting point for writer/director Daniel
Read the review...Heaven is for Real (USA; 99 min.) directed by: Randall Wallace starring: Greg Kinnear; Kelly Reilly; Thomas Hayden Church; Margo Martindale; Connor Corum; Thom says: “I probably will be damned as a terrible cynic for my reaction to this film.
Read the review...Hardkor Disco (Poland; 85 min.) directed by: Krzysztof Skonieczny starring: Marcin Kowalczyk; Jasmina Polak; Janusz Chabior; Angieszka Wosinska Jason says: “Krzysztof Skonieczny seems to want the audience to assume the worst in HARDKOR DISCO, although he and co-writer Robert Bolesto
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Farah Khan
Starring: Angeli Bayani | Koh Jia Ler | Tian Wen Chen | Yann Yann Yep
Jason says: “If you’ve read my reviews of Bollywood movies over the past couple of years, you’ll find a couple of patterns: Just because I enjoy them as a change of pace from the usual Hollywood fare doesn’t necessarily mean
Read the review...Hana-Dama (The Origins) (Japan; 108 min.) directed by: Hisayasu Satostarring: Rina Sakuragi; Taro Suwa; Kei Fuikiwara; Maika Shimamura; Syun Asada Jason says: “Have you ever felt yourself gradually turn on a movie? It’s something that can often be sense in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Su-Jin Lee
Jason says: “It is almost never difficult to figure out where HAN GONG-JU is heading, and that’s okay. It may, in fact, be part of the point. Surprise is not the only way a movie can punch the audience in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ryotaro Makihara
Starring: Shinpachi Tsuji | Tamio Oki | Yoko Hikasa | Yoshimasa Hosoya
Jason says: “I know some folks who will dismiss HAL because it’s animated (and from Japan – the characters even have big eyes!) but might otherwise seek out the humanistic flavor of science fiction it represents. It’s a nifty little
Read the review...Haemoo (South Korea; 111 min.) directed by: Sung-bo Shimstarring: Yun-seok Kim; Yoo-chun Park; Ye-ri Han Jason says: “This one has received a lot of notice in part because of Bong Joon-ho’s involvement as a producer and co-writer for long-time collaborator
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: Brendan Meyer | Dan Stevens | Lance Reddick | Leland Orser | Maika Monroe | Sheila Kelly
Jason says: “Initially, THE GUEST almost seemed like a step back for the team of writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard. It introduced pleasant enough cast and set up a kind of familiar ‘stranger in the house is more
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Helfi C. H. Kardit
Starring: Belinda Camesi | Dominique Agisca Diyose | Sarah Sanguin Carter | Tio Pakusodewo
Jason says: “Keep your eyes on Dominique Agisca Diyose, action fans of the world. She’s a looker from Indonesia, a good enough actress for the sort of material she’s given here, and she certainly looks like she can throw down
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Dong-hyuk Hwang
Starring: Dong-il Song | Eun-kyung Shim | In-hwan Park | Jin-wook Lee | Mun-hee Na
Jason says: “Sitting down for MISS GRANNY, I had a horrible fear – what if this was 200 POUNDS BEAUTY again? The template, right down to the newly-cute protagonist becoming a singer, was sort of the same, and it certainly
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