Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Starring: Hikari Mitsushima | Momoko Tanabe | Takeru Shibuya | Tamaki Ogawa | Teruyuki Kagawa
Jason says: “TORMENTED is not a bad title for this particular Takashi Shimizu movie – it’s generic, sure, but it does reflect some of what’s going on. I must admit to favoring its original title, RABBIT HORROR 3D. I like
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Starring: Gaku Hamada | Haru | Kana Kurashina | Kei Tanaka | Kento Nagayama | Naomi Ortega | Nene Otsuko
Jason says: “I feel vaguely like we’ve been taking Yoshihiro Nakamura for granted. Though he got his start writing horror movies for the likes of Hideo Nakata, he’s spent the last few years on a string of off-beat but surprisingly
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: John Haptas | Kristine Samuelson
Jason says: “It’s not uncommon to watch a documentary and say that the scale is in-between the usual levels, neither comprehensive nor truly a broad introduction. TOKYO WAKA at times seems to be around those extremes, covering an extremely specific
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jonas D’Adesky
Starring: Jean Mary Pierre | Jules Vitaleme | Sima Mickelson
Bruce says: “About six months after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Jonas D’Adesky’s girlfriend Ines decided she wanted to leave Belgium and travel to Haiti to volunteer her services. D’Adesky decided to accompany her and they stayed for six months. Three
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.3
Director: Evan Goldberg | Seth Rogen
Starring: Christopher Mintz-Plasse | Craig Robinson | Danny McBride | Emma Watson | James Franco | Jay Baruchel | Jonah Hill | Michael Cera | Rihanna | Seth Rogen
Kyle says: “Just about everything you need to know if you wish to see THIS IS THE END can be found in the above cast list: All these well-known actors play themselves. The title’s provenance is contained in lyrics for
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Charles Murray
Starring: Charlayne Woodard | Elimu Nelson | Michael Beach | Omari Hardwick | Shanola Hampton | Tamala Jones
Jason says: “THINGS NEVER SAID, while it spends a lot of time on spoken word erformances, enough for it to be a major focus of the film and the way most people recommending it will describe it to others, isn’t
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Marcelo Lordello
Starring: Elayne de Moura | Geórgio Kokkosi | Irma Brown | Jéssica Gomes de Brito | Maria Luiza Tavares
Bruce says: “On a remote highway in northern Brazil a car pulls over and suddenly two young kids, a boy and a girl, are standing alone by the side of the road. They have not been deposited at any specific
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hernán Goldfrid
Starring: Alberto Ammann | Arturo Puig | Calu Rivero | Ricardo Darín
Bruce says: “The incomparable Ricardo Darin stars as Roberto Bermúdez, a professor of law who has acclaimed academic and forensic careers and a shambles of a personal life. The film opens with Roberto extremely hung over and lying on a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Hideki Takeuchi
Starring: Aya Ueto | Hiroshi Abe | Kai Shishido | Masachika Ichimura
Thom says: “I spent a good number of Saturdays trying to learn Japanese a year or two ago, and one thing I remember about those classes is that when students mentioned they liked manga, the teacher always asked if they
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jean-François Laguionie
Starring: Adrien Larmande | Chloë Berthier | Jean Barney | Julian Bouanich | Serge Fallu | Thierry Jahn
Jason says: “THE PAINTING (LE TABLEAU in the original French) is beautiful, and witty, and smart; you can tell that from the first frame of this movie about the lives of the figures inside a painting. And if it merely
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Aleksander Nordaas
Starring: Erlend Nervold | Jon Sigve Skard | Morten Andressen | Roland Astrand | Silje Reina
Thom says: “A two-man clean-up crew go deep into the Norwegian woods to a remote cabin where they discover a comatose woman that they revive. The woman has a long tail. Thale (the tailed figure) is apparently a Huldra a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Chi-Ngai Lee | Fruit Chan | Simon Yam
Starring: Chery Ngan | Dada Chan | Kelly Chan | Simon Yam | Siu Yam-yam | Tony Leung Ka-fai
Jason says: “The last horror movie I saw that I recall really messing me up was ‘Dumplings’, Fruit Chan’s segment of the THREE…EXTREME anthology. After a decade of making movies that have not particularly traveled outside of the various Chinas,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stephen Fung
Starring: Angelababy | Daniel Wu | Eddie Peng | Peter Stormare | Qi Shu | Tony Leung Ka Fai | Yuan Xiaochao
Jason says: “In China, there was a mere four-week wait between TAI CHI ZERO and this second part of the story; depending where you are in America, it wound up being six to eight months. Not that it much matters;
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Miguel Gomes
Starring: Ana Moreira | Carloto Cotta | Enrique Espirito Santo | Laura Soveral | Teresa Madruga
Chris says: “From Portugal, this little, whimsical black-and-white film should carry an instant appeal for anyone bored by the more commercial axis of indie crossover cinema simply because it’s so quirky and weird—almost like a more feminine Jim Jarmusch mixed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Logan Miller
Starring: Amy Madigan | Ed Harris | Eduardo Noriega | January Jones | Jason Isaacs | Stephen Root
Jason says: “Ed Harris. Western. There, that should have sold everyone… Oh, you need more? Fine. SWEETWATER (also known as SWEET VENGEANCE) is a dark, bloody Western that is both fairly traditional and over-the-top crazy, with a fairly great cast.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lu Chuan
Starring: Chang Chen | Cuckoo He | Daniel Wu | Huo Siyan | Li Qi | Liu Ye | Nie Yuan | Qin Lan | Sha Yi | Tao Zeru
Kyle says: “THE LAST SUPPER screened in its U.S. Premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival. According to various reports, the SARFT (State Administration for Radio, Film and Television), otherwise known as the Chinese censors, worked themselves into a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Brian Dannelly
Starring: Allison Janney | Chris Colfer | Christina Hendricks | Dermot Mulroney | Polly Bergen | Sarah Hyland
Bruce says: “The biggest problem with STRUCK BY LIGHTNING is the protagonist. He is not very likable. In the opening frames we learn that Carson Phillips (Chris Colfer of GLEE fame) is the lightning victim. Carson is also the victim
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.6
Director: Sarah Polley
Bruce says: “Sarah Polley first dazzled film lovers with wonderful performances in THE SWEET HEREAFTER, EXOTICA, THE HANGING GARDEN, LAST NIGHT, and MY LIFE WITHOUT ME. Then she turned to directing and dazzled once again with the narrative features AWAY
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.4
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: David Alford | Laruen E. Roman | Matthew Goode | Mia Wasikowska | Nicole Kidman | Peg Allen
Jason says: “With any luck, a fair number of the people seeing STOKER will do so without already being fans of director Park Chan-wook, drawn in by the nifty cast and striking previews. They’re in for a treat, because Park
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Michael McGowan
Starring: Barbara Gordon | Campbell Scott | Geneviève Bujold | George R. Robertson | James Cromwell | Jonathan Potts | Julie Stewart | Rick Roberts
Jason says: “It’s funny what gets to a person during this type of movie. I was doing okay through most of STILL MINE (which played festivals as STILL, and may have kept that name in some places), and then I
Read the review...