Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: E.L. Katz
Starring: Amanda Fuller | David Koechner | Ethan Embry | Pat Healy | Sara Paxton
Jason says: “Given the fairly impressive cast, decent behind-the-scenes talent, and loudly proclaimed praise for CHEAP THRILLS coming out of its festival appearances, I expected more from the movie. What I got was an acceptable gross-out movie with a nugget
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tom Donahue
Bruce says: “For most film buffs CASTING BY is essential fare. The film’s primary focus is the amazing, serendipitous casting career of Marion Dougherty and the vast influence she has had in the film industry both on the east coast
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Barkhad Abdi | Barkhad Abdirahman | Faysal Ahmed | Mahet M. Ali | Tom Hanks
Kyle says: “CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is loud, fast, furious, vulgar and jingoistic. It will be a big hit and probably garner yet another Oscar nomination for Tom Hanks. You must take off your hat to the style, pace and command of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Takanori Tsujimoto
Starring: Kazuki Tsujimoto | Kensuke Sonomura | Mitsuki Kog | Naohiro Kawamoto | Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi
Jason says: “I didn’t see BUSHIDO MAN quite at the midway point of the festival, but far enough in that it was clear some things were missing: Martial arts seemed to be in relatively short supply, for instance, as were
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Ujicha
Starring: Chisako Hara | Mitsuko Hoshi | Moeka Haruhi | Nao Hanai | Shunsuke Hirai
Jason says: “THE BURNING BUDDHA MAN is almost certainly unlike any feature film that will show up this year, animated or not. In fact, the style of this movie is so singular that it might be the rare movie that
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Lonesome Solo
Starring: Abdoul Karim Konaté | Adelaïde Ouattara | Mamadou Diomandé | Mohamed Bamba
Kyle says: “BURN IT UP DJASSA is set in the ghetto of Wassakara, Ivory Coast. Tony and his sister Ange attempt a meager survival with him selling cigarettes and her selling her body. A public confrontation leads to a sudden
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lo Chi-leung
Starring: Boran Jing | Lau Ching-wan | Liu Kai-chi | Nicholas Tse | Wu Gang | Yang Mi
Kyle says: “About twenty years ago, I was complaining to a friend how formulaic and uninteresting most new American movies were, and he asked me if I was familiar with Hong Kong cinema. I said no, asking if he meant
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Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Felix Van Groeningen
Starring: Geert Van Rampelberg | Johan Heldengergh | Nell Cattrysse | Nils de Caster | Veerle Baetens
Bruce says: “THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN is a melodrama that could have been a disaster in lesser hands than that of director Felix Van Groeningen who interjects whimsy into a tale of romance and heartbreak. Adapted from a play, the
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Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Rufus Norris
Starring: Bill Milner | Cillian Murphy | Denis Lawson | Eloise Laurence | Nell Tiger Free | Rory Kinnear | Tim Roth
Bruce says: “Yet another Film Movement find although with the cast involved & that the film will open in theaters in March I suppose I would have run across it sooner than later, Still this is a marvelous first-time effort
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Bruce says: “Shane Bitney Crone had a difficult childhood, gay in Montana. His mother, always loving and supportive, did her best to protect Shane from the living hell of bullying and threats. He was suicidal. He would get panic attacks
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jan Schmidt-Garre
Jason says: “Jan Schmidt-Garre’s BREATH OF THE GODS is not a movie advocating yoga as much as it is an overview of the modern form’s history. In fact, it’s almost certainly going to be of strongest interest to those who
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ramaa Mosely
Starring: Alexis Bledel | Alia Shawkat | Ben Rappaport | Billy Magnussen | Juno Temple | Lucy Walters | Michael Angarano | Steve Park
Bruce says: “Ramaa Mosely describes THE BRASS TEAPOT as a film about consumerism, love, relationships, shifting values and magical realism. That pretty much covers it, except for the violence. More about that later. “John (Michael Angarano) and Alice (Juno Temple)
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Analeine Cal y Mayor
Starring: Ariadna Gil | Carrie-Anne Moss | Don McKellar | Douglas Smith | Gonzalo Vega | Zoë Kravitz
Bruce says: “Richard (Don McKellar) and Sophie (Ariadna Gil) live in a suburban house formerly occupied by Mexican superstar singer Guillermo Garibai (Gonzalo Vega); Sophie conducts tours of many rooms that are filled with kitsch and recording memorabilia. Their home
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Henry Saine
Starring: Abraham Benrubi | Barak Hardley | Beverly D'Angelo | Christian Pitre | Eve | Kevin McNally | Matthew Marsden
Jason says: “The world may be a ruined desert in BOUNTY KILLER, complete with the usual settlements built entirely out of wreckage, elaborately made-up bands of wandering savages, and the like, but it’s also one where the one percent have
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Oriol Paulo
Starring: Aura Garrido | Belén Rueda | Cristina Plazas | Hugo Silva | Jose Coronado | Juan Pablo Shuk
Jason says: “THE BODY (EL CUERPO in Spanish) is the sort of thriller that to all appearances never lets the audience get too far behind – in fact, it often feels like the viewers are ahead of the characters. That
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Gregory Hatanaka
Starring: Dominique Swain | James Duval | Pollyanna McIntosh | Richard Riehle | Sal Landi | Walter Koenig
Jason says: “I spent a lot of my time watching BLUE DREAM feeling like I didn’t know what was going on. That wasn’t strictly the case – I could certainly recognize what was happening in a given scene and could
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Lance Edmands
Starring: Adam Driver | Amy Morton | Brandon Wardwell | Emily Meade | John Slattery | Louisa Krause | Margo Martindale
Chris says: “It is impossible to see BLUEBIRD without drifting to thoughts of THE SWEET HEREAFTER. Both stories are set in small towns and feature an incident involving a school bus driver. BLUEBIRD takes place in the remote logging country
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Alexandre Moors
Starring: Isaiah Washington; Tequan Richmond; Tim Blake Nelson; Joey Lauren Adams
Kyle says: “Every year in late March, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art co-sponsor a festival called New Directors/New Films. Films screen at the FSLC’s Walter Reade Theater, and at MoMA’s Ray and Niuta
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jesper Ganslandt
Starring: Alexandra Dahlström | arolina Gynning | Helena af Sandeberg | Marie Göranzon | Olle Sarri
Thom says: “This Swedish dysfunctional upper-class family drama is clever and looks great. A demanding mother is about to celebrate her 70th birthday and invites all 3 of her daughters back for the festivities as well as a huge crowd
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Pablo Berger
Starring: Angela Molina | Daniel Giménez Cach | Inma Cuesta | Macarena Garcia | Maribel Verdú | Sofia Oria
Jason says: “Two movies based on Snow White came out in the United States last year, and that seemed a little excessive. That wasn’t the extent of it, though – aside from the inevitable direct-to-video knock-offs, BLANCANIEVES came out in
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