Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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)
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Katie Aselton
Starring: Anslem Richardson | Jay Paulson | Kate Bosworth | Katie Aselton | Lake Bell | Will Bouvier
Jason says: “When building a survival-in-the-wild thriller, most writers start with something like BLACK ROCK and then add stuff – elaborate kills, extra plot twists, maybe some sort of weird backdrop. That’s the usual path, but the makers of this
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Michael Polish
Starring: Anthony Edwards | Balthazar Getty | Jean-Marc Barr | Josh Lucas | Kate Bosworth | Radha Mitchell
Jason says: “Mock me for my lack of appreciation for great literature, but my interest in BIG SUR didn’t come from it being an adaptation of a Jack Kerouac work. Instead, it was Michael Polish’s presence as screenwriter and director
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mike Mendez
Starring: Clare Kramer | Greg Grunberg | Lombardo Boyar | Patrick Bauchau | Ray Wise
Jason says: “Well, there’s certainly no denying that BIG ASS SPIDER! delivers what it promises – that is certainly one big-ass spider menacing Los Angeles from the very start. For those that want maybe a little more to their movies,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Starring: Cosima Stratan | Cristina Flutur | Dana Tapalaga | Ionut Ghinea | Valeriu Andriuta
Bruce says: “Director Christian Mungiu is on the record for stating BEYOND THE HILLS is about extremism and the harm it does to society. That is an answer to those who think the film is only about religion. His acclaimed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Shannah Laumeister
Chris says: “Bert Stern’s contributions to the art of photography are major enough to justify a feature-length documentary about them: for starters, look to his truly innovative Smirnoff Vodka ads that transformed Madison Avenue advertising in the 1950s, his portraits
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Kyle says: “AT BERKELEY and THE LAST OF THE UNJUST share little in common aside from both being Main Slate screenings of the 51st New York Film Festival, both having very long running times, and both being sharply revealing contemporary
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Peter Strickland
Starring: Cosimo Fusco | Layla Amir | Susanna Cappellaro | Toby Jones | Tonia Sotiropoulou
Jason says: “BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO brought a film called AMER to mind, even though the two are spectacularly different in the way they pay tribute to Italian giallo movies. What they have in common is a deep affection for the
Read the review...