Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ron Fricke
Jason says: “Especially early on, SAMSARA certainly looks like a movie that instills the same reaction as its trailer – ‘ooooohhh, pretty!’ – only for longer. And, yes, it’s certainly the kind of pretty that justifies the cost of a
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Gianni Di Grigorio
Starring: Alfonso Santagata | Elisabetta Piccolomini | Gianni De Grigorio | Valeria Cavalli | Valeria De Franciscis
Jason says: “THE SALT OF LIFE is the title given to this movie for it’s American release; the actual title translates to GIANNI AND THE WOMEN, which is kind of literal but less pretentious, which might have been preferable. THE
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Lasse Hallström
Starring: Amr Waked | Catherine Steadman | Emily Blunt | Ewan MacGregor | Kristin Scott Thomas
Chris says: “Even with a novel premise (the title is all you need to know), a sturdy (if unexceptional) anchor in Ewan McGregor and sound support from Emily Blunt and a tart Kristin Scott Thomas, it all sinks under the
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Rating: 3.9
Director: Colin Treverrow
Starring: Aubrey Plaza | Basil Harris | Jake M. Johnson | KaranSoni | Mary Lynn Rajskub
Jason says: “The title of SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED comes from a classified ad that one character places, inspired by a real-life posting along the same lines; I’m pretty sure I recall seeing it as the hook to a science fiction
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Armand Verdure | Bouli Lanners | Corrine Masiero | Marion Cotillard | Matthias Schoenaerts
Bruce says: “I was a huge fan of Jacques Audiard’s THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (2005) and READ MY LIPS (2001). His most acclaimed film A PROPHET (2009) did not score as high with me as with other viewers
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Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Alec Baldwin | Allison Pill | Ellen Page | Jesse Eisenberg | Judy Davis | Roberto Begnini | Woody Allen
Michael says: “Woody Allen keeps tricking me. I really haven’t seen a Woody Allen film that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed in the new millennium. Arguably, the last film of his that worked for me was CELEBRITY back in 1998 (and many
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Andrew Bush
Starring: Christopher Shore | George William Basil | Kayla Lorette | Mark Little | Path Thornton | Scott Vrooman
Jason says: “Because any fad that makes anybody some money will attract some movie producer’s attention, there was a brief period where Hollywood put out roller disco movies. Because every sub-genre that ever existed will eventually resurface, some guys in
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Rating: 4.6
Director: Jake Schreier
Starring: Frank Langella | James Marsden | Jeremy Strong | Liv Tyler | Peter Sarsgaard | Susan Sarandon
Chris says: “The premise sounds precariously iffy: in the ‘near future’, Frank (Frank Langella), a retired old coot suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s, is given a robot caretaker from his son. Although it looks rather cheap (resembling EVE
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Shinobu Yaguchi
Starring: Chan Kawai | Gaku Hamada | Junya Kawashima | Shinijiro Igarashi | Takehiko Ono | Yuriko Yoshitaka
Jason says: “There are certain comedies where the viewer might realize that what’s going on really make no sense even as the absurdity unfolds on screen, but will consciously forgive it because this particular joke is worth that particular bit
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Rating: 3.9
Director: Scott Thurman
Jason says: “It’s easy to hear a phrase like ‘culture wars’ and think that it’s over-stating the matter; most people, most of the time, stick to their own thing, grouse that there’s not more that reflects their beliefs and tastes,
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Aaron Moorhead | Justin Benson
Starring: Bill Oberst Jr. | Emily Montague | Kurt David Anderson | Peter Ciella | Vinny Curran | Zahn McClarnon
Jason says: “RESOLUTION gave me the creeps, and while it’s easy to dismiss that as just what horror movies are supposed to do, take a minute to think of how many of the last ten you’ve seen genuinely did so
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Chao-Bin Su
Starring: Barbie Hsu | Jung Woo-sung | Kelly Lin | Leon Dai | Michelle Yeoh | Shawn Yue | Wang Xueqi
Jason says: “A popular game among festival attendees after REIGN OF ASSASSINS (JIANYU) was to try and guess just which parts were worked on by ‘co-director’ (and producer) John Woo. Certain elements of the action, certainly, although several pointed to
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Paco Plaza
Starring: Àlex Monner | Claire Baschet | Diego Martin | Ismael Martínez | Javier Botet | Leticia Dolera
![[REC]³ Génesis](https://chlotrudis.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/rec3.jpeg "[REC]³ Génesis")
Jason says: “[REC] 3: GENESIS breaks with the previous films in the series enough that one almost wonders if director Paco Plaza had the idea for the movie and then figured that the benefits of folding it into [REC] continuity
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Cho Beom-gu
Starring: Kang Ye-won | Kim Byeong-cheol | Kim In-kwon | Ko Chang-seok | Lee Min-ki | Yun Je-mun
Jason says: “QUICK is, when you get down to it, a pretty stupid action movie that tries to camouflage this fact with raw speed. The filmmakers would likely have no argument with that assessment if given it directly, just asking
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Matt O'Casey
Bruce says: “A story is told early on in QUEEN: DAYS OF OUR LIVES about catching Freddie Mercury in tears, ‘I’m not going to be a pop star……I’m going to be a legend.’ Then he was a gawky youth from
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Dustin Hoffman
Starring: Billy Connolly | Maggie Smith | Michael Gambon | Pauline Collins | Sheridan Smith | Tom Courtenay
Thom says: “Hoffman’s professional and unobtrusive direction is all that more powerful as his only other time spent behind the camera was STRAIGHT TIME (1978) that he co-directed with Ulu Grosbard. This love inspiration film takes place at a large
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lee Han
Starring: Jasmine Lee | Kang Byul | Kim Sang-ho | Kim Young-jae | Kim Yun-seok | Park Soo-young | Yoo Ah-In
Jason says: “From the name it’s been given in English, PUNCH, you might expect WON-DEUK-I to be an inspirational sports movie, and it’s got some of that in the later reels. In reality, it’s actually something closer to an inspirational
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Chad Freidrichs
Bruce says: “Minoru Yamasaki holds a distinction that no other architect will probably ever match. Two of his most famous projects were blown up – The World Trade Center in New York City, by terrorists and the Pruitt-Igoe projects in
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Walker
Starring: Annie Parisse | Cheyenne Jackson | Edward Herrmann | Eric Mabius | Josh Pais | Parker Posey | Remy Auberjonais
Chris says: “In the ‘90s, Parker Posey earned the title ‘Queen of the Indies’ simply for appearing in so many films; often, she was the sole reason for seeing one. If Michael Walker’s office comedy feels a little like a
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Alejandro Landes
Starring: Jarlinsson Ramirez | Porfirio Ramirez | Yor Jasbleidy Santos
Bruce says: “PORFIRIO is a fictionalization of a story about a man who is the only known disabled person in a wheelchair to hijack an airplane. Porfirio was shot by police under suspicious circumstances; for years he tried to get
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