Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Nanni Moretti
Starring: Camillo Milli | Franco Graziosi | Jerzy Stuhr | Michel Piccoli | Renato Scarpa | Roberto Nobile
Bruce says: “***SPOILERS*** “During the first third to one half of WE HAVE A POPE in scene after scene the production design is impeccable and the script, tight. Nanni Moretti is a seasoned filmmaker who won Best Director in Cannes
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Juhn Jai-hong
Starring: Choi Moo-Seong | Kim Gyu-ri | Kim Jong-soo | Yoon Kye-sang | Yu Ha-bok
Jason says: “I sometimes wonder if Kim Ki-duk has a whole cache of unfilmed scripts on his laptop, turned out quickly because not writing dialogue for your main character saves a lot of time. It makes for a distinctive style,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Yi Seung-jun
Bruce says: “PLANET OF SNAIL is a wonderful documentary about the triumphs and struggles of a married couple living in a small town in South Korea. She is hunchbacked and diminutive. He is a sculptor, a poet and playwright. He
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Henry Barrial
Starring: Keith Diamond | Pamela Salem | Patrick Fabian | Rudolf Martin | Sarah Danielle Madison
Jason says: “PIG could probably do with a name change before leaving the festival circuit. That won’t make it a better movie, of course, but it deserves to sink or swim for the reasonably well-done (if not exactly remarkable) sci-fi
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Adil Hussein | Gautam Belur | Gerard Depardieu | Irrfan Khan | Rafe Spall | Suraj Sharma | Tabu
Thom says: “Director Lee has been enormously appreciated by me with top-rated films THE WEDDING BANQUET, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, HULK, SENSE & SENSIBILITY, TAKING WOODSTOCK, & BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, & only one real failure in RIDE WITH THE DEVIL. So
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Mark Jeavons
Starring: Adam Rickitt | Andy Pandini | Gabrielle Amies | Rob Leatham
Jason says: “There’s the potential in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PETE BLAGGIT? for a movie which one can feel strongly about. It may be a black comedy, an earnest melodrama, or a twisty, off-kilter bit of science fiction. Unfortunately, writer/director Mark
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Dylan McDermott | Emma Watson | Ezra Miller | Logan Lerman | Mae Whitman | Nina Dobrev
Scot says: “I wept through the film to an embarrassing degree, but I recall also doing so reading the book. That said, I my two caveats are that the cast is a bit too pretty, though fine actors. And that
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