Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Stephen Kessler
Jason says: “It’s okay to look at the title of PAUL WILLIAMS STILL ALIVE and have a reaction somewhere between dismissal and dread. Documentaries about musicians who have faded into obscurity in part due to substance abuse are so common
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Alain Gagnol | Jean-Loup Felicioli
Starring: Bernadette Lafont | Bruno Salomone | Dominique Blanc | Jean Benguigui | Oriane Zani
Jason says: “One of two ‘underdog’ nominees for Best Animated Feature in last year’s Academy Awards, A CAT IN PARIS is at the very least as deserving than the other cat-themed feature nominated, although that undersells its charm quite a
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: David Oyelowo | John Cusack | Macy Gray | Matthew McConaughey | Nicole Kidman | Scott Glenn | Zac Efron
Thom says: “I’m a huge fan of Lee Daniels and following SHADOWBOXER & PRECIOUS I was excited about seeing this and it was every bit as thrilling as I expected. It’s clear after all three films that Daniel’s is turning
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Wuershan
Starring: Chen Kun | Chen Tingjia | Feng Shaofeng | Kris Phillip | Yang Mini | Zhao Wei | Zhou Xun
Jason says: “Newcomers should not be too put-off by the fact that PAINTED SKIN: THE RESURRECTION has a subtitle or a roman numeral depending on whether the title is written in English or Chinese; the first text on the screen
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Gael Morel
Starring: Beatrice Dalle | Didier Flamand | Dimitri Durdaine | Ludovic Berthillot | Malik Issolah | Stéphane Rideau
Thom says: “I had expected to become a huge fan of Director Morel after 3 DANCING SLAVES (2004) but an earlier & later offering (FULL SPEED (1996) & APRES LUI (2007)) proved more problematic. So this was a thrilling surprise
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Lorraine Levy
Starring: Areen Omari | Emmanuelle Devos | Jules Sitruk | Khalifa Natour | Mehdi Dehbi | Pascal Elbe
Jason says: “My half-a-lifetime-ago high school French tells me that the title of this movie doesn’t quite translate to ‘The Other Son’, but to ‘The Son of the Other’ and that does turn out to be a fairly important distinction.
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Anders Danielson Lie | Hans Olay Brenner | Ingrid Olava | Malin Crepin | Petter Width Kristiansen | Tone Mostraum
Thom says: “Director Trier was responsible for the highly-praised REPRISE (2006) that was also lauded by this viewer so to say I was surprised at how much I disliked this film is putting it mildly. The story takes place over
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Julian Farino
Starring: Alia Shawkat | Allison Janney | Catherine Keener | Hugh Laurie | Leighton Meester | Oliver Platt
Thom says: “Director Farino appears to have laid his groundwork on established, top-of-the-line, television series like ‘SEX & THE CITY,’ ‘BIG LOVE,’ ‘ROME,’ & ‘ENTOURAGE.’ Since a majority of the cast also cut their teeth on television series it only
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Elisabeth Sperling | Trish Dalton
Bruce says: “ONE NIGHT STAND is a documentary tracking four creative teams as they each labor to create a fifteen minute musical in twenty-four hours. The activities begin at 8:00pm and at 8:00 the following night the curtain rises. The
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring: Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan | Ercan Kesal | Firat Tanis | Muhammet Uzuner | Taner Birsel | Yilmaz Erdogan
Michael says: “Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s seventh film (following the outstanding trio of DISTANT, CLIMATES, and THREE MONKEYS continues the trend proving him to be a filmmaker of note. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA clocks in at 157 minutes, and
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Roschdy Zem
Starring: Denis Podalydès | Maurice Bénichou | Nozha Khouadra | Salomé Stévenin | Sami Bouajila
Bruce says: “OMAR KILLED ME holds great promise but falls short. Based on an autobiography by Omar Raddad, the film documents the events and trial surrounding the murder of a wealthy woman Madame Pascal, living on the Côte d’Azur. For
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Rating: 3.375
Director: Jason Cortland | Julia Halperin
Starring: Almex Lee | Gabrielle Maisels | Jason Cortland | Tiffany Esteb
Bruce says: “Written and co-directed by Jason Cortland, NOW, FORAGER also stars the handsome, somewhat off-beat actor. Cortland plays Lucien Echeverria, a thirty-something who, with his wife Regina (Tiffany Esteb), makes a meager living by foraging the forests north of
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Bavo Defurne
Starring: Ben Van den Heuvel | Eva van der Gucht | Mickey | Noor Ben Taoeut | Thomas Coumans
Thom says: “Now retired I find myself attacking more projects to fill my time from awakening until shuteye. It’s been many years since I fully embraced an LGBT Film Festival but with an old mate running the Festival I thought
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Johannes Stjärne Nilsson | Ola Simonsson
Starring: Bengt Nilsson | Fredrik Myhr | Johannes Björk | Magnus Börjeson | Marcus Boij | Sanna Persson
Toni says: “SOUND OF NOISE is a Swedish absurdist, quirky black comedy about a tone deaf detective that hates music whose brother is famous for composing and conducting. “He has to investigate the workings of musical ‘terrorists’ that create mayhem
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Buddy Giovinazzo
Starring: Elissa Downing | James Warfield | Jason London | Marc Senter | Margaux Lancaster | Richard Portnow
Jason says: “Should horror films necessarily have a consistent mythology that makes its villain’s methods and goals (twistedly) logical, or does such a thing work against it actually being horrifying? A NIGHT OF NIGHTMARES has a lot of elements that
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Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: John Chuldenko
Starring: Ali Hillis | Erin Chambers | Erin Gray | John Gerbin | Kevin Linehan | Todd Grinnell
Jason says: “NESTING is a nice enough little indie comedy that does nobody any harm and has the occasional pretty decent moment. That’s a nice starting point, but the movie could use a little bit more of everything, from resources
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Yung Jong-bin
Starring: Choi Min-sik | Ha Jung-woo | Kim Sungkyun | Kwak Do-wan
Jason says: “NAMELESS GANGSTER: RULES OF THE TIME (BURNCHOIWAUI JUNJAENG: NABBEUNNOMDEUL JEONSUNGSHIDAE) opens, at least in this English-subtitled version, with a definition of the word ‘daebu’, which means ‘man of one’s grandfather’s generation’ – or ‘Godfather’. Give writer/director Yung Jong-bin
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Richard Griffin
Starring: Jamie DuFault | Lee Rush | Mary DeBerry | Michael Thurber | Nick Apostolides | Samantha Acampora
Jason says: “The punny theme song that plays over the opening credits of MURDER UNIVERSITY may be the best part of the movie, although it’s close and at least an example of what’s coming: A jokey flick that’s surprisingly entertaining
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray | Bruce Willis | Ed Norton | Frances McDormand | Jared Gilman | Jason Schwartzman | Kara Heywood | Tilda Swinton
Chris says: “Back when I first saw THE DARJEELING LIMITED, I detected the promise of a mature, career-defining work lurking deep within, and suggested that Wes Anderson shed some of his baggage in order to locate it. I didn’t specify
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Rating: 4.6
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Émilien Néron | Marie-Ève Beauregard | Mohamed Fellag | Sophie Nélisse | Vincent Millard
Jason says: “MONSIEUR LAZHAR, Canada/Quebec’s nominee for best foreign language feature at the recent Oscars, is a quite remarkable piece of work, and all the more so for how quietly and efficiently it goes about its business. It is amazingly
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