Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Alice da Cunha | Iain Glen | Jim Broadbent | Meryl Streep | Phoebe Waller-Bridge | Susan Brown
Diane says: “IRON LADY has been disparaged for giving an uncritical view of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government. True, true! But we already have that down. I went to see IRON LADY for a portrayal of a woman with
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Rating: 4.4
Director: Werner Herzog
Thom says: “This stunning documentary follows a Texas death row inmate up to & shortly after his execution. One of the points that comes across the best is that the film never questions the guilt of the inmate. Herzog has
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Steve James
Diane says: “This docu about former gang members who work as peacemakers in Chicago is inspirational and sobering. The film follows three violence ‘interrupters’ who work for CeaseFire over the course of a year. They’re very different from each other
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Denis Velleneuve
Starring: Abdelghafour Elaaziz | Lubna Azabal | Maxim Gaudette | Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin | Rémy Girard
Diane says: “Did the director mean this to be political commentary, or was that just me? Recently orphaned twins leave Quebec to find family they didn’t know about in an unnamed (fictitious) Middle Eastern country. INCENDIES ultimately is a pretty
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Amanda Seyfried | Cillian Murphy | Johnny Galecki | Justin Timberlake | Shyloh Oostwald
Thom says: “Director Niccol was responsible for mediocre sci fi fare GATTACA, & S1mOne so I had no reason to expect more from this new ‘in-the-future’ feature but I did. I did like the novel idea that all humankind lived
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Starring: Duncan MacNeil | Eilidh Rankin | Jean-Claude Donda | Raymond Mearns
Jason says: “At first, THE ILLUSIONIST looks amazingly simple and sweet – two kind people, perhaps not used to having their generosity returned, are lucky enough to find each other and create a life together. To say more may perhaps
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Marshall Curry | Sam Cullman
Julie says: “Thought this one was very intriguing and well done- although the story pissed me off-you’ll see what I mean- One of my top docs somewhere between 4 3/4 and 5 cats”
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: George Clooney
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood; Marisa Tomei | George Clooney | Jennifer Ehle | Paul Giamatti | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Ryan Gosling
Thom says: “Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is running hot & hard for his party’s Presidential candidacy and the latest crucial primary state is Ohio. His closest competitor is Senator Pullman. Morris’ hot-shot campaign manager Paul Zara (Hoffman in another spot-on
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
Starring: Adamina Kerr | Frank Qutuq Irelan | John Miller | Josiah Patkotak
Jason says: “Thrillers like ON THE ICE are traditionally set among shadows and night, with the lines and crags on the actors’ faces all the backstory needed to explain how they wound up in such a spot. Of course, you
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: Michole Briana White | Omari Hardwick | Salli Richardson-Whitfield | Tracie Thoms
Jason says: “Ava DuVernay’s I WILL FOLLOW is a fairly traditional independent film of a certain type: A close, quiet examination of family ties and other relationships, the sort made with a small budget, a single location, and the desire
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mark Wexler
Diane says: “Documentarian Mark Wexler, affected by the death of his mother, considers mortality and aging. Wexler is unassuming and sympathetic, with a good sense of humor. I laughed a lot. He consults geriatricians, quacks, old people in California nursing
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Sang-soo Im
Starring: Do-yeon Jeon | Ji-young Park | Jung-Jae Lee | Seo-Hyeon Ahn | Woo Seo | Yeo-jong Yun
Jason says: “The original version of THE HOUSEMAID is widely considered a classic of Korean cinema, the sort of thing one doesn’t remake lightly. For that film’s fiftieth anniversary, though, that’s what Im Sang-soo did, although it’s the sort of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: AJ Bowen | Amy Seimetz | Brandon Carroll | Joe Swanberg | Lane Hughes
Jason says: “I don’t want genre filmmaking to become a paint-by-numbers affair, where we as an audience rejoice at basic competence and filmmakers strive to replicate a winning formula. Crime, horror, and the like can be innovative and done with
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Jason Eisener
Starring: Brian Downey | Gregory Smith | Nick Bateman | Pasha Ebrahimi | Robb Wells | Rutger Hauer
Jason says: “HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN arrives with one of the most straightforward, descriptive titles for an action movie since SNAKES ON A PLANE. That simplicity serves it fairly well; it’s exactly the sort of 1980s exploitation pastiche the name
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Vera Farmiga
Starring: Dagmara Dominczyk | Donna Murphy | John Hawkes | Joshua Leonard | Vera Farmiga
Michael says: “One of my favorite films at this year’s Provincetown International Film Festival was HIGHER GROUND, starring and directed by the charming and talented Vera Farmiga (UP IN THE AIR; DOWN TO THE BONE). HIGHER GROUND tackles the complex
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring: Eihi Shiina | Kazuki Namioka | Minoru Torihada | Yumiko Hara | Yûrei Yanagi
Jason says: “Yoshihiro Nishimura’s HELLDRIVER is a Yoshihiro Nishimura film, and he doesn’t do things halfway. So how a person reacts to the opening scene (and, I presume, any preview they make for the movie) will likely serve as a
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mona Achache
Starring: Anne Brochet | Garance Le Guillermic | Josiane Balasko | Togo Igawa
Michael says: “Somehow I missed hearing about this film until it showed up last week at the Kendall Square Cinema, even though it played at the Boston French Film Festival. Not that I was surprised. THE HEDGEHOG is based on
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Xavier Dolan
Starring: Anne Dorval | Monia Chokri | Niels Schneider | Xavier Dolan
Michael says: “Caught up with HEARTBEATS, Xavier Dolan’s follow-up to the Chlotrudis multiple-nominee, I KILLED MY MOTHER. Once again, Dolan writes, directs and stars, this time tackling the mysteries of love, particularly in the more modern age of fluid sexuality.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Starring: André Wilms | Blondin Miguel | Elina Salo | Jean-Pierre Darroussin | Kati Outinen
Bruce says: “The 2009 French film WELCOME, directed by Philippe Lioret, somehow escaped under the Chlotrudis radar in spite of having a limited release in May of 2010. WELCOME is a story about a man who becomes involved with the
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson | David Wilmot | Don Cheadle | Liam Cunningham | Rory Keenan
Diane says: “Directed and written by John Michael McDonagh, writer of NED KELLY, but more importantly (don’t tell him I said that!), the brother of Martin McDonagh (IN BRUGES, plays The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Pillowman). “THE GUARD’s best
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