Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Anand Tucker
Starring: Chris Walker | David Morrissey | Jim Carter | Lisa Howard | Sean Bean | Shaun Dooley | Warren Clarke
Jason says: “The finale of a series never stands up well on its own, no matter how well-intentioned the production may be. One can argue that it shouldn’t, that by the time we get to the third act, the only
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Director: James Marsh
Starring: David Calder | John Fox | Maxine Peake | Nicholas Woodeson | Paddy Considine | Ron Cook | Warren Clarke
Jason says: “David Peace’s Red Riding novels are described as a quartet, and if you look at the titles to the filmed RED RIDING HOOD TRILOGY, there’s clearly a hole where 1977 should be. For whatever reason, screenwriter Tony Grisoni
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Andrew Garfield | Anthony Flanagan | David Morrissey | Jennifer Hennessey | John Henshaw | Warren Clarke
Jason says: “The RED RIDING trilogy is a daunting prospect, especially if one is inclined to see it during its brief American theatrical release as opposed to as a video on demand offering or on DVD. I’d recommend it, as
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Simon Rumley
Starring: Amanda Fuller | Jon Michael Davis | Marc Senter | Nick Ashy Holden | Noah Taylor | Patrick Crovo
Jason says: “RED WHITE & BLUE takes its time messing the audience up. Even the big event that pulls everything together takes a few scenes to really sink in, as we connect just what’s been going on with a growing
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jaume Balagueró | Paco Plaza
Starring: Alejandro Casaseca | Ariel Casas | Jonathan Mellor | Manuela Velasco | Óscar Zafra
![[Rec] 2](https://chlotrudis.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/rec2.jpeg "[Rec] 2")
Thom says: “The original [REC] is considered a classic amongst the horror set and it was even remade in the United States as QUARANTINE, starring ‘Dexter’s’ wife. This, then, is the ongoing story. It’s very scary and fabulously entertaining but
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Jorma Tommila | Onni Tommila | Peeter Jakobi | Per Christian Ellefsen | Tommi Korpela
Jason says: “RARE EXPORTS appears to be the third go-round that Finnish director Jalmari Helander and his brother Juuso have had with this basic idea, with the previous iterations apparently being punchline-driven shorts. This one, on the other hand, is
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan | Gul Panag | Mohnish Bahl | Paresh Rawal | Ritesh Deshmukh | Suchitra Krishnamoorthi
Jason says: “Say ‘Bollywood,’ and most American audiences will think of cheerful musicals with weddings and happy endings. That’s not likely to be the entirety of a large country’s film output, of course, and Ram Gopal Varma has built a
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Dianne Wiest | Miles Teller | Nicole Kidman | Sandra Oh | Tammy Blanchard
Ibad says: “I managed to catch this in theaters the other night before going home for the holidays. I don’t have a full length review or anything, but I figured a few scattered thoughts might be of interest to people
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Adel Bencherif | Hichem Yacoubi | Jean-Philippe Ricci | Niels Arstrup | Reda Kateb | Tahar Rahim
Bruce says: “After scoring big with his last two films, READ MY LIPS and THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, the buzz at Cannes this year was that Jacques Audiard’s A PROPHET would walk away with the top prize; instead
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kimberly Reed
Michael says: “I often go through a brief film malaise in the early part of the year. Between catching up to vote in the Chlotrudis Awards and the general lack of quality films released in the beginning of the year,
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Rebecca Miller
Starring: Alan Arkin | Blake Lively | Julianne Moore | Keanu Reaves | Maria Bello | Robin Weigert | Robin Wright Penn | Winona Ryder
Michael says: “Rebecca Miller’s THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE came and went in theatres with barely a notice, which is unfortunate, because it’s a beautifully crafted film with sharp writing and terrific performances from the likes of Robin Wright
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Amanda Peet | Ann Morgan Guilbert | Catherine Keener | Lois Smith | Oliver Platt | Rebecca Hall | Sarah Steele
Michael says: “Nicole Holofcener’s films, which explore relationships, most often between women; friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, have yet to let me down. From her spare, hilarious debut, WALKING AND TALKING, to her most recent, just-released PLEASE GIVE, Holofcener and
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Director: David Ledonne
Jason says: “It’s not that I didn’t think much of video games as an art form before seeing PLAYING COLUMBINE; I just tended to think of them as more of an abstract art form. I would respond to complaints from
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Cindy Kleine
Thom says: “This is the 2nd time I’ve seen this film which leads me to (unverifiable so far) believe that this is the 2nd time around for this film as a screener. Ostensibly it’s a film made by the daughter about
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gwendolyn Oxenham | Luke Boughen | Rebekah Fergusson | Ryan White
Jason says: “‘Pelada’ means ‘naked’ in Portugese, but this is not that kind of movie. Instead, the title refers to a slang term for pick-up soccer, fitting because when played that way, it’s often the game stripped down to its
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Michael Lander
Starring: Bill Pullman | Cillian Murphy | Elliot Page | Graham Beckel | Josh Lucas | Susan Sarandon
Thom says: “For shame on the movie’s producers inability to get this released in theaters, especially because super-talented Cillian Murphy deserves all sorts of awards for his spectacular work here. Yes, it’s reminiscent of Jeremy Iron’s work in David Cronenberg’s
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Meghan Eckman
Jason says: “Most documentary features that get any sort of play beyond local public television do because not only are they generally well-made, but they have important subject matter; someone programming a film festival or a boutique movie house decides
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Alex Lutz | Jean Dujardin | Louise Monot | Pierre Bellemare | Reem Kherici | Rüdiger Vogler
Jason says: “I was pretty fond of filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius’s previous comedic revival of the OSS 117 franchise and character (OSS 117 CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES); it did a lot of things right and did them in ways that an
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Alicja Bachleda | Alison Barry | Colin Farrell | Dervla Kirwan | Marion O'Dwyer | Stephen Rea | Tony Curran
Thom says: “I’ll easily admit that I’ve been a huge fan of many of Jordan’s films including THE CRYING GAME, THE BUTCHER BOY, MONA LISA, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, & THE END OF THE AFFAIR, but he’s also bombed with some entries (INTERVIEW
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Laura Poitras
Thom says: “I don’t feel all that strong in criticizing this film, but I simply couldn’t’t absorb it. Both Jandal & Hamdan have past connections to Al Qaeda (Jandal was Osama bin Laden’s personal bodyguard from 1996-2000 & remains a
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