Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Amber Heard | Danielle Panabaker | Laura-Leigh | Marnie Gummer
Thom says: “Over the years director Carpenter has certainly established some credibility in the B-movie category (HALLOWEEN (1978), ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE FOG (1980), THE THING (1982), STARMAN) although in the past few years his reputation has slightly faltered.
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Djo Munga
Starring: Diplome Amekindra | Hoji Fortuna | Manie Malone | Marlene Longange | Patsha Bay
Thom says: “Quick, how many films have you seen from the Democratic Republic of the Congo? While this was a screener I had my doubts but the gigantic surprise that was awaiting me was all thrills. Because this was director
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Starring: Andy On | Man Cheuk Chiu | Michelle Yeoh | Xiaogang Feng | Xun Zhou
Jason says: “As the English-language title suggests, TRUE LEGEND is based upon an actual historical figure, although I strongly suspect that he is, as they say, being ‘used fictitiously.’ After all, you don’t go to a Yuen Woo-ping movie for
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: André Øvredal
Starring: Glenn Erland Tosterud | Johanna Mørck | Otto Jespersen | Tomas Alf Larsen | Urmila Berg-Domaas
Scot says: “TROLL HUNTER, released in 2010 in Norway but 2011 in the US, represents a fine evolution of the ‘found footage’ fictional narrative style most famously exploited by THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. It’s not a new
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Claire Keelan | Margo Stilley | Rebecca Johnson | Rob Brydon | Steve Coogan
Diane says: “More SIDEWAYS than MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, Michael Winterbottom’s THE TRIP has British actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon engaged in one-upmanship as they travel the North Country on a gastronomicaltour. The dialogue is not as profound or
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Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Bruce McDonald
Starring: Callum Keith Rennie | Don McKellar | Molly Parker | Sarah Polley | Tracy Wright
Michael says: “When Kat and Vic, two old friends who performed together in a punk rock band twenty years ago are reunited, tensions are high, but so are the powerful memories of a strong bond that the two women shared.
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn | Cam Gigandet | Liana Liberato | Nicolas Cage | Nicole Kidman
Thom says: “I would love to know the story behind this film which was presented at TIFF 2011 at a Gala. Directed by Schumacher who is the director behind such largely mediocre product like FLAWLESS, ST. ELMO’S FIRE, THE LOST
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Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Brad Pitt | Hunter McCracken | Jessica Chastain | Laramie Eppler | Sean Penn
Brett says: “Consistent garden imagery and images of ‘faded paradise’ as the eldest allows weeds to grow and so forth fit some really subtle Biblical tie-ins throughout. As far as the brothers, there is also an interesting ‘Am I my
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Leanne Pooley
Toni says: “I can understand why this film has garnered audience awards at Toronto, Melbourne, and Film Festival(s). Lynda and Jools Topp are as the title of the film and their song implies are in fact ‘untouchable girls.’ Lynda and
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch | Colin Firth | Gary Oldman | John Hurt | Kathy Burke | Tom Hardy
Chris says: “Many book-to-film adaptations fail because they aren’t faithful enough, but just as often they’re too literal to succeed as cinema. In struggling to capture a book’s essence, they adhere closely to what the prose dictates but subsequently feel
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Julie Bertuccelli
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg | Christian Byers | Marton Csokas | Morgana Davies | Tom Russell
Chris says: “In rural Queensland, Australia, Peter, a father of four suffers a fatal heart attack while driving and hits the enormous tree next to his house. Soon, his wife Dawn (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and 8-year-old daughter Simone (Morgana Davies) sense
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Kurt Norton | Paul Mariano
Toni says: “I think that THESE AMAZING SHADOWS is too much of a propaganda love story to random films selected to the National Film Registry than an even documentary about the registry. There is much one might like to learn
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Azazael Jacobs
Starring: Bridger Zadina | Creed Bratton | Jacob Wysocki | John C. Reilly | Olivia Crocicchia
Jason says: “Earlier in this festival (and on many other occasions), I saw a movie about an eccentric kid growing up, and it was kind of annoying; even if inspired by actual people, the characters seemed like adult screenwriters. So
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Constantin Popescu | Cristian Mungiu | Hanno Höfer | Ioana Uricaru
Starring: Alexandru Potocean | Avram Birau | Calin Chirila | Paul Dunca | Romeo Tudor
Jason says: “When Cristian Mungiu last took audiences to Romania before the fall of communism, he gave us the tense, oppressive 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS and 2 DAYS; it seldom referenced the Ceaușescu regime directly, but still managed to perfectly
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Jessica Chastain | Katy Mixon | Michael Shannon | Shea Whigham | Tova Stewart
Diane says: “A film about the pervasive anxiety in our world, through the story of one man’s mental illness. On the literal level, this movie is good at showing the stigma of mental illness and the chaos of delusional disorders.
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Rating: 4.4
Director: Errol Morris
Chris says: “After watching TABLOID, you wonder why it took so long for someone to make a film about Joyce McKinney. Her fascinating, stranger-than-fiction life story aside, she just blooms in front of the camera without giving off the pretense
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Mark Ruffalo
Starring: Christopher Thornton | Juliette Lewis | Laura Linney | Mark Ruffalo | Noah Emmerich | Orlando Bloom
Thom says: “Oh, how I wanted to like this film a whole bunch more. I’ve long adored Mark Ruffalo and seeing as this was his initial directing credit I was hoping for a new career for the endearing actor. It
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Ellen Page | Gregg Henry | Kevin Bacon | Liv Tyler | Michael Rooker | Rainn Wilson
Diane says: “I read conflicting reviews of SUPER. One called it ‘an unwieldy mix of juvenile jokery and attempted pathos that just doesn’t pay off’ (SF Chronicle); another ‘the second coming of the avant-garde in indie film’ and ‘occasionally brilliant’
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Richards Ayoade
Starring: Craig Roberts | Noah Taylor | Paddy Considine | Sally Hawkins | Yasmin Paige
Jason says: “Watching SUBMARINE, I wondered about director Richard Ayoade’s youth, speculating that he’d spent his time in the cinema, watching French movies rather than hanging out with other kids. There’s an argument to be made that one is better
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Starring: Filipe Vargas | Leonor Silveira | Pilar López de Ayala | Ricardo Trêpa
Jason says: “It is customary, when discussing master filmmakers still producing movies well past when people in most industries have retired, to comment on how they are still vital and what an inspiration it is that they still love their
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