News & Updates - Page 370 of 446 - Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film

Laila’s Birthday (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Rashid Masharawi
Starring: Areen Omari | Mohammed Bakri | Nour Zoubi

Bruce says: “For anyone who has wondered about the look and feel of Palestinian communities, LAILA’S BIRTHDAY is a perfect starting point. Filmed in the city of Ramallah, the film tracks a taxi driver during one very busy day. Ramallah is

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Lagerfeld Confidential (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Rodolphe Marconi

Bruce says: “The Lagerfeld name elicits different thoughts from different people: many view him as a fashion god; others think of him as the greatest contemporary dandy; some think he is a poser, a vacuous self-promoter; some think he is

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Katyn (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Adrzej Wajda
Starring: Andrzej Chyra | Artur Zmijewski | Danuta Stenka | Jan Englert | Maja Ostaszewska

Jason says: “The title of KATYN refers to a place name and an event, one which looms large in modern Poland’s history, but the film holds the actual event in reserve. It’s too big, after all, putting Katyn at it’s

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K-20: Legend of the Mask (aka The Fiend with Twenty Faces) (2009)

Jason says: “Even if 2009 weren’t one of the most disappointing summer movie seasons in recent memory, I’d still wish that more foreign popcorn films got released here. I know subtitles can be a tough sell for movies aimed at

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Paris (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Starring: Albert Dupontel | Fabrice Luchini | François Cluzet | Juliette Binoche | Romain Duris

Bruce says: “PARIS is a kaleidoscopic film, one that tells many stories at once; it is difficult to keep the characters straight and impossible to imagine how they could be related. This statement is more observation than complaint. It is

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Just Another Love Story (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Anders W. Berthelsen | Charlotte Fich | Dejan Cukic | Nikolaj Lie Kass | Rebecka Hemse

Bruce says: “**SPOILERS** “JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY isn’t. That title is strictly tongue-in-cheek. The film begins with a prologue: three love scenes involving the three main characters – Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen), his wife Mette (Charlotte Fich) and Julia (Rebecka

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Julia (2009)

Michael says: “What do we make of JULIA, and the very unusual career of filmmaker Erick Zonca? JULIA is a difficult to categorize film, part crime thriller, part melodrama, part farce, part comedy (although I’m not 100% certain the last

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Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Bestor Cram

Jason says: “Johnny Cash never did time, but his name will forever be associated with California’s Folsom State Prison; a great song and a great album will do that. The Folsom Prison concert is a definitive moment in Cash’s career,

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It’s Complicated (2009)

Bruce says: “After seeing only two of her films, I’m thinking that Nancy Meyers may be my guilty pleasure. In spite of Meyers concentrating on the ‘upper’ in the upper middle class IT’S COMPLICATED and SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE both

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The Invention of Lying (2009)

Thom says: “I’m a huge Ricky Gervais fan from back-in-the-day when he made a giant splash with his two television (UK) hits ‘THE OFFICE’ & ‘EXTRAS.’ His first starring role in American films was GHOST TOWN and it was lots

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Intangible Asset Number 82 (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Emma Franz

Jason says: “INTANGIBLE ASSET NUMBER 82 seems to have become a fascinating movie almost by accident. Certainly directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn would have covered much of the same material if things had gone according to plan, but when

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Instant Swamp (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Satoshi Miki
Starring: Keiko Matsuzaka | Kumiko Aso | Morio Kazama | Ryo Kase

Jason says: “I watch/review a fairly broad range of films, and when people ask, I generally say that I approach all of them the same way, and try to treat them the same regardless of origin or genre or style.

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In/Significant Others (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: John Schwert
Starring: Andrea Powell | Brian Lafontaine | Burgess Jenkins | Mark Scarboro | Tiffany Montgomery

Jason says: “IN/SIGNIFICANT OTHERS is the very definition of an average movie. No moment raises a flag – well, okay, some do, but they may be among the film’s most interesting, at least in hindsight. No actors perform poorly. No

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Infestation (2009)

Jason says: “You know how most monster movies start out in the country or suburbs with the nasty stuff reaching the city something to be avoided at all costs? INFESTATION starts after that’s happened. After giving us a few minutes

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Independencia (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Raya Martin
Starring: Alessandra de Rossi | Lucero | Mika Aguilos | Tetchie Agbayani

Bruce says: “Occasionally a new director comes along who seems absolutely destined for greatness. After seeing INDEPENDENCIA, I would put Raya Martin on the list of directors to watch. Although INDEPENDENCIA is not a great film it does portend wonderful

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In the Loop (2009)

Jason says: “The film opens with the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), flipping his lid because a government minister said that a situation in the Middle East escalating to war was ‘unforeseeable,’ a dangerously absolute phrase

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The Importance of Being Elegant (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Cosima Spender | George Amponsah

Bruce says: “There is enough interesting subject matter in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ELEGANT to make at least two documentaries. As it stands, the film that has been made is sorely lacking in focus and depth. High fashion wars among

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The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: David Russo
Starring: Bryan Glasow | Jay Wesley Cochran | Marshall Allman | Melissa D. Brown | S. Joe Downing

Jason says: “David Russo had a bunch of nifty ideas that he threw into THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE, and they’re the kind of ideas that work as part of this sort of strange stew movie – not big

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Jason says: “Ordinarily, when good people make a bad movie, there’s a tendency to hunt for where things went wrong. THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS offers an obvious and logical culprit: The sudden death of its star, Heath Ledger, midway

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If I Knew What You Said (2009)

By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Mike Sandejas
Starring: Adriana Agcaoili | Jayjay Sunico | Lorenzo Mara | Romalito Mallari | Zoe Sandejas

Michael says: “While certainly doing something different than what the festival circuit is used to regarding Philippine cinema, i.e. avoiding the slums and focusing on a more middle-class family, IF I KNEW WHAT YOU SAID ends up coming across like

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