Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Brian Cox | Damian Lewis | Dominic Cooper | Joseph Fiennes | Liam Cunningham | Seu Jorge
Jason says: “It’s a terrible pun with which to lead off a review of a jailbreak movie, but in this case it is literally true: THE ESCAPIST hits the ground running. “The movie kicks off with the sound of alarms
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Richard Laxton
Starring: Cynthia Nixon | Denis O’Hare | John Hurt | Jonathan Tucker | Swoozie Kurtz
Bruce says: “Reprising his role of Quentin Crisp from THE NAKED CIVIL SERVANT, John Hurt appears so comfortable in Crisp’s shoes at times it is difficult to remember this film is not a documentary. Hurt plays Crisp as though he
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Geoffrey Smith
Michael says: “Geoffrey Smith’s documentary THE ENGLISH SURGEON is a surprisingly powerful and effective film offering a glimpse into the life of English neurosurgeon Henry Marsh who travels to the Ukraine to help his colleague Igor Kurilets struggling to help
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Arnaud Larrieu | Jean-Marie Larriue
Starring: Catherine Frot | Clotilde Hesme | Karin Viard | Mathieu Amalric | Sergi Lopez
Thom says: “It’s such a dreadful shame that my last two films at TIFF were not worth seeing. This was another apocalyptic film about a virus that’s killing the entire world population. It’s a road film about a married man
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Alfred Molina | Cara Seymour | Carey Mulligan | Dominic Cooper | Emma Thompson | Olivia Williams | Peter Sarsgaard | Rosamund Pike
Michael says: “Danish director Lone Scherfig’s latest film (after scoring big with Chlotrudis with ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS and WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF), is an adaptation of a British memoir about a young girl preparing for University at a private
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Neil Burns
Starring: Aiden Drummond | Ben Cotton | Brian Drummond | Gokul | Jay Brazeau | Powers Boothe
Jason says: “For a movie about a great inventor, EDISON AND LEO is curiously lacking in spark. There are moments of quirky inspiration, but they’re quickly followed by fairly uninspired bits of meanness, ultimately wasting some fine animation. “George T.
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Costa-Gravas
Starring: Juliane Köhler | Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos | Riccardo Scamarcio | Ulrich Tukur
Bruce says: “Costsa-Gavras’s reputation as a master filmmaker was made in 1969 with the dazzling Z, a film about totalitarian rule in Greece. His stance on fascist rule was amplified with STATE OF SIEGE and MISSING, the two politically charged
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stephan Elliott
Starring: Ben Barnes | Colin Firth | Jessica Biel | Katherine Parkinson | Kimberley Nixon | Kris Marshall | Kristin Scott Thomas
Bruce says: “Noel Coward’s magnificent plays have been source material for the screen since films were silent. In fact, the only other English speaking version of EASY VIRTUE was made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1928 (a Spanish version appeared on
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Starring: Ji-a Park | Jô Odagiri | Mi-hie Jang | Na-yeong Lee | Tae-hyeon Kim
Jason says: “Although reasonable people may disagree on just what constitutes ‘good freaky’ versus ‘bad freaky,’ they will most likely acknowledge that there is a difference. Many of those familiar with the work of Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk will further
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Anna Bonaiuto | Carlo Buccirosso | Flavio Bucci | Giulio Bosetti | Toni Servillo
Diane says: “IL DIVO is difficult for Americans to understand. One has to know the Italian political scene to appreciate who the actors are and the machinations. Reading subtitles for the Italian dialogue doesn’t leave time to catch the original
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Luis Ortega
Starring: Alejandro Urdapilleta | Luis Ortega | Martina Juncadella
Thom says: “This is an unusual film of power, rage, and grace. It’s an apocalyptic vision of a bleak & deserted world. A couple is wandering through a dreary landscape ostensibly looking for a way to a river that if
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Christian Molina
Starring: Belén Fabra | Geraldine Chaplin | Leonardo Sbaraglia | Llum Barrera
Jason says: “DIARY OF A NYMPHOMANIAC is a bit of an anti-romance. In most movies, the main character is led along the path which shows that sex without True Love is ultimately empty, whereas in this one, pretty much every
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Yôjirô Takita
Starring: Kazuko Yoshiyuki | Kimiko Yo | Masahiro Motoki | Ryoko Hirosue | Tsutomu Yamazaki
Jason says: “DEPARTURES feels like the sort of film that wins the Academy Award for best foreign language feature. It’s a good movie, just Japan-specific enough that the voters can feel like they’re awarding another culture, but accessible and mainstream
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Yoav Shamir
Bruce says: “Too often a documentary does not present an equitable view of its subject. Filmmaker Yoav Shamir seems to have gone out of his way to present a balanced view of anti-Semitism in DEFAMATION. Nonetheless, his efforts seem to
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Gadi Harel | Marcel Sarmiento
Starring: Andrew DiPalma | Candice Accola | Eric Podnar | Michael Bowen | Noah Segan | Shiloh Fernandez
Jason says: “The zombie film, when you get right down to it, is really not that malleable a form. The plots are more or less the same, just differing in setting, detail, and tone. So it’s not exactly surprising that
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Starring: Charlotte Frogner | Evy Kasseth Røsten | Lasse Valdal | Stig Frode Henriksen | Vegar Hoel
Jason says: “DEAD SNOW doesn’t need a whole lot of reviewing. It’s the movie with the zombie Nazis, and if the mention of the phrase ‘zombie Nazis’ makes a person say ‘tell me more,’ what he really means is ‘tell
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Beth Caldwell says: “LA DANSE is a beautiful, beautiful film. Frankly this is what the category ‘best cinematography’ was made to represent. I’m particularly impressed that the cinematography was so rich and diverse in a place where the camera needed
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jae-young Kwak
Starring: Haruka Ayase | Keisuke Koide | Ken'ichi Endô | Risa Ai | Yoshikau Ebishu
Jason says: “I’m more than a bit curious how CYBORG SHE was marketed in Japan. The festival plugged it as the new film by Kwak Jaw-young, and of a piece with his with his other whimsical romantic comedies with a
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Danny Kuchuck | John Weiner
Starring: Allen Alvarado | Jadin Gould | Julie Carson | Nicole Cannon | Steve Bannos
Jason says: “I like to tell people, when recommending sci-fi stories in any medium, that if you don’t find your head hurting a little during a time-travel story, or at least see the potential for that headache, then it’s probably
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kyoung-mi Lee
Starring: Eun-jin Bang | Hyo-jin Kong | Jong-hyeok Lee | Seong-woo Bae | Woo Seo | Woo-seul-hye Hwang
Jason says: “There’s a lesson to be learned from CRUSH AND BLUSH, perhaps several. The first is that if you had a rough time in high school, it might not be a great idea to go back there unless you
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