Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Starring: Anna Tsuchiya | Ayaka Wilson | Koji Yakusho | Sadao Abe | Satoshi Tsumabuki
Jason says: “You could probably cut quite the deceptive trailer for PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK, if you chose, by concentrating on the fast-paced, animation-heavy last act. It wouldn’t be a complete misrepresentation, but it sure wouldn’t give a true
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Kirby Dick
Bruce says: “Being a huge fan of Kirby Dick’s Chlotrudis award winning documentary THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, I was rather excited about Dick’s latest film OUTRAGE whose subject is the hypocrisy of gay politicians who routinely vote against
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Panna Rittikrai | Tony Jaa
Starring: Dan Chupong | Nirut Sirichanya | Sariunyu Wongkrachang | Sorapong Chatree | Tony Jaa
Jason says: “I haven’t actually run the numbers, but I suspect that martial arts action has an unusually high number of movies titled as though they were sequels but only vague connections to each other, and that’s even before considering
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Bent Hamer
Starring: Bård Owe | Espen Skjønberg | Henny Moan
Bruce says: “At the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival filmmaker Bent Hamer introduced this film by quipping ‘My producers say my films are comedies. They are not.’ To placate Mr. Hamer I shall refer to his films as ‘droll dramas’
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Terence Davies
Beth says: “This was Terence Davies’ commission for the Liverpool Cultural Group, and it’s a wonderful homage to his hometown city – in a sense it’s his MY WINNIPEG, the story of a city via the life of one of
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Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Gary Hustwit
Jason says: “I forgot my toothbrush when packing for my trip to Texas, and since Austin doesn’t have the massive CVS density of the greater Boston area (where you can see the next from the doorway of the one you
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Starring: Chamanun Wanwinwatsara | Jayanama Nopachai | Porntip Papanai | Wanida Termthanaporn
Michael says: “Ratanaruang is most widely known for the dreamy surreality of LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, but this film is more of a sylvan counterpart to his last film, never released in the states, PLOY. In NYMPH, the Thai
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jim Dziura
Jason says: “NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET begins provocatively, with a black man walking into a custom framing store looking to have the clothes he was wearing when he was shot framed. The man at the counter doesn’t seem to
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Rune Denstad Langlo
Starring: Celine Engebrigtsen | Kyrre Hellum | Mads Sjøgård Pettersen | Marte Aunemo | nders Baasmo Christiansen
Bruce says: “Norwegian film, if it accomplishes nothing else, documents the droll sense of humour in the land of the midnight sun. NORTH is the story of a thirty year old man who is trying to find himself by meeting
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: en Addelman | Samir Mallal
Jason says: “Asked to name the top three film industries in the world, nearly everybody would come up with the United States right away. A good chunk would probably mention India next; the word’s gotten out in the past few
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.25 cats
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis | Judi Dench | Kate Hudson | Marion Cotillard | Nicole Kidman | Penélope Cruz
Jason says: “Daniel Day-Lewis being in a movie is genuinely a good sign – since THE BOXER in 1997 he’s done a mere four, only signing on when there seems to be something worth doing. And he’s got a fantastic
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Tom Quinn
Starring: Andrew Conway | Greg Lyons | Irene Longshore | MaryAnn McDonald | Paul Blackway | Tobias Segal
Jason says: “The glib description of THE NEW YEAR PARADE is that divorce is hard on everybody – not just parents and children, but everyone else caught up in it, including the parade orchestras. Fortunately, the movie itself isn’t glib,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Yoon-ki Lee
Starring: Dong-won Seo | Han Hyo-joo | Il-hwa Choi | Jang So-Yeon | Jeon Do-yeon | Jung-woo Ha | Kim Hye-Ok | Seo-hie Ko
Jason says: “Kim Hee-su (Jeon Do-yeon) is talking about money and investments as MY DEAR ENEMY opens, but it’s not clear whether she needs money urgently or just wants it for some opportunity. Or perhaps, she simply wants to close
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 0.5 cats
Director: Simon Hunter
Starring: Anna Walton | Benno Fürmann | Devon Aoki | John Malkovich | Ron Pearlman | Sean Pertwee | Thomas Jane
Jeff says: “Wretched. Tragic waste of Ron Perlman. Half a cat for occasionally interesting production design.”
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andreas Schaap
Starring: Jeff Burrell | Manon Kahle | Peter Farkas | Sami Loris
Jason says: “I liked MUST LOVE DEATH well enough, but even though I’m the target audience – someone reasonably fond of both its genres and likely to laugh at the in-jokes besides – I had the same reaction that I
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Katherine Dieckmann
Starring: Alice Drummond | Anthony Edwards | Daisy Tahan | Dale Soules | Jodie Foster | Matthew Schallipp | Minnie Driver | Uma Murthy
Jason says: “Mothers and fathers have a demanding job, and anybody who denies this is a fool. I don’t think many would deny that, even in today’s modern world, motherhood is more demanding than fatherhood, and probably always will be.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Cristophe Van Rompaey
Starring: Anemone Valcke | Barbara Sarafian | Johan Heldenbergh | Julain Borsani | Jurgen Delnaet | Sofia Ferri
Bruce says: “This gem is from Belgium, home of the Dardenne brothers who seem have a monopoly on filmmaking in their country. It is refreshing to learn that there may be other Belgian films yet to be discovered by the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Dominique McElligott | Kaya Scodelario | Matt Berry | Robin Chalk | Sam Rockwell
Jason says: “I will not lie to you; as soon as I read the description of Moon, I had mentally anointed it my favorite film of the festival, to the point where not only would another film have to blow
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Dave Gargani
Jason says: “1950s science fiction is known for being paranoid and downbeat, tinged with fear of atomic doom and the potential for infiltrators to be anywhere. Filmmaker Dave Gargani argues that this should not, necessarily, be the case, or at
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring: Cafer Köse | Ercan Kesel | Hatice Aslan | Rifat Sungar | Yavuz Bingol
Bruce says: “THREE MONKEYS, a classic tragedy, has everything – hit and run, unrequited love, contemplated suicide, murder, infidelity, brutal beatings, bogus confessions, false pride and manic desperation. Runny noses, sweaty brows, tear stained cheeks, blood and vomit also figure
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