Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Richard Harrah
Starring: Andrea Marcellus | Christopher Sweeney | Eion Bailey | Wendy Worthington | Will Patton | Yvonne Strahovski
Jason says: “I skipped THE CANYON at a festival this summer; it was only playing once and I figured its cast and story gave it a better chance of hitting American theaters and video than the sort-of-French, sort-of-sci-fi film also
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Alejandro Adams
Starring: Carla Pauli | Eli Kramer | Galen Howard | Jennifer Latch | Larissa Kasian
Jason says: “CANARY is not for everyone. I know this because despite sitting in the fourth row of the auditorium, I saw a dozen or so people in front of me up and leave; I assume there were others behind
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ester Rots
Starring: Chris Borowski | Rifka Lodeizen | Wim Opbrouck
Bruce says: “Ester Rots has accomplished the rarity of making a film that is not altogether likable but strangely satisfying. The conflict lies with her protagonist. Marieke (Rifka Lodeizen) is a woman in crisis. Her long term relationship (whether lover,
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Cristian Nemescu
Starring: Armand Assante | Jamie Elman | Razvan Vasilescu
Bruce says: “At a glance it seems that director Cristian Nemescu was influenced by American pop culture. While that may be true to a certain extent it also appears that Nemescu’s filmmaking owes a larger debt to Emir Kusturica whose
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Mary Stuart Masterson
Starring: Aaron Stanford | Bruce Dern | Elizabeth Ashley | Jayce Bartok | Kristen Stewart | Melissa Leo | Miriam Shor
Jeff says: “Mary Stuart Masterson, in her directorial debut, tells the story of a patriarch (the increasingly crusty Bruce Dern) and his two sons, coming to terms with the death of the family’s mother. Features a pre-Bella Kristen Stewart as
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Starring: Charlize Theron | Jennifer Lawrence | Joaquim de Almeida | José María Yazpik | Kim Basinger | Tessa Ia
Beth C says: “Definitely the worst film I’ve seen all year. Don’t waste your time and money. 1 cat.“
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Anders Østergaard
Thom says: “When this started, not having any prior knowledge of the film, I sort of went Ho Hum, & settled in for a dull political polemic. I am thrilled to tell you that my prognosis was totally wrong. Burma
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Paul King
Starring: Edward Hogg | Simon Farnaby | Verónica Echegui
Thom says: “This collage of a film has tremendous parts that raise the stakes of success. An agoraphobic man goes off on a fantasy search for the meaning of life from inside his domicile with his best friend (what an
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Adrien Brody | Mark Ruffalo | Maximilian Schell | Rachel Weisz | Rinko Kikuchi | Robbie Coltrane
Jason says: “THE BROTHERS BLOOM is a magic trick of a movie, done close-up by a magician who has not only shown that there is nothing up his sleeves, but who is in fact only wearing a vest so as
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Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Edward Bennett-Coles | June Bladon | Katy Barker | Kelly Adams | Matt King | Tom Hardy
Diane says: “Biopic of a violent criminal who’s spent a couple dozen years in solitary. FIGHT CLUB meets BEING THERE meets CABARET. When Bronson isn’t derangedly attacking someone or himself, he’s the epitome of quiet and stillness. It’s not the
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jane Campion
Starring: Abbie Cornish | Ben Whishaw | Edie Martin | Kerry Fox | Paul Schneider | Thomas Sangster
Diane says: “I am not a fan of Keats, so the poetry recitation made for some sections of longueur in BRIGHT STAR. Jane Campion’s film of the poet’s romance with Fanny Brawne is very pretty, with shots that call attention
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: John Krasinski
Starring: Ben Shenkman | Chris Messina | Corey Stoll | Julianne Nicholson | Michael Cerveris | Timothy Hutton
Jason says: “How can you spot a first film written and directed by an actor in a crowd? I’ve probably mentioned this before, but look for the one where the story is told entirely through talking and facial expressions. That
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Yang Ik-Joon
Starring: Hee-soo Kim | Hwan Lee | Jeong-soon Park | Jin-sook Lee | Kkobbi Kim | Kot-bi Kim | Man-shik Jeong | Seung-Yun Lee | Yang Ik-Joon
Jason says: “BREATHLESS is about the parts of South Korea that you typically don’t see in the cinema. For all that the nation has a fine and varied film industry, even the gangsters often appear to be at least middle-class;
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Cameron Diaz | Celia Weston | Frank Langella | James Marsden | Sam Oz Stone
Michael says: “After the brilliance of Richard Kelly’s debut film DONNIE DARKO, then the crash and burn excess of his follow-up SOUTHLAND TALES, expectations were high for his third outing, and his first studio-backed project, THE BOX. Add to that
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: John Harrington
Starring: Clive Russell | Jonas Armstrong | Paul Blair | Romana Abercromby | Simon Bamford | Sophie Ward
Jason says: “I am not a particular fan of the horror genre. I don’t disdain it or dismiss it; I think it gets a bad reputation at times. But I am by no means an enthusiast. Last year, THE MIDNIGHT
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paul Cotter
Starring: Benjamin Whitrow | Eileen Nicholas | Shane Taylor
Jason says: “BOMBER, when you get right down to it, is the sort of movie where one can see very clearly that if the characters just did what any normal, sane person would do, things would go pretty smoothly. That
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Richard Parry
Jason says: “Robert King does not give the impression of a great war photographer when we first see him in BLOOD TRAIL. In 1990s Sarajevo, he’s walking around a war zone like a naive kid; in 2007 Tennessee, we watch
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Robert D. Siegel
Starring: Gino Cafarelli | Kevin Corrigan | Marcia Jean Kurtz | Matt Servitto | Michael Rapaport | Patton Oswalt
Diane says: “Hey, I thought this was going to be a nice, sweet movie, but it was very stressful! (I also had the idea that it was a documentary.) Patton Oswalt gives a fine perf as Giants fan Paul, whose
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Jen White
Starring: Anika Kunik | Brent Smiga | Kathryn MaGill | Michael D. Conway | Ryan Wickerham
Thom says: “While this is from the Chlotrudis mailer offerings I get the feeling it hasn’t been seen by many subscribers as it didn’t even have 5 votes on Imdb. (By the way I was thrilled to see that Chlotrudis
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Agnès Varda
Bruce says: “THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS is most likely Agnès Varda’s final film. Now in her eighties, she remains an active photographer and is continually involved in shows featuring her photographic installations. It seems that directing is not specifically what
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