Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Starring: Kseniya Rappoport | Margherita Buy | Michele Placido | Pierfrancesco Favino
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS** “As the film begins we see Irena (Kseniya Rappoport) talking to the doorman of a luxury apartment building. She talks her way into becoming the charwoman for the public areas and soon she finagles her way into
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Brett Harvey
Jay says: “At some point, Brett Harvey and Adam Scorgie should probably have changed the name of their documentary on the underground marijuana industry; the Union of the title isn’t mentioned until at least halfway through. THE UNION: THE BUSINESS
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Joaquín Oristrell
Starring: Alex Brendemühl | Leonor Watling | Luis Tosar
Bruce says: “The Spanish are becoming quite proficient in the farce department. This delightful comedy is a period piece involving a Freud disciple named León (Alex Brendemühl) who suddenly disappears thereby creating havoc in his intersecting professional and family circles.
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Johnny To
Starring: Louis Koo | Simon Yam | Tian-lin Wang
Bruce says: “It is not necessary to see Johnnie To’s ELECTION before seeing TRIAD ELECTION but I would strongly recommend it, particularly for anyone who plans to see both films. In TRIAD ELECTION, two years have passed since the bloodshed
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Marco Kreuzpaintner
Starring: Alicja Bachleda-Curus | Cesar Ramos | Kevin Kline | Linda Edmond | Marco Pérez | Paulina Gaitan
Jay says: “TRADE plays pretty rough, which is as it should be. If it didn’t, it could easily become just a suspense story that offers a thrill of horror rather than a nasty bit of business with just enough familiar
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Starring: Ha Jung Woo | Park Ji-Yeon | Seong Hyeon-A
Beth says: “The latest from Korea’s Kim Ki-duk. A woman undergoes secret cosmetic surgery then reappears as a new woman who romances her boyfriend – is it the ultimate sacrifice, to make yourself anew for love, or the ultimate test,
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Ciarán Hinds | Daniel Day Lewis | Paul Dano
Michael says: “I caught this back in December but never got around to reviewing it. I have to tell you I was giddy for hours… even days after seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s decidedly bizarre adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil.
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Moussa Sene Absa
Starring: Ibrahima Mbaye | Lord Alajiman | Zéka La Plaine
Bruce says: “Billed as a rap musical TERANGA BLUES does indeed feature a character who is a rap singer recently deported from France and forced to return to Senegal with only 20 Euros to his name; however, Madiké (Lord Alajiman)
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: David Wain
Starring: Bobby Cannavale | Famke Janssen | Gretchen Mol | Justin Theroux | Ken Marino | Liev Schreiber | Olver Platt | Paul Rudd | Ron Silver | Winona Ryder
Michael says: “I had been looking forward to THE TEN, David Wain’s follow-up to WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, since I read about Winona Ryder playing a woman how has a relationship with a stolen ventriloquist’s dummy. THE TEN is an
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Michael Arias
Starring: Kankurô Kudô | Yû Aoi | Yusuke Iseya
Jay says: “The decaying city is a staple of anime and science fiction (though TEKKON KINKREET doesn’t really fit that genre). It appears in many conventional urban genres, too, but they seldom have the ability to really show the audience
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
Starring: Arawat Ruangvuth | Chartchai Ngamsan | Stella Malucchi | Supakorn Kitsuwon | Suwinit Panjamawat
Michael says: “This buried treasure nominee is a visual feast, part Romeo & Juliet, part cowboy cum gangster flick, part wacky farce. Dum and Rampoey are have been in love since they first met as children, but different social classes
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Andy Cockrum
Jay says: “TEAM EVEREST means to inspire you. It exists for that. Even if Andy Cockrum hadn’t been along to make a movie, the expedition it chronicles was still put together in order to inspire disabled people, by showing that
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: György Pálfi
Bruce says: “György Pálfi’s HUKKLE remains one of the most off-the-wall films I have ever seen; needless to say I was excited that he had a new film at Tribeca. In ways TAXIDERMIA is every bit as interesting in concept;
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor | Don Cheadle | Martin Sheen | Taraji P. Henson
Bruce says: “When Roger Ebert named Kasi Lemmons’ EVE’S BAYOU his film of the year for 1997, I was totally perplexed. Thick with plot, the film never delved very deep into its characters. They spoke volumes and lots happened; but
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Danny Boyle
Michael says: “After leaving the theatre, Jeff asked me if I liked science fiction movies. I told him that I liked reading science fiction, but that there were very few good science fiction movies. Unfortunately, SUNSHINE does not buck this
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Yang Zhang
Starring: Ge Gao | Haiying Sun | Joan Chen | Wang Haidi | Zhang Fan
Michael says: “SUNFLOWER is Chinese director Zhang Yang’s autobiographical look at the relationship between a father and son across three turbulent decades in China. Xiangyang is born in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution. As an infant, his father, Gengnian, is
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bradley Beasley | Sarah Price
Chris says: “It’s easy for most of us to forget what it feels like to be a child, especially if you don’t work with children or aren’t a parent. Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price’s straightforward but affecting documentary unerringly captures
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Lou Ye
Starring: Bai Xueyun | Cui Lin | Guo Xiaodong | Hao Lei
Bruce says: “SUMMER PALACE created quite a sensation when director Lou Ye defied Chinese censorship and refused to edit this film before screening it at the Cannes Film Festival. I do agree with the Chinese government that SUMMER PALACE needs
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mark Mahon
Starring: Gail Fitzpatrick | Michael Madsen | Michael Rawley | Patrick Bergin | Richard Chamberlain | Vinnie Jones
Jason says: “STRENGTH AND HONOUR is likely not a movie I see outside of a festival setting, because it looked to combine a couple of genres I’m not particularly fond of – the ‘poor and miserable Irish people’ movie and
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hilary Brougher
Starring: Amber Tamblyn | Dennis O’Hare | Melissa Leo | Tilda Swinton | Timothy Hutton
Michael says: “STEPHANIE DALEY is a small, indie film that had a brief run in Boston back in May. It starred Tilda Swinton (THE DEEP END; TEKNOLUST) and Amber Tamblyn (THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS), and got fairly positive
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