Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Catherine Keener | Emile Hirsch | Jena Malone | Marcia Gay Harden | William Hurt
Hilary says: ” Sean Penn’s latest directorial & screenwriting effort, INTO THE WILD, is an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name. WILD is the true story of an idealistic new college grad, Christopher McCandless, who travels around
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paul Auster
Starring: David Thewlis | Irène Jacob | Michael Imperioli
Bruce says: “Paul Auster’s The Book of Illusions is a magical work. It tells the story of Martin Frost, a man devastated by the loss of his wife and children, who returns to the living when he discovers the films
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Todd Haynes
Starring: Ben Whishaw | Bruce Greenwood | Cate Blanchett | Charlotte Gainsbourg | Christian Bale | Heath Ledger | Julianne Moore | Marcus Carl Franklin | Michelle Williams | Richard Gere
Michael says: “There’s been a lot of buzz about Todd Hayne’s Bob Dylan biopic, especially after it’s debut in Venice. Those who know me know that I am not a fan of the biopic, but ever the experimenter, Haynes turns
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Eric Latigau
Starring: Alain Chabat | Bernadette Lafont | Charlotte Gainsbourg
Bruce says: “If you feel you need a reason to see this film, there is one: Charlotte Gainsbourg. Like the recent French offering, THE VALET, this film has been optioned by Hollywood for an English remake. If Sony Pictures has
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Doris Dörrie
Michael says: “German feminist filmmaker Doris Dörrie is best known for her narrative features, such as 1985’s MEN, 1988’s ME AND HIM, or 2000’s ENLIGHTENMENT GUARANTEED. It is this latter film that serves as a connection of sorts to her
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Starring: Du-na Bae | Hie-bong Byeon | Kang-hoSong
Jeff says: “In the year 2000, an overly compulsive American doctor on a U.S. military base in Korea orders his Korean employee to pour hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down a drain, directly into Seoul’s Han River. On a bright,
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Arthur Dong
Michael says: “Accomplished documentarian Dong has won acclaim for his earlier films, COMING OUT UNDER FIRE, LICENSED TO KILL, and FAMILY FUNDAMENTALS. He’s back with a film that he’s been working on for 7 – 8 years, HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, a
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Peter Vogt
Jay says: “It’s probably pretty easy to make a fairly entertaining documentary about Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee: Point a camera at him, ask a question, and let him go. Repeat until out of questions or time, do a little follow-up with
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gary Hustwit
Bruce says: “In 1957 Edward Alfred Hoffman invented a new typeface. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk it is now the most ubiquitous of all typefaces, known throughout the world at Helvetica. Post-war European design in the 1950’s was centered on
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Lee Kang-Sheng
Starring: Dennis Lieh | Ivy Li | Jane Liao | Lee Kang-Sheng
Bruce says: “During the great Asian financial boom in early 1990’s director Lee Kang-Sheng was an unemployed actor with lots of time on his hands. The Taiwanese film industry was doing poorly in the face of Hollywood dominance in international
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Rating: 0 cats
Director: Joe Swanberg
Starring: Andrew Bujalski | Greta Gerwig | Kent Osborne | Mark Duplass
Barbara says: “For the first time since I have been a member, I am giving a movie 0 cats. The whole film seemed like some drunken ramblings in an off-campus apartment.”
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Rating: 0.5 cats
Director: Tibor Szemzö
Bruce says: “A GUEST OF LIFE is based on story of Alexander Csoma de Koros, a legendary 19th century Hungarian scholar who began a journey to Asia to discover the origins of the Hungarian people and unexpectedly ended up in
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Craig Zobel
Starring: Kene Holliday | Pat Healy | Rebecca Mader
Chris says: “The title is actually the name of a small record label in the film that bills itself as a ‘talent search company.’ Salesmen are hired as ‘record producers’ and trained to audition aspiring musicians whom they encourage to
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jasmila Zbanic
Starring: Leon Lucev | Luna Mijovic | Mirjana Karanovic
Michael says: “GRBAVICA: THE LAND OF MY DREAMS is a great candidate for a Buried Treasure nominee, with echoes of OR (MY TREASURE) and THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS. This powerful debut form Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic looks at the
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Maziar Miri
Starring: Hassan Poorshirazi | Mohammed-Reza Foroutan | Niloofar Khoshkholgh
Bruce says: “GRADUALLY (BE AHESTEGI…) is a gentle film about a couple coming to grips with personal issues that may be affecting their marriage. Mahmoud is a railroad welder who works hard and loves his wife Pari. But she has
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Amy Madigan | Amy Ryan | Casey Affleck | Ed Harris | John Ashton | Michelle Monaghan | Morgan Freeman
Bruce says: “For his directorial debut (we won’t count his earlier short I KILLED MY LESBIAN WIFE, HUNG HER ON A MEAT HOOK, AND NOW I HAVE A THREE-PICTURE DEAL WITH DISNEY) Ben Affleck had the good sense to draw
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Starring: Aurora Quattrocchi | Charlotte Gainsbourg | Vincenzo Amato
Chris says: “Emanuele Crialese’s film puts a novel spin on the oft-told tale of Europeans immigrating to America in the early 20th Century: instead of fixating on a traveler’s first few proud, iconic moments in the new world, THE GOLDEN
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Asger Leth | Milos Loncarevi
Jay says: “According to the information presented at the start of this film, the Cité Soleil section of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, is considered the most dangerous place in the world by the United Nations. The poorest section of the poorest
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: David Munro
Starring: Alan Cumming | Judah Friedlander | Matt McGrath
Michael says: “I’m not a particular fan of male characters in film or literature who don’t want to grow-up. I’ve always had a little trouble with PETER PAN (although admit to really enjoying the 2003 film version). FULL GROWN MEN
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Patrice Leconte
Starring: Daniel Auteuil | Dany Boon | Julie Gayet
Bruce says: “During a business dinner with other successful antique dealers, the subject of friendship comes up when François Coste (Daniel Auteuil) asks his business partner Catherine (Julie Gayet) the name of the attractive woman at the other end of
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