Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Hideaki Ito | Kaori Momoi | Kôichi Satô | Masanobu Andô | Yusuke Iseya
Jason says: “As much as I love Takashi Miike for being an outrageous filmmaker who does unpredictable things, I sometimes wonder if that can be a double-edged sword. SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO is unabashedly a gimmick movie; if you’ve heard about
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Jonas Wandschneider | Mollie Maria Gilmartin | Nikolaj Falkenberg-Klok | Paprika Steen | Ulrich Thomsen
Michael says: “This Danish science fiction/comedy/suspense film hits all the right notes, especially with the casting of the divine Paprika Steen in the title role. What’s a willful and rowdy class of students to do when they discover that the
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stuart Gordon
Starring: Mena Suvari | Rukiya Bernard | Russell Hornsby | Stephen Rea
Jason says: “STUCK is based on a true story that made headlines a few years back, although much-beloved cult filmmaker Stuart Gordon has changed almost all the details to make a feature-length film out of it. That’s fine, though; the
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Erez Tadmor | Guy Nattiv
Starring: iron Levo | Lubna Azabal
Bruce says: “Rana (Lubna Azabal) has come to Berlin for the 2006 World Cup, France against Italy. Eyal (Liron Levo) is attempting to reconnect with a former girlfriend. On a subway in Berlin these two strangers with identical back packs
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Zhang Ke Jia
Starring: Haiyu Xiang | Hong Wei Wong | Lin Zhou | Sanming Han | Tao Zhao | Zhubin Li
Bruce says: “Anyone who has seen THE WORLD will likely expect great things from Jia Zhang-ke, one of China’s ascending directorial stars. While THE WORLD was not a totally satisfying film it did portend great things to come. Happily, the
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
Bruce says: “Today William Castle is not exactly a household name although he was quite well known in his day. Labeled the B-Movie Alfred Hitchcock, he never argued that point as he reveled in a spotlight borrowed from P.T. Barnum.
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Amy Sedaris | Jeanetta Arnette | Kate Beckinsale | Michael Angarano | Olivia Thirlby | Sam Rockwell
Michael says: “The latest effort from Chlotrudis-favorite director David Gordon Green is a bit of a disappointment. SNOW ANGELS is adapted from the novel by Stewart O’Nan, and sadly, it seems to have been more than Green could handle. SNOW
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Noam Murro
Starring: Ellen Page | ennis Quaid | Sarah Jessica Parker | Thomas Haden Church
Michael says: “Surprisingly, after the tepid reviews, I rather enjoyed SMART PEOPLE. While there were a couple of schmaltzy moments, I thought the acting was outstanding. Of course, Ellen Page was super, but Dennis Quaid and Thomas Haden Church were
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Danny Boyle | Loveleen Tanden
Starring: Anil Kapoor | DevPatel | Freida Pinto | Saurabh Shukla
Gil and Amanda say: “Winner of the Cadillac People’s Choice Award! A young Indian man, who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, becomes a finalist on the TV show, ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ Due to his background
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Chiaki Kuriyama | inko Kikuchi | Shosuke Tanihara
Beth says: “Japanese anime, based on a novel about a war that’s been wholly privatized by two companies who are at endless war, and the Kildren, genetically mutated humans who cannot age. Yuichi is a new pilot at one of
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne | Luc Dardenne
Starring: ArtaDobroshi | Fabrizio Rongione | Jérémie Renier
Beth says: “Directed by the Dardennes brothers, we follow Lorna, a naturalized Albanian using her Belgian status in a scheme that marries her to others immigrating from Eastern Europe. Imagine if 4 MONTHS 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS had followed the
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Daryl Wein
Jason says: “In another recent documentary about a man preaching the gospel of safe sex (DARLING!), there’s a line about how condoms are a matter of simple hygiene. It seems like a simple and obvious thing to say now, but
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Claude Miller
Starring: Cécile de France | Julie Depardieu | Ludivine Sagnier | Mathieu Amalric | Patrick Bruel | Quentin Dubois | Valentin Vigourt
Bruce says: “Set during the Nazi occupation of France during WWII, A SECRET is a war film, a love story, a coming-of-age tale and a mystery all wrapped into one very neat package. Its main asset, among many, is the
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Tom Kalin
Starring: Eddie Redmayne | Julianne Moore | Stephen Dillane
Michael says: “Director Tom Kalin’s last feature film was SWOON, released in 1992. Sixteen years later, Kalin finally has another film about to open in theatres, and the fact that both films share the based on a true story subject
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Shinji Aoyama
Starring: Eri Ishida | Ken Mitsuishi | Kengo Kora | Tadanobu Asano | Yuka Itaya | Yusuke Kawazu
Michael says: “Despite an intriguing, adept cast, and some skillful camerawork, Shinji Aoyama’s SAD VACATION has a little too much plot to be entirely successful. In fact, more than once I wondered if this film was a sequel and I
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Francesco Munzi
Starring: Aurélian Recoing | Constantin Lupescu | Giovanni Morina | Laura Vasiliu | Sandra Ceccarelli | Stefano Cassetti | Veronica Besa | Victor Cosma
Bruce says: “THE REST OF THE NIGHT begins with Silvana (Sandra Ceccarelli) being attacked by gypsies. Visibly distraught she later behaves strangely during dinner with her husband and daughter when out of the blue she accuses the Eastern European maid,
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Rating: 4.2 cats
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Anders Danielsen Lie | Espen Klouman-Høiner | Henrik Elvestad | Viktoria Winge
Bruce says: “Two young men, Philip (Anders Danielsen Lie) and Erik (Espen Klouman Høiner), graduate from university with a shared dream of becoming famous writers, and shortly thereafter they send their manuscripts off to publishers.. Friends since childhood, they have
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Larry Charles
Gil & Amanda say: “Bill Maher looks into the beliefs and practices of a number of different organized religions. Shot in a comedic style that is similar to the Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore, this documentary is entertaining yet seems
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: David Mamet
Starring: Alice Braga | Chiwelet Ejiofor | David Paymer | Emily Mortimer | Joe Mantegna | Rebecca Pidgeon | Ricky Jay | Rodrigo Santoro | Tim Allen
Jason says: “REDBELT isn’t quite a blender movie, where a filmmaker puts two generally unrelated genres together to see what happens. It is a nifty combination of David Mamet mystery and martial arts action, and it delivers on that DNA’s
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lucky McKee | Trygve Allister Diesen
Starring: Brian Cox | Kyle Gallner | Noel Fisher | Tom Sizemore
Jason says: “One of the few things I miss about living in the suburbs versus the city is that it’s difficult for me to keep a dog. My family had them while I was growing up, and I envy my
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