Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Dean Budnick
Bruce says: “Wetlands used to be about twenty blocks from where I live and I had never heard of it. The reason for that is pretty clear. Some big names played at Wetlands before becoming famous – Dave Matthews, Phish,
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Deepa Mehta
Starring: Buddhi Wickrama | John Abraham | Lisa Ray | Manorama | Rishma Malik | Sarala Kariyawasam | Seema Biswas | Vidula Javalgekar
Michael says: “Deepa Metha’s WATER marks the final installment in her elements trilogy, films set in India, highlighting some of that country’s social injustices. Set in the 1930’s Mehta backdrops her story with the decline of England’s colonial rule and
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Richard E. Grant
Starring: Celia Imrie | Emily Watson | Fenella Woolgar | Gabriel Byrne | Julie Walters | Miranda Richardson | Nicholas Hoult
Hilary says: “Actor Richard E. Grant’s writing/directing debut is an autobiographical sketch of his upbringing in Swaziland, on the cusp of independence from British occupation. Nicholas Hoult (ABOUT A BOY) is quite good as Ralphie, son of Harry Compton (Gabriel
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Blanca Portillo | Carmen Maura | Chus Lampreave | Lola Dueñas | Penélope Cruz | Yohana Cobo
Bruce says: “Two sisters each harbor a dreadful secret. Glamorous sister Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) is trying to cover up her husband’s murder; mousy sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) is fearful that friends and family will discover that the ghost of her
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: David Leaf | John Scheinfeld
Michael says: “The first installment of this season’s Sunday Eye-Opener began last weekend at the Brattle Theatre with a much-anticipated documentary; THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON. Directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld, responsible for dozens of made-for-tv, biographical specials, manage
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Rupert Murray
Michael says: “Rupert Murray’s documentary, UNKNOWN WHITE MALE documents the bizarre, unsettling journey of his friend Doug Bruce, a successful stockbroker who woke up on a subway with no memory of who he was. It is a curious look at
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Kenneth Nkosi | Presley Chweneyagae | Terry Pheto
Bruce says: “Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) is a thug of the worst kind, a man with no moral compass. He hangs around with a gang of friends committing whatever crimes they can pull of to keep a meager lifestyle alive. He
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Rating: 1.25 cats
Director: Bart Freundlich
Starring: Billy Crudup | David Duchovny | Ellen Barkin | Glenn Fitzgerald | Julianne Moore | Maggie Gyllenhaal
Michael says: “If only a cast a movie made. During his introduction to the film, Fruendlich, who has made a great film (THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS) and a good film (WORLD TRAVELLER) said that TRUST THE MAN was his gift
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Gillian Anderson | Kelly Macdonald | Rob Brydon | Shirley Henderson | Steve Coogan
Michael says: “Michael Winterbottom is certainly one of the most eclectic filmmakers around. His body of work includes personal dramas such as WONDERLAND and BUTTERFLY KISS; political films such as WELCOME TO SARAJEVO; period pieces like THE CLAIM; science fiction
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Duncan Tucker
Starring: FelicityHuffman | Fionnula Flanagan | Kevin Zegers
Chris says: “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of exceptional lead actresses to nominate this year. Just in time, Felicity Huffman slaughters any potential competition in a brave, absorbing turn as Bree, a 40-ish pre-operative man-to-woman transsexual. “One
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Rating: 3.5 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: 3 cats
Director: Alistair Christopher | Jonathan Hock
Bruce says: “Today’s Horatio Algers are athletes who have produced at the high school level and are perceived to have the goods that will make them stars in the big leagues. Not much of a basketball fan, even I was
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Susan Kaplan
Michael says: “Susan Kaplan’s documentary follows the 13-year relationship of Sam, Steven and Samantha. Sam and Steven are two men who met in college and were enjoying a committed, long-term relationship. When Sam suggests having a woman enter the relationship,
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Kirby Dick
Michael says: “This entertaining, well-constructed film examines the origins, roles, and corruption of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the organization that provides films with their ratings. Dick is thorough in his investigation. He interviews dozens of filmmakers about
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Robin Campillo
Starring: Catherine Samie | Djemel Barek | Frédéric Pierrot | Géraldine Pailhas | Jonathan Zaccaï | Marie Matheron
Michael says: “French cinema has been delving into such societal issues as traditional home and work life in recent years in such films as Laurent Cantet’s L’EMPLOI DU TEMPS and HUMAN RESOURCES. Now, in his bold directorial debut, Robin Campillo,
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: James Marsh
Starring: Gael García Bernal | Laura Harring | Pell James | William Hurt
Chris says: “In one of his first (good) English-speaking roles, Gael Garcia Bernal is a young man who has just finished a stint in the US Navy. Named Elvis (hence the film’s ironic title), he rolls into Corpus Christi, Texas,
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Rating: 3 cats
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | David Koechner | Katie Holmes | Maria Bello | Rob Lowe | Robert Duvall | William H. Macy
Chris says: “This satire about a slick lobbyist for the tobacco industry (perfectly embodied by Aaron Eckhart) isn’t nearly as subversive or edgy as it thinks it is. Actually, it plays like a less eccentric, dumbed-down version of I HEART
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Sergio Rubini
Starring: Fabrizio Bentivoglio | Massimo Venturiello | Paolo Briguglia
Bruce says: “Sergio Rubini has acted in over 50 films including THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. He is also in his own film LA TERRA playing the most odious creature in the film. This is
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Eran Riklis
Starring: Adnan Tarabshi | Ashraf Barhom | Evelyn Kaplun | Eyad Sheety | Hiam Abbass | Makram Khoury
Bruce says: “The setting of THE SYRIAN BRIDE is the Golan Heights where the Syrian population numbered 147,000 when captured by Israel in1967. Held under military authority until 1981, Israel offered citizenship or permanent residency to the residents. Today the
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Ali Selim
Starring: Alan Cumming | Elizabeth Reaser | Tim Guinee
Michael says: “This independent film has the feel of a studio picture, with a straight-forward narrative, that hits all the right moments and hammers them home. Basically a nostalgia piece, telling the tale of a young German woman who came
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