Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Anne Sundberg | Ricki Stern
Bruce says: “Based on Naomi Wolf’s book of the same name, filmmakers Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg have chosen to present the material to the viewer as a series of Wolf’s lectures and interviews as well as gathering the opinions
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jeremy Thomas
Starring: Elle May | Jaden Holle | Jeremy Thomas | John Knight | Katie Webber
Jason says: “It is a bit worrisome when, prior to a festival screening, the director is offering what can seem like excuses or explanations – they had less money than the short film that precedes it, but it is long
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Werner Herzog
Bruce says: “Like Ozu and Rohmer, Werner Herzog tends to revisit the same themes. That is not to say he is making the same film over and over; he is compiling a body of work that is forged together thematically,
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Isabel Coixet
Starring: Ben Kingsley | Deborah Harry | Dennis Hopper | Patricia Clarkson | Penélope Cruz | Peter Sarsgaard
Michael says: “I missed ELEGY in the theatre last year, and was able to catch up with it on Blu-Ray this morning. It firmly propels Isabel Coixet into that category of talented filmmakers whose films I will not miss. Never
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lynn Shelton
Starring: Basil Harris | Calvin Reeder | Jeanette Maus | Sean Nelson
Jason says: “I suppose it speaks well of me and the people I know that I’ve never had a friendship end like in the beginning of MY EFFORTLESS BRILLIANCE. Sure, there’s a long list of people I’ve fallen out of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Fatih Akin
Starring: Baki Davrak | Hanna Schygulla | Nurgül Yesilçay | Nursel Köse | Patrycia Ziolkowska | Tuncel Kurtiz
Michael says: “Fatih Akin made a bit of a splash a few years ago with his film HEAD-ON. The director was born in Germany from a Turkish heritage, and his films, at least the two I have seen, take place
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: John Patrick Shanley
Starring: Amy Adams | Meryl Streep | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Viola Davis
Michael says: “It’s probably a good thing that playwright John Patrick Shanley wrote and directed the movie adaptation of his acclaimed play Doubt. While another filmmaker might have made a better movie, Shanley’s film certainly recaptures the power and drama
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Luís Galvão Teles
Starring: Isabel Abreu | João Tempera | Marco Delgado | Maria Adánez
Bruce says: “Bearing a vague similarity to the 1959 Doris Day film IT HAPPENED TO JANE, DOT.COM is a David and Goliath tale about a town that takes on both a government and a huge multinational corporation when the townspeople
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Toa Fraser
Starring: Bryan Brown | Jeremy Northam | Judy Parfitt | Peter O'Toole | Sam Neill
Beth Curran says: “This charmer of a film showcases the sublime skills of Jeremy Northam, Peter O’Toole and Sam Neill. Set in 1900s England, a man (Northam) decides to liven up his regular Thursday visits to his eccentric set in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Hie-jin Choi | Rain | u-jeong Lim
Jason says: “Even with the recent success of Bong Joon-ha’s THE HOST and popularity of Kim Ji-woon’s THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD on the festival circuit, Park Chan-Wook is likely still the best-known Korean filmmaker outside his native
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Starring: August Diehl | Devid Striesow | Karl Markovics
Philip says: “Austria’s first Oscar win for Best Foreign Language Film, DIE FÄLSCHER (THE COUNTERFEITERS) proves to be a complicated exercise on prisoner ethics in the midst of the Holocaust horror. All kinds of questions arise in this film regarding
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Cheick Fantamady Camara
Starring: Alex Ogou | Moussa Keita | Tella Kpomahou
Bruce says: “Many films from Africa today are focusing on the heavy weight an average African must bear – the combined weight of tradition, politics and religion. CLOUDS OVER CONAKRY is a superb black comedy about the cultural complexities engulfing
Read the review...The Class (France; 128 min.) directed by: Laurent Cantetstarring: François Bégaudeau, Esmèralda Ouertani, Louise Grinberg, Boubacar Touré, Carl Nanor, Wei Huang, Rachel Régulier, Franck Keita Bruce says: “Laurent Cantet burst on the scene with the admirable first effort, HUMAN
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Kitty Zhang Yugi | Lei Huang | Stephen Chow
Julie says: “I thought CJ7 was a lovely movie. I highly recommend it. I believe it was mentioned during the nominations committee. Has Chlotrudis ever had a category for comedy? This along with PING PONG PLAYA would have been great
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Bradley Beesley | George Salisbury | Wayne Coyne
Starring: Steve Burns | Steven Drozd | Wayne Coyne
Jeff says: “My son described it as a cross between DARK STAR and ERASERHEAD. “The first human colony on Mars seems doomed. The capacitor on the main oxygen generating unit has burned out, all the spares are gone, and the
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Guido Santi | Tina Mascara
Michael says: “This was the film that Chlotrudis co-presented at Ptown, and I was very pleased by the nearly packed house at the Crown & Anchor. CHRIS & DON: A LOVE STORY beautifully tells the story of the thirty-year relationship
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Director: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Ahmad Razvi | Alejandro Palanco | Carlos Zapata | Isamar Gonzales
Tony says: “This is a nice movie about cars. Actually more about parts of cars. I don’t really know anything about cars, but it’s more about this kid and his sister. It all seems to take place near Shea Stadium,
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Clark Gregg
Starring: Anjelica Houston | Brad William Henke | Kelly Macdonald | Sam Rockwell
Michael says: “I’m not sure why, but I had high hopes for CHOKE, Clark Gregg’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel. Victor Mancini is a sex addict attending, but not really involved with, other than physically, a recovery program. His mother
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Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring: Chow Yun-fat | Guang Li | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Michelle Yeoh | Radha Mitchell
Julie says: “On another note I just saw THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI based on the true life story of George Hogg. The movie went into development of character relationships a bit more thoroughly than SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE… and deserved better
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Joel Hopkins
Starring: Dustin Hoffman | Eileen Atkins | Emma Thompson | Kathy Baker; | Liane Balaban
Jason says: “Looking at the seven-year gap in Joel Hopkins’s filmography makes me glad that, as much as I like movies, I’m not trying to make them. After all, JUMP TOMORROW had to have been considered something of a success
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