Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Danièle Thompson
Starring: Albert Dupontel | Cécile de France | Valérie Lemercier
Bruce says: “The Hôtel Plaza Athénée , the Théâtre des Champs Élysées next door and a small bistro en face named Café aux Théâtres are all nestled together on the Avenue Montaigne. Three main stories involving upheaval in the arts
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Tricia Regan
Chris says: “I’ve seen a number of films that copy the formula set in motion by the spelling bee documentary SPELLBOUND, profiling individual participants and charting their progress as theycompete or work towards a unified goal. Produced for HBO but
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Mark Jacobs
Bruce says: “Pentecostals are also known as ‘holy rollers’ because of all the moving and shaking going on during the services. The Voice of Pentecost Church was founded in San Francisco in 1966 by Marilynn Gazowsky. It was linked to
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: James McAvoy | Keira Knightley | Romola Garai | Saoirse Ronan | Vanessa Redgrave
Sarah says: “Let me begin by saying I have not read the book the film was based upon (although it’s on my to be read list now) and I knew nothing about the film when I sat down in the
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Peter Schønau Fog
Starring: Hanne Hedelund | Jannik Lorenzen | Jesper Asholt | Julie Kolbech | Rita Angela
Bruce says: “Sexual abuse is not the first topic that comes to mind when black comedy is mentioned. Although THE ART OF CRYING is technically comedic in nature, its aim is dead serious. The story takes place in 1971, a
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Tommy O'Haver
Starring: Catherine Keener | EllenPage | Hayley McFarland
Chris says: “Tommy O’Haver’s film raises a question I rarely ask of cinema (unless I’m screening shorts, of course): ‘Did this really need to be made?’ It’s based on a true story: in 1965, single mother Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keener)
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Darryl Roberts
Michael says: “Darryl Roberts’ AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL kicked off a series of strong docs at Provincetown, with a theme that always intrigues me: America’s obsession with beauty culture. Reminiscent of the outstanding, Chlotrudis award-winning short documentary WET DREAMS AND FALSE
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andrew Neel
Bruce says: “Few artists have the integrity of Alice Neel. Neel viewed painting as a privilege and an obsession. ‘I had to paint,’ she would say. While her contemporaries reveled in the downtown abstract expressionist art scene, Alice remained outside
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mary Lance
Bruce says: “Agnes Martin says ‘I’ve been born a hundred times, married a hundred times, given birth hundreds of times and died a hundred times. This time around I want to be alone.’ ‘You can‘t be an artist if you
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Susanne Bier
Starring: Christian Tafdrup | Mads Mikkelson | Meenal Patel | Mona Malm | Neeral Mulchandani | Rolf Lassgård | Sidse Babbet Knudson | Stine Fischer Christensen
Bruce says: “Probably the less said about Susanne Bier’s AFTER THE WEDDING the more enjoyable the viewing experience will be. A simple plot outline was all I had as background information before seeing the film; I was extremely glad not
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen | Nicolas Bro | Paprika Steen | Ulrich Thomsen
Beth C says: “This must be the first time I’ve ever favorably rated a film that got a 48 on METACRITIC. Usually they love a film that I hated but this time it’s the other way around. I found it
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jean-Pascal Hattu
Starring: Bruno Todeshini | Cyril Troley | Valerié Donzelli
Bruce says: “Thematically speaking, 7 YEARS is sort of a French BREAKING THE WAVES in the way it plays with the notion of a surrogate sexual partner. Unlike BREAKING THE WAVES, Vincent (Bruno Todeshini) is prison bound, not bedridden. He
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Starring: Ayaka Onoue | Kenji Mizuhashi | Risa Mizuno | Satomi Hanamura | Yoshimi Kondou
Jason says: “I wish I’d watched and written about this movie when I actually purchased the DVD almost two years ago since, this is a great little movie that was only available on North American DVD for a lousy four
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Yong-hwa Kim
Starring: Ah-jung Kim | Jin-mo Ju | Yong-geon Kim
Jason says: “The thing about 200 POUNDS BEAUTY is that there’s no satisfying way to end it. The premise (fat girl becomes a beauty through extensive surgery) leads to the film either presenting radical, dangerous cosmetic surgery as a viable course
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Starring: Cristina Ciofu | Ion Sapdaru | Mircea Andreescu | Teodor Corban
Beth says: “This was a Rumanian film about a small town TV station owner/call-in show host who decides to mark the 16th anniversary of the Communist overthrow by having a special show, in which he asks two men to debate
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Bunta Sugawara | Chiaki Kuriyama | Etsushi Toyokawa | Hiroyuki Miyasako | Ryunosuke Kamiki
Michael says: “A children’s film by Takashi Miike, auteur responsible for the nightmarish (AUDITION), the sick (VISITOR Q), and the bizarre (HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS) certainly seems like an oxymoron. And upon initial viewing, this fable about Japanese goblins attempting
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Marwan Hamed
Starring: Adel Imam | Nour El-Sherif | Youssra; Hend Sabri
Bruce says: “Opulent, expensive and larger than life, this adaptation of a best-selling Egyptian novel is the type of film one rarely sees anymore. Clocking in at nearly three hours, it’s both a Robert Altman-esque intersecting narrative ensemble piece and
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Patrick Creadon
Michael says: “Patrick Creadon’s WORDPLAY certainly is a crowd-pleaser, with a combination of celebrities talking about their crossword habits, interviews with the New York Times puzzle editor and one of the creators, and a look at the Annual Crossword competition
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Paul Morrison
Starring: Delroy Lindo | Emily Woof | Sam Smith
Michael says: “In the tradition of feel-good films like BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM or BILLY ELLIOT combined, WONDROUS OBLIVION shows us our collective prejudices but allows us to overcome them in a slightly formulaic, but ultimately more successful film than
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Cillian Murphy | Liam Cunningham | Padraic Delaney
Beth says: “Ken Loach directing Cillian Murphy, about the lead up to and the start of the Irish Civil War in the 20’s. I really liked this film, and give it 4 cats, however, I have to put a large
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