Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lionel Baier
Starring: Khaled Khouri | Natacha Koutchoumov | Pierre Chatagny | Rui Alves
Bruce says: “Unlike most gay coming of age stories, GARÇON STUPIDE is not concerned with a sexual identity crisis or gaining acceptance about being gay. Loïc (Pierre Chatagny), a twenty year old Swiss boy loves the fact that he is
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Ari Graynor | Bebe Neuwirth | Griffin Dunne | Jr. | Michael Keaton | Robert Downey
Michael says: “This quirky film is reminiscent one of production team Griffin Dunne and Amy Robinson’s earlier collaborations, AFTER HOURS. Director Hoffman takes a darkly humorous look at the world of theater and the passion of the Boston Red Sox
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Patrice Chéreau
Starring: Claudia Coli | Isabelle Huppert | Pascal Greggory
Bruce says: “GABRIELLE is based on Joseph Conrad’s short story ‘The Return’ considered an anomaly by anyone familiar with his works of fiction, which mostly depict various aspects of adventurous seafaring life and occasionally take jabs at European imperialism. Conrad
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Starring: Catherine Keener | Frances McDormand | Jennifer Anniston | Joan Cusack
Michael says: “I really enjoy Nicole Holofcener’s films. Beginning with the brilliant WALKING & TALKING, and LOVELY & AMAZING I find it so delightfully refreshing to see smart films written and directed by a woman, focusing on women, and with
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Amos Gitai
Starring: Carmen Maura | Hana Laszlo | Hiam Abbass | Natalie Portman
Michael says: “FREE ZONE is Amos Gitai’s latest film, illuminating life in Israel and all its strife from a decidedly female point of view. The story revolves around three women, an Israeli, an American living in Israel, and a Palestinian
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Donna Murphy | Ellen Burstyn | Hugh Jackman | Mark Margolis | Rachel Weisz | Stephen McHattie
Bruce says: “THE FOUNTAIN, a barely likeable film, is an overly ambitious opus about love and death that takes place in the past, the present and future. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play Isabel and Tomas in the days of
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: Ralph Arlyck
Bruce says: “Ralph Arlyck made a fifteen minute short film in 1969 called SEAN. The film was an interview with year old Sean Farrell. It screened with François Truffaut’s L’ENFANT SAUVAGE and Arlyck proudly displays a congratulatory note he received
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Adam Beach | Jesse Bradford | Ryan Phillippe
Bruce says: “I happen to respect Clint Eastwood as a filmmaker. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA is nothing short of magnificent. While my expectations were low going into FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, I was not fully prepared in spite of all
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jeff Zimbalist | Matt Mochary
Bruce says: “This enjoyable film follows a group of young men who eschew the gangster life of the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro by turning to music instead of crime. FAVELA RISING is a good companion piece to BUS
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Director: Ash Christian
Starring: Ash Christian | Ashley Fink | Deborah Theaker | Jonathan Caouette
Michael says: “Our next film picked up on some of the bible-belt conflicts, but wrapped them in a teen comedy with a gay twist. FAT GIRLS is the directorial debut of 21-year-old, Texasn, Ash Christian. This refreshing tale may seem
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Avril Lavigne | Bobby Cannavale | Catalina Sandino Moreno | Ethan Hawke | Greg Kinnear | Paul Dano | Wilmer Valderrama
Bruce says: “Being a fan of Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, I was looking forward to Richard Linklater’s fictionalized version of Schlosser’s multiple exposés of the fast food industry, the Colorado meat packing industry, and the US immigration policies (or
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniel Burman
Starring: Arturo Goetz | Daniel Hendler | Julieta Diaz
Bruce says: “Daniel Burman’s FAMILY LAW is the third film in a trilogy about the meaning of family. In each film (WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH and LOST EMBRACE were the first two) a young man named Ariel (Daniel Hendler) is
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Ellen Perry
Bruce says: “Campaigning against the Shining Path terrorists, Alberto Fujimori abolished congress, and created a court system in which enemies of the state were tried and sentenced by hooded judges. In a matter of months Fujimori transformed Peru from a
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Bent Hamer
Starring: Adrienne Shelley | Didier Flamand | Fisher Stevens | Karen Young | Lili Taylor | Marisa Tomei | Matt Dillon
Bruce says: “Mickey Rourke fans and/or BARFLY fans should probably stay away from this film. Both BARFLY and FACTOTUM are based on the autobiographical novel penned by poet Charles Bukowski. FACTORUM traces the drinking marathons and sexual escapades of Henry/Hank
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Róbert I. Douglas
Starring: Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson | Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson | Helgi Björnsson | Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir
Bruce says: “Although I did laugh several times at the campy one-liners that one would expect more from a US sitcom than an Icelandic feature film, ELEVEN MEN OUT is just not very good. Ottar (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) is a
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Rating: 4.6
Director: Fernando Eimbcke
Starring: Carolina Politi | Daniel Miranda | Danny Perea | Diego Cataño | Enrique Arreola
Chris says: “Here’s an early candidate for next year’s Buried Treasure award: this engaging black-and-white Mexican indie is about two fourteen-year-old best friends, Flama (Daniel Miranda) and Moko (Diego Catano). On one Sunday afternoon, they have Flama’s mother’s apartment to
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Matthew Barney
Starring: Björk | Matthew Barney
Bruce says: “If you have a taste for the bizarre, then this is a film for you. Matthew Barney (CREMASTER CYCLE) is known for his outrageous stories and his ability to dazzle visually. Barney’s craft is as likely to be
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Jessica Lange | Sam Shepard | Sarah Polley | Tim Roth
Michael says: “Wim Wenders’ latest film based on a play by Sam Shepard relies a little too much on forced whimsy to be truly successful. When an aging matinee idol discovers that he fathered a child years ago, he returns
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Adrien Grenier | Anne Hathaway | Emily Blunt | Meryl Streep | Simon Baker | Stanley Tucci | Tracie Thoms
Bruce says: “THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is an ugly duckling comedy set in the vacuous milieu of the New York and Paris fashion industries. What makes fashion a great comedic subject is the exaggerated importance and sense of purpose the
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Jack Nicholson | Leonardo DiCaprio | Mark Wahlberg | Martin Sheen | Matt Damon | Ray Winstone | Vera Farmiga
Bruce says: “Adapted from the critically acclaimed Hong Kong film INFERNAL AFFAIRS, THE DEPARTED is fairly faithful to its source. The wonderful, intricate plot remains intact – a mole from the local mobsters has infiltrated the police force and a
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