Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Seth Gordon
Michael says: “In the world of documentaries I am often left thinking, how did the filmmaker find that story? Other times I think, they really put that film together well to make it a compelling story. Seth Gordon’s THE KING
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Vincent Katz | Vivien Bittencourt
Bruce says: “If ever two unrelated film projects deserved a pairing it is KIKI SMITH: SQUATTING THE PALACE with another film about the artistic process made a few years earlier, AGNES MARTIN: WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD. Shown together
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Allison Janney | Elliot Page | J.K. Simmons | Jason Bateman | Jennifer Garner | Michael Cera | Olivia Thrilby
Chris says: “JUNO, Jason Reitman’s follow-up to the wildly popular THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, greatly benefits from a solid, honest, hilarious first screenplay from newcomer Diablo Cody, a exquisite comic turn from lead actor Elliot Page, and an affable supporting
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stanley Nelson
Michael says: “Most of us probably remember the late 70’s when Jim Jones and the People’s Temple committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Now director Stanley Nelson has put together a documentary about the People’s Temple that tries to focus
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Parvez Sharma
Michael says: “This is one of those films that I find very difficult to review. Focusing on the horrific plight of the homosexual Muslim, it’s an important film with a story that needs to be told, yet as a film
Read the review...Jellyfish (Israel; 78 min.) directed by: Shira Geffen, Etgar Keretstarring: Sarah Adler, Nikol Leidman, Gera Sandler, Noa Knoller, Ma-nenita De Latorre, Ilanit Ben Yaakov Michael says: “JELLYFISH won the Golden Camera, and the Screenwriter’s Award at Cannes earlier this
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ho-Cheung Pang
Starring: Chapman To | Isabella Leong | Josie Ho
Jason says: “It’s easy to say what ISABELLA is about – a middle-aged man coming to terms with the daughter he never knew he had – although it’s a little more difficult to nail down the specific plot, especially while
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Catherine Keener | Emile Hirsch | Jena Malone | Marcia Gay Harden | William Hurt
Hilary says: ” Sean Penn’s latest directorial & screenwriting effort, INTO THE WILD, is an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name. WILD is the true story of an idealistic new college grad, Christopher McCandless, who travels around
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paul Auster
Starring: David Thewlis | Irène Jacob | Michael Imperioli
Bruce says: “Paul Auster’s The Book of Illusions is a magical work. It tells the story of Martin Frost, a man devastated by the loss of his wife and children, who returns to the living when he discovers the films
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Todd Haynes
Starring: Ben Whishaw | Bruce Greenwood | Cate Blanchett | Charlotte Gainsbourg | Christian Bale | Heath Ledger | Julianne Moore | Marcus Carl Franklin | Michelle Williams | Richard Gere
Michael says: “There’s been a lot of buzz about Todd Hayne’s Bob Dylan biopic, especially after it’s debut in Venice. Those who know me know that I am not a fan of the biopic, but ever the experimenter, Haynes turns
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Eric Latigau
Starring: Alain Chabat | Bernadette Lafont | Charlotte Gainsbourg
Bruce says: “If you feel you need a reason to see this film, there is one: Charlotte Gainsbourg. Like the recent French offering, THE VALET, this film has been optioned by Hollywood for an English remake. If Sony Pictures has
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Doris Dörrie
Michael says: “German feminist filmmaker Doris Dörrie is best known for her narrative features, such as 1985’s MEN, 1988’s ME AND HIM, or 2000’s ENLIGHTENMENT GUARANTEED. It is this latter film that serves as a connection of sorts to her
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Starring: Du-na Bae | Hie-bong Byeon | Kang-hoSong
Jeff says: “In the year 2000, an overly compulsive American doctor on a U.S. military base in Korea orders his Korean employee to pour hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down a drain, directly into Seoul’s Han River. On a bright,
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Arthur Dong
Michael says: “Accomplished documentarian Dong has won acclaim for his earlier films, COMING OUT UNDER FIRE, LICENSED TO KILL, and FAMILY FUNDAMENTALS. He’s back with a film that he’s been working on for 7 – 8 years, HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, a
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Peter Vogt
Jay says: “It’s probably pretty easy to make a fairly entertaining documentary about Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee: Point a camera at him, ask a question, and let him go. Repeat until out of questions or time, do a little follow-up with
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gary Hustwit
Bruce says: “In 1957 Edward Alfred Hoffman invented a new typeface. Originally called Neue Haas Grotesk it is now the most ubiquitous of all typefaces, known throughout the world at Helvetica. Post-war European design in the 1950’s was centered on
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Lee Kang-Sheng
Starring: Dennis Lieh | Ivy Li | Jane Liao | Lee Kang-Sheng
Bruce says: “During the great Asian financial boom in early 1990’s director Lee Kang-Sheng was an unemployed actor with lots of time on his hands. The Taiwanese film industry was doing poorly in the face of Hollywood dominance in international
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 0 cats
Director: Joe Swanberg
Starring: Andrew Bujalski | Greta Gerwig | Kent Osborne | Mark Duplass
Barbara says: “For the first time since I have been a member, I am giving a movie 0 cats. The whole film seemed like some drunken ramblings in an off-campus apartment.”
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 0.5 cats
Director: Tibor Szemzö
Bruce says: “A GUEST OF LIFE is based on story of Alexander Csoma de Koros, a legendary 19th century Hungarian scholar who began a journey to Asia to discover the origins of the Hungarian people and unexpectedly ended up in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Craig Zobel
Starring: Kene Holliday | Pat Healy | Rebecca Mader
Chris says: “The title is actually the name of a small record label in the film that bills itself as a ‘talent search company.’ Salesmen are hired as ‘record producers’ and trained to audition aspiring musicians whom they encourage to
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