Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Amy Berg
Michael says: “I’m quite disappointed that Amy Berg’s powerful documentary DELIVER US FROM EVIL received such an abbreviated release this year (in Boston anyway) so that most of us didn’t get to see it. In her first feature film, Berg
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Pat O'Neill
Starring: Kane Crawford | Lilia Barsegian | William Lewis
Bruce says: “THE DECAY OF FICTION is an original. In spirit, it is more akin to GOODBYE, DRAGON INN than any other film that comes to mind; the films of Guy Maddin are closest in style. It is impossible to
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Cristi Puiu
Starring: Doru Ana | Ion Fiscuteanu | Monica Barladeanu
Bruce says: “Dante Remus Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) wakes up one morning with a splitting headache and severe nausea. A widower for ten years, he is now alone since his daughter has left Romania, emigrating to Canada. Living with three cats
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Hamid Rahmanian
Starring: Hosein Yari | Maryam Amirjallali | Zabi Afshar
Bruce says: “DAY BREAK (DAME SOBH is the film’s Persian title) is the film I most liked at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. Happily, I have noticed that DAY BREAK and FAMILIA (my favorite film from the 2005 Toronto International
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Kevin Willmott
Starring: EvamariiJohnson | Larry J. Peterson | Rupert Pate
Michael says: “Sigh. Mockumentaries that are also satires are very difficult to pull off. Over the years, Christopher Guest has mastered the art, but with CSA: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, director Kevin Willmott tries to have his cake (satiric
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hans Canosa
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Brianna Brown | Erik Eidem | Helena Bonham Carter | Olivia Wilde
Michael says: “Hans Canosa’s second feature film (the first being ALMA MATER, which I had never heard of) is a two-person piece about a formerly married couple who haven’t seen each other in many years, then re-connect at a wedding.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Anthony Cordier
Starring: Jean-Philippe Écoffey | Johan Libéreau | Salomé Stévenin
Michael says: “The best thing I can say about DOUCHES FROIDES, my first film at the Toronto International Film Festival, is that it was all up from there. I was skeptical before I went, just looking at the image from
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Peter Richardson
Bruce says: “Rex Clemens, born in 1901, owned one of twelve logging companies in Philomath, Oregon. Today Philomath is an entirely different place. Depending on who is talking there are now just one or two logging companies and the spotted
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Beatrice Dalle | Don McKellar | Maggie Cheung | Martha Henry | Nick Nolte
Michael says: “In CLEAN, Olivier Assayas (DEMONLOVER) reunites with his IRMA VEP star (and ex-wife) Maggie Cheung, to paint a portrait of a young woman trying to kick a drug addiction, and find her place in the world. When Lee,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Mabbott
Starring: Alberta Watson | Devon Bostick | Douglas Smith | Vivica A. Fox
Beth says: “A Canadian misfit in high school comedy. I hadn’t read too much about it; it was a late switch alternative when I decided I didn’t want to start the day on a dark note (which my original choice
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Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Claire-Hope Ashitey | Clive Owen | Julianne Moore | Michael Caine | Pam Ferris
Shannon says: “I must say that CHILDREN OF MEN is one of the most captivating films I have seen in quite a while. Clive Owen is amazing as a reluctant hero; and the film, which is ultimately the story of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Todd Field
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley | Jennifer Connelly | Kate Winslet | Patrick Wilson
Chris says: “Alexander Payne’s sharp, wickedly funny adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s novel ELECTION remains one of the best-ever book-into-film conversions. A long-belated follow-up to his great directorial debut IN THE BEDROOM, Todd Field’s adaptation of another Perrotta novel doesn’t scale
Read the review...Changing Times (France; 90 min.) directed by: André Téchinéstarring: Catherine Deneuve; Gérard Depardieu; Gilbert Melki Chris says: “André Téchiné‘s latest reunites Catharine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu as once-lovers who meet up after three decades apart. Actually, Depardieu’s never gotten
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