Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Denzel Washington | Jon Voight | Kimberly Elisa | Liev Schreiber | Meryl Streep
Bruce says: “A brave move it was to remake the 1964 classic THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. How can a film compete with a predecessor that starred Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh? Answer: cast Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Blaine Thurier
Starring: Bonnie Catterson | Kim Cote | Robert Dayton
Bruce says: “Andrew (Robert Dayton) is the type of man that would make anyone want to leave the room once he walked in. He is a self-involved, insensitive nerd. His wife (Bonnie Catterson) has kicked him out and he hasn’t
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Tony Shalhoub
Starring: Brooke Adams | Eva Amurri | Lynne Adams | Tony Shalhoub
Rob N. says: “With the same sort of unabashed honesty that helped make SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE such a hit with the 40+ set is Emmy-winning ‘Monk’ star Tony Shalhoub’s directorial debut. This ‘middle age comedy’ features his wife, the still-lovely
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Yann Samuell
Starring: Emmanuelle Grönvold | Gérard Watkins | Guillaume Canet | Joséphine Lebas-Joly | Marion Cotillard | Thibault Verhaeghe
Hilary says: “Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard) are best friends from the moment they meet in primary school. Julien finds Sophie with her backpack dumped out into a puddle by classmates who are teasing her for being Polish.
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Anaïs Granofsky
Starring: Ingrid Veninger | Jackie Burroughs | Peter Stebbings
Bruce says: “The time is the distant future. Just how far we aren’t sure but one business boasts its existence ‘since 2032.’ Hints are dropped from time to time. ‘The birds are returning to the Pacific.’ Water is undrinkable unless
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Georgette says: “While making the PBS series, ‘The Blues,’ Martin Scorsese was inspired to put together the one-time only concert ‘Salute to the Blues’ which became the film LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE directed by Antoine Fuqua (TRAINING DAY.) Although there
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Anjelica Houston | Bill Murray | Bud Cort | Cate Blanchett | Jeff Goldblum | Noah Taylor | Owen Wilson | Willem Defoe
Rob says: “Cool is something that cannot be willed into being, something that continues to escape THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS auteur Wes Anderson. He does have the mercurial Bill Murray (LOST IN TRANSLATION) in a solid comic turn as a vainglorious,
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Charles Atlas
Peg says: “I also highly recommend THE LEGEND OF LEIGH BOWERY, a wonderful film looking at the outrageous design talents and performance quirks of a true original. Bowery is perhaps best known as model and muse for painter Lucian Freud–the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: C. Jay Cox
Starring: Amber Benson | Jacqueline Bisset | Mary Kay Place | Rebekah Johnson | Steve Sandvoss | Wes Ramsey
Hilary says: “When After School Specials on sexual orientation and religion collide with gay softcore porn. “I was hoping this would be funny-bad, but instead it was just bad. “The cats were so bored that they won’t even rate it.”
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Starring: Laila Boonyasak | Sinitta Boonyasak | Tadanobu Asano | Takashi Miike
Chris says: “Still piecing together this puzzling film, but that alone doesn’t frustrate me. I was so delighted by what perplexed me that I can imagine re-watching it as I did with MULHOLLAND DR., discovering more clues each time out
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Bent Hamer
Starring: Bjørn Floberg | Joachim Calmeyer | Tomas Norström
Diane says: “KITCHEN STORIES will be on my nom list for cinematography: lovely palette (1940s hues of greens and browns), nice shots, esp. of low to high or vice versa showing the two characters’–observer and ‘host’–vantage points. The ending got
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.375
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Laura Linney | Liam Neeson | Peter Sarsgaard
Diane says: “Uncontroversial movie about a controversial subject. In quality very much like SEABISCUIT. 1 cat.” Chris replies: “Which is good news, I guess, if you liked SEABISCUIT… “Liam Neeson is fine as the good doctor (if only Ian McKellen
Read the review...Kings and Queen (France; 150 min.) directed by: Arnaud Desplechinstarring: Emmanuelle Devos; Mathieu Amalric; Maurice Garrel Bruce says: “Nora (Emmanuelle Devos), who manages an upscale art gallery, is the queen in question and the kings are the men in
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Andrew Sniezek
Starring: James Calla | Jason Courtemanche | Patrick Luce
Bob says: “Poor, despondent Bruce is really just looking for a father figure. He lost his dad to gang violence when he was just a kid, and was taken in by a local priest who has protected him from certain
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Quentin Tarrantino
Starring: Daryl Hannah | David Carradine | Lucy Liu | Uma Thurman
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS AHEAD** “To say that KILL BILL: VOL 2 is more fun than its predecessor is about the kindest thing I can say. It certainly isn’t better although I enjoyed it more for couple of reasons which I’ll
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 0.5 cats
Director: Simon Sauvé
Bruce says: “Being somewhat to the left of center, I have always held admiration for protesters. In the early 1990’s I discovered that protesters were not always what they seemed. Many of the protesters were what I would call professionals
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Sue Brooks
Starring: Bill Young | Gotaro Tsunashima | Kate Atkinson | Lynnette Curran | Toni Collette | Yumiko Tanaka
Esmé says: “Well it made me cry till the back of my neck was soaked. I was irritated by Collette’s irritability at the beginning, but really moved by her passion in the middle and her grief at the end. I
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
Starring: Arieh Elias | Salim Dau | Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe
Chris says: “This colorful debut feature from Israeli director Ra’anan Alexandrowicz is a charming fable revising that well-worn tale of an innocent foreigner in a big city. Bright-eyed James (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe), a young Christian minister, has traveled from his
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Patrice Leconte
Starring: Fabrice Luchini | Gilbert Melki | Michel Duchaussoy | Sandrine Bonnaire
Bruce says: “Patrice Leconte is my favorite living director – judging by the most films getting a perfect score. He probably has the highest average number of cats as well, but that statistic will not be pursued at the moment
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: John Crowley
Starring: Cillian Murphy | Colin Farrell | Colm Meany | Kerry Condon | Shirley Henderson
Diane says: “I haven’t innapropriately laughed so much at violence since HAPPINESS. INTERMISSION, about a dozen or so people in a working-class neighborhood of Dublin dealing with violence and broken hearts, is made strong by excellent pacing and editing and
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