Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Per Fly
Starring: Ghita Nørby | Karina Skands | Lars Brygmann | Lisa Werlinder | Ulrich Thomsen
Bruce says: “THE INHERITANCE is a complicated psychological drama about responsibility, manipulation, perception vs. reality and the prioritization of values. It is a very bleak and disturbing film. What I had read prior to seeing the film described the basic
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Siu Fai Mak | Wai Keung Lau
Starring: Andy Lau | Anthony Chau-Sang Wong | Carina Lau | Daoming Chen | Edison Chen | Eric Tsang | Kelly Chen | Leon Lai | Sammi Cheng | Shawn Yue | Tony Leung
Bruce says: “IA3 is comprised of what is left over from the first two films in the INFERNAL AFFAIRS trilogy. It is somewhat of a Hong Kong MULHOLLAND DR. which is both curse and compliment. “As complicated as the first
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Siu Fai Mak | Wai Keung Lau
Starring: Anthony Wong | Edison Chen | Shawn Yue
Bruce says: “INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 is a prequel to INFERNAL AFFAIRS. While it does seem a bit strange to treat the films this way, the technique is successful. IN IA2, Yan, the mole in the triads, and Ming, the mole
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.9
Director: Siu Fai Mak | Wai Keung Lau
Starring: Andy Lau | Anthony Wong | Tony Leung
Bruce says: “Every so often a film comes along that soars above others in its genre. Whether you categorize INFERNAL AFFAIRS as a thriller, action film or crime drama, it soars. Some critics bill this as a good cop/bad cop
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Craig T. Nelson | Holly Hunter | Samuel Jackson | Sarah Vowell
Tom says: “I am a big fan of both Pixar and Brad Bird’s feature-film debut (and what I consider to be America’s best animated film) THE IRON GIANT, so I was as excited as could be when I heard Pixar
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Zak Penn
Starring: Kitana Baker | Werner Herzog | Zak Penn
Chris says: “INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS is a clever, often side-splitting little film. The less said about what it’s about, the better. All you need to know is that its lead ‘character’ is the always intriguing Werner Herzog, and it
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Danielle Arbid
Starring: Laudi Arbid | Marianne Feghali | Rawia Elchab
Bruce says: “Once known as the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut was ultimately reduced to rubble by fighting that began in the mid 70’s and continued for at least a decade. People went about their business during the day;
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ramona S. Diaz
Bruce says: “Which are your most memorable glamorous First Ladies? Eva Peron, Jackie Kennedy, Dewi Sukarno, Madame Chaing-Kai-Chek? These are all women of great beauty and style, who also happened to be extremely well-educated, very intelligent and had an incredible
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Gabriele Salvatore
Starring: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón | Dino Abbrescia | Giorgio Careccia
Bruce says: “My memories of Gabriele Salvatore’s MEDITERRANEO are hazy but my feelings about it remain perfectly clear. I wasn’t wild about it. It felt glossy and superficial. While Salvatore’s I’M NOT SCARED is an improvement, I’m still not a
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Mark A. Lewis
Starring: Bill Croft | Chris Gauthier | Howard Siegel | John Callander | John F. Parker | Kurt Evans | Nicki Clyne | Paul Campbell | Peter Outerbridge
Bruce says: “ILL FATED, a very black tragicomedy, is clever enough to make an audience laugh and I admit I was laughing along with the others. But my laughter made me feel a bit dirty and somewhat of a lesser
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Matt Mahurin
Bruce says: “I LIKE KILLING FLIES is an engaging character study. Kenny Shopsin is an original. He is never without an opinion or ever at a loss for words. He refers to himself as an endangered species, a closet intellectual.
Read the review...Hukkle (Hungary; 75 min.) directed by: György Pálfistarring: Ferenc Bandi; Józsefné Rácz; József Forkas Bruce says: “HUKKLE has its own personality. In giving equal time to plants, animals, sounds, architectural details and humans György Pálfi has achieved something remarkable
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Dustin Hoffman< Lily Tomlin | Isabelle Huppert | Jason Schwartzman | Jude Law | Mark Wahlberg | Naomi Watts
![I [Heart] Huckabees](https://chlotrudis.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/iheart.jpg "I [Heart] Huckabees")
Chris says: Pretty audacious for a studio comedy, even if it’s technically an indie studio. David O. Russell’s existential romp is a love-it-or-hate-it receptacle if I ever saw one. I loved it, but I’m skeptical as to how much it’ll
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Deb Ellis | Denis Meuller
Beth says: “Next up was the documentary HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN’T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN, narrated by Matt Damon (who famously included a reference to Zinn’s A History of the United States in GOOD WILL HUNTING). He’s a
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Rating: 3.6
Director: John W. Walter
Chris says: I’m not sure how subversive HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY actually was, either, but it did justice to its subject, collage artist Ray Johnson (who was inarguably subversive). This is the usual collection of talking head interviews interspersed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Zhang Yimou
Michael says: “In HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, legendary Chinese director Zhang Yimou returns to the high-flying martial arts saga that he scored big with in HERO. After seeing the gorgeous, exciting trailer, I was excited about the film, but ultimately,
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Terry George
Starring: Don Cheadle | Jean Reno | Joaquin Phoenix | Nick Nolte | Sophie Okonedo
Bruce says: “It is important to let the world know exactly what went on in Rwanda ,a nation of two main groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus. The two groups speak the same language and have intermarried extensively over the
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Michael Mayer
Starring: Colin Farrell | Dallas Roberts | Robin Wright Penn | Sissy Spacek
Chris says: “Even though it cuts out a fairly major character and settles for an omniscient point of view (rather than the book’s chapter = character narration), Michael Cunningham mostly captures the essence of his beautiful book in his adapted
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Richard Ledes
Starring: Meatloaf Aday | Michelle Williams | Tim Guinee
Bruce says: “ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST taught us what better topic for black comedy than lobotomy. FRANCES, a tour de force for Jessica Lange, approached the subject in a somber manner. Along comes A HOLE IN ONE, directed
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Director: Oren Rudavsky
Diane says: “This docu by Menachem Daum has something in common with DOGVILLE: the acceptance of a refugee and its impact on both sides. In DOGVILLE, people need to know if the woman on the run is worthy before they
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