Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Starring: Akihiro Miwa | Chieko Baisho | Takuya Kimura
Chris says: “I have to admit I was hooked from the first scene, where the amazing, immense contraption that gives this film its title emerges through a brown, dusty fog. Although based on a story by Diana Wynne Jones, this
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: David Duchovny
Starring: Anton Yelchin | David Duchovny | Erykah Badu | Frank Langella | Robin Williams | Téa Leoni
Hilary says: “Yes, it’s as bad as it looks. David Duchovny proves that he should stay away from directing and writing and likely restrict his acting to the small screen. “Anton Yelchin as the young version of Duchovny’s character, and
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Starring: Alejandro Urdapilleta | Carlos Belloso | María Alche | Mercedes Morán
Michael says: “Lucrecia Martel’s THE HOLY GIRL is a perplexing, but ultimately rewarding (for me) film. More a series of vignettes involving several families in Argentina, THE HOLY GIRL examines religion, awakening sexuality and family dynamics in a highly symbolic
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Garth Jennings
Starring: Martin Freeman | Mos Def | Sam Rockwell | Zooey Deschanel
Diane says: “First of all, I had been foiled in my movie-going efforts a few weeks ago because everything had such rotten reviews. PALINDROMES is a good example: HAPPINESS is one of my faves, but reading that PALINDROMES is more
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jacques Richard
Bruce says: “The opening scenes of Bernardo Bertolucci’s THE DREAMERS involve Andre Malraux’s firing of Henri Langlois founder of the Cinémathèque Française. In front of the Cinémathèque Matthew, an American, meets Isabelle and Theo, twins who have a bizarre incestuous
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Chris Terrio
Starring: Glenn Close | James Marsden | lizabeth Banks
Hilary says: “I am relieved to read that Ismail Merchant was working on another film at the time of his death. I would be terribly sad if that this Hollywood-Normative-in-indie-clothing was his last credit. The plot (such as it is)
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Fatih Akin
Starring: Birol Ünel | Catrin Striebeck | Sibel Kekilli
Diane says: “Director and screenwriter Fatih Akin, himself born in Hamburg to Turkish parents, tells a bleak and bloody story of two Turkish Germans, Cahit and Sibel, who meet after their respective suicide attempts and form a marriage of convenience.
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Don Roos
Starring: Bobby Cannavale | David Sutcliffe | Jason Ritter | Jesse Bradford | Laura Dern | Lisa Kudrow | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Steve Coogan | Tom Arnold
Hilary says: “I laughed all the way through this darkly funny ensemble piece. The cast is a shoo-in for Best Cast: Lisa Kudrow reminds us that she’s much more than Phoebe Buffay, Tom Arnold manages not to be completely annoying,
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Yvan Attal
Starring: Alain Chabat | Charlotte Gainsbourg | Yvan Attal
Hilary says: “Writer/director/actor Yvan Attal and real-life wife Charlotte Gainsbourg (stars of 2002 Chlotrudis-eligible MY WIFE IS AN ACTRESS) team up again as Vincent and Gabrielle, a couple struggling with marriage, family life, fidelity, and identity. Vincent spends much time
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Michael Tucker | Petra Epperlein
Michael says: “There are some films that are powerful and fascinating to see even if they’re not really films I would say were impressively made. CASUISTRY: THE ART OF KILLING A CAT, which I saw at last year’s Toronto International
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Werner Herzog
Diane says: “A fine docu, about which I have lots to say. Those who have seen MARCH OF THE PENGUINS can say how well they work together. Good old Werner Herzog, last seen in INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS, uses that
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
Starring: Line Kruse | Mads Mikkelsen | Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Michael says: “This disappointing film had so much going for it. It was written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, whose writing credits include Susanne Beir’s wonderful films BROTHERS and OPEN HEARTS, as well as Lone Scherfig’s Chlotrudis Awards nominee,
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: George Cloioney
Starring: David Straithairn | Frank Langella | George Clooney | Patricia Clarkson | Robert Downey Jr
Chris says: “This historical recreation of Edward R. Murrow’s televised expose of Joseph McCarthy is a strong second directorial effort from George Clooney. The impressive ensemble is headed by David Strathairn, who delivers a career-best performance as Murrow; also good
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Tom says: “at times…. there’s quite a few verybad decisions in this movie (as with just about every Godzilla movie). I have several reactions to this movie. ‘The cheesy bits are AWFUL. There’s one scene early on set in New
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Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Hal Hartley
Starring: Bill Sage | Sabrina Lloyd | Tatiana Abracos
Michael says: “I attended Hal Hartley’s THE GIRL FROM MONDAY with much anticipation, being such a fan of the director’s deadpan wit, and wry observations on relationships. Hartley goes the science fiction route in MONDAY to tell the story of
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mohsen Abdolvahab | Rakhshan Bani-Etemad
Starring: Bahram Radan | Fatemeh Motamed Arya
Bruce says: “GILANEH is a grim, unsettling portrait of an Iranian mother who sees her family torn asunder by war. The war is the eight year Iranian-Iraqi war. The first half of the film takes place during the last days
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Deborah Koons Garcia
Michael says: “This documentary falls into the recent flood of films teaching the viewer about the evils of the corporate culture that is so pervasive in our society today. The filmmakers start with the fascinating and somewhat frightening chain of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Andrew Bujalski
Starring: Andrew Bujalski | Christian Rudder | Kate Dollenmayer
Michael says: “I really enjoyed FUNNY HA HA, and would recommend a trip to the theatre to see it. The performances, especially the lead actress are really great… very natural. There is an element of Woody Allen to the story,
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ira Sachs
Starring: Darren E. Burrows | Dina Korzun | Rip Torn
Chris says: “A surprise Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, this film from director Ira Sachs (THE DELTA) is also firmly entrenched in the music industry, specifically Memphis’. Alan (Rip Torn) is a veteran white jazz/blues musician. His estranged son, Michael
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Vimukthi Jayasundara
Starring: Hemasiri Liyanage | Kaushalaya Fernando | Nilupili Jayawardena
Bruce says: “THE FORSAKEN LAND is testimony of the long term effects of civil war on a small village in Sri Lanka. A soldier and his wife live with his sister in a remote house which is nothing more than
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