Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Byambasuren Davaa | Luigi Falorni
Starring: Amgaabazar Gonson | Chimed Ohin | Janchiv Ayurzana
Diane says: “Daily life of camel herders in Mongolia. Don’t know why this was chosen as the Closing Night Film of the International Film Festival of Boston; might be more appropriate to the Animal Channel. But pleasant, educational and nice
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Paul Doyle Jr.
Rob says: “There is a moment in BACK TO THE FUTURE II (1989) when Charles Fleischer says to an incredulous, time traveling Michael J. Fox, who has recently arrived in 2015 and just read (on a holographic billboard) of a
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Bette Midler | Christopher Walken | Faith Hill | Glenn Close | Matthew Broderick | Mike White | Nicole Kidman | Roger Bart
Bruce says: “More is certainly less. The number of giant stars in a film is inversely proportionate to the number of cats it will receive. That’s a rule of thumb I should have memorized by now. THE STEPFORD WIVES roped
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bronwen Hughes
Starring: David O'Hara | Deborah Kara Unger | Dexter Fletcher | Thomas Jane
Michael says: “Color me stunned. This was one enjoyable film! “Take your (anything but standard) biopic, add some bank robberies, some time in the big house, gun play and car chases, chic late ‘70’s fashion, steamy love scenes between a
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Starring: Jae-kyeong Seo | Jong-ho Kim | Yeong-su Oh
Bruce says: “The United States is a religious country. I’ve heard that among all nations we are second only to Malta where religion is involved in the secular state. But are we spiritual? From South Korea, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER…
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Alfred Molina | Donna Murphy | Dylan Baker | J.K. Simmons | James Franco | Kirsten Dunst | Rosemary Harris | Tobey Maguire
Bruce says: “Tobey Maguire is so likable it is difficult for me to be objective about his films. Ordinarily I would not rate derivative comic book action films very high on my list. But I find the Spider-Man films enjoyable
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Director: David Mamet
Starring: Derek Luke | Ed O'Neill | Tia Texada | Val Kilmer | Vincent D'Onofrio | William H. Macy
Peg says: “The characters in David Mamet’s new thriller might be mistaken for those in a Michael Crichton novel if not for their tendency to spout profane haiku instead of dialogue. Val Kilmer’s Robert Scott is an ex-Marine and Secret
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Toni Kalem
Starring: Guy Pearce | Irma P. Hall | John Hawkes | Lili Taylor
Bruce says: “**SPOILERS** “Based on an Anne Tyler novel, A SLIPPING-DOWN LIFE is a weird combination of a traditional love story and a bizarre turn of events for two Southerners who see nothing in their boring lives but a dead
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Mike Hodges
Starring: Clive Owen; Charlotte Rampling; Malcolm McDowell | Jamie Foreman | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Ken Stott | Sylvia Syms
Bruce says: “Director Mike Hodges and Clive Owen scored critical raves for CROUPIER. I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD fuels the argument that lightening rarely strikes twice in the same place. Owen plays Will Graham who is a ‘retired’ mobster who
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Director: Kerry Conran
Starring: Angelina Jolie | Giovanni Ribisi | Gwyneth Paltrow | Jude Law | Laurence Olivier | Michael Gambon
Janet says: “You’ll notice that this review is a departure from my usual style. It comes from my better and more technical half, Linc Ross.” Lincoln says: “As a film dilettante, I would not normally feel competent to review a
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Billy Zane | Chris Cooper | Danny Huston | Daryl Hannah | Kris Kristofferson | Maria Bello | Mary Kay Place | Richard Dreyfuss | Thora Birch | Tim Roth
Diane says: “Didn’t John Sayles’ movies used to be good? Especially after seeing MARIA FULL OF GRACE, this pic dealing with undocumented laborers is bad. It looks bad. The script is bad. Exposition is belabored (even going so far as
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Sabiha Sumar
Starring: Aamir Malik | Abid Ali | Kiron Kher | Navtej Johar Singh | Shilpa Shukla
Bruce says: “The great power of SILENT WATERS lies in its story. “In 1947, British India was separated into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with two sections West and East) and Hindu India. The transition was not easy or without
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti | Sandra Oh | Thomas Haden Church | Virginia Madsen
Michael says: “Alexander Payne’s look at the male in middle-age crisis if fun, well-written, and winning rave reviews from Chlotrudis members. I liked it, but you won’t be seeing it on any of my top of the year lists. Clearly
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Maurizio Benazzo | Nick Day
Georgette says: “Every 12 years a massive Hindu festival takes place in Prayag, Uttar Pradesh where the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna rivers meet. The holiest swamis, gurus, and living saints gather to discuss religious doctrine, sing, and most importantly, bathe
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Siegrid Alnoy
Starring: Carlo Brandt | Catherine Mouchet | Sasha Andres
Bruce says: “ELLE EST DES NOTRES is a very black comedy although it is billed as drama. Christine (Sasha Andres) is an unemployed office worker getting temp jobs wherever she can. To cover up her precarious employment situation she often
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Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Anthony Mackie | Dania Ramirez | Ellen Barkin | John Turturro | Kerry Washington | Monica Bellucci | Woody Harrelson
Ivy says: “My phrase for this movie is: She Hate It. “Although Kerry Washington’s performance was good, and there were lots of good appearances from some of my other favorite indie actresses I do think that the film was more
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Dylan Moran | Kate Ashfield | Lucy Davis | Nick Frost | Simon Pegg
Beth says: “So last month or so, thanks to Clint’s last minute offer of a free pass to its Boston sneak preview, I went to see SHAUN OF THE DEAD almost 100% clueless about it (an exceedingly rare state for
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Man Tat Ng | Stephen Chow | Wei Zhao | Yin Tse
Michael says: “This hilarious spoof on kung fu films blends the art of Shaolin kung fu and soccer! If that sounds wacky, then you’ve got a good idea what SHAOLIN SOCCER will give you. It’s also incredibly sweet, and awfully
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Rodrigo Bellott
Starring: Matt Cavanaugh | Matthew Guida | Ronica V. Reddick
Chris says: “I had mixed feelings about this ambitious but flawed first feature from director Rodrigo Bellott. Beginning in Bolivia and ending up at a prototypical American University, it tracks a cast of young adults undergoing various sexual awakenings, experiences
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Anne Parillaud | Ashley Wanninger | Bart Binnema | Dominique Colladant | Grégoire Colin | Roxane Mesquida
Michael says: “As a follow-up to the controversial FAT GIRL, Breillat serves up something highly original and self-reflexive. At the core of FAT GIRL’s controversy is a 12 – 20 minutes (depending on how you measure it) seduction/sex scene involving
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