Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Jon Amiel
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Delroy Lindo | Hilary Swank | Stanley Tucci
Laura says: “When 32 pacemaker wearers drop dead in Boston and misguided pigeons wreck havoc in London’s Tralfalgar Square Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart, POSSESSION) forms a theory that a problem with the earth’s electromagnetic field, formed by the
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Director: Wayne Kramer
Starring: Alec Baldwin | Joey Fatone | Maria Bello | Paul Sorvino | William H. Macy
Hilary says: “In this formulaic yarn William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, the unluckiest fella ever. Lootz is a ‘cooler’ working to spread his bad luck to the patrons of The Golden Shangri-La, an old-school Las Vegas casino run by
Read the review...Company, The (USA/Germany; 112 min.) directed by: Robert Altmanstarring: Neve Campbell; Malcolm McDowell; James Franco Jane says: “THE COMPANY was pretty awful in my estimation. No character development, just situations playing out in often unrealistic ways. (Why did Neve’s
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Director: Anthony Minghella
Starring: Brendan Gleeson | Donald Sutherland | Eileen Atkins | Giovanni Ribisi | Jude Law | Kathy Baker; | Natalie Portman | Nicole Kidman | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Ray Winstone | Renée Zellweger
Chris says: “The season’s bloated literary adaptation / historical epic Oscar bait is Anthony Minghella’s first film since the similarly crafted and still underrated THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. It’s no masterpiece, but it exceeded my expectations nonetheless. Jude Law gives
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Kátia Lund
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues | Matheus Nachtergaele | Seu Jorge
Hilary says: “This one is a toughie not for the faint of heart. I know its the curse of my generation to constantly draw comparisons, but stylistically and thematically this film evokes AMORES PERROS, plus PULP FICTION and KIDS.
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Angela Christlieb | Stephen Kijak
Michael says: “One might think that the docuemntary CINEMANIA might have something to do with people similar to some Chlotrudis members we all know. One would be WRONG! CINEMANIA is a documentary examining the rather extreme and bizarre lives of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Kwon-taek Im
Starring: Ho-jeong Yu | Min-sik Choi | Sung-kee Ahn | Yejin Kim
Laura says: “In late 1800’s Korea significant artists, all schooled intellectuals of the time, curried favor with Government officials in hopes of the ultimate commission – working at the king’s palace as a royal painter. A wealthy man dared to
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Daryl Hannah | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Marcia Gay Harden | Mary Steenburgen | Rota Moreno | Susan Lynch | Vanessa Martinez
Michael says: “Maverick independent filmmaker John Sayles takes a look at the different paths open to children in modern-day Mexico in CASA DE LOS BABYS, a film that offers no answers, but highlights some terrific acting. The film is centered
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Delphine Gleize
Starring: Angela Molina | Chiara Mastroianni | Clovis Cornillac | Jacques Gamblin | Lio | Pascal Bongard
Ivy says: “This feature film debut is a daring challenge following 5 story lines as they intersect and eventually overlap starting with the simple connection of a bullfighting bull’s body parts after it has fought and been slaughtered. “The cinematography
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Andrew Jarecki
Bob G. says: “The most fascinating thing about this documentary is not only the subject matter, which is about as disturbing as anything you’ll ever see, but how filmmaker Andrew Jarecki maintains almost complete objectivity in his portrayal of the
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Rating: 3.9
Director: Todd Graff
Starring: Anna Kendrick | Daniel Letterle | Joanna Chilcoat | Robin de Jesus
Hilary says: “Normally I’m not a fan of ‘feel-good’ movies. However, CAMP won over my inner cynic through the successful combination of two guilty pleasures – the teen romantic comedy and the summer camp movie – with musical numbers. “I’m
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Nigel Cole
Starring: Helen Mirren | John Alderton | Julie Walters | Linda Bassett
Bruce says: “When I first saw THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE, & HER LOVER I was totally mesmerized by Helen Mirren. Her work in the ‘Prime Suspect’ series reinforced my high opinion of her. I should have known better
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Eli Roth
Starring: Cerina Vincent | James DeBello | Joey Kern | Jordan Ladd | Rider Strong
Bob G. says: “(WARNING: Slight spoiler included) “CABIN FEVER is a nasty little genre picture that, if it took itself a hair more seriously, would be a B-Horror-Pic classic in a league at least close to films to which it
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Felipe Lacerda | José Padilha
Diane says: “BUS 174 is grueling — the docu about the Rio de Janeiro bus hostages. Director keeps the tension going for 2 hours, despite very little happening. Diversity of cinematographic effects is effective: long aerial shot of the city
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Director: Paul Hunter
Starring: Chow Yun-fat | Jaime King | Seann William Scott
Esmé says: “Okay, so this was utter crap, but I love Chow Yun Fat. But even he was semi lame in this dog. (A guardian of a sacred scrolls searches for the next guardian and finds it in this punk
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gregor Jordan
Starring: Ed Harris | Glenn Fitzgerald | Joaquin Phoenix | Scott Glenn
Bob G. says: “Before BUFFALO SOLDIERS falls apart, at exactly the 3/4 mark, it is among the best and most compulsively watchable of the many military satires made. It contains horror that is at times as devastating as anything thrown
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Don Coscarelli
Starring: Bruce Campbell | Ossie Davis
Howard says: “Don Coscarelli, writer and director of BUBBA HO-TEP, has his heroes. It’s quite obvious after seeing his ode to Elvis and JFK that Coscarelli wanted to give the two men a chance to make up for alleged past
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Martin Doblemeier
Laura says: “Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born to a wealthy family in Breslau who were not avid churchgoers. His integrity, intellectual insights and standing with the ecumenical church marked him as a spiritual leader at a very young age, yet
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Deepa Mehta
Starring: Jazz Mann | Lisa Ray | Rahul Khanna | Rishma Malik
Bob says: “BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD is strongly influenced by its (and I assume director Mehta’s) location in the west. It seemed to me that it referred more to Bollywood than it was part of the genre. Characters are constantly talking about their
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Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Karen Moncrieff
Starring: Agnes Bruckner | David Straithairn | Frances Fisher | Margaret Colin
Esmé says: “I really liked this movie a lot. The main character’s pathos was palpable (it was about poetry, I can alliterate, can’t I?) I was really moved by the story, and having just watched LILJA 4-EVER, I was suspicious
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