Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Daniel MacIvor
Starring: Daniel MacIvor | Rebecca Jenkins
Bruce says: “PAST PERFECT could easily be a two character, two act play: Then and Now. That would not be an oddity since the writer/director is also a playwright. It is fun to think about the possibility of stories presented
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Mel Gibson
Starring: Christo Jivkov | Claudia Gerini | Francesco De Vito | Hristo Shopov | James Caviezel | Luca Lionello | Maia Morgenstern | Monica Bellucci
Bob says: “Long story short: I didn’t like or appreciate anything about this movie. “Long story relatively long: I’m leaving out the anti-Semitism question (I don’t take that stuff personally, and besides, it’s all true. My uncle Moshe did it)
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Mark Brian Smith | Tony Montana
Ron says: “You’ll never work in this town again: OVERNIGHT is a documentary that follows the meteoric rise of Troy Duffy, who was given an unprecedented deal by Miramax in 1997 to direct his screenplay for THE BOONDOCK SAINTS. His
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Robert Greenwald
Barbara says: “I thought this documentary was very good. It truly makes you think about news as a business and how easy it is to manipulate what people say. A perfect example is Bill O’Reilly who has a tremendously popular
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Siddiq Barmak
Starring: Gul Rehman Ghorbandi | Marina Golbahari | Mohammad Arif Herati | Mohammad Nadir Khwaja | Zubaida Sahar
Michael says: “Chris and I were fortunate enough to squeeze into a sold-out preview for this film the other night, and were treated to a powerful, well-made film, the first feature-length film released from Afghanistan, and winner of this year’s
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Chris Kentis
Starring: Blanchard Ryan | Daniel Travis | Saul Stein
Beth says: “OPEN WATER is based on a true story, or on what the filmmakers assumed may have happened to this couple on vacation in the Bahamas who get left behind by their boat when they went out on a
Read the review...On the Run (France/Belgium; 117 min.) directed by: Lucas Belvauxstarring: Lucas Belvaux; Catherine Frot; Dominique Blanc Johanna says: “I liked ON THE RUN. I wondered about Bruno’s rage, even after all those years in prison. Could he really just
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Robert Parigi
Starring: Desmond Harrington | Melissa Sagemiller | Rip Torn
Bob G. says: “Working from an ultra-low budget, director Robert Parigi crafts a fright-doll movie classic that does everything that Lucky McKee’s MAY threatened to, but only half delivered. Desmond Harrington brings subtle introversion to the role of a technical
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Bruce says: “It is sad but fairly accurate to say that Jean-Luc Godard is past his prime. Part of the problem lies with the fact that he is stuck in a time warp; he has not changed his filmmaking with
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: John O'Brien
Starring: George Lyford | Natalie Picoe | Richard Snee
Barbara says: “This is an offbeat movie with beautiful shots of Vermont scenery and a look at real people. The script is improvised for the most part by the local Vermonters. George Lyford is a 72 year old who has
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Director: Dagur Kári
Starring: Elín Hansdóttir | Tómas Lemarquis | Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson
Ivy says: “I saw NÓI at Toronto this past year. It sounded quirky, had a funny photo in the catalog, and it seemed like the kind of movie that Ned and I might be able to program for the Brattle.
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Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Aaron Ruell | Efren Ramirez | Jon Gries | Jon Heder | Tina Marjorino
Michael says: “The feel good movie of the year! A bold proclamation for this Sundance-celebrated comedy, but NAPOLEON DYNAMITE had me laughing until my eyes watered, and it was sweet and uplifting without being sentimental and cloying. What a surprise!
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Daniela Fejerman | Inés París
Starring: Alex Angulo | Chisco Amado | Eliska Sirová | Leonor Watling | María Pujalte | Rosa María Sardà | Silvia Abascal
Beth says: “I saw a Spanish film called MY MOTHER LIKES WOMEN, a tour de force for the lead Leonor Watling who was funny, neurotic, beautiful, gifted comedienne, just – she was brilliant, I was excited about seeing a Spanish
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Nathaniel Kahn
Diane says: “Am I imagining that some people already wrote in about this one? I liked MY ARCHITECT very much. The inherently compelling premise (illegitimate son wants to get to know his father better, posthumously) and the strong visual elements
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Michael Burke
Starring: Emile Hirsch | Richard Jenkins | Tom Guiry
Bruce says: “THE MUDGE BOY opens with a woman riding her bike down a bucolic path, a stack of eggs carefully placed in her bicycle basket. As she reaches a knoll she dismounts and walks the bike to the top
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Rating: 3.25
Chris says: “After reading Gerald Peary’s scathing review earlier this year in his Cannes 2004 report (likening it to the wretched LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!), I feared the worst for this biopic about the young Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. “It’s not nearly
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Anne Reid | Cathryn Bradshaw | Daniel Craig
Michael says: “Motherhood. In the arts, and to a certain extent, in life, the mother figure is laden with so much baggage. We all have certain expectations when it comes to mothers. Nurturing, self-sacrificing (remember BAMBI?), caring, encouraging. Director Roger
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Tjebbo Penning
Starring: Diana Kent | Eric van der Donk | Marcel Faber | Paul Freeman | Susan Lynch
Barbara says: “I didn’t like this movie at all despite some pretty scenery of the Irish countryside. I found it very disjointed and rather cruel. Paul Freeman has one expression throughout and the longer I watched him, the more I
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Ousmane Sembene
Starring: Fatoumata Coulibaly | Maimouna Hélène Diarra | Rasmané Ouédraogo | Salimata Traoré
Bruce says: “MOOLAADÉ is a tale about female genital mutilation, a triumph of rationality over tradition. For years many cultures in Africa have practiced the ritual of female circumcision. Performed crudely with more attention to ritual than health and safety
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Bruce Dern | Charlize Theron | Cristina Ricci | Pruitt Taylor-Vince | Scott Wilson
Peg says: “Saw this yesterday. A very gripping and intense character study of a female serial killer (based upon a true story). Charlize Theron is Aileen, an uneducated but resilient woman who has worked as a prostitute since she was
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