Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Emmanuelle Devos | Olivier Gourmet | Vincent Cassell
Bob says: “I managed to see this one while I was down in NY this week, and I was very impressed. While I found the thriller aspect kind of predictable, and was a little confused with the subplot about the
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Sturla Gunnarson
Starring: Andy Jones | Molly Parker | Vicky Hynes | William Hurt
Michael says: “Reaching for the quirky, warm humor of such films as WAKING NED DEVINE and GREENFINGERS, Gunnarson heads for the Maritimes in Canada for this off-beat comedy, that by-and-large fails to get many laughs. “William Hurt plays Dave, a
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mickey Lemle
Diane says: “This ’02 docu on Baba Ram Dass has no reviews on the Chlo website, so I throw one in belatedly, because I found it worthwhile viewing. Three of us watched it, none of us knowing much about this
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Christine Jeffs
Starring: Aaron Murphy | Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki | Alistair Browning | Marton Csokas | Sara Peirse
Michael says: “All languid heat, foreboding skies and alcohol-induced haze, RAIN is a coming-of-age tale set in New Zealand that is well-acted, gorgeously lensed, but not all that creatively written. Based on the novel by Kirsty Gunn, there is very
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: David Gulpilil | Everlyn Sampi | Kenneth Brannagh | Laura Monaghan | Tianna Sansbury
Elllen says: “Thanks to Michael getting up at a very early hour to procure tickets at the Toronto Film Festival, I was able to see this fabulous film based on the true story of three aboriginal girls who were taken
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Yang Zhang
Starring: Fengsen Jia | Hongshen Jia | Shun Xing | Tong Wang | Xiuling Chai
Michael says: “Zhang, whose last film was the family, feel-good film SHOWER, tackles a difficult subject with creativity and insight in QUITTING. Focusing on a troubled young man struggling with drug addiction and the sweeping changes occurring in contemporary China,
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Fabián Bielinsky
Starring: Gastón Pauls | Leticia Brédice | Ricardo Darín | Tomás Fonzi
Laura says: “NINE QUEENS characters are engaging and occasionally amusing, but director Bielinsky never rises above simply putting them through their paces. He doesn’t achieve the liftoff the film needs to sparkle, instead letting a leaden monotony set in. The
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Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Adam Sandler | Emily Watson | Philip Seymour Hoffman
Bob says: “I’ve seen this film twice now, and I’m still not sure what to think. It’s clearly an extension of the idea Anderson so overtly espoused in MAGNOLIA — that the unexpected can indeed happen. This time he managed
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Adam Larson Broder | Anthony Abrams
Starring: Brenda Blethyn | Christina Ricci | Dominique Swain | Hank Harris
Bob says: “If a film ever had a multiple-personality disorder, this is it. Christina Ricci chucks it all, falling head-over-heels with disabled Pumpkin, although he appears to do little for her except ease her guilty conscience. What exactly were directors
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Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: B.Z. Goldberg | Carlos Bolado
Diane says: “Co-director B.Z. Goldberg, an American Jew, befriends some Palestinian and Israeli kids and gets some of them intrigued enough to want to meet. But it’s not the feel-good movie I was expecting–it’s realistic, showing what’s become of those
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Annie Girardot | Benoît Magimel | Isabelle Huppert
Bob says: “I was part of a good-sized crowd at the Brattle last night for THE PIANO TEACHER, and came out of it finding myself pretty deeply affected. I found it odd that so many in the audience laughed so
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lieven Debrauwer
Starring: Ann Petersen | Dora van der Groen | Rosemarie Bergmans
Michael says: “Pauline is a developmentally disabled woman in her mid to late sixties. She lives with her sister Martha, is fixated with her more glamorous sister Paulette, and has forgotten her youngest sister Cecile, who has moved away from
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Rating: 1.25 cats
Director: Mark Romanek
Starring: Connie Nielsen | Eriq LaSalle | Michael Vartan | Robin Williams
Nathaniel T. says: “Bad. A mannered performance by Robin Williams is the centerpiece of a hackneyed script and uninteresting direction. On the plus side, the cinematography and art direction were just dandy.” 1/2 cat Robin says: “Robin Williams gives
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Philippe de Broca
Starring: Daniel Auteuil | Fabrice Luchini | Marie Gillain | Vincent Perez
Laura says: “This French film has been made numerous times over the decades and de Broca’s version has a distinctly old- fashioned flavor that serves it well. ON GUARD! is classic cinema served up with heart and humor. “The old
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Alison Garland | Daniel May | Helen Coker | James Corden | Lesley Manville | Marion Bailey | Paul Jesson | Ruth Sheen | Sally Hawkins | Timothy Spall
Laura says: “After diversions with career girls and period performers, writer/director Mike Leigh returns to the working class of SECRETS & LIES and LIFE IS SWEET. Within the confines of a dreary South London housing unit, Leigh and his actors
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Director: Arthur Bradford
Diane says: “Okay, so it’s not a moviehouse movie, but if you’ve got Cinemax, I strongly recommend catching this documentary. I saw it at a special showing at the Brattle last week with cast present–one of the most thrilling movie
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Eric Schaeffer
Starring: Bill Duke | Caroline Aaron | Jeffrey Tambor | Jill Clayburgh | Lisa Rabe
Laura says: “Schaeffer’s screenplay has an occasional glimmer of originality (the ‘talking point’ napkin Christopher draws up for Grace on their first date) and good dialogue, although it is telling that the dialogue improves dramatically with the level of performer
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Stephen Earnhart
Diane says: “MULE SKINNER BLUES is a docu along the lines of AMERICAN MOVIE. Music video director Stephen Earnhart met up with Beanie Andrew, a retired shrimper who considers himself an entertainer. Andrew’s dream has been to make a horror
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mark Pellington
Starring: Debra Messing | Laura Linney | Richard Gere | Will Patton
Laura says: “Gere is good as the grieving widower intent on discovering what his link is to the shadowy things which his wife experienced. He may be onto a startling journalistic piece or he may be losing his mind. He
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Sandra Nettelbeck
Starring: August Zirner | Martina Gedeck | Maxime Foerste | Sergio Castellitto
Laura says: “MOSTLY MARTHA takes its cue from every film that’s ever found a single adult suddenly become responsible for a child. The cold climate/warm climate analogies of ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS are present everywhere, from the restaurant’s name to Lina’s
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