Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Christopher Guest
Starring: Bob Balaban | Catherine O'Hara | Christopher Guest | Eugene Levy | Jane Lynch | Parker Posey
Bruce says: “This sweet film is another offering form the ‘Christopher Guest repertory company.’ It is the story of three musical acts, all has-beens who are brought together to perform one last time at a memorial service in honor their
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Paul Gross
Starring: Conor Price | Leslie Nielsen | Molly Parker | Paul Gross
Michael says: “If you see only ONE film about curling, make sure it’s the Canadian romantic comedy, MEN WITH BROOMS. (I challenge you to even find another film about curling.) Since becoming fascinated with this Canadian sport after seeing a
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bob Odenkirk
Starring: Annabelle Gurwitch | David Cross | Jack Black | Matt Price | Maura Tierney | Michael Blieden | Stephanie Courtney
Chris says: “I’m so glad I managed to see this film before it left the Coolidge yesterday; MELVIN GOES TO DINNER is a smart, entertaining low budget indie about four thirtysomethings who unexpectedly meet up for dinner. Their conversations are
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lucky McKee
Starring: Angela Bettis | Anna Farris | James Duval | Jeremy Sisto
Michael says: “Here’s a fun film for horror fans. This little indie has a brief one week run in Boston in June, but is already available on DVD at your local video store. If you’re a fan of the horror
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Menno Meyjes
Starring: John Cusack | Kevin McKidd | Leelee Sobieski | Molly Parker | Noah Taylor | Ulrich Thomsen
Laura says: “Max Rothman (John Cusack, HIGH FIDELITY) is a progressive art dealer in 1918 Munich when he meets a Corporal whom he fought with in Ypres who aspires to be an artist. Screenwriter Menno Meyjes (THE SIEGE) makes his
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Starring: Margeurite McNeil | MollyParker | Rebecca Jenkins | Stacy Smith
Chris says: “Quiet, understated Canadian film about three daughters dealing with their ailing mother and past demons. It has subtly sound performances, lovely cinematography, and a thoughtful, original script. Molly Parker stands out as Agnes, the prodigal alcoholic daughter who
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Aki Kaurismäki
Starring: Juhani Niemelä | Kaija Pakarinen | Kati Outinen | Markku Peltola
Michael says: Aki Kaurismäki’s THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST is a quirky, romantic comedy with deadpan humor, and a pair of terrific leads. This tale of amnesia avoids many of the cliches of a bad man whose memory is wiped
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Émile Gaudreault
Starring: Claudia Ferry | Ginette Reno | Luke Kirby | Mary Walsh | Paul Sorvino | Peter Miller
Bruce says: “MAMBO ITALIANO, a coming-out comedy from Canada, does have its moments. Perhaps that is damning with faint praise. While there are some things to like, some scenes which made me laugh, I am left with a notion of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Peter Mullan
Starring: Anne-Marie Duff | Geraldine McEwen | Nora-Jane Noone
Bruce says: “Most films which deal with Christian religion as subject matter deal in faith and redemption. Then we have films such as THE MAGDALENE SISTERS and the brilliant Canadian film, THE BOYS OF ST. VINCENT, which focus on human
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Starring: Flavio Bauraqui | Lázaro Ramos | Marcelia Cartaxa
Bruce says: “Diehard fans of CITY OF GOD should definitely add MADAME SATA to their must see list. Set in the 1930’s, this is the story of Madame Sata, a bisexual transvestite gangster, who is very much a part of
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Antonio Cerrano
Starring: Cecila Roth; Carlos Álvarez-Novoa | Kuno Becker
Laura says: “Writer/director Antonio Serrano, adapting the novel by Homónima de Rosa Montero, has created a multi-generational madcap lark that attempts to address a middle aged woman’s rebirth, marriage, kidnapping, revolutionaries and government corruption within a children’s book author’s whimsical
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Robert Cary
Starring: Andrew McCarthy | Cameron Bancroft | Isabel Rose
Michael says: “Writer/Producer/Actress Isabel Rose creates a dreamy homage to the romantic musicals of the 40’s and 50’s in this sweetly delightful film. Billie (Rose) is on the verge of giving up her cabaret career (singing at airport lounges) to
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Keith Fulton | Luis Pepe
Ivy says: “What a riveting tale of the true delicate state that most films are made in. A local film production company, Central Productions, uses as their cornerstone battle the statistic that most films are never completed. So is how
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Mina Shum
Starring: Chang Tseng | Colin Foo | Sandra Oh | Tsai Chin
Michael says: “Mina Shum reunites with her DOUBLE HAPPINESS star, Sandra Oh for this funny, poignant and slightly sentimental look at several Asian-American families living in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Oh plays a single mother whose husband left her suddenly to care
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Todd Louiso
Starring: Jack Kehler | Kathy Bates | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Sarah Koskoff
Chris says: “Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a schlub whose wife commits suicide and leaves him a note that he can’t bear to read. Instead, he finds solace in increasingly dangerous dosages of gas fumes. With a screenplay written by Hoffman’s
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Lukas Moodysson
Starring: Artyom Bogucharsky | Lyubov Agapova | Oksana Akinshina
Michael says: “After the joyous optimism of community featured in TOGETHER, Moodysson shifts gears radically with a starkly bleak portrait of Lilya, a young girl living in an unnamed Russian city. Abandoned by her mother at age 16 so she
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: Stephen Norrington
Starring: Jason Flemyng | Naseeruddin Shah | Peta Wilson | Sean Connery | Tony Curran
Howard says: “Not a bad picture; however it’s not a great one either. Nothing but eye candy and some decent action sequences. Unfortunately, the plot has some blaring holes and the action is shot way too close to see what’s
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Rating: 3.375
Director: Neil Hunter | Tom Hunsinger
Starring: Bill Nighy | Clémentine Célarié | Douglas Henshall | Tom Hollander
Peg says: “This second feature from the filmmaking team of Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter is every bit as intimate and gently haunting as their first, a low-budget ensemble piece called BOYFRIENDS. Now, with a larger canvas and seasoned actors,
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Alessandro Nivola | Christian Bale | Frances McDormand | Kate Beckinsale
Laura says: “Writer/director Lisa Cholodenko, who looked at a community of drug and alcohol-addled artists in New York and their effect on a naive neighbor moves to the West Coast to take a look at a bunch of pot-smoking, boozing
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Bruce Sweeney
Starring: Benjamin Ratner | Frida Betrani | Molly Parker | Tom Scholte | Vincent Gale
Michael says: “Once again, a smart, funny, well-made Canadian film misses out on U.S. theatrical distribution, and is released direct-to-video. Bruce Sweeney’s LAST WEDDING was quite the buzz-worthy film two years ago at the Toronto Film Festival. Fortunately, I was
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