Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
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
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: André Heller | Othmar Schmiderer
Ellen says: “The entire film consists of Traudi Junge telling her story of being the secretary to Hitler in the final days of the Hitler regime. I heard complaints that no new information was revealed but I found it thoroughly
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Bahman Ghobadi | Behnaz Jafari | Said Mohamadi
Michael says: “The Iranian film BLACKBOARDS is certainly a strong piece of filmmaking from a woman director, a rarity in Iran. The stunning, desolate opening shots of BLACKBOARDS are undeniable in their power and reeled me in immediately, yet the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Albert Finney | Alison Lohman | Billy Crudup | Ewan McGregor | Helena Bonham Carter | Jessica Lange | Marion Cotillard | Robert Guillaume
Bruce says: “BIG FISH had a big budget and, one could surmise from the media blitz that started well in advance of its release, a huge advertising campaign chest as well. The all-star cast and top-notch director add to the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Jason J. Tobin | Parry Shen | Roger Fan | Sung Kang
Michael says: “Justin Lin’s BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is an interesting if not entirely original take on high school ennui, and the how easy the slide from academic success into crime and violence can be. BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is also notable
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Starring: Anupam Kher | Archie Panjabi | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Keira Knightley | Parminder K. Nagra
Diane says: “A sappy disappointment.” 2 cats Laura says: “Cowriter (with Guljit Bindra and Second Unit Director Paul Mayeda Berges, WHAT’S COOKING?)/Producer/Director Gurinder Chadha (WHAT’S COOKING?/BHAJI ON THE BEACH) spikes one out of the park with her enormously entertaining,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: John McTiernan
Starring: Connie Nielsen | John Travolta | Samuel L. Jackson | Timothy Daly
Robin says: “It’s RASHOMON meets THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER as John Travolta reprises a role similar to his in the latter film as helmer McTiernan drives this action vehicle that begins with two different tellings about a deadly event that smacks
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Denys Arcand
Starring: Dorothée Berryman | Johanne-Marie Tremblay | Marie-Josée Croze | Marina Hands | Rémy Girard | Stéphane Rousseau
Bruce says: “Have you ever had an acquaintance whom you disliked yet strangely liked all their friends and family? Such is Remy, the central character in THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS, who happens to be on his last legs in hospital. Throughout
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Robert Connolly
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia | David Wenham | Sibylla Budd
Diane says: “Has no one commented on Robert Connolly’s THE BANK, for which we Have a screener? I was looking forward to the perf by Anthony LaPaglia (of the great LANTANA ensemble) in this purported thriller, but even he couldn’t
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Vladimír Michálek
Starring: Stanislav Zindulka | Stella Zázvorková | Vlastimil Brodský
Bruce says: “How sad it is that 70% of our senior citizens are turning out to vote but so few by comparison ever attend the movies. Perhaps they are not turned on by 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, the remake of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Starring: Audrey Tautou | Cécile de France | Judith Godrèche | Romain Duris
Georgette says: “Well, Cedric Klapisch has another winner with L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE. With the same charm and good-natured fun as in his delightful WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY again we meet a cast of true characters, and the city is definitely one
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.75
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Christina Ricci | Danny DeVito | Jason Biggs | Stockard Channing | Woody Allen
Howard says: “Near the end of ANYTHING ELSE, Woody Allen’s character tells his comedy writing partner, played by Jason Biggs, if he has to steal material, make sure he steals from the best. Allen has taken this to heart as
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Claude Lelouch
Starring: Jeremy Irons | Patricia Kaas | Thierry Lhermitte
Laura says: “Jane Lester (newcomer Patricia Kaas) is a French chanteuse found driving in circles by the gendarmes after leaving a love triangle. Valentin Valentin (Jeremy Irons, THE TIME MACHINE) is an English jewel thief found dazed in Morocco after
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Robert Pulcini | Shari Springer Berman
Starring: Hope Davis | James Urbaniak | Judah Friedlander | Paul Giamatti
Bob says: “The film raises some very interesting questions without coming out and asking them. Pekar’s work is all about portraying real life, but of course it’s all filtered through multiple lenses: his own perspective of events, his choice of
Read the review...