Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Djimon Honsou | Emma Bolger | Paddy Considine | Samantha Morton | Sarah Bolger
Kevin says: “From Jim Sheridan, the director of IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER and MY LEFT FOOT, comes IN AMERICA, certainly one of the best films of 2003. “The film concerns a family, consisting of Johnny (Patty Considine), his
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Costa-Gavras
Starring: Mathieu Kassovitz | Michel Duchaussoy | Ulrich Mühe | Ulrich Tukur
Michael says: “Here’s a film that didn’t get a lot of attention when it was out earlier this year but deserves it now on DVD or video. Of the many films detailing the atrocities of the holocaust, AMEN is among
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Lee Hirsch
Laura says: “In 1948, the apartheid government came to power in South Africa, stripping basic human rights from the native Black citizenry. For over four decades a struggle ensued to restore those rights. Director Lee Hirsch spent a decade himself
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Patricia Clarkson | Paul Schneider | Zooey Deschanel
Michael says: “David Gordon Green is definitely a filmmaker to watch. The lush visuals and innovative storytelling style of his debut film GEORGE WASHINGTON caught the eye of many a Chlotrudis member, earning him nominations in the Best Original Screenplay,
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Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Dermot Mulroney | Hope Davis | Jack Nicholson | Kathy Bates
Ivy says: “Well, we pushed this one to the 2003 nominations and I went to see it the today. And now I wish we had just gotten it out of the way instead of dragging it out to next year.
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Brendan Gleeson | Christopher Eccleston | Cillian Murphy | Naomie Harris
Laura says: “Director Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING) makes great use of the digital video format (with Dogme favorite, Director of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle (THE CELEBRATION) for his post-apocalyptic/undead ‘zombie’/survival tale. 28 DAYS LATER is short on real scares, but it
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Benicio Del Torro | Charlotte Gainsbourg | Clea DuVall | Melissa Leo | Naomi Watts | SeanPenn
Diane says: “Hey, I liked it! Knowing in advance that the story was contrived, I just went with it, and loved the perfs (main and supporting), directing, and cinematography. I accepted the main premise as kind of a silly HEAVEN
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Arik Kaplun
Starring: Evelyn Kaplun | Mosko Alkalai | Nir Levy | Shmil Ben Ari
Diane says: “Director Arik Kaplun, himself a Russian immigrant to Israel, looks at the hurdles faced by Russian immigrants in Tel Aviv. The Gulf War looms, a pregnant and penniless woman is abandoned by her husband, conflicts over money lead
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Bart Freundlich
Starring: Billy Crudup | Cleavant Derricks | Julianne Moore | Karen Allen | Liane Balaban
Michael says: “Freundlich’s second feature film (following THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS) tells the story of one man’s struggle with his father. Billy Crudup plays Cal, married with one son, successful architect, and facing deep abandonment issues revolving around his absent
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Christophe Gans
Starring: Emilie Dequenne | Monica Belluci | Samuel Le Bihan | Vincent Cassel
Bob says: “I thought it had a lot of style, and that it had clearly been influenced by Besson and the folks behind THE MATRIX (who were in turn influenced by just about everybody in Hong Kong). However, I also
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Yvan Attal
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg | Noémie Lvovsky | Terence Stamp | Yvan Attal
Michael says: “This delightful French film looks at a sports writer who has difficulty dealing with the fact that his wife is a famous actress. When she travels to London to work on a film that co-stars a well-known, actor,
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Larry Fessenden
Starring: Erik Per Sullivan | Jake Weber | John Speredakos | Patricia Clarkson
Michael says: “Larry Fessenden’s chilling tale of a family from the city encountering supernatural forces in the wilderness is also a deft character study that utilizes a lot of low- budget tricks in an excellent way. “George and Kim, along
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Catherine McCormack | Elizabeth Hurley | Josh Lucas | Sarah Polley | Sean Penn
Michael says: “Completed in 2000, this schizophrenic film starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley and Catherine McCormack is finally being released this fall. Based on a best-selling Anita Shreve novel, and directed by action lenser Bigelow (NEAR DARK, POINT
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Joel Zwick
Starring: Andrea Martin | John Corbett | Lainie Kazan | Michael Constantine | Nia Vardalos
Ellen says: “For some reason I feel guilty about seeing MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. On some level it seems mainstream and I haven’t seen anyone else post about it. But, I will announce here that I thoroughly enjoyed the
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Rating: 4.3 cats
Director: Gary Burns
Starring: Don McKellar | Fab Filippo | Gordon Currie | Marya Delver
Ellen says: “I was one of the individuals fortunate enough to catch the U.S. premiere of WAYDOWNTOWN last night. After a wonderful dinner with Gary Burns and Don McKellar, the film kept the laughter going for me. I’ll state at
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Gianni Amelio
Starring: Enrico Lo Verso | Francesco Giuffrida | Rosaria Danzè
Diane says: “I went to see this one because I loved Gianni Amelio’s 1994 LAMERICA–to jog your memory, two Italians go to Albania to take advantage of government money for new businesses and it ends miserably, miserably. “THE WAY WE
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Rating: 3.25
Director: Shohei Imamura
Starring: Koji Yakusho | Mansaku Fuwa | Misa Shimizu | Mitsuko Baisho
Laura says: “Imamura’s fanciful tale is like an offbeat Japanese homage to LOCAL HERO. An out of towner seeks riches in a strange place where people come from far off places to fish, woman have fantastical powers, strange lights are
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Rating: 4.125 cats
Director: Veit Helmer
Starring: Chulpan Khamatova | Denis Lavant | Phillipe Clay | Terrence Gillespie
Laura says: “TUVALU is a German production filmed in Sofia about a son (Dennis Lavant, BEAU TRAVAIL) trying to keep a crumbling bathhouse operating for his aging parents while his brother is bent to destroy it. Almost completing silent, the
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Hilary Birmingham
Starring: Anson Mount | Catherine Kellner | Glenn Fitzgerald | Julianne Nicholson
Laura says: “After an arduous, two year trip to theatrical distribution, the multiple festival award winner TULLY arrives to make its mark as a true American independent. Based on the O’Henry prize winning story by Tom McNeal by coproducer/writer/directory Hilary
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Rating: 1.6 cats
Director: Claire Denis
Starring: Alex Descas | Beatrice Dalle | Florence Loiret Caille | Nicolas Duvauchelle | Tricia Vessey | Vincent Gallo
Emily says: “Having heard Claire Denis’ new film was a disappointment after BEAU TRAVAIL (a favorite of mine), I was lucky enough to disregard these reviews and catch it during the Boston Women’s Film festival – thanks be, I loved
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