Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.2 cats
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Starring: Jan Hartl | Jaroslava Kretschmerová | Pavel Novy | Veronika Zilková
Diane says: “I’m wondering should I recommend this to people on the strength of the first 45 minutes… This movie has such wit and brightness. The opening montage of babies laughing and crying is excellent. This is followed by a
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.9
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Starring: Alakina Mann | Christopher Eccleston | Elaine Cassidy | Fionnula Flanagan | James Bentley | Nicole Kidman
Howard says: “I LOVE a good ghost story and have been looking forward to seeing this for a few weeks. Thankfully, none of my friends who had seen it gave it away. “I thought the entire cast was terrific especially
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Stephen Soderbergh
Starring: Andy Garcia | Brad Pitt | Carl Reiner | Elliot Gould | George Clooney | Julia Roberts | Matt Damon
Hilary says: “OCEAN’S ELEVEN is a fun diversion. Clearly, Stephen Soderburgh can make great films in his sleep — this one looks great, and the cast includes several actors who’ve appeared in his films previously and had a hell of
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Rating: 2 cats
Director: David Atkins
Starring: Elias Koteas | Helena Bonham-Carter | Laura Dern | Steve Martin
Hilary says: “I wouldn’t quite call NOVOCAINE a neo-noir, but it certainly owed a lot to the genre, much like THE DEEP END (a favorite from earlier this year). Steve Martin’s protagonist, Dr. Frank Sangster, a successful Chicago dentist, reminded
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.6
Director: Cesc Gay
Starring: Esther Nubiola | Fernando Ramallo | Jordi Vilches | Mareta Orozco
Nathaniel says: “It’s basically another gay coming of age at the beach film (hmmmm, a foreign film gay mini-trend?)… this one tells the tale of best friends who discover that they want very different things from each other during the
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Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Ann Miller | Justin Theroux | Laura Harring | Naomi Watts
Bob says: “I think MULHOLLAND D. brings Lynch back, at least part way, to the dark obsessions of his earlier work: we are affected by (and in return, we affect) forces no one can understand, our hidden fears have real
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Ewan McGregor | Jim Broadbent | Nicole Kidman
Diane says: “I call it a confection. So sue me! I was pulled in by the wonderful color and chaos in the first third, bored by the middle chunk, regained interest when the drama picked up toward the end. I
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Starring: Maggie Cheung | TonyLeung
Diane says: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, directed by Wong Kar-Wai, is the story of two Hong Kong neighbors who seek solace in each other because their spouses are absent. I loved the look of this movie: lots of deep
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Rating: 2.3
Director: Christine Lahti
Starring: Albert Brooks | John Goodman | Leelee Sobieski | Michael McKean
Kevin says: “First and foremost–Leelee Sobieski gives one of the year’s strongest performances in this film. She is absolutely stunning, and is now my favorite young actress. I recommend going out to see this film just to watch her performance
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Amanda Plummer | Bud Cort | Gloria Stuart | Jeremy Davies | Jimmy Smitts | Mel Gibson | Milla Jovovich | Peter Stormare | Tim Roth
Laura says: “Taken from a story idea by Bono and directed by Wim Wenders, THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL is really a mess of a movie. The cast includes Mel Gibson as an FBI man hired by a billionaire to investigate
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Carrie Ann Moss | Guy Pearce | Joe Pantoliano
Diane says: “Trent is right: there’s plenty of comedy if you’re willing to laugh. I’m not sure I’ve figured out yet all that the writer would have me figure out. My thought now is that MEMENTO used a really good
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andrucha Waddington
Starring: Lima Duarte | Luis Carlos Vasconcelos | Regina Casé | Stenio Garcia
Howard says: “What a beautiful film! I will definitely be nominating this one for cinematography. All the beautiful earth tones. OY! Regina Case was excellent as Darlene, a woman who basically finds everything she needs from a man in three
Read the review...Matter of Taste, A (France; 90min.) directed by: Bernard Rappstarring: Bernard Giraudeau; Jean-Pierre Lorit; Florence Thomassin Kevin says: “Deeply layered film that reminded me of WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY…. A young man played by Jean-Pierre Lorit is hired
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Rating: 3.2 cats
Director: Sally Potter
Starring: Cate Blanchett | Christina Ricci | John Turturro | Johnny Depp
Kevin says: “An interesting but extremely sporadic film. Ricci’s character is not strongly written, and her performance shows it. Cate Blanchett steals all of her scenes. Beautiful imagery can’t quite make up for a spotty script, and Johnny Depp should
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Director: Marleen Gorris
Starring: Emily Watson | Geraldine James | John Turturro | Stuart Wilson
Diane says: “Based on Nabokov’s novel, this is a story of a Russian chess genius who is inept in every other sphere of life, except for winning the love of a young compatriot whom he meets at an Italian resort
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Ellen says: “This contains a slight spoiler unless you are familiar with the recent (last 30 – 40 years) history of the Congo in which case I won’t say anything that will stun you. The film is the story of
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Lea Pool
Starring: Jessica Paré | Mischa Barton | Piper Perabo
Michael says: “LOST AND DELIRIOUS is the first English language feature from French Canadian Lea Pool (director of SET ME FREE which won last year’s Best Actress Award). This emotionally high strung tale deals with lives and loves of Mary,
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Griffin Dunne
Starring: Daniel London | Griffin Dunne | Laura Kirk | Nat DeWolf
Laura says: “Lisa Picard (cowriter Laura Kirk) is on the cusp, with a ‘small but significant’ role in ‘A Phone Call for Help,’ an upcoming TV movie starring Melissa Gilbert and past notoriety for a sexy Chex commercial that resulted
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Cuesta
Starring: Adam LeFevre | Billy Kay | Brian Cox | Bruce Altman | James Costa | Marcia DeBonis | Paul Franklin Dano | Tony Donnelly | Walter Masterson
Bob says: “L.I.E., at its base, is a pretty standard rites of passage story: a young boy considers his life and what he wants to become, or senses himself becoming, within a context that involves one absent parent, another who
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Starring: Alexander Beyer | Bibiana Beglau | Harald Schrott | Martin Wuttke | Nadja Uhl | Richard Kropf
Diane says: “A terrorist trying to destroy the capitalism of West Germany in the 1970s has her identity changed three times over ten years by the East German government and has to come to terms with living under communism. Great
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