Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Danis Tanovic
Starring: Branko Djuric | Filip Sovagovic | Georges Siatidis | Rene Bitorajac
Diane says: “NO MAN’S LAND is more important as a war film than great as a film in general, despite the raves. It’s an indictment particularly of UN peacekeeping forces, and of the absurdities of civil war, here between Bosnians
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Director: Joe Mantegna
Starring: Charles Durning | Dennis Leary | J.J. Johnson | Peter Falk | Robert Forster | Tony Mamet
Diane says: “Mamet’s play directed by Mantegna. Too static for me to say it’s great, but great for character studies. Excellent acting. Mamet’s younger brother plays the grad student shipping out as a crew member on a cargo ship plying
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Director: Kristian Levring
Starring: Brion James | Bruce Davison | Chris Walker | David Bradley | David Calder | Janet McTeer | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Lia Williams | Miles Anderson | Romane Bohringer | Vusi Kunene
Nathaniel says: “A group of international tourists on a bus ride through the deserts of Africa end up hundreds of miles off route and stranded in the middle of nowhere. While trying to survive the brutal conditions and limited food
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Rating: 2.75
Director: Joel Hopkins
Starring: Hippolyte Girardot | James Wilby | Natalia Verbeke | Tunde Adebimpe
Michael says: “I caught this sweet but flawed first indie feature yesterday, on the strength of a fabulously, groovy trailer. In the end, I feel the trailer was better than the film, but there was a lot to like about
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Patrice Chéreau
Starring: Alastair Galbraith | Kerry Fox | Marianne Faithful | Mark Rylance | Philippe Calvario | Susannah Harker | Timothy Spall
Diane says: “Finely tuned perfs by leads Rylance and Fox (her ANGEL AT MY TABLE is in my top five ever) and Spall (the Mikado in TOPSY TURVY) as the cuckolded husband. A couple who meet weekly for anonymous sex–it
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Paul Cox
Starring: Charles "Bud" Tingwell | Julia Blake | Terry Norris
Ellen says: “I saw this wonderful Australian/Belgian film at the Kendall this afternoon. Once again, I am reminded that only the foreign cinema would make a film about 70-year-olds having a romantic relationship. The lead actress is quite beautiful, in
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Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Terence Davies
Starring: Dan Akroyd | Eleanor Bron | Gillian Armstrong | Laura Linney
Howard says: “At the end of the 1800’s, women were still powerless to be independent and were at the whims of social society. In fact, a woman’s reputation was easily destroyed by the power brokering of other women who only
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Rating: 3.25
Director: David Mamet
Starring: Danny DeVito | Delroy Lindo | Gene Hackman | Rebecca Pidgeon | Ricky Jay | Sam Rockwell
Esme says: “Want my opinion? Mediocre. Predictable. Hackneyed. Not very entertaining, or interesting. Gene Hackman was not as special as I had heard he would be. Corny performances all around. We were subjected to close up shots of Rebecca’s ass
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Starring: John Cameron Mitchell | Michael Pitt | Miriam Shor
Diane says: “I wasn’t going to see HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, but my sister invited me. I was very impressed with the movie, and almost flabbergasted that John Cameron Mitchell performed so successfully as writer, actor, and director. Wow!
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Rating: 3.3 cats
Director: Dominik Moll
Starring: Laurent Lucas | Mathilde Seigner | Sergi Lopez
Ellen says: “I thought Sergi Lopez did a good job as Harry, but he didn’t frighten me (in a chilling psychological way) the way I thought he would. In fact that would be my general feeling toward the film. Maybe
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Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Brad Anderson
Starring: Holland Taylor | MarisaTomei | Nadia Dajani | Sean Gullette | Vincent D'Onofrio
Bob says: “I’ve been thinking about something utterly irrelevant since seeing HAPPY ACCIDENTS yesterday, so I thought I’d just throw it out there: Vincent D’Onofrio’s character is named Sam Deed, and he explains that back travelers usually have names made
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Joel Hershman
Starring: Clive Owen | Danny Dyer | David Kelly | Helen Mirren | Warren Clarke
Michael says: “In this movie, based on a true story, a group of prisoners become championship gardeners in England. A true audience pleaser in the vein of WAKING NED DEVINE and THE FULL MONTY. Unfortunately, the film is a little
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: James Ivory
Starring: Anjelica Huston | Jeremy Northam | Kate Beckinsale | Nick Nolte | Uma Thurman
Diane says: “I liked THE GOLDEN BOWL much better than I expected. The main character in this Henry James’ novel had no redeeming qualities as far as I could see, and her love interest, (Jeremy Northam, who leaves me cold
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Rating: 5 cats
Director: Agnès Varda
Nathaniel says: “Agnes Varda, cinematographer and the godmother of the French New Wave, created a mini cineaste stir earlier this year when THE GLEANERS AND I opened. This intimate look at the culture of gleaning (i.e. scavenging for food) among
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Rating: 3 cats
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Cate Blanchett | Giovanni Ribisi | Greg Kinnear | Hilary Swank | Katie Holmes | Keanu Reaves
Kevin says: “Cate Blanchett is incredibly good. The film is really spine-tingling and very emotionally involving. The ensemble cast–Greg Kinnear, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank, Kim Dickens, Katie Holmes–is flawless as well. Not QUITE as good as Raimi’s A
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Scarlett Johansson | Steve Buscemi | ThoraBirch
Bob says: “It seems to me that this film is much too heavily reliant on marketing some committee got together and decided which segment of the population they were going after, and how they were going to get them.
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Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Neil Slavin
Starring: David Paymer | Laura Dern | Meat Loaf Aday | William H. Macy
Kevin says: “Speaking of an impressive debut–here’s one for you. Riveting, elegant, brilliantly performed by William H. Macy and Laura Dern. The dialogue is crisp and performed with a perfectly mannered style that matches the over-stylized production values. Reproduces the
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Director: Dustin Scott; Rebert Perrea | John Gianvito | Thia Gonzalez
Michael says: “Here’s an ambitious, nearly three-hour film, shot entirely in New Mexico by a Boston resident that deserves an audience. It’s precisely the type of film that Chlotrudis Awards needs to find and honor. Unfortunately, only two of us
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Jacques Martineau | Olivier Ducastel
Starring: Ariane Ascaride | Patachou | Pierre-Loup Rajot | Sami Bouajila
Laura says: “The French film THE ADVENTURES OF FELIX is a real charmer, sure to be a nominee for me for its star and supporting actress” 4 cats For Laura’s complete review: “http://www.reelingreviews.com/theadventuresoffelix.htm” Kevin says: “This was a really
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Rating: 3.8 cats
Director: Catherine Breillat
Starring: Anaïs Reboux | Arsinée Khanjian | Roxane Mesquida
Laura says: “Breillat succeeds in presenting a complex relationship between the two sisters, a love/hate relationship at an age when parents are naturally distanced. While Elena’s taunts are cutting, her character nonetheless remains sympathetic as she chooses to ignore Fernando’s
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