Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Wayne Wang
Starring: Carla Gugino | Molly Parker | Peter Sarsgaard
Emily says: “I thought this movie was the shallowest thing I’ve seen in years! I thought neither of the characters were realized in any form whatsoever and the trajectory of the relationship fizzled, was there really a relationship here at
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Patrick Stettner
Starring: Frederick Weller | Julia Stiles | Stockard Channing
Michael says: “While it’s true that the most disappointing thing about THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS is its screenplay, I found the disappointing aspect was just that it didn’t really take any chances. It was pretty predictable, where I was hoping
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Rating: 0.5 cats
Director: Larry Clark
Starring: Bijou Phillips | Brad Renfro | Michael Pitt | Nick Stahl | Rachel Miner
Robin says: “BULLY depicts a microcosm, of our society of under-educated, under-motivated, under-employed and over-sexed teenagers with too much free time and, if Clark’s assessment is correct, under-supervised by their parents. Neither side comes across well in this tome of
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Kuroudo Maki | Masaya Kato | Omar Epps | Takeshi Kitano
Laura says: “Fans of Takeshi’s stylish violence will delight in the gunplay, Yubitsumes (the removal of a finger joint as apology), hari kiri and death-by-chopstick scenes peppered throughout his film, although newcomers may be left scratching their heads. Takeshi’s characters
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.25
Director: Sharon Maguire
Starring: Colin Firth | Gemma Jones | Hugh Grant | Jim Broadbent | Renée Zellweger | Sally Phillips | Shirley Henderson
Michael says: “Caught a sneak preview of BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY on Thursday night and have to say it was sweet. While it does qualify as a Chlotrudis film, it really resembled something geared more toward a mainstream audience. I get
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Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Jonathan Pryce | Sarah Wynter | Simon Verhoeven | Vincent Perez
Howard says: “This film is a biopic about Alma Mahler and takes us through her life. We begin to see her right before she meets Gustav Mahler. We see in a brief glance that she is somewhat rebellious and that
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Rating: 2.8 cats
Director: Kieron J. Walsh
Starring: Flora Montgomery | Peter McDonald
Howard says: “Very cute & enjoyable film. A bit fluffy, but who cares? Peter McDonald is so charming and wonderful as Brendan. A great, feel-good movie that people who love film should see. Brendan is a film buff and a
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Adrien Brody | Elpidia Carrillo | Jack McGee | Monica Rivas | Pilar Padilla
Michael says: “This impressive film by British director Ken Loach hits pretty hard. Two Latina sisters work as janitors in L.A. When the possibility of unionization comes up, alliances are torn apart and secrets uprooted, but in the end, family
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Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Adrea Di Stefano | Javier Bardem | Johnny Depp | Olivier Martinez
Kevin says: “BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (based on the memoirs of the homosexual poet/novelist Reinaldo Arenas, who was born in Cuba in the 50’s and emigrated to America in the early 90’s(?)), was excellent. One of the year’s best. Javier Bardem
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Rating: 4.4
Director: Todd Field
Starring: Marisa Tomei | Sissy Spacek | Tom Wilkinson
Diane says: “Will be nom’ing this for Best Director and Best Actor (Tom Wilkinson–oh, the man with the garden gnome in THE FULL MONTY!). Great drawing out of the Andre Dubus story, with a well-chosen cast (but could Marisa Tomei
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.6
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Eihi Shiina | Ryo Ishibashi
Bob says: “This is definitely the kind of film that sticks with you, one way or another. While I don’t find myself wondering if Asami is at my back door (seek help, Michael!), that cute sound she makes over and
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Rating: 1 cat
Director: Cory McAlbee
Starring: Annie Golden | Cory McAbee | Greg Russell Cook | Rocco Sisto
Michael says: “The less said about this low-budget, low performance science fiction, spaghetti western, musical the better. What could have been a rollicking good time, was instead a poorly made, self-indulgent waste of time. This Midnight Madness special at the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Starring: Anderson Ballesteros | Germán Jaramillo | Juan David Restrepo
Diane says: “Found OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS to be a very powerful film. Fernando, a 50ish writer, returns to Medellin, Colombia, no longer the pastoral town he grew up in, but a setting for the constant undercurrent of casual
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Alan Cummings | Jennifer Jason Leigh
Starring: Alan Cummings | Jennifer Jason Leigh
Diane says: “Self-indulgent story about self-indulgent people. I liked some of the acting (Adams, Cates), and I always love to see John Reilly; only found one character actually interesting, though: the neighbor woman.” 2 cats Michael says: “I did like
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Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Luis Mandoki
Starring: James Caviezel | JenniferLopez | Jeremy Sisto
Laura says: “Director Luis Mandoki and screenwriter Gerald DiPego tone down the saccharine syrup they applied liberally to their last effort, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, but can’t resist overdoing the melodrama in the home stretch of their new one.” 2
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.4
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Emilio Echevarrio | Gael García Bernal | Goya Toledo
Hilary says: “AMORES PERROS is a film that I’d heard a lot about, but wasn’t sure would be to my liking. However, I found myself completely drawn in for the entire 2-plus hours. “Initially I was taken aback by the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou | Mathieu Kassovitz | Rufus
Bob says: “AMÉLIE, AMÉLIE, AMÉLIE. What can we say about AMÉLIE? “Well, we can talk about how it answers the questions that were raised by the complete fiasco that was ALIEN RESURRECTION: was it that Jeunet was no longer working
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Charles Shyer
Starring: Adrien Brody | Hilary Swank | Jonathan Pryce | Simon Baker
Laura says: “While the story certainly is of interest, it is consistently undermined. Jonathan Pryce is entertaining as the debauched Cardinal whose ambitions are frustrated by Marie Antoinette’s hatred. Yet the movie plays him for a buffoon with a clandestine
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Gerard Stembridge
Starring: Frances O'Connor | Kate Hudson | Stuart Townsend
Tim says: “ABOUT ADAM was fun. This was a movie made great by a strong cast, all of whom split split up the work of making it a good movie. I thought Frances O’Connor was especially great.” 4 cats
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Jeffrey Blitz
Starring: Anna Kendrick | Craig Robinson | June Squibb | Lisa Kudrow | Margo Martindale
Michael says: “TABLE 19 is a sweet romantic comedy with a very unusual pedigree… one that, in a strange way, is better than this film should have had. When Eloise is demoted from maid of honor at her oldest friends
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