Teaching audiences to view films actively
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats | 5 cats
Director: Darius Marder
Starring: Mathieu Amalric | Olivia Cooke | Paul Raci | Riz Ahmed
Michael says: “I have taken to watching films without really finding out too much about them first. Usually it’s one or two sentences from the synopsis, and I’ll make up my mind. SOUND OF METAL came as a big surprise,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Bassam Tariq
Starring: Aiysha Hart | Alyy Khan | Anjana Vasan | Kiran Sonia Sawarm | Nabhaan Rizwan | Riz Ahmed | Sudha Bhuchar
Toni says: “Riz Ahmed collaborated with a co-writing credit, with director Bassam Tariq, writing all of the songs on Mogul Mowgli, which explores similar themes to his previous SOUND OF METAL. In MOGUL MOWGLI, he plays an aspiring rapper Zed,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jason Lei Howden
Jason says: “I skipped DEATHGASM at Independent Film Festival Boston figuring it would play Fantasia while other things on the IFFBoston schedule might not otherwise play theaters, and the gambit paid off. Not just because the movie played, but also
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Director: Peter Sollett
Starring: Adrian Greensmith | Analesa Fisher | Brett Gelman | Isis Hainsworth | Jaeden Martell | Noah Urrea
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.9 cats
Director: Peter Strickland
Starring: Cosimo Fusco | Layla Amir | Susanna Cappellaro | Toby Jones | Tonia Sotiropoulou
Jason says: “BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO brought a film called AMER to mind, even though the two are spectacularly different in the way they pay tribute to Italian giallo movies. What they have in common is a deep affection for the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Johannes Stjärne Nilsson | Ola Simonsson
Starring: Bengt Nilsson | Fredrik Myhr | Johannes Björk | Magnus Börjeson | Marcus Boij | Sanna Persson
Toni says: “SOUND OF NOISE is a Swedish absurdist, quirky black comedy about a tone deaf detective that hates music whose brother is famous for composing and conducting. “He has to investigate the workings of musical ‘terrorists’ that create mayhem
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Craig Zobel
Starring: Kene Holliday | Pat Healy | Rebecca Mader
Chris says: “The title is actually the name of a small record label in the film that bills itself as a ‘talent search company.’ Salesmen are hired as ‘record producers’ and trained to audition aspiring musicians whom they encourage to
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bruce Sinofsky | Joe Berlinger
Michael says: “One of the measures of a successful documentary, for me, is making me interested in a subject or subjects that I never in my wildest dreams would have thought to be interested in. Heavy Metal music, and more
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: James Franco
Starring: Ahna O'Reilly | Danny McBride | James Franco | Joey King | Loretta Devine | Seth Rogen | Tim Blake Nelson
Thom says: “A year before this film, Franco had directed a brilliant adaptation of William Faulkner’s AS I LAY DYING, putting to rest any doubts that the right talent wouldn’t be able to make a film from Faulkner’s difficult, mesmerizing
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Rating: 4 cats
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Starring: Adrian Purcarescu | Corneliu Cozme | Nicodim Toma | Toma Cuzin
Jason says: “Even the titles of Corneliu Porumboiu’s best-known recent films – 12;08 EAST OF BUCHAREST and POLICE, ADJECTIVE – are focused on a sort of precision that can sometimes be maddening and THE TREASURE, (‘Comoara’ in the original Romanian)
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.75
Director: Zal Batmanglij
Starring: Brit Marling | Christopher Denham | Davenia McFadden | Kandice Stroh | Nicole Vicius | Richard Wharton
Thom says: “I feel like an old crab not liking this more but it is becoming abundantly clear that I takes a lot of convincing for me to get into the conscience of the cult. Here, a couple ingratiate themselves
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1.5 cats
Director: Chad Hartigan
Starring: David Lennon | Jack O'Connell | Olivia Cooke | Raúl Castillo | Soko
Michael says: “Another film that started off strong, with a great premise, that really crashed and burned for me, and as time has passed, I’ve been trying to decide why this film ultimately failed for me, and I can’t quite
Read the review...Do I Sound Gay? (USA; 77 min.) directed by: David Thorpedocumentary Chris says: “Increasingly asking the titular question following a breakup with his boyfriend, first-time filmmaker David Thorpe examines the origins and aesthetics of the ‘gay voice’: the effeminate, theatrical
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Michael Tyburski
Starring: Austin Pendleton | Bruce Altman | Peter Sarsgaard | Rashida Jones | Tina Benko | Tony Revolori
Chris says: “Conceived with Peter Sarsgaard in mind, this indie where he portrays a cerebral NYC ‘house tuner’ (calibrating frequencies in clients’ homes in order to effect their moods) begins strongly and ends memorably–shame about what comes in between, however,
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Bérénice Bejo | Beth Grant | James Cromwell | Jean Dujardin | John Goodman | Penelope Ann Miller
Thom says: “This delightful black & white silent film is an out-and-out winner. Silent film superstar George Valentin (Dujardin, Best Actor at Cannes 2011) is worried that with the advent of talkies he will lose his stardom. His marriage is
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Atom Egoyan
Starring: Alessandro Nivola | Colin Firth | James Hamrick | Kristopher Higgins | Reese Witherspoon | Seth Meriwether
Michael says: “For his latest film, Atom Egoyan tackled the controversial true story of the West Memphis Three, a court case about the shocking murder of three young boys. Three young men were targeted as the murderers because of the
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Andrew Sniezek
Starring: James Calla | Jason Courtemanche | Patrick Luce
Bob says: “Poor, despondent Bruce is really just looking for a father figure. He lost his dad to gang violence when he was just a kid, and was taken in by a local priest who has protected him from certain
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Rating: 3.6
Director: Ming-liang Tsai
Bruce says: “Ming-liang Tsai’s films are somewhat of an acquired taste, a delicious long-lasting taste once one gets in tune with his style. Not many directors go out of their way to capture the aesthetic of a deserted hallway or
Read the review...By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Jon Amiel
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Delroy Lindo | Hilary Swank | Stanley Tucci
Laura says: “When 32 pacemaker wearers drop dead in Boston and misguided pigeons wreck havoc in London’s Tralfalgar Square Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart, POSSESSION) forms a theory that a problem with the earth’s electromagnetic field, formed by the
Read the review...By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Jeffrey Friedman | Rob Epstein
Chris says: “After a few stabs at making biopics (HOWL, LOVELACE), veteran nonfiction filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman return to form with a slick but affecting documentary about one of the greatest vocalists of her generation. While not held
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